Northumberland words. A glossary of words used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY.

BERWICKSHIRE

BERWICK NORTH

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N.

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W.T West Tvnc
T

S<*o»n by dotted lines thus

SKETCH MAP.

A GLOSSARY

OF WORDS USED IN

THE COUNTY OF ' NOKTHUMBEKLAND

AND ON

THE TYNESIDE

BY R° OLIVER HESLOP.

VOLUME I.

XonDon :

PUBLISHED FOR THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY
BY KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., CHARING CROSS ROAD.

1892.

H4J

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION : PAGE

Northumberland - vh«

Adjacent Dialects - xiii.

The Dales and the Shire xiv.

The Speech - xvi.

The Northumberland Burr • xxi.

The Glossary xxv.

Notes - xxxi.

THE GLOSSARY, A to F i to 309

NORTHUMBERLAND.

THE district represented in this glossary includes the present
county of Northumberland and that portion of the county of
Durham lying on the right bank of the river Tyne from Wylam
to Jarrow. Scotland is frequently regarded as a country lying
entirely to the north of England. It may be well, therefore, to
correct this impression by stating that Berwickshire and
Roxburghshire lie on the western confines, while some of the
southern counties of Scotland lie, not to the north, but to the
west of Northumberland.

This northernmost English county is triangular in form,
measuring about forty-five miles across the base, by about sixty
miles from the bottom to the top. Great upland moors connect
the lofty elevation of the Cheviot Hills with the outliers of the
Pennine Range, and form the western frontier of the count} ;
and, from the head of South Tyne, the southern boundary is
carried on a tract of lofty moorlands, along the high lands of
Allenheads, Blanchland Moor, and Hedley, and on towards
Wylam. Except in the valleys, the western and southern
portions of this district are wild and desolate ; and they form
an effective division on the landward side. The short stretch
along the river Tweed from Carham to the sea, and the equally
short stretch of the river Tyne, where it becomes the southern
bourdary of Northumberland, form the only open frontiers on
the north and south respectively. Here the great name of il.e
kingdom of Northumberland, the home of those Angles who
were settled on the north side of the river Humber, has survived.
(Note i.)

In the tradition preserved by Nennius, the Northern Anglian
settlements originated soon after the time of the arrival of

Vlll. INTRODUCTION.

Hengist in Kent. (Note 2.) It is clear that the Anglian settle-
ment of Northumbria had so far advanced that in A.D. 547 Ida
began to reign, " from whom arose the royal race of Northumbria."
(Note 3.) According to Nennius, he was the first king in
Bernicia and in Cair Ebrauc (York.) (Note 4.) But the Angles
north of the Humber and south of the Tees were called by the
Britons Deur, whilst the same people north of the Tees were
known as Berneich. The sections of this dual kingdom were,
however, so near akin as to possess, probably, a common
language, and also, from time to time, to be subject to the
government of a common head. (Note 5.)

The names of two remarkable men are attached to Bernicia,
those of Saint Cuthbert and of the Venerable Baeda. But very
little remains of the literature of this period. (Note 6.) That
much vernacular literature existed seems evident from what one
of his scholars tells us, that Baeda " was learned in our poetry."
(Note 7.) The Danish invasions during the last years of the
eighth and throughout the ninth century had an important
effect upon the English settlements in Deira. The attacks upon
Bernicia were not less ruthless ; but they were confined chiefly
to piratical descents on the coasts or to forays carried out on a
vast scale, the Tyne being made use of for winter quarters and
as a port to refit. Deira was conquered, divided, and
permanently settled by the Dane. The Tyne, however, was
the limit beyond which this complete conquest did not extend.
Modern Northumberland was left in a great measure in the
hands of its Anglian inhabitants, who were permitted to live
under rulers of their own race, in subordination to the Danish
kings. (Note 8.) A succession of English rulers thus maintained,
in their capital at Bamburgh, the integrity of Bernicia throughout
the tenth century, and eventually passed into the line of the
Earls of Northumberland.

The old Northumbrian dialect, the language of the northern
English people from Doncaster to Aberdeen, was, by these
events, subjected to irfluences which had, as early as the ninth

THE DISTRICT. IX.

and tenth centuries, already begun to affect its inflectional
character. This gave a uniformity to the written language
of northern England. But the variety of these influences
would, without doubt, at a very early period, begin to affect the
manner of speech in each district and give permanence to the
characteristic dialect of each locality. Thus Deira, with its
colonies of Northmen, may henceforth be said to be separated
from Bernicia by the powerful solvent of a racial difference in
the two peoples.

The evidence of place-names affords important confirmation
of the extent and nature of the Danish settlements. In the
part of Bernicia north of the Tyne, the terminations -ham and
-ton are everywhere conspicuous, while the terminal -by does
not occur. The streams are burns, and nowhere " becks." The
pronunciation of the is always full, and is never clipped, as in
the t\ or more Danish dialects. (Note 9.) The contrast in this
respect with the southern part of the county of Durham
(Note 10), but more especially with East Yorkshire, is a very
marked one ; for, there, -by and -beck are everywhere prevalent,
whilst in speech a short V is used for the.

A further severance was yet to take place on the northern
border. After the disastrous battle of Carham, in 1018,
Lothian, hitherto a part of Bernicia, became attached to the
Scottish kingdom. " From this period the Tweed became the
recognised limit between the eastern marches of England and
Scotland." (Note n.) Following this political change, the
language of the English people beyond the Tweed eventually
became, in its further development, that of the Court, of
education, and of the national literature of Scotland.

The Norman Conquest appears to have affected Northumber-
land little or no more than the Danish conquests had done.
The Conqueror himself was but once within the county north
of the Tyne, in going to and in returning from his Scottish
expedition in 1072. (Note 12.) He reserved to himself the
appointment of the Earls ; but, beyond this, did not interfere

X. INTRODUCTION.

with the internal administration of Northumberland. Of these
Earls, who purchased their appointment, Gospatric already
possessed hereditary claim. Waltheof, again, was son of Earl
Siward, and heir by his mother's side to the Earldom. On the
death of Waltheof, Walcher, of Lorraine, the first Bishop
appointed by William to the see of Durham, was made Earl in
1075. In 1080, disputes having arisen in the course of his
administration, during a meeting held at Gateshead the men of
Northumberland surrounded the church where the Bishop had
met the popular leaders. To the proverb, " Short rede good
rede" (short counsel is good counsel), there was added an
ominous menace. The cry was raised, " Short rede good rede,
slay ye the Bishop " ; and, after many of his officials were killed,
the Bishop himself was slain. (Note 13.)

Walcher's murder led to retaliation ; and an expedition in
force was conducted by Robert, called Curthose, the King's son.
Its main result was the founding of the New Castle, upon the
north bank of the Tyne, near the site of what had hitherto been
the obscure place called Monkchester. Albrius appears to have
been appointed Earl after Walcher ; but soon withdrew, and
was succeeded by Robert de Mowbray. During his adminis-
tration of Northumberland the Domesday survey was compiled.
But the county of Northumberland finds no place in that
survey ; for it was a fief without the realm of England. That
survey was undertaken for financial purposes, and therefore it
could not be expected to extend to a district in which the Crown
had no financial interest. The Earldom of Carlisle or Cumber-
land was in this respect precisely similarly situated, and these
two Earldoms, with the Bishopric of Durham, included the
entire territory which is omitted in that survey. (Note 14.)
The realm of England proper, at that time, terminated at the
wapentake of Sadberge on the Tees ; which was still counted
within the territory of the Earl of Northumberland.

The rebellion and defeat of Robert de Mowbray, in 1095, was
followed by the annexation of Northumberland to the Crown of

THE DISTRICT. XI.

England, and the appointment of a sheriff in place of the Earl.
(Note 15.) Within the Earldom, the Palatinate of Durham
had been a privileged, and was now a rapidly growing, power.
The choir of its great cathedral church had been built by
William de Saint Carilef. His successor, Ralph Flambard,
continued the great work. (Note 16.) In 1121, Flambard built
the Castle of Norham-upon-Tweed, on the northern frontier of
Northumberland, and within the episcopal jurisdiction of
Norhamshire.

The year 1139 witnessed the revival of the Northumberland
Earldom in the person of Henry, son of David, King of Scotland.
Henry's mother was the daughter of Earl Waltheof and grand-
daughter of Siward the Earl. But this hereditary claim would
of itself have been insufficient to obtain so important an
appointment. Stephen's own reasons of state led him to accept
the arrangement. In the Earldom thus reconstituted, however,
exception was made of the Palatinate of Durham. (Note 17.)
Here, then, we may practically date the separation of Durham
from Northumberland. Northumberland at this time had,
on its western bounds, the franchises of Reedsdale, North
and South Tynedale, and Hexhamshire ; and all these separate
jurisdictions remained long apart from Northumberland itself.
The Earldom, in this last return to the Government of its
hereditary chiefs, was thus enclosed by the Palatinate on the
south, the episcopal territory of Islandshire and Norhamshire
on the north, and the franchises above-mentioned on the
west.

The accession to the throne of England of Henry II. was
followed by his seizure of Northumberland in 1157. This act
provoked the reassertion of their hereditary claim by successive
Scottish kings ; who, from this time, began the series of invasions
that so devasted the country. Pudsey, Bishop of Durham,
obtained the Earldom, in 1190, by purchase from King Richard.
But, eventually, Northumberland was, in 1242, indissolub!y
confirmed to the Crown of England.

Xll. INTRODUCTION.

The history may well be summarized in the language of the
able writer of the introduction to the history of the county.
" Up to the close of the reign of Henry III., Northumberland
still had a sort of nationality of its own, not completely absorbed
in the sovereignty of England. For a considerable portion of
the period, indeed, it was in the hands of Scottish princes, nor
did the kings of Scotland abandon their claim till its very close.
In the reign of John, and even in that of his successor, it was
yet doubtful whether Northumberland would, ultimately be
attached to the southern or northern- monarchy in Britain."
(Note 18.) From the reign of Henry III. it was henceforward
" as much an integral portion of England as Surrey or Middlesex,
bound by a common interest, and influenced by the same
feelings which prevailed throughout the realm." . (Note 19.)

The conditions, which gave individuality to the land from
Tyne to Tweed, were thus continued down to a period when
the language had arrived at an advanced stage of development.
In the examples of northern literature of the latter end of the
thirteenth and the early part of the fourteenth centuries it appears
little removed from the local dialect of the present day. So
much is this the case, that the Cursor Mundi and The Pricke
of Conscience present few or no difficulties to the Northumbrian
reader. (Note 20.)

To the fact, that the antonomy of Northumberland was
maintained throughout so long and so momentous a period, we
may further ascribe the preservation of an archaic character in
its dialect, as a spoken tongue. By outside people, almost
without exception, this is regarded as singularly barbarous.
It is, however, barbarous only inasmuch as it sounds strange to
the hearer. Its real character is seen in the almost passionate
regard in which it is held by its people ; and the history, thus
rapidly reviewed, suggests that our modern Northumberland
includes within it territory, where, probably, the " Inglis of the
Northin lede " has been least affected, in its vocalization, by
outside influences.

ADJACENT DIALECTS. Xlll.

ADJACENT DIALECTS.

Included within the limit of the burr, a characteristic of
Northumberland speech, is the northern portion of the county of
Durham, within a line, drawn from the river Derwent, near
Shotley, to the Tyne at Jarrow Slake, and extending southward,
almost to the valley of the Wear. It is a district where the
coal deposits, wrought extensively during the early development
of that industry, attracted the settlement of those colonies of
pitmen, presently to be referred to. But between this and the
dialect outside of the line a marked difference is perceptible.

The folk-speech of Tynemouth and the estuary of the Tyne,
which resembles that of the Durham coast, is rapidly losing its
former characteristics. But South Shields yet maintains its
own dialect sound in a more primitive form. In this portion of
the county of Durham the line of demarcation between the
different dialects coincides in a somewhat remarkable manner
with the prominent features of the Permian formation. But in
this district the earlier available coal deposits have probably
more to do with the settlement of a population than have the
natural features of the country.

Among neighbouring dialects, that of Lower Weardale
remains similar to that of Northumberland. Both in this
feature, as well as in its place-names, it affords a striking
contrast to the upper part of the same dale beyond Stanhope,
to Teesdale, and to the district east of Wolsingham. (Note 21.)
The dialect of North Cumberland has close affinity with that of
Northumberland ; but, in its vocalization, its light tongue-trill
and its varied cadence produce a quite different effect upon the
ear. In the upper valleys of the Allen and the South Tyne,
beyond the limit of the burr, the effect of the Cumbrian
influence is observable. Here, possibly, the introduction of
lead miners from adjacent districts has largely influenced the
speech.

XIV. INTRODUCTION.

Teviotdale, in its dialect, closely resembles, in many respects,
the neighbouring folk-speech of North Northumberland. (Note
22.) In fact, the Northumberland and Durham dialects differ
so little from that of Teviotdale, that Prince Lucien Bonaparte,
in his Hints on the Classification of the English Dialects,
makes them one with it, under a heading of the " Scotch in
England," as distinguished from the true North English of
Weardale, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire. (Note 23.) In this
connection, it is interesting to note an extension of the area of
Northumberland made by the capture of Roxburgh in 1346,
and its continued occupation by the English until 1460, during
the long period of a hundred and fourteen years. This period
was memorable in many ways. It included the time which saw
the brilliant career of Hotspur. It also embraced that, when
Earl Douglas, in 1380, led on, against Hotspur, "full twenty
hundred Scottish speares," to the battle of Otterburn or Chevy
Chase —

All men of pleasant Teviotdale
Fast by the river Tweed.

The period embraced by the English occupancy of Roxburgh
is otherwise memorable, as carrying us from the time of Wykliffe
to the time of William Caxton.

THE DALES AND THE SHIRE.

Of the franchises of Reedsdale and Tynedale before-mentioned,
some notice may here be given. " There is many dales," said
Gray, in 1649, "the chief are Tinedale and Reedsdale, a
countrey that William the Conquerour did not subdue, retaining
to this day the ancient laws and customs (according to the
county of Kent), whereby the lands of the father is equally
divided at his death amongst all his sonnes." (Note 24.) The
Chief Lord was in possession of all taxes and civil jurisdiction,
both here and in Hexhamshire ; and the King of England's
writs did not run within their pale. (Note 25.) It was not

THE DALES AND THE SHIRE. XV.

until the year 1496 that North and South Tynedale, and with
them Reedsdale (Note 26), were made gildable and parcel of the
county of Northumberland. (Note 27.) The character of the
populations of these valleys was attributed, in part at least, to
the long period of warfare which had existed on the Border :
" Gud honast men and true sauyng a little shiftyng for their
living. God and our Leddie help them, silie pure men !"
(Note 28.) In the Musters of Northumberland, in 1538, the
light-horsemen of Reedsdale are very numerous ; and are
described as " able men with horse and harnes and all speres ;
besides all the foot theues." The muster of the neighbouring
dale is also bluntly headed, " Northe Tyndell theiffs"; all of
whom are described as "able with hors and harnes."
(Note 29.)

The liberty of Hexhamshire, belonging to the Archbishop of
York, had become little less notorious when it was made parcel
of the county of Northumberland, in the i4th Elizabeth, A.D.
1572. But, even at this late date, the dales and moors of the
west country were attached to Northumberland in name rather
than in reality ; and their turbulent inhabitants became the
objects of severe legislative repression. In 1550 (Note 30), Sir
Robert Bowes, in his report on the state of the Borders,
recommended the transportation of the superfluous population
to places too far distant for their relations and countrymen to
resort to. (Note 31.) That such an exodus shortly afterwards
took place is evident ; for the Redesdale Beggar, in that century,
describes how he everywhere met with those " of our cuntrith
borne," even in the far south where he then was. (Note 32.)
A circumstance which specially bears upon this subject is the
fact that those who now went forth from Tynedale and Redes-
dale, to seek their fortune on the lower Tyneside, were held in
aversion ; and were denied admittance to the crafts and fellow-
ships of the towns. On the i4th November, 1554, the Merchant
Adventurer's Company of Newcastle passed an Act precluding
any brother from taking an apprentice of " such as is or shall

XVI. INTRODUCTION.

be borne or brought up in Tyndall, Ryddisdall or anye other
suche lycke places." (Note 33.) The Act continued in force
until 1676; when it was modified, "in regard those parts are
more civilized than formerly." The men of Tynedale were, all
alike, included under the stigma of their district. " On Sunday
last," writes the Deputy-keeper of Tynedale, in 1559, " I appre-
hended two notable thieves, being gentlemen called Fenwicks,
and have sent them to the gaol of Newcastle." (Note 34.)
Year by year, hereafter, "there is many of them brought in of
them into the goale of Newcastle, and at the Assizes are
condemned and hanged." (Note 35.)

The rapid spread of the use of coal in the time of Queen
Elizabeth called forth a demand for workers to hew and to
carry it. (Note 36.) Great numbers of the former light horse-
men were driven by the stress of circumstances to find in this
occupation a less precarious, but not less hazardous, employment.
At a later date, they are described as " Scottish men and
Borderers that came out of Tynedale and Riddesdale."
(Note 37.) To these dalesmen we owe the strong clanship of
the colonies of pitmen and keelmen scattered along Tyneside
and throughout the colliery districts; where the dialect of
Northumberland has been preserved with a vigour peculiar to
these localities. It is in this connection that the mining terms,
used in the pit districts, retain many words of importance to the
dialect. They originate in the common speech of the workmen ;
and are hence included in this vocabulary.

THE SPEECH.

Within the area where the guttural r, or Northumberland
burr, prevails there are four districts, each with variations in
the manner of speech. They are NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND,
SOUTH NORTHUMBERLAND, TYNESIDE, and WEST-TYNE, and are
shown on the sketch map by the letters N., S., T., and W.-T.

THE SPEECH. XV11.

The main characteristics of the dialect generally, and of each of
its subdivisions, are noticed throughout the glossary in more or
less detail. Only the more striking points will therefore be
here referred to.

Of the consonants, B is not sounded in humble, scramble,
grumble, tumble, timber, clamber, thimble, &c. Occasionally
it is used for v, as ribet, for rivet. Ch has both the sound of K
and of CH in the words kist and chist (chest), kirk or chorch
(church), and kairn or chorn (churn); both forms being used with
about equal frequency. But in Chester, a Roman camp, the
sound is always soft ; never caster. The tch sound, heard in
picture, venture, &c., is spoken as tur, or tor ; thus pic-tur,
ven-tur, &c.

D is commonly used alternately for th (ft). Thus, fodder or
fother, haddor or hathor (heather), forder or forther (further),
smiddy or smithy, shoolder or shoother (shoulder), pooder or
poother (powder), ladder or lather, &c. It is equally common
to sound it or to omit it in bin(d), fin(d), gran(d), grun(d),
han(d), &c. ; and it is usually omitted in Andrew, candle,
handle, &c.

G, in the termination ough, yet retains slight traces of the
guttural gh in such words as rough, enough, and laugh. These
are sometimes heard as rou'h, ee-nee-uh, and lee-uk. Plough is
pleeuf or pluf, faugh (fallow) is faf, through (in through-stone)
is thruf, burgh (a halo) is bruf, lough (a lake) is lof. Trough,
sought, bought, brought, are spoken trow, sowt, boivt, browt.

H is invariably used correctly, and is never omitted when it
ought to be sounded. In some words the aspirate is given with
a very strong breathing, as in which, when, where, while, what,
all of which are sounded with the hw distinctly spoken. The h
is also used in quick (alive) and quite, pronounced hwick and
hwite.

L is sometimes omitted when it follows o. In hold, fold, cold,
a modification of the vowel takes place; and when the / is

Xviii. INTRODUCTION.

dropped these words are heard as had, fad, caad. Or they are
spoken with the /, as hould, fould, could. It is also omitted or not,
at will, in waa(l) (wall), smaa(l) (small), &c.

R is heard in the strong guttural form, called the burr, or bor,
of which a special notice will be given presently.

S appears as a worn down form of shall in such expressions
as " Aa's be wi' ye syun" (I shall be with you soon). In the
form " aa's " it stands for am ; " Aa's aal reet " (I am all right).
S is used for sh in ass (ashes), buss (bush).

TH, in the, is never shortened to a mere t'. It is spoken
lightly in byetk (both), lyeth (loth), breeth (breath, breadth), &c.,
and heavily in the, them, thor (those), &c. Its alternative use
with d has already been noted

Of the vowels, the most characteristic are the following.
The short A, like the sound of a in a la mode, or in the German
salz (salt). Salt, malt, fault are pronounced thus, except in
West-Tyne.

The same sound prolonged produces the Northumberland aa
(or aw as it is sometimes written) in waa (wall), blaa (blow), snaa
(snow), &c., which are thus spoken in South Northumberland and
on Tyneside.

The long ai, heard in chair, is heard throughout Northum-
berland in maistev (master), gaird (guard), quairt (quart), &c.

OW, pronounced as the ow in now, is sounded in bowld (bold),
vowl (roll), cowld (cold), howld (hold), &c.

The Southern English pronunciation of man (maen) and
similiar words, is the sound here given to the plural form (men)
and to prcnt (print), splet (split).

The short I, as in ii\ or sin, is heard in rich (to reach), and/w
or find (to find).

THE SPEECH.

XIX.

EE, the sound in feel, is heard in breest (breast), and in all
parts, excepting in North Northumberland, in the words sect
(sight), leet (light), met (night).

O long, as in for, is sounded in forst (first), parse (purse), horl
(hurl), &c., except in parts of the north of the county.

The U, heard in utter, is in every part spoken in rut (root),
fut (foot), /»«(rf) (found), bun(d] (bound), gnm(d) (ground).

OO, as in fool, is the general form inspoot (spoui),prood (proud),
troot (trout), doot (doubt), &c.

The words, stone, bone, home, whole, &c., represent a vowel
to which a remarkable prolongation of the sound is given in
South Northumberland, where stee-yen is heard for stone. On
Tyneside and in North Northumberland this is shortened to
styen, whilst in West-Tyne the sound is steen. Moon also is
heard in each of these districts respectively as mee-yun, my tin,
and meehn or meen.

The following comparative tables will show the range and
variations of the foregoing sounds in the subdivision of the
dialect : —

South Northumberland . .
Tyneside

North Northumberland . .

West-Tyne

S.
T.

N.
W.-T. . .

S.
T.

N.
W.-T. .

waa\\] (wall)
waa [1]

waa [1]

bowld (bold)

bowld

bold |
bowld \
bowld

salt malt
salt malt

(saat)
mat

te! »««

soat moat

blaa (blow)
blaa
(blaa
\blaw
bio

vowl (roll)
roivl

row [1]
fowl

fait (fault).
fait a as in
(faat ] • German
fat [ sfllz.
fait } }
i oa as heard
foat in the o
( in solo.

snaa (snow) ,
snaa )
J snaa
(snaw a iv as in awe.
sno o as in solo.

< cowld and howld and
(caad (cold) had (hold)
(cowld and hoivld and
\ caad had
(caad } {had )
[cowld] \howld)
coad lioad

XX.

INTRODUCTION.

s.

breesi (breast)

seet (sight)

leet (light)

neet (night)

T.

breest

sect

leet '•

neet

N.

breest

sight

light

night

W.-T. . .

breest

seet

leet

neet

S.

forst (first)

parse (purse)

horl (hurl)

T.

forst

parse

horl

N.

(furst\
\forst\

(purse)
(parse)

\hnrl\
\ horl ]

W.-T...

forst

parse

horl

S.

stee-yen (stone)

bee-yen (bone)

hee-yem (home) hee-yel

(whole)

T.

styen

byen

hyem

hyel

N.

styen

byen

hyem

hyel

W.-T. . .

steen

been

heem

heel

S.

mee-yun

see-yun

bee-yut

pee-yul

fee-yul

(moon)

(soon)

(boot)

(pool)

(fool)

T.

myun

syun

byut

pyul

fyul

N.

myun

\syen\
( syun \

byut

pyel )
pyul\

[ft* \
\fyitl]

W.-T. . .

meehn

seehn

beet

peel

feehl

In the folk-speech a euphonious effect is produced by the
use of particles with varied forms, regulated by the following
vowel or consonant. Bi (by) is used before a consonant —
as, " Bi this an' bi that" (by this and by that). But
when a vowel follows, the form becomes biv, or bin ; thus —
" Biv all he saa " (by all he saw) ; or, " It wis deun bin a crood
on them " (it was done by a crowd of them). The prepositions
in common use have these alternative forms, of which fre, frev,
fren (from), *', iv (in), wi', wiv, win (with) are examples. To,
is represented by a further form, and can be spoken as ti, ttv,
til and tin. The usage is also applied to some verbs ; thus, di,
div (do), he, hev (have), ga, gav (gave), are spoken at discretion
to suit the euphony of the sentence in which they occur.

Of verbal forms, the use of aa's, for I am, is general. The
termination -ing in the present participle is pronounced in, and
in South Northumberland een ; and the -ing, commonly heard in
king, ring, bring, &c., is nowhere sounded in the participle. The
termination -in, or -een, is sometimes pronounced as a mere
modification of n ; like waithn, for waiting ; or it approaches the
sound of an ; as makan, for making. (Note 38.)

THE BURR. XXI.

The passive participle in -en is characteristic of many verbs,
beelden (built), brungen (brought), cassen (cast), drucken (drunk),
fouten (fought), getten (got), kitten (hit), putten (put), strucken
(struck), sitten (sat), thouten (thought), are examples of passive
participles which may be multiplied greatly, as the form is of
constant occurrence in the folk-speech.

In weak verbs the preterite usually ends in -eed, or -eet. Thus,
hurteet (hurt), waited (waited), sorteet (sorted), &c.

In colloquial talk the personal pronoun is frequently repeated
in a sentence ; especially if it be a recriminatory one. " Ye clarty
young monkey, ye," " Thoo greet lout, thoo," are familiar
examples of this.

Another tendency is that of placing the subject of a sentence
at the end of a phrase. " He'd getten a sair tumm'le, Jack
had." " They've come oot o' skyul, the bairns hez." " Th'or
myestly a' that colour, wor coos."

The use of the third person of the pronoun, when the subject
of a sentence is a compound one, is a usual form. "Me an' me
marrow wis gannin ti wark." " Bella an' hint's faan oot."

The tendency to assimilate the form of the dialect with the
current English of the schools is increasing. But the vocaliza-
tion remains ; and this is observable in the characteristic
vowel sounds, in the cadence of the speech, and especially in the
burr, or bor.

THE NORTHUMBERLAND BURR.

The letter r, in England spoken with a glide of the palate,
and in Scotland trilled sharply on the point of the tongue, is,
in Northumberland, sounded from the tonsils. This tonsil, or
uvular r, is commonly known as " the Northumberland boy ";
and it is used, in whatever part of a word the letter may occur,
as an initial, medial, or final sound.

XX11. INTRODUCTION.

The bor is said to be a slovenly pronunciation of the letter.
It is also described as an attempt to compromise between the
smooth English sound and the Scottish trilled r. And, again,
it is alleged that the Northumberland people elide the v in their
speech on account of their inability to pronounce it. But the
burr is difficult to acquire, and few, not born and bred in the
county, learn to speak it. In actual sound it is an exaggerated,
rather than a suppressed or elided, r ; and its utterance requires
vigour to enunciate it with its characteristic force.

The uvular r in various parts of England is an occasional
family peculiarity. It is also heard in the speech of a few small
places on the East Coast of Scotland. Of the village of Charlton,
in Leicestershire, it is said: "All that are born therein have an
harsh and rattling kind of speech, uttering their words with
much difficulty and wharling in the throat ; and cannot well
pronounce the letter R." (Note 39.) In all these instances
the burr may be said to be sporadic. In Northumberland it is
general ; and nowhere else in these Islands does it extend over
a large area as a characteristic of a spoken dialect.

The uvular r, or r gvasseye, is prevalent in many parts of the
Continent. " Anyone who will pronounce forcibly the Parisian
r in Paris, may produce the Northumberland burr" (Note 40.)
But, to speak it as the Northumberland man does, it is not
sufficient to produce the sound of the letter itself. Its peculiarity
and difficulty lie in its modification of the preceding vowel.

In the words rain, roar, rob, &c., the initial v is so strongly
uttered as to sound like orr, or arr (arratn, arroar, orrob). The
medial r, in early, merry, mercy, verse, very, terrier, &c.,
modifies the preceding vowel, so that the er becomes ar, and
sometimes or, and the words are spoken arly, marry, many, varse,
varry, tarrier, &c. So, also, the final er, in mother, brother, sister,
father, &c., has the same or and ar sound.

Again, the ir and ur in the following words become or. Bird,
sir, first, shirt, fir-tree, &c., are sounded bord, sor, forst, short,

THE BURR. xxiii.

for-tree ; and purse, turn, burn, curse, hurry, &c., are porse, torn,
born, corse, horry. These rules are applied to all words in which
the vowels are sounded as in the examples given.

The line which encloses the burr extends along the eastern
seaboard ; but does not follow the county boundary on its
landward side. " The Northern limits of the burr are very
sharply defined, there being no transitional sound between it
and the Scotch r. From Carham eastwards, the boundary
follows the Tweed, which it leaves, however, to include the
town and liberties of Berwick, which in this, as in other
respects, now adheres to the Southern in preference to its own
side of the Tweed. Along the line of the Cheviots, the Scotch
r has driven the burr a few miles back, perhaps because many
of the farmers and shepherds are of Scottish origin." (Note 41.)
The limit is continued southward by Alwinton, to Birness in
Reedsdale, thence to the neighbourhood of Falstone in North
Tynedale. As the Border is approached from any of these
points the Scotch trill becomes more apparent. From Falstone,
across the moors, the boundary goes on to the South Tyne,
which it crosses at a point about two miles west of Bardon
Mill. It then turns south eastward, passing north of Allendale
Town and crossing the river Allen. From the latter river the
line trends eastward, across Hexhamshire, to the moors
immediately north of Blanchland. Thence it follows the line
of the river Derwent to the neighbourhood of Shotley Bridge,
where it passes the river and enters the county of Durham.
In this district of ironworks and collieries a mixed and
fluctuating population is met with. Crossing the high land by
Pontop, the line is continued down into the upper valley of the
river Team ; passing thence to the south of Birtley it avoids
the valley of the Wear and strikes north-east till, in a few
miles, it reaches the Tyne at Jarrow Slake.

There is no evidence of any extension of this boundary line
having taken place in recent times. On the contrary it appears

XXIV. INTRODUCTION.

to have been driven in on the west and south-west ; and effort
is made, in the large towns especially, to overcome the tendency
to burr.

It is a common supposition that this peculiarity of speech
has come down from remote times. (Note 42.) But Professor
Trautmann's investigations show that, as in Anglo-Saxon
generally, so in Old Northumbrian, the supposition must be
rejected. (Note 43.) The Old Northumbrian r was spoken
with the tongue ; and, even in later periods of the Northumbrian
dialect, the burr cannot be regarded as existing. Professor
Trautmann infers that the burr in Northumberland is of com-
paratively recent origin ; and is confirmed in this view by the
fact, established by his researches, of the recentness and rapid
spread of the bury in France and Germany. Originating in
France no earlier than the middle of the seventeenth century,
the burr has been traced in its- progress, from that time, through
Germany. It has passed to Denmark, which it now dominates
absolutely. It has also spread in Belgium, and has reached
as far as Norway in one direction, and has affected Switzerland
in the other. (Note 44.)

The work of Professor Trautmann called forth an important
communication from Dr. J. A. H. Murray, in which reference is
made to a tradition formerly current in Northumberland. " The
tradition is that the Northumberland burv began as a personal
defect of the celebrated Hotspur, was imitated by his
companions, and by the Earldom as a whole." (Note 45.)
Shakspere's description of Hotspur is highly suggestive. His
honour

" Stuck upon him as the sun
In the grey vault of heaven : and by his light,
Did all the chivalry of England move
To do brave acts ; he was indeed the glass
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves,
He had no legs, that practis'd not his gait :
And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish,
Became the accents of the valiant ;
For those that could speak low, and tardily,

THE GLOSSARY. XXV.

Would turn their own perfection to abuse,

To seem like him : So that, in speech, in gait,

In diet, in affections of delight,

In military rules, humours of blood,

He was the mark and glass, copy and book,

That fashioned others."

King Henry IV., second part, act ii., sc. 3.

Whether the tradition originated in this description ; or
whether Shakspere gives expression to a tradition current in his
time, is yet a matter for investigation. The fact of the existence
of the tradition, altogether apart from Shakspere's reference to
Hotspur's peculiarity, affords the only light that has, so far,
been thrown on this obscure subject.

THE GLOSSARY.

The word-list which follows was originally begun by noting
down, on the spot, words and phrases commonly heard in
the social life of Tyneside, among the hills and dales of
Northumberland, and in the fields and working-places of the
district. Thus, in the course of observations extending over
many years, a considerable number of local words in every-
day use was accumulated. As soon as the collection had
attained to sufficient dimensions it was roughly arranged and
classified ; and every available publication in the dialect of
Northumberland was carefully read, in order to provide
illustrative examples of the materials in hand and to add
to the stock. Finally, the list, revised and augmented by
further research and intercommunication, was collated with
the Glossary of North-Country Words, published by John
Trotter Brockett.

At this stage of the work the compilation became known to
Mr. Joseph Cowen, proprietor of the Newcastle Chronicle ; and,
shortly afterwards, arrangements were made for its publication
in the weekly edition of that well-known newspaper. On the
8th October, 1887, the first instalment of the glossary appeared
in the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle ; and thenceforward it was
continued uninterruptedly.

XXVI. INTRODUCTION.

The columns of a popular newspaper have usually been
considered a somewhat ephemeral medium of publicity. In
this instance the medium proved to be the very best that could
have been adopted. Through the pages of the Chronicle the list
was submitted in detail to the scrutiny of innumerable readers,
intimately acquainted with and naturally jealous of the correct
rendering of their mother tongue. As the series unfolded itself
week b)7 week there came from all parts of Northumberland,
and from Northumberland men resident in distant shires of
England and Scotland, corrections and additions of interest and
value; while, through the far-reaching circulation of the paper,
others who had settled abroad, in America, South Africa,
Australia, and New Zealand, contributed to the enrichment of
the store.

In acknowledging the generous aid which he has received
from all quarters, in his effort to elucidate and exemplify the
rich and expressive dialect of his native county, the author
desires to make special mention of those who entrusted to his
care treasured documents relating to the subject, in which were
embodied the result of long continued observation and the fruit
of careful research.

Among these documents were two MSS. compiled by the
Rev. John Hodgson, the historian of Northumberland. From
materials obtained during the progress of his great work,
Mr. Hodgson had prepared a glossary, evidently intended
for publication ; but with characteristic generosity, finding
Mr. Brockett engaged upon a similar undertaking, he placed
the collection at his service. A transcript of the MS. came into
the possession of Mr. W. H. Willans, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
who kindly offered it for use in the present work, and has since
presented it to the library of the Society of Antiquaries of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Later in life Mr. Hodgson, reverting
to his original intention, copied out his word-list, with a few
variations; but did not live to complete it. This second MS.,
now in possession of the historian's grandson, Mr. John George

THE GLOSSARY. XXV11.

Hodgson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was generously lent by him,
and, with the transcript before mentioned, is indicated, in the
succeeding pages herein, by the words Hodgson MS.

Another collection, the result of many years observation, was
supplied by Mr. Middleton H. Dand, of Hauxley, who, for
more than quarter of a century had noted down the farm words
and agricultural phraseology of North Northumberland in the
margin of a copy of Brockett's Glossary, which he kindly placed
at the disposal of the compiler. Mr. Dand also contributed
notes and explanation during the progress of the work.

An annotated copy of Brockett's Glossary, bearing the
signature of "J. Ord," and containing many marginal notes,
was also placed at the disposal of the author, from the library
of Mr. Richard Welford, to whom the writer is indebted for
many kindnesses, and for practical help and counsel throughout
the undertaking. Similar service was cheerfully rendered by
Mr. G. H. Thompson, of Alnwick ; who also copied, for
the writer's use, his extensive and valuable collection of
Northumberland words ; and who gave assistance, during the
weekly issues, of the most helpful character.

To Mr. J. E. Anderson, of Lillswood, Hexhamshire, the
author is indebted for numerous observations on the peculiarities
and variations of the dialect, with notes of words, valuable
from the writer's special knowledge of the county.

Much valuable material was furnished by Mr. John Avery,
of Christen Bank. As a naturalist, his observations on local
names were especially helpful ; whilst his practical knowledge
of the detail and the technicalities of farming was embodied in
an unstinted supply of notes sent in as each letter of the
alphabet was successively reached in publication.

Colonel J. A. Cowen, of Blaydon Burn, an assiduous observer
of bird life, had formed a collection of the common names by
which birds are known in various parts of England. This

XXVlli. INTRODUCTION.

extensive catalogue he carefully annotated for the use of this
work, distinguishing the names peculiar to Northumberland.

Mr. Thomas Dunlop prepared lists of bird-names used in
North Northumberland, and added examples of many colloquial
and general terms. Mr. R. Y. Green, of Newcastle, revised a
list of local plant-names, based upon Dr. Johnson's invaluable
Botany of the Eastern Borders. Many lists of salmon fishing
general farm terms, and colloquialisms were contributed by
Mr. R. Cecil Hedley, of Cheviott.

The use of extracts was generously allowed by Mr. G. C.
Greenwell, now of Duffield, near Derby, from his important
Glossary of Terms used in the Coal Trade of Northumberland and
Durham. This work was issued by him, anonymously, in two
editions, dated 1849; and, avowedly, in a third edition,
published in 1888. Where the title is not fully cited, extracts
from these works are marked Greenwell.

A Glossary of Terms used in the Coal Trade of Northumberland and
Durham, based upon the 1849 editions of Mr. Greenwell, was
published in 1888, by Mr. W. E. Nicholson, librarian to the
North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical
Engineers. This contained additions to the earlier glossary,
which were kindly allowed to be used in the present work.
Mr. Nicholson also rendered many services in explaining
technicalities.

Professor G. A. Lebour, of the Durham College of Physical
Science, added notes of many local terms for geological
phenomena. At the outset of this work, Mr. W. J. Haggerstone,
of the Newcastle Public Library, arranged, for reference, the
large collection of local books in that institution.

Most of all is this work indebted to Mr. W. E. Adams, Editor
of the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, for invaluable assistance, and
for continued interest in and direction of the undertaking

THE GLOSSARY. XXIX.

throughout its serial issue. It is difficult to express the measure of
indebtedness, where great personal kindness has been added
to wise counsel, based upon wide experience.

Obligations for assistance and for contributions are further
due to the following : — Mr. J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of
Mines ; Mr. Wm. Aynsley, Ferry Hill ; Mr. R. Atkin,
Corbridge ; Mr. James Anderson, Newcastle ; Mr. Thomas
Allan, Newcastle ; the Rev. J. R. Boyle, F.S.A. ; Mr. William
Bulman, Victoria, British Columbia ; Mr. Robert Bewick,
Whalton ; Mr. Robert Blair, F.S.A.,South Shields ; Mr. George
Burnett, Whangarei, New Zealand ; Mr. M. Walton Brown,
Mining Institute, Newcastle; Mr. W. S. L. Charlton, The
Reenes, Bellingham ; Captain Carr-Ellison, Maclousti, South
Africa; Mr. D. D. Dixon, Rothbury; Mr. T. Embleton, Horn-
cliffe Mains, Berwick ; Mr. Matthew Glass, London ; Mr. J.
Gibson, Custodian, Norman Keep, Newcastle; Mr. T. Gilchrist,
M.E., Pensher; Mr. J. P. Gibson, Hexham; Mr. W. Colville
Gibson, Scotswood ; Mr. J. S. Hounam, Rothbury ; Mr. Sheriton
Holmes, C.E., Newcastle ; the late Mr. James Horsley, New-
castle ; Mr. J. Harbottle, Gateshead ; Mr. J. Humble, Mining
Engineer, West Pelton ; Mrs. H. A. Jackson, Lowick ;
Mr. Isaac Jeavons, Winlaton ; Mr. Thomas Laws, Napier,
New Zealand ; Mr. T. Matheson, Morpeth ; Mr. A. L. Miller,
Berwick ; Dr. Hugh McLean, Corbridge ; Mr. Matthew
Mackey, Junr., Newcastle; Mr. John Oxberry, Felling;
Mr. John Rowell, Twizell, Co. Durham ; Mr. W. Simpson,
Newcastle ; Mr. W. N. Strangeways, Birmingham ; Mr. A. G.
Schaeffer, Newcastle ; Mr. C. J. Spence, North Shields ; the
Rev. F. Stephens, Horsley, Otterburn ; the Rev. E. J. Taylor,
F.S.A. , New Shildon; Mr. R. S. Turnbull, Newcastle;
Mr. Thomas Taylor, Dunston ; Mr. George Thompson, New-
castle ; Mr. Cuthbert Thompson, London ; Mr. John Wilson,
Leazes Park, Newcastle ; and Mr. James Wright, Ryton.

In addition to the assistance received from correspondents
specially acquainted with the local dialect, much outside help

XXX. INTRODUCTION.

was cordially rendered. The Rev. A. Smythe Palmer, of
Woodford, Essex, readily suggested sources of information, and
always responded willingly to the many calls made upon him
for advice and criticism. Throughout the serial issue of the
work the Rev. Professor W. W. Skeat patiently and courteously
answered enquiries, and, from time to time, made corrections
and added valuable notes. To the Rev. Canon Greenwell,
Durham, the writer has been under many obligations. From
Dr. J. A. H. Murray, of Oxford, unstinted help was received,
especially in the investigation of the peculiarity of the
Northumberland burr. To Mr. John Butterworth, of The
Market Street Press, Manchester, much is due for the appear-
ance of the work in its present form. Lastly, the author is
greatly indebted to Mr. John H. Nodal, the Honorary
Secretary of the English Dialect Society, not only for direction
in the preparatory work, but, more especially, for patient
supervision in the process of recasting the list from the serial
into its present form.

While this work was appearing in the pages of the Chronicle,
a comprehensive collection of Tyneside Songs and Readings was
published by Messrs. Thomas and George Allan (Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, 1891). When quoted in these pages, Messrs.
Allan's book is specially designated. The words Allan's
Collection refer to a former, undated, work, published under
the editorship of Mr. Thomas Allan, about the year 1863.

Readers, anxious for a ready-made etymology in every case
may be disappointed to find that Dr. Johnson's definition of a
lexicographer is but partially fulfilled in the writer of these
pages. For he defines : — " LEXICOGRAPHER. A writer of
dictionaries ; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing
the original, and detailing the signification of words." But, if
the writer of these Northumberland Wrords has not " busied
himself in tracing the original," he has otherwise done his part
as " a harmless drudge." Etymologies are given in very few
instances ; and, in these, only on authority. For, as has been

NOTES. XXXI.

observed by one who has so vastly added to a knowledge of the
history of our English words, "If we could but have an
understanding that etymology is, in general, best left alone or
very warily handled, and, as far as may be, left to experts, we
should do much more to advance the study of it. The
collection of words and facts ought to go first ; it is very
unphilosophical to rush to conclusions before all the attainable
information is at hand." (Note 46.) In the spirit of this
admonition the collection of words and facts in this volume
is presented to the reader.

NOTES.

1. Baeda, Ecclesiastical History, book ii. c. 9.

2. See Nennius, The History, § 38.

3. Saxon Chronicles, Earle, 1865, p. 16.

4. Nennius, The History, § 50.

5. Ida, the Bernician, Aelle, the Deiran, or their respective successors

appear as rulers of a united Northumberland, or of one or other of
its component states.

6. See Rev. Professor Skeat, Principles of English Etymology, first series,

p. 41; also Anglo-Saxon Literature, Professor Earle, 1884. pp. no,
in, 169, and note ; and Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland,
J. A. H. Murray, 1873, p. 20.

7. Cuthbert's Letter on Death of Baeda, Symeon, Durham, de Ecc. i. 15.

8. Hinde, History of Northumberland, pp. 120, 158, &c. For tables of

Bernician kings and earls, see Hinde. pp. 124 and 158. Also
Longstaffe in Archssologia yEliana, vol. vii., pp. 89 and 196.

9. Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland, J. A. H. Murray, 1873,

pp. 25, 86, 89, and notes.
10. For comparison of place-names, see Place-Names of the County of

Durham, by J. V. Gregory, Archaeologia ^Eliana, vol. x., p. 180.

See also Weardale Names of Field and Fell, by W. M. Egglestone.
ir. History of Northumberland, Hinde, p. 162. Border History, Ridpath,

p. 54. An account of the battle is given by Symeon, History of the

Church of Durham, lib. iii., c. 5.

12. Saxon Chronicle, Earle, 1865, p. 211. Details of this expedition are given

in the Vita Oswini of John de Tynemouth.

13. Roger de Wendover, Ed. Coxe, vol. ii., p. 18. Symeon, bk. iii., ch. 24,

p. 213. Saxon Chronicle, Earle, p. 216.

14. History of Northumberland, Hinde, p. 247.

15. History of Northumberland, Hinde, p. 203.

16. Durham Cathedral, Rev. W. Greenwell, second edition, 1886, p. 21.

17. History of Northumberland, Hinde, p. 215.

18. History of Northumberland, Hinde, preface, p. vi.

19. History of Northumberland, Hinde, p. 289.

20. See Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland, J. A. H. Murray,

p. 24, with examples pp. 31 et seq. Also observations by Rev. Prof.
W. W. Skeat, Principles of English Etymology, first series, p. 34.

XXX11. INTRODUCTION.

21. Weardale Names of Field and Fell, W. M. Egglestone, p. 12. "An

extraordinary infusion of Northumberland blood exists in Weardale.
The Waltons and Featherstons have for ages been the prevailing
clans in that once semi-barbarous valley." — W. H. D. Longstaffe,
Fragments. Richardson's reprint of Denham's " Slogans," &c., p. 31.
Harrison, Gibson, and Watson were also prevalent surnames in
Lower Weardale.

22. Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland, J. A. H. Murray, 1873,

p. 86.

23. Berwickshire Naturalists' Field Club Transactions, 1873, vol. vii., p. 26,

quoting letter from Dr. J. A. H. Murray.

24. Gray, " Chorographia," 1649, p. 26.

25. History of Northumberland, Hodgson, pt. ii., vol. iii., p. 3

26. History of Northumberland, Hodgson, pt. ii., vol i., pp. 66, 67. Berwick-

shire Naturalists' Field Club Transactions, 1863-68, vol. v.,p. 427.
Article, Harbottle Castle, by Geo. Tate.

27. History of Northumberland, Hodgson, pt. ii., vol. iii., p. 3.

28. A Dialogue against the Feuer Pestilence, by Wm. Bullein, 1578, E. E.

Text Society, 1888, p. 6.

29. Archa3ologia .ZEliana, 410. series, vol. iv., pp. 169, 181.

30. As to this date, see Border Holds of Northumberland, by C. J. Bates,

p. 51, note 185.

31. History of Northumberland, Hodgson, pt. ii., vol. i., p. 70.

32. W. Bullein, supra, p. 7.

33. Vestiges of Old Newcastle, Boyle and Knowles, p. 20. Merchant

Adventurers, Surtees Society, p. 27.

34. Sadler, State Papers, vol. i. History of Northumberland, Hodgson,

pt. ii., vol. i., p. 190, note.

35. Gray, Chorographia, 1649, p. 26.

36. History of Coal Mining in Great Britain, W. L. Galloway, 1882, p. 33.

Gray, in his Chorographia, says, the coal trade " began not past
four score years since," p. 2,1. Evidently meaning that it only then,
that is in 1569 or thereabouts, began to assume large proportions.

37. History of Newcastle and Gateshead, Richard Welford, vol. iii., pp. 348

and 392.

38. See article "On the present participle in the Northumbrian dialect,"

by Ralph Carr. "History of Berwickshire Naturalists' Field Club,"
vol. iv., p. 356. In this the ethnography of Northumberland
is also considered.

39. Fuller's Worthies, pt. ii., p. 126.

40. Dr. J. A. H. Murray, " Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland,"

1873, p. 86.

41. Ibid.

42. Saint Cuthbert is described as speaking " the rough Northumbrian

burr," J. R. Green, Short History of England, 1876, p. 25.

43. Professor Moritz Trautmann, " Anglia," vol. iii., 1880, p. 212.

44. Ibid, p. 221.

45. Ibid, p. 376.

46. The Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat, preface Ray's Glossary, E.D.S., p. xxvii.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

[The letters N., S., T., W.-T., when following a word, refer
to divisions of Northumberland wherein characteristic
variations of the dialect are heard ; and a word so marked
means that the form or sound is proper to the district
indicated. N. is North Northumberland, the district
north of the river Coquet, including Redesdale. S. is
South, or Central, Northumberland, including the part of
the county south of the river Coquet and lying between
that line and the eastern portion of the Tyne valley. T. is
Tyneside, with Newcastle as its centre, including the valley
of the Tyne and both its banks from Wylam to the sea,
and a portion of the northern part of the county of Durham.
W.-T. is West Tyne, the district west of Wylam, having
Hexham as its centre. When no sign follows a word the
form may be understood as common to all the districts
named.]

A, an Interjection — pronounced like a in may. "A! man!"
" A I man alive !" "A ! what sport we had !"

A is substituted for an, as " not a oonce."

An Adjective ; descriptive of quantity. " Hinny ! what
a bairns thor is." " What a picturs he hes iv his hoose."
The meaning is, what a number of bairns — what a number of
pictures.

A Preposition ; on. "A this side" = on this side.

A Verb ; " Aa wad a been there," " Aa sud a thowt se," &c.,
(a worn-down form of have) ; but ' He ' (the e as in pet) is
a more frequent form.

2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

A A, AW, AH, I — the pronoun of the first person. This long,
broad sound is a characteristic of the dialect of the Tyneside
and of South Northumberland. In local works it is generally
represented by the letters aw.

AA, A', AALL [S. and T.] , all. "It's aa ower." "Not
at aa" " Are ye aa there?" " Aall 'at aa aad wis eyteen-
pence " = all that I owed was eighteenpence. Compare OA.

"Aall the warld an' pairt o' Gyetside," a common proverb,
used jocularly. It suggests some sly humour at the expense
of the good people of the Tyneside borough.

"Aall togither, like the folks o' Shields." The clanship of
the seafaring folk at the mouth of the Tyne is proverbial ;
hence a little coterie is said to be "Aall togither, like the folks 0'
Shields."

"That's a' aw can tell ye aboot My Lord "Size." — John Shield, died
1848, My Lord 'Size.

AA, to owe, " Aa aa nowt." Aa is used to denote ownership or
possession, as in the interrogative phrase, " Whe's aa this ?"

AABUT, almost, " all but."

" When want has a'but owertyen us,
She a'ways keeps ma heart abuin."

Pitman's Pay, ed. 1843, p. 14.

AAD, AWD, AUD, old ; AADISH, oldish. Quid is another
form of the word. The West Tyne pronunciation is Oad.

" An and wife cries, ' Wor on the Bar.' "

E. Corvan, died 1865, Warkworth Feast.

AA'D, I had, I would. "Aa'd a been there mesel" = I would
have been there myself.

"They said aa'd got me claes i' weekly numbers." — J. Weams, Gates-
head Masher.

AAD-BAT, in the old form, just in usual good health and
circumstances.

" Aa's just the aad-bat, aa's just the aad-bat,
Thor's nowt aboot me ye may fear, lad,
But elways aa's glad, whether good time or bad,
Just to say, ' aa's aboot the aad-bat.' "

Song, The Aad-bat.

AADER, the comparative of Aad = older. Aadest ~ oldest.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 3

AAD-FARRAND, AAD-FARRAN, precocious, or, as it is
termed, old-fashioned.

" An aad-farran little fellow, sitting in the neuk, would put in his claim
for a history beuk or ballant if deddy had a penny to spare." — Thomas
Wilson, note to part first Pitman's Pay, ed. 1843.

" A uld-farrand, 'favouring'; that is, resembling the old or adult ; having
the manners or sagacity of age." — New Eng. Diet.

AAD-FASHINT, precocious, applied to a child ; old-fashioned,
antique.

AAD-LANG-SYNE, " a favourite phrase, by which old persons
express their recollections of former kindnesses and juvenile
enjoyments in times long since past." — Brocltett.

AAD MAN, the name for old and unknown pit workings. The
reference is to diabolic agency. See AAD'UN.

"The more modern workings have often suddenly holed into the old
mine wastes, . . . which had been already excavated by the industry
of the ' Old Man,' as such ancient workings are called." — Tom John
Taylor, Archeology of the Coal Trade, 1852.

AAD PEG, old milk cheese ; a very tough and thrifty sort of
food.

AAD'UN, a familiar name for the devil. " Ye he' the impittence
o' the aad'un," the aadone.

AAFUL, awful. "She let off the aafulest skrikes."
AAGUST, August.

A AH (or Eh-ah ?}, What ? interrogative, or, What do you say ?
AAKERT, perverse, stubborn, awkward.

AA'LL, I will. Whilst will is here shortened to an / sound only,
as it is in ordinary conversational English (" /'// be with you
just now"), shall in the dialect has shared the same fate, and
appears as an s only. " Aas be there thereckly." " Thor's be
bonny gam on when aa get there." " Aa's hev setisfaction o'
thoo." See AA'S 2.

" Come list ye Sandgate skippers a',
Aa'll sing a bonny sang."

AALLGATES, in every way. "Aa've been up and doon
aallgates" " Aa've sowt for'd aallgates." See GATE.

AAMACKS, of all kinds. " They he' fornitor, an' crockery, an'
byuts, an' shoes, an' aamacks o' things."

4 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

AAMUS, ALMOUS, alms ; pronounced in two syllables.
O.E. aelmysse.

"With their dooles and almose we are relieved." — Redesdale Beggar, 1565.
"To ew'y hows of almouse ordeynet for bedrydens in Newe Castle;
i marc." — Will of Roger Thornton, 1429. Richard Welford's History of
Newcastle and Gateshead, vol. i., p. 281.

AAN, to own, to acknowledge, to possess. "He aan'd to beein
there hissel." It is also the present participle of aa, to owe —
" What's he aan (owing) ye ?"

AAN, AWN, own. " Me aan fireside." " Wor aan hoose."

" Item, paid to the porters for bringing home the tapsterye from the
Manor to thar awne howeses that did owe the tapstery, i6d. — Newcastle
Municipal Accounts, Nov., 1561.

AANER, OUNER, owner.

AANSEL, own self, himself. " Let him ax for'd his aansel"
"Thor'll be nyen but wor aansels there."

AARIDDY, already.

AA'S, AW'S (Its), i. I am.

" Aw's a clivver chep, aw's sure,
Tho' aw de say'd mesel."

Billy Oliver's Ramble.

2. I will, I shall.

"But aa's gi' ye, Will, to understand,
As lang as aa can wield me hand."

Aa's gie ye — I will give you; "Aa's be there thereckly" — I shall be
there, &c. [S.]

3. I have. 'Ma'sdidit."— [S.] "Aa's deun'd."— [T.]
AASOME, awful. "The sect on't wis" aasome."
AA'VE, I have.

AA-WARN, AA-WARND, AA'S-WARN, I warrant, I suppose.
"Aa-warnd, noo, ye think yorsel* clivvor?" "Aa's-warn a
kyem hesn't been iv his hair this twee months."

ABACK, ABACKA, ABACKEN, behind, at the back of—
sometimes shortened to back. " Howay aback o' the hoose an'
aa'll show ye." " He com' in at the finish just aback on him."

"Aw dream'd aw was at the North Fowl,
It's a fine place aback o' the meun."

R. Emery, Pitman's Dream,

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 186.
" She lost her pocket and all her money,
Aback o' the bush i' the garden, honey."

Elsie Marley.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 5

ABACK, backward. " Hadaway aback, aa tell ye." "Ye've
com' ower far on ; gan aback ti the road end."

ABACK- A-BEHINT, the very last behind. " Aback-a-bchint
the set," means the very last waggon, not simply a hinder
waggon. It means the extreme rear of anything. " Get up
aback-a-behint " is get up over the horse's rear.

ABACK-A-BEYONT, far away behind— out of ken.

ABAWE, to daunt, astonish, lower, abash. — Brockett, third ed.

" Probably from old French abaub-ir, abab-ir, to astonish, confound,
frighten, disconcert." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

ABBUT, aye but. " Abbut aa'll not let ye.'1 Very commonly
used for but.

ABEE (or Let abee), to let alone.

" Let's away and he' some yell, and let sic things abee man.'' — The
Keelman's reasons for attending church. — Allan's Collection, 1863.

"Probably from at-be, early Northern infinitive = fo be. — Dr. Murray,
New Eng. Diet.

ABEER, to endure, to bear. " She couldn't abeer to sit aside
him." "A word of honourable antiquity," says Dr. Murray,
"widely diffused in the dialects; in London reckoned as
a vulgarism."

ABEYUN [S.], ABYUN, [T.] , above. The word is often
contracted as byun.

"An1 ower abyun this band o' men." — J. Horsley, The Cuddies an the
Horses, 1881.

ABLE, wealthy; as "an able man." — Brockett. (Obs.)
ABLEEZE, ablaze, on fire.

ABOON, ABOUN [N.] , above. It is often shortened to beun.
See ABEYUN.

" In Chyviat the hills aboun." — Chevy Chase.

ABOOT, about.

ABREDE, in breadth, spread out. — Brockett.

ABY, aside, that is, a-by or a-oneside. " Stan' aby there " is a
familiar shout in a crowd when a way is to be cleared.

ACAS, because ; AC AS ON, on account of. " He wadn't gan
acas he wis flaid." " He couldn't run acas on his bad foot."

6 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ACCYDAVY, affidavit.

ACKER, to curl, as the curl of water from the wind. — Brockett.

ACKER, a ripple on the surface of the water. — Brockett. A
" catspaw." Compare CAAL, 2.

ACKERSPRIT, ACKERSPEIR, " verb ; used when the
blade in mault growes out at the opposite end of the root."-
Ray's Collection of North-Country Words, E.D.S. A variant of
ACROSPIRE.

ACKNOW, to acknowledge, to confess. — Brockett.

ACLITE, out of joint, awry. See CLEYT, CLITE.

" Newcastle's now a dowly place, all things seems sore aclite,
For here at last Blind Willie lies, an honest, harmless wight."

R. Gilchrist, died 1844, Blind Willie's Epitaph.

ACOW, ACAW, crooked, oblique, awry. — Brockett.

ACRE-DALE LANDS, or ACRE-DEAL LANDS, land
apportioned in acre strips. Deal is a portion. To deal is to
give to each his lot. Hence Acre-deal Lands were lands so
dealt out or apportioned, each deal or lot being an acre strip.

" The fields round a Saxon village were open fields, and generally
divided into acre strips, in the tenth century, just as the vision of Piers
Plowman was quoted in proof that it was so in the fourteenth century. —
F. Seebohm, English Village Community, third edition, 1884, p. 106.

ACRON, an acorn.

ADAM AND EVE, the tubers of Orchis latiforia ; the tuber
which sinks being Adam and that which swims being Eve.
Cain and Abel is another name for these tubers, Cain being
the heavy one. — Johnston, Botany of Eastern Borders, p. 193.

ADAM'S NEEDLE. See EDOM.

ADDER-GRASS, the spotted orchis, Orchis maculata ; called
also Hens, Hen's-kames, and Deed-man's Hand.

ADDER-STYEN, a stone with a hole through it. These were
picked up and hung behind the door as a charm. Mr. M.
H. Dand says : " Within my recollection no fishing-boat was
without one of these stones suspended from the inwiver. Now
entirely disused." See HOLEY-STONE.

"And vain Lord Soulis's sword was seen,
Though the hilt was adderstone."

The Cout of Keeldar,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 7

ADDIWISSEN, had I wissen ; that is, "Had I but known ! "

" A phrase nearly obsolete, but still retained by some old persons. —
Brockett.

ADDLE, AIDLE, EDDLE, to earn.

" He addles three ha'pence a week,
That's nobbut a fardin' a day."

Song, Ma Laddie.

"Not from the A.S. word edlcan, a reward, recompense, &c. ; but from
Icelandic b'dlask, to earn." — Prof. Skeat, Note to Ray, Collection of North-
Country Words, E.D.S.

" Now exclusively dialectical — used everywhere from Leicestershire to
Northumberland; not in Scotland." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

ADDLINS, earnings. "He's had good addlins this quarter."
ADGE, an adze.

ADIT, a horizontal gallery for draining a mine. See WATER-
GATE.

ADNA, the sound of aa de na, I do not. " Adna want ye."
AD SMASH ! A profane exclamation. See EXCLAMATIONS.

ADVENTER, adventure.

"The early English auentu're soon passed in popular speech through
the forms au entur, aun tur, to auntur and anter (still common in Scotland),
while aventu re remained a literary form. In fifteenth to sixteenth
centuries the French was often re-spelt adventure in imitation of Latin, a
fashion which (though it soon died out in France) passed into England
and permanently affected the word." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

AE [N.] , one.

"Tweed says to Till,
' What gars ye rin sae ill ?' —
' Sae still as I rin, and sae fast as ye gae,
Where ye drown ae man, I drown twae.1 "

AFEARD, afraid. " Aa was afeavd ye warn't comin'." See

FEARD.

" His hore beard
Was fowly dight, and he of death afear'd."

Spenser, Faerie Queene, bk. Hi., cant, x., st. 52.

AFER [N.], a horse. — Halliwelfs Diet. This is the same as
AVER, which see.

AFIRE, on fire.

" Ma keel's aa afire, ma fortin's aa spoiled." — E. Corvan, died 1865,
Keel Afire.

8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

AFOOR [N.] , AFORE [T.] , before. "Gan on afore"

"Afore yor fit to fight yor way." — Thomas Wilson, The Pitman's Pay,
1843 ed., p. 45.

AFOOR LANG, shortly, in a short time.

AFORCE, a term in colliery working; "to hole a board into
an adjoining board unintentionally." — Greenwell.

AFOREHAND, beforehand. This is sometimes worn down
and sounded as aforan. See next word.

AFORRAN, AFORN, on hand, ready for use. " Nowt aforran"
nothing ready.

AFTER-DAMP, the noxious gas resulting from a colliery
explosion.

" This after-damp is called choak-damp and surfeit by the colliers, and is
the carbonic acid gas of chymists." — A Description of Felling Colliery
previous to May 25, 1812, by Rev. John Hodgson.

" The sense of vapour, steam, smoke expressed by the German dampf,
Dutch damp, demp, domp, may have arisen in two ways. The German
dampf signifies short wind, dampfig, breathing with difficulty, and as the
designation of the phenomenon is commonly taken from the most
exaggerated manifestation of it, the term may have been applied in the
first instance to the breath, and thence to exhalation, steam, smoke. Or
the designation may have been taken from regarding smoke, dust, vapour,
steam as suffocating, stifling, choking agents. The German dampf is
explained by Adelung, ' Any thick smoke, mist, or vapour, especially
when it is of sulphureous nature,' where the reference to the idea of
suffocation is obvious. In the choke-damp of our mines there is a
repetition of the element signifying suffocation, added to supply the loss
of that meaning in the English damp.'1 — Wedgwood, Dictionary of English
Etymology, 1872.

AG, to hack, or cut with a stroke. — Brockett.

AGATE, AGYET, afoot, astir, on the way, out and about.
" Aa's pleased to see ye agate agyen."

"-Gate in the Northern dialect signifies a way; so that agate is at or
upon the way." — Ray's Collection, 1691.

AGE, to advance in years, to appear old. " He ages fast."

AGEE, atwist. The g is sounded soft. See AGLEE.

" Hae ye seen my Jocker, comin' up the quay,
Wiv his short bluejacket, and his hat agee f"

R. Nunn, died 1853, Jocker.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 9

A-GE-YEN [S.] , AGYEN [T.] , again, against.

" Forty thousand Skottes and fowre
That day fought them agayne."

Battle of Otterburn.

" The keel went bump agyen Jarrow,
An' three o' the bullies lap oot."

Little Pee Dee.

A-GE-YEN [S.] , AGYEN [T.] , on or before. " Aall be there
agyen ye come."

"To be Let immediately or against May-day next." — Advertisement,
February 4, 1742.

AG-E-YEND, A-GYEND, against it.

" He stuck agyend." — Thomas Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. ii., v. 38.

AGG, a grudge, a spite. — HalliweWs Diet.

AGLEE, awry. " A gleed eye is a crooked eye." See AJYE,
AGEE.

" Awd Jack was dozin in his chair,

His stockin's lyin' ower his knee,

His wig hung up wi' greatest care,

His neet-cap thrawn on a' aglee."

Thomas Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 26.
AGRUN, aground.

AGYE, aside, askew. See AJYE.

AHAD, hold. " Stop till aa get ahad on't." " If aa get ahad
on ye, aa'll warm ye."

AHINT, behind. "Come in ahint" — the familiar cry of the
drover to his dog. "Ahint yor hand," to have someone to
look after your interest in your absence.

" He set me down ahint ma door." — Thomas Wilson, Pitman's Pay,
1826, part ii., v. 39.

"There was a man followin' ahint to pick up the fish that were
killed." — "Old Salmon Poacher," S. Oliver's Rambles in Northumberland,
1835, P- 156.

AI, yes. "Ay, yes. Pronounced i, as, indeed, it is spelt in
most old books." — Halliwell's Diet.

AIBLINS, perhaps. Not very common, but used by old people.
In a case lately tried before Mr. Justice Manisty in Newcastle,
a Northumberland man in his evidence said, " Wey, a.a.aiblins
hed twee, or aiblins hed three glasses o' whisky." The judge
had to translate this to the bar. See YEBLINS.

10 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

AIDLE, to earn, to manage. See ADDLE
AIGHT, eight (pronounced eye t). Aighth, eighth.
AIK [N.J, oak. See YEK.
AILSEY, Alice ; also Elsie.

AIR-BOXES, tubes of wood used for ventilation in a pit where
there is only one passage or opening. — Min. Gloss., Newcastle
Terms, 1852.

AIRC, ARK, a large chest. A meal-ark is still the name given
to a meal-chest in country places.

" Arks were made of oak, and contained the family dresses, &c. The
front was often ornamented with carved borders and joined with wooden
pins." — Hodgson MS.

AIRCH, an arch.

AIR-CROSSING, an arch built over a horseway or other road,
with a passage or air-way above it. — Min. Gloss., Newcastle
Terms, 1852.

AIRF, AIRFISH [N. and S.] , ARF [T.] , apprehensive. _ A
condition of mind in which it is necessary to proceed with
great caution. " Yen's rether airfish aboot eet." See ARF,
AIRTH, which with airf are forms of the word argh.

AIRM, an arm. Sounded as two syllables in S. Northumber-
land.

" An' send amang the gang, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor,
Airm — What d'ye ca' him ? — Strang, Mr. Mayor."

Quayside Ditty, 1816.
" And he haves on thoru his arum,
Therof is ful mikel harum."

Havelok, quoted by Halliwell.

AIRSBIT, Archbold. A frequent surname.
AIRT, to find out, to discover. " I'll airt it oot."

AIRT (pronounced d-art), art or part of the compass, direction.
" What airt's the wind in thi day ?" People commonly say,
when starting on a journey, that they go east, west, north, or
south, as the case may be. "What airt ar' ye gan thi day ?"

"Off they rade —
They rade the aiyt o' Liddesdale."

Death of Farcy Reed.

"A stranger — who cannot very well comprehend the country people
when directing him what airts to observe — will be very liable to lose his
road." — S. Oliver, jun., Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 9.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. II

AIRTH, fearful, afraid. " He was airth to do it," that is, afraid.
"An airthful night," that is, a frightful night. — Hodgson MS.
See ARF, AIRF.

AIRTHFUL, fearful. See above.

AIRWAY, a passage along which the current of air travels in
a colliery.

AITH, an oath.

AITS [N.] , oats. See YETTS.

AIX, an axe.

" Cut off'wiv a choppin aix. — Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 4.

AIXEL, AIXEL-TREE, or AIX-TREE, an axle.
AJYE, AJEE, on one side, atwist ; same as AGEE, AGLEE.

AKWERT, AAKERT, awkward. " An aakert thing for the
coo ! " In North Northumberland, aukert.

ALANG, along.

" Fre there aa went alang the brig." — Ma Canny Hinny.

ALANTOM, ALANTUM, at a distance, a long time.— Brockett.
In Ray's Collection it appears as Alantom, adv., at a distance.
Kennett, MS. Lansd., 1033, gives the examples, " I saw him
at alungtun" and " I saw him alantum off." — HalliwelVs Diet.
(Obs.)

" Some of our lads b'ing very kind, Alantom followed me behind." —
G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 72.

" ? Corruption of French a lointain — at a distance." — Dr. Murray, New
Eng. Diet.

ALDE-HE-WAY, the ancient road which continued the Carel
Street, or Karlegate, eastward from Howford, by Acomb
and Anick, to Corbridge, thence to Newcastle and
Tinmouth. — Hodgson, Northumberland, iii. 2, p. 411.

ALEAN [N. and S.], ALYEN [T.] , alone. " Let's alyen"
let me alone. " Thor wis three on them, let alycn his fethor" ;
here it means let alone, or besides.

ALGATES, always ; all manner of ways ; however ; at all
events. A compound of all and gates, or ways. — Anglo-Saxon,
HalliweWs Diet.

12 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ALLER, the alder, Alnus glutinosa. See ELLER and OLLER.

" There growyth many alters and other ramell wood, which servethe
muche for the buyldinge of suche small houses as be used and inhabyted
by husbandmen in those partes." — Survey of Cheviot, 1542 Cott, MSS. —
Hodgson, Northumberland, part iii., vol. 2.

" Paide for 3 aller spars, i6d." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, Nov. 1595.

" The historical form aller survived till the eighteenth century in litera-
ture, and is still general in the dialects." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

ALLERS, clog soles. " He has on a pair o' new alters.'" Clog
soles were made of alder wood.

ALLER-TROOT, ALDER-TROOT ; the small brandling
trout or "skegger," called from their habit of haunting the
roots of alder trees that grow by the side of the stream. —
S. Oliver, Fly-Fishing, 1834, P- I7-

ALLEY, a boy's marble made of alabaster or of any fine white
stone.

ALLEYBLASTER, ALABLASTER, alabaster.

ALL-IN-THE-WELL, a juvenile game in Newcastle and the
neighbourhood. A circle is made about eight inches in
diameter, termed the well, in the centre of which is placed a
wooden peg, four inches long, with a button balanced on the
top. Those desirous of playing give buttons, marbles, or
anything else, according to agreement, for the privilege of
throwing a short stickf with which they are furnished, at the
peg. Should the button fly out of the ring, the player is
entitled to double the stipulated value of what he gives for the
stick. The game is also practised at the Newcastle Races,
and other places of amusement in the North, with three pegs,
which are put into three circular holes, made in the ground,
about two feet apart, and forming a triangle. In this case
each hole contains a peg, about nine inches long, upon which
are deposited either a small knife or some copper. The
person playing gives so much for each stick, and gets all the
articles that are thrown off so as to fall on the outside of the
holes. — Halliweirs Diet.

ALMERY, a cupboard. See AMBRY.
ALMOUS, alms. See AAMUS.

ALN ; the pronunciation of this word is notable. It is sounded
as Ale river, Yel waater, An-nick (Alnwick) town, and at its
mouth is the village of Yel-mooth (Alnmouth).

" The Lord Evers claymed from the confynes of Berwick, south-east-
ward to the water of Aylle." — Sir Robert Bowes's Report to the Marquis of
Dorset, 1551.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 13

ALOW, ablaze, alight. The ow is sounded like on in trout.
"It wis aall iv alow iv a minute." See LOWK.

ALOWSE, loose, free. " Let yorsel alowse," was the exhorta-
tion of a pitman to a friend who was batting stiffly at a
cricket match.

ALSWA [S.] , also ; in Old English this is alsua; alswa. So in
the dialect has retained this sound of swa, soo-a.

AMACKALLY, in a manner, as well as one can. — Hodgson MS.
(Obs.)

AMAIN, to run without check. When a set of waggons run
down an incline without break, or without being attached to
the rope, or through the accidental detaching or breaking of
the rope, they are said to " run amain."
11 As if ma wits had run amain."

Thos. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, p. ii. v. 12.
" Couch'd his speare, and ran at him amaine."

Spenser, Faerie Queene, bk. vi., cant, i., 33.

AMANG, AMANGST, among, amongst ; often shortened to

mang, mangst.

" That at the last thai ordeind tuelve,
The thoughtfulest amang thamselve."

Cursor Mundi, A.D. 1320.
"Amang the rest aw cowped ma creels."

T. Thompson, d. 1814, Jimmy Joneson's Wherry.

AMANY, a great many. " Thor's amany at dissent knaa where
te torn for thor next meal."

AMBRY (pronounced aumry], "a pantry, or cupboard >to set
victuals in. Proverb — 'No sooner up, but the head in the
aumbry, and nose in the cup.' I suppose we might have it of
the Normans." — Ray's Collection of North-Country Words, 1691.
Mr. Brockett quotes the proverb above as if familiar in New-
castle. Sometimes spelt aumery or aumry.

" Some slovens from sleeping no sooner be up,
But hand is in aumbrie, and nose in the cup."

Tusser's Five Hundred Points, 1573, ii., 5.

" Against the north and south walls there were almeries, richly decorated,
containing a large number of precious relics." — Rev. Prov. Consitt, Life
of St. Cuthbert, p. 205.

AMEAST (pronounced a-me-ast), almost. It is also abbreviated
to meast, myest, the former the S. Northumberland form, the
latter Tyneside.

" This wine's amaist got in my head." — Joco-Serious Discourse, p. 20.

14 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

AMELL, among, betwixt. Some pronounce it ameld. — Ray's
Collection, 1691. Compare MELL, 2.

" Antell them twa to drive a bargain." — Joco-Serious Discourse, p. 29.

" Between— Northumberland. It seems to be Islandic a milli. It is
stated not to be used in Scotland." — HallhvelVs Diet.

AN, if. "An yer gannin the morn, will ye tyek us wi' ye ?"

" To the new castell when they cam,
The Skottes they cryde on hyght,
Sir Harye Perssye, and thow byste within,
Com to the fylde and fyght.

Battle of Otterburn.

AN AA, AN AAL, also, too, likewise. See IN AA.

" The folks was gaun in, so aw bools in an a'."

]. P. Robson, died 1870, A Cut at Wov Toon, 1849.

" They brought up the Pee-dee just like a duck'd craw,
And the skipper wi' laughin' fell smack ower an' a'."

" Half-Droon'd Skipper." — Marshall's Songs, 1825, p. 196.

" This ean night, this ean night,

Every night and awle,
Fire and fleet and candle light,
And Christ receive thy sawle."

Old northern song over a dead corpse.
MS. Lansdown, 1033, under word Fleet, quot. Halliwell.

ANANTER, peradventure, in case, in the event that. From
an, on, or in, and aunter, aventure, adventure, chance. That
is, "if peradventure." " Ananters aa get well home," means
" In case I get well home." See ADVENTER.

ANCE, ANES, once. Yence is more commonly used, however.
" He went ance eerand," means he went a special journey.

ANCHOR, ANKER, the bend of a scythe, or of an adze, or
other workman's tool. Some men prefer the angle at which
a scythe blade is set from the handle to be more or less acute.
Hence the direction in fixing a new handle is : " Give 'or a
bit mair ankor," or " A bit less ankor," as the case may be.
The same direction is given in fixing a new handle to an adze.
The word come, or cum, has precisely the same meaning.

ANCHORAGE, the abode of an anchoret or hermit. The
Anchorage School at Gateshead Church.

" 1340, Nov. 14. License granted to John Wawayn, rector of Brance-
peth, for building a cell in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Gateshead, for
an anchoress, provided a convenient place can be found for her, and the
rector of the church gives his consent. The name is preserved to this
day in the Anchorage School attached to Gateshead Church." — Richard
Welford, History of Newcastle and Gateshead, vol. i., p. 107.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 15

ANDIRONS, irons on the hearth to support burning wood.
Old French, andicr.

ANE [N], one.

ANEAR, near. " Dinna gan anear the watter." " The kettle's
boilin' ; dinna gan anear'd."

ANEATH, beneath, underneath. " Where's the maister ?—
He's aneath the steeth."

ANENST, ANENT, over against. Often spoken as nenst.

"Thar was sartaye shipes taken from anens Hartilpowll, taken by
Franchemen." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, Aug., 1563.

ANES, once, at any one time. See ANCE.

" I ne'er yet saw the Tyne se big
Nor running anes se like a sea."

Jock o' the Side.

ANG, the hairy part of an ear of barley — probably a corruption
of awn. — Halliivell's Diet.

ANGER-NAIL, a piece of skin at the side of the nail which
has become semi-detached and gives pain. The word is
always sounded ang-er not an-ger.

ANGER-BERRY, ANGLE-BERRY, a warty excrescence
growing on the umbilicus, or scrotum, or teats of an animal.
These are highly vascular and easily hurt.

" Among old people in Northumberland, as at Whelpington, angleberry
is the name of a vetch ; probably because it angles or catches hold and
clings to plants or shrubs stronger and taller than itself." — Hodgson MS.

ANGORT (pronounced ang-ort), angered.

" Me muthor's bairns gat angort at us." — J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Sang
o' Solomon, Newcastle version, ch. i., v. 6.

ANGRY (ano-ry], inflamed or painful, as a suppurating sore.
" Me fingr's beeldin' aa's flaid — it leuks se angry."

ANKISH, anxious.

ANKLET, ancle.

" Wi' anklets shaw'd, an' scathered feet." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay,
1843, pt. ii., v. 16.

" Sometimes a gaiter." — HalliwelVs Diet.

ANNET, the common gull, so called in Northumberland. —

HalliweWs Diet.

l6 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ANUNDER, ANUNER, under. "Mind yor eye, will ye?
Aa's gan anunev"

"Aw sets me ways doon anunder his shada." — J. P. Robson, d. 1870,
Sang o' Solomon, Northumberland version, ch. ii., v. 6.

" There's plenty of coal dug from the deep mine, that gans through
anunder wor river. — W. Mitford, "Tyne Heroes," Bards of the Tyne, 1849,
P- 54°-

A-ONE, an individual, one person. — Halliwell's Diet. " Thor's
not a-one on ye dar come."

APORPOSE, on purpose. " He's deund aporpose to myek hissel
leuk clivvor."

APPETIZE, to provoke an appetite for food. — Halliwell's Diet.

APPLE-CAIRT. " That's upset his apple-cant for him, aa
think " — that has completely stopped his project.

APPLE DUMPLINS, the great hairy willow herb, Epilolium
hirsutum. Called also Cowan dumplin.

APPLE SHEELY, the chaffinch. Fringilla caelebs. Commonly
called Sheely.

APRIL, APERHIL, and APRILE. " Aperhtt borrows three
days of March, and they are ill." See BORROWED DAYS.

APRIL-GOWK, an April fool. The cuckoo has become
synonymous with jest and joke ; gowk is cuckoo. Boy : "Hi,
canny man, see what ye've dropt." The canny man turns
round to see, and is hailed with a yell, " O, ye April-gowk! "
as the boy runs off.

ARAN-WEB, is a cobweb in Northumberland. — Halliwell's
Diet.

ARDERS, fallowings or ploughings of ground. Ray's Collection,
1651, preface. This word is included by Brockett in his
glossary, and there defined as " Order, by course. In
husbandry, the arders are the divisions of tillage land set
apart for regular courses of crops in successive years ;
or for courses of cropping in rotation." See ATHER.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. iy

ARF, ARFISH, ARTH, unwilling, sorry, pitiful. Brockett,
under the first and second form, defines it as "timid, fearful,
apprehensive, afraid — as ' I am rather avfish about that.' "
The word is used, however, to mean a condition in which it
is necessary to proceed with great caution. Jt is a dialect
form of the word argh. In HalliweWs Diet., awvish is evidently
the same word, and there defined as " Queer ; neither sick
nor well. Query, elfish ? " See AIRTH, AIRF.

ARGY, to argue.

ARK, a large chest to put corn or fruit in, like the bing of a
buttery. But the modern signification is a coffin. — Ray's
Collection, 1691. Meal-ark, an oatmeal chest. See AIRC.

ARLE, YEARL, to bind by payment of money — or arles — that
is, earnest-money. "What did the missus arle ye wi' ? "
" She ga' me two shillin'." The arlin is sometimes called
" the bond-money."

" In hiring servants, any bargain made between master and servant
was accounted void, before entry into servitude, if arles had not been
offered and accepted." — -Hodgson MS.

"Paid to Wm. Sever, for his arles, for quartering the priest, iad." —
Newcastle Municipal Accounts, 1593.

The arles here are the executioner's hire for quartering the
body of, an executed priest. Arle means, also, any kind of
engaging — as, for instance,

" She arled him there for her groom, bridegroom,
She arled him there for her groom."

Song, Broom, Green Broom.

ARL, earl; also YEARL, or JARL. « Th' arl o' Dorham,"
" Yarl Parcy," &c.

ARLUME, an heirloom. — Halliwell, Arelumes.

ARLY, early. " Arly bord, sor ?" — Newspaper street cry in New-
castle. A special edition with the article written under the
nom-de-plwne of " Early Bird."

ARN, the pronunciation of earn.

ARND, ARRAND, an errand. " He's gaan an arnd." In
S. Northumberland, eerand.

ARNEST, earnest. " He's iv arnest" Also earnest-money,
hansel.

l8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ARNUT, the earth-nut — ard-nut. The edible root of Bunittm
flexuosum.

AROOND, around ; often roond only.

ARR, "a skar," " Pock-arrs," the marks made by the small-
pox. This is a general word common to both north and
south. — Rav, 1691. Any scar from a healed wound is called
an arr. " He hes an aw on his finger."

ARRAGE, a sharp point or corner. — Min. Gloss., Newcastle
Terms, 1852.

ARSE-LOOP, a seat or wide loop in a rope or chain in which
a man is slung when repairing or working in a pit-shaft.

ARTH, earth, the earth. In S. Northumberland it isye-arth or
ee-arth.

AR-WO-HAY, a cartman's term to his horse to steady.
ASIDE, beside. " Sit doon aside us, hinney."
ASIDEN, beside. " She wis sittin' asiden him."

ASK, a water newt, a lizard. The newt is usually called a
watter ask," as distinguished from " a dry ask."

" Snakes and nederes thar he fand,
And gret blac tades gangand,
And arskes and other wormes felle."

" Tale of a Usurer." — Metrical Homilies (cir. 1330).

" In the darksome depths of the pool is the water newt, Lacerta aquatica,
while the nimble little form of his much prettier companion, the lizard,
Lacerta agilis, is seen amongst the heather and shrubs on the hill. A
popular belief once prevailed that these harmless little reptiles were
venomous ; both are known under the local name of the 'Ask.' " — D. D.
Dixon, Vale of Whittingham, 1887, p. 39.

ASKLENT, aslant.

ASPER, rough, fierce. In Old English Asperaunt is used. In
the Life of Wallace it is : " In Asper speech the Persye then
gan spear." — Book v., p. 67. (Obs.)

ASS, ashes from a fire.

ASSAY! (/ say), a common exclamation. "Assay! what are
ye dein there ? "

ASS-HWOLE, an ash-hole, a receptacle for ashes.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. ig

ASS-MIDDEN, ASS-PIT, an ash heap.
ASSIL-TREE, an axle. See AIXEL.
ASSIL-TYEUTH, a grinder or molar tooth.
AST, asked.
ASTARN, astern. — Riverside term.

ASTITE, just as soon, as lief. " Aa wad astite stop where aa is,"
" Ye'd astite gan wiv us." See STITE, TITE.

ASTONIED, astonished.
ASTRIDDLE, astride.

AT, that. The a is pronounced very short, and the word sounds
almost like it. " Them at's gan up." "He's se strang at he
can lift a seek o' floor."

" AT, 'at. A worn down form of that, perhaps from old Norse at (used
in precisely the same senses), perhaps independently developed in the
Northern dialect, in which it was very common in 14-15111 centuries ;
rare, even in Scottish writers, after 1500 ; but still in regular use in
Northern dialect speech." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

AT, sometimes used as for. " What are ye stannin' there at ? "
It is used in this sense in Sir Gawaync. See Halliwell's Diet.

AT ANES, AT YENCE, at once. Yen — one. Yence — once.
"At ans alle thre he tok."

Cursor Mundi.

ATELIN, a yetling, or yetlin. This word occurs in one of the
old parish books of Hexham, date 1702. In a list of plate
and other property belonging to the church occurs "a coffin
to bury poor people. Itm. an atelin in the Abbey great
kitchen."

ATHER, an adder. Athery-like, like an adder. See ETHER.

"The eel, when crawling among the grass, has a very ' atthery-lihe'
look." — Richard Howse, Nat. His. Transac., vol. x., 1890, p. 331.

ATHER, a field. Before the commons enclosures, the tillage
land was divided into " fields." Each field consisted of a
great number of scattered strips or " yard lands." The
" East field," " West field," " North field," or other names
given, represented groups of different freeholds — each owner
having yard lands in all the "Athers," or "fields." The
object of this distinction in the grouping of the freeholds into

2O NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

"fields" was to arrange for a rotation of crops. Thus, the
East field being fallow, the West field would be under oats,
the North field under wheat, and so on in annual rotation.
(Obs.)

"In the county of Northumberland, speaking of their system of
husbandry, they say they have their tillage land in three or four A thers —
oats, fallow, wheat, or oats." — Hodgsop MS.

A-THIS-SIDE, on this side of.

ATOMY, NOTOMY, an excessively thin person. " He's just
a bit atomy," or " He just like an atomy."

Queen Mab : " Drawn with a team of little atomies." — Romeo and Juliet,
act i., sc. 4.

ATOPA, ATOPON, on the top of. " Yor fethor's atopa the
hay-stack." "What he' ye atopa yor heed?" " Atopon&n
aad hoose."

ATTACKTED, attacked. It is very commonly used in New-
castle.

" Attack'd-ed ; attacked, a common participle here, but more extensively
used, I am told, in America." — Halliwell.

ATTERCOP, OTTERCOP. This word, says the Rev. John
Hodgson, means a spider's web. A.S. Attercoppa, a spider.
Mr. Morris (Specimens of Early English, p. 403) says that "it
signifies literally poison cup, from attor, atter, poison, and
cuppa, a cup. Coft-web (Old English copiveft) retains the last
syllable only of the original word. In some of the Teutonic
dialects, the spider is called a koppe, on account of its carrying
a bag." A township in Redesdale is called Attercops, and Mr.
Brockett thinks it derives its name " perhaps because in warm,
hazy weather, in September, the grass and sparty ground is
silvered over with gossamer, or cobwebs." The name is now
written Ottercaps, but in old documents Altertopps or Altircops.
The word, according to Dr. Murray, Old English, Attorcoppa
from a' tor, attor, poison, and coppa, derivative of cop, top,
summit, round head, or copp, cup, vessel ; in reference to the
supposed venomous properties of spiders. Compare also
Dutch spinne-cop, " spider," and COB-WEB, formerly cop-webbe ;
whence it appears probable that the simple coppa was itself
" spider." ist, a spider ; 2nd, figuratively, applied to a
venomous, malignant person ; 3rd, misapplied to a spider's
web. — New Eng. Diet. It is considered very unlucky to
kill spiders."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 21

ATWEE, in two, asunder.

" Enough to rive atwee the heart." — Thomas Wilson, The Pitman's Pay,
1826 p. ii., v. 17.

ATWEEN, between. " Aa've many a time seen her haddin
her heed atwetn her hands."

" It was atween Hebburn and Jarrow, thor came on a varry strang
gale." — Song, Little Pee Dee.

ATWIX, betwixt. " He was atwix an atween the twee."
AT-YENCE, AT-YANCE, at once.
AUD, old. See AAD.
AUKERT [N.], awkward.

AUMBLING, walking.

" Teach him aumbling by the hand
Till he his paces understand."

Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 67.

AUWERT, awkward, athwart, as a sheep on its back unable
to rise. This is probably the same as over-thwart. Compare
AWELT.

" On tham gang

To and fra, over-thewrt and endlang"
Hampole, d. 1349, " The Pricke of Conscience " Morris, line 8582.

AVELINGES, in an oblong, or oval shape ; but possibly
applied also to a piece tapering at each end. Major Moor
says, " Workmen — reapers or mowers — approaching the side
of a field not perpendicular or parallel to their line of work,
will have an unequal portion to do ; the excess or deficiency,
is called avellong work." — HalliwelVs Diet, under Avelony.
The avelong here would appear to be the yore or triangular-
shaped piece left after working square in the field, and it
suggests that a piece of cloth cut " avelinges " may possibly
be a square piece cut diagonally from corner to corner, so as
to make two triangular-shaped pieces. " I will that on my
day of burial be given thirteen grey gowns to thirteen poor
women, and each to have half a yard of linen cloth cut avelinges,
instead of hoods, which I have ready made." — Durham Wills —
Barbara Thomlinson, 1577. — Quoted, R. Welford, Hist. ofNewc.,
XVI. Cent., p. 507. The apparent use of the half yard of
linen cloth is for the white scarf or shawl, worn at funerals
by poor women to the present day.

22 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

AVER, a beast of burden, a draught ox, or horse ; hence,
specially a horse used for heavy work, a cart horse : and in
later usage in Northumberland dialect an old or worthless
horse; 1691 Blount : Law Dictionary, under word Affiri (transl.
Spelmari). In Northumberland, to this day, they call a dull
or slow horse a false aver or afer. — Dr. Murray, Neiv Eng. Diet.
Aver acres and Overacres occur as field names in several parts
of Northumberland.

" They have pasture there for 100 sheep ; and 30 avers or horned
cattle, and four horses." — Hexham Chartulary, folio 14 b. and 15.

" Carrying services are familiar in manorial records under the name of
1 averagium.' " — Seebohm, Early Village Communities, p. 247.

"From old French aveir, aver; modern French avoir, possession,
property, stuff, 'stock, 'cattle, domestic animals, beasts of burden ; literally
'having,' substantive use of aveir, avoir. Latin, habere, to have." — Neiv
Eng. Diet.

AVER, peevish, Northumberland. — HalliwelVs Diet.
AVERISH, average. " It's oney an averish crop."

AVERISH, AVERAGE, the breaking of corn fields ; eddish,
roughings. — Ray's Collection of North-Country Words, 1691.
The stubble and grass left in corn after harvest — the portion
of the avers. — Brockett.

"In these monthes after the cornne bee inned.it is meete to putt
draughte horsses and oxen into the averish." — Archaologia, xiij., 379. —
Quoted, HalliwelVs Diet.

"To have, occupy, and enjoy all such averyslie and stowbles." — Richard
Welford, Hist. ofNewc., XVI. Cent., p. 368.

AW. See AA and following words.

AWAR, aware. Shortened often to war. " He'd getten in
afore aa wis awar."

AWAY, constantly used for go, or go away. " Aa mun away '' —
I must go. " Let's away " — let us go.

AWAY-GANNIN, going away. " A ivay-gannin crop," the
cereals belonging to the outgoing tenant of a farm.

AWELT, AWELD, AWERT, laid on the back; said of a
sheep when cast upon its back and unable to move. See
CASSEN and AUWERT.

" Some cauld mornin they'll fin' ye, I ween
Lyin awelt and frozen by Wa' bittle Dene."

James Armstrong, Anither Sang, 1872.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 23

AWNS, the beards of barley or wheat.

AX, to ask. In the royal style of assenting to bills in
Parliament, the phrase " Be as it is axed " was used.
Wickliffe's Gospel has : " What schal I axe ? And she seide,
the heed of John Baptist." Chaucer also uses the same word,
but we do not find it used by Spenser. Hence we may conclude
that by the time of Elizabeth it had been superseded in the
literary dialect by the present form " ask." Ask is originally the
northern form, but ax is constantly used in Northumberland.

" I moved you first, my Lord of Canterbury, axing your license to put
this matter in question." — Cavendish, Life of Wolsey.

AX AT CHURCH, to publish the banns of matrimony.

AY-DI-MI ! a common exclamation expressive of regret or pity,
Probably shortened from Ah, dear me! Familiarised by
Thomas Carlyle's letters, but often heard as a sigh expressed
by old people in Northumberland.

A-YOU-A-HINNY, A-U-HINNY BORD, a Newcastle lullaby.

" It's O but aw ken well — A-U, hinny lord,
The bonny lass o1 Benwell — A-U, hinny bord,
She's lang legg'd an mother like, A-U. hinny bord.
See, she's raking up the dyke, A-U-A. "

Old song.

" A-U-A, maw bonny bairn,
A-U-A, upon my airm,
A-U-A, thou suen may lairn
Te say dada se canny."

Robt. Nunn, Sandgate Wife's Nurse Song.

AYONT, beyond.

" Toil and pain ayont conceivin."

Pitman's Pay, part ij., v. 71.

AYLE, always, all along. (Obs.)

" And ayle I whistled as I came."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

AY-THE-MAIR, all the more.

BAA ! an exclamation of wonderment. " Aa wis gan ower the
moor an' a great coo wis runnin' mad-like. She chased fower
or five folk, yen efter the other, an' thor wis a greet crood
stannin' aboot. A sailor chep comes up ; tyeks the beast bi
the horns ; an' torns hor reet ontiv hor back. An' aall the
people ses ' Baa /' " — Local anecdote.

BAADY, bawdy, lewd.

24 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

B AAK, BALK [S. and T.] , B AWK, BAULK, BO AK [W.-T.] .

1. A piece of unploughed turf left between the ploughed
lands as a boundary in the open town fields. The freeholds,
in the system of cultivation before the Commons Enclosure
Acts, were thus divided.

" The whole arable area of an uninclosed township was usually divided
up by turf balks into as many thousand of these strips as its limits would
contain — the balks which divide into strips being, as the word implies,
simply two or three furrows left unploughed between." — Seebohm,
English Village Community, 1884, p. 3-4.

2. Applied sometimes to the ploughed strip itself.

" A little bank near the dene, containing by estimation 3^ acres." — R.
Welford, Hist, of Newc. and Gateshead, XVI. Cent., p. 168. See REAN.

3. " A ridge or piece left unploughed by accident or
carelessness ; a piece missed in ploughing." — Dr. Murray,
New Eng. Diet.

4. A square piece of timber. The roof timber in a coal-pit.
" We must have either oaken spars or firr bawks." — J C., The Compleat

Collier, 1708, p. 15.

5. A rafter or tie beam. In old one-storey houses they were
often exposed and used for hanging or placing articles on. —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

6. A roost for a bird. " The burd sits moping o' the balk,
like somethin' iv a flay." — T. Wilson, The Washing Day, 1843.
The " hen baahs " are the hen roosts.

7. Where the roof of a mine is not level, but comes down
into the coal without any corresponding depression of the
thill, thus causing a nip (called also a roll, or horseback), or,
where the coal seam is cut off with a wash.

8. To " lay to the balks " is used metaphorically to denote a
disuse of any implement or instrument.

BAAKS, or "BALKS AND BREDS," beam and scales for
weighing.

BAAKY, a piece of wood with rope attached put round a cow's
neck to tie her up to the stake. The wood is also called a
"baikie-stick" and the rope a "baikie-tow."

BAAL, to bawl.

BAAL, BAA [S. and T.] , BO [W.-T.] , a ball. " Buy the
bairn a stottin'-fcafl/."

BAAL-PYET, bald pate.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 25

BAA-WAA-BODY, a silly or insignificant person. " Hadaway !
he's oney a baa-waa-body."

BAB, Barbara.

BABBLEMENT, a confused noise of talk. " Thor myekin'
sic a babblement 'at ye canna hear yorsel speak."

BABBY-BOODIES, broken crockery, used as playthings by
children. See BOODY.

BABBY-HOOSE, a figure representing a "hoose" made by
children with stones, or preferably with pieces of china (hoodies)
or shells (chucks).

BAB-NET, a net used on the Northumberland coast.

At Holy Island, "in fishing for sea trout off rock ends they use a
bab-net of five inch mesh, in which the fish are caught by the gills. A
net of this kind, thirty-two meshes deep, will sound eleven feet in slack
tide." — S. Oliver, Rambl's in Northumberland, 1835, p. 221.

BACCY, nonsense. " It's aall baccy"

BACK, behind. " He wis back o' the engine-hoose at the time."
See ABACK.

BACK, a fishing line used for haddocks, &c., at sea. The back
is the principal line to which snoods are spliced, each snood
being attached to a hook by a hair line.

BACK, a parting in the seam of coal.

" A slippery division in the coal seam, extending from the thill to the
roof." — Min. Gloss., Newc. Terms, 1852.

" A fissure in the coal, having an angle with the position of the seam." —
Brochett.

" A diagonal parting in coal ; a description of hitch where the strata are
not dislocated. At a back there is frequently a glossy parting, and
sometimes a little sooty dirty coal. When, on approaching a back, it is
observed to form an acute angle with the thill of the seam, it is called an
east back ; when it forms an obtuse angle, it is called a west back. Thus
the same back will be an east or west back, according to the direction from
which it is aimed through. As there is rarely anything to indicate a back,
and as there is little or no cohesion between its faces, the coal often
unexpectedly falls away and causes accident." — Greenwell.

"A bach or knowe sometimes, 'tis true,

Set down ma top wi' ease eneuf ;
But oftener far we had te tue
On wi' a nasty scabby roof."

Thos. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 77.

26 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BACK, to fill in the space behind the rings of cribbing in a
pit-shaft. See BACKING-DEALS.

The sinking "was cribbed and bached, and then walled." — Borings and
Sinkings, A.B., p. 10.

BACKBOARD, or BAKEBOARD, a paste or baking board.

BACK-BY, just behind. Away from the face of the coal
nearer the shaft is said to be "back-by."

BACKCAST, a relapse, or any kind of throwing back. "Aa
wis gettin' nicely better, but aa's hed a sair backcast."

BACK-END, the annexe at the back of a house.

BACK-END, "the part of a judd left in the working place of
a pit after the sump is brought down." — Min. Gloss., Newc.
Terms, 1852.

BACK-END, autumn. " Last back-end," last autumn.

BACKERLY, backward, late in season. " The tormits is
varry backerly thae 'ear."

BACK-GANNIN, a retrograding in circumstances or health.

BACKING-DEALS, deals placed behind cribs to keep back
loose strata. — Gloss, of Neivc. Min. Terms, 1852. See BACK, 4.

BACK-O-BEYONT, of an unknown distance. See ABACK-A-

BEYONT.

BACK-OVERMAN, an overman who has the immediate
inspection of the workings and workmen during the back-
shift. — Coal Trade Gloss., 1849.

" The back-overman superintends the management of the pit from the
time the overman leaves until 5 o'clock in the evening, when the pit is
said to ' loose' or stop work." — Dr. R. Wilson, Coal Miners, Durham and
Northumberland.

BACK-OWER, a return back. " He cam back-ower tiv us." A
fall backwards. " He went back-ower"

BACK-SHIFT. The fore-shift and back-shift are the first and
second shifts of hewers that go down the pit. See FORE-SHIFT.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2J

BACK-SIDE, the back premises of a house or building. Billy
Purvis used to invite the crowd from his front stage to enter
his show, adding : " Them 'at dissent like to waak ower the
stage can come in bi Billy's backside.'" The backside of a
church is the north side. Burials formerly were only made
on the south side.

" Nicholas Ward, unfortunately smoord to death in sinking for a draw-
well in his father's bach-side, zoth February, 1716." — Sharp, Chronicon
Mirable.

In the books of the Folly Water Works Company, Newcastle, is the
following entry : " Robt. Attkinson cutt himselte off, hauving sunck a
well in his back-side, at Michas, 1717, wch. supply's hime." — Mackenzie,
Hist, of Newc. , p. 725, note.

" While she were drunken — she left her left foot shoe upon Mr. Anderson's
bac-syd when she climbed over the wall." — R. Welford, Hist, of
Newc., XVI. Cent., p. 389.

" As up Jenny's backside we were bangin,
Ki Geordy, How ! where are ye gannin ? "

Song, " Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday."

Allan's Collection, 1863, p. 317.

BACK-SKIN, a strong hide or covering worn on the back by
sinkers and men in pumping pits or wet places. A back-skin
was also worn by a putter's "foal" as a protection when he
had to thrust back against a loaded corf in its descent of an
incline in a pit.

BACKSTER, BAXTER, a baker.
BACKSTONE. See BAKSTONE.

BACK-UP, to subscribe. " We've caaled to see if ye'll
back-up the list." To support. " If ye'll just gan on, noo,
we'll back-ye up"

BACKUS, the back-house, or wash-house, or more generally
bake-house. — HalliwelVs Diet, as Backas.

BACKWATTER, the still or dead water that rises in a field
or back place during a river flood ; the overflow from a mill race.

BAD, ill.

" He lucks, poor body, verra bad."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, p. 15.

" Sometime since a pitman wis tyen varry bad."

W. Armstrong, The Glister, 1833-4.

" The time that me fether wis bad."

Joe Wilson, d. 1875.

28 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BAD, past tense of bid = bade. " He bad us bide where we
wor."

BADGER, a black coaly band approaching towards an inferior
coarse coal ; a term similar to " Macket" — S. C. Crone,
Borings and Sinkings, F.K. p. in, note.

BADGER, "one who buys corn and other commodities and
carries them elsewhere to sell ; an itinerant dealer, who acts as
middleman between producer (farmer, fisherman, &c.) and
consumer ; a cadger, hawker, or huckster. Still common in
the dialects." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. This word is
given by Brockett, but is now probably altogether obsolete in
Northumberland.

BADLY, ill, somewhat unwell. " She's nobbut badly, poor
body."

BADLY-OFF, poor, in want.

BAD-MAN, the devil. " If ye gan on se the bad-man'll get ye."
See AAD'UN.

BAD-MAN'S OATMEAL, the flower and seed of the hemlock,
Conium maculatum. See DEED- MAN'S OATMEAL.

BAD-WEATHER-GEORDY, a name by which the cockle
seller is known.

" As the season at which cockles are in greatest demand is generally the
most stormy in the year— September to March — the sailors' wives at the
seaport towns of Northumberland and Durham consider the cry of the
cockle man as the harbinger of bad weather, and the sailor, when he
hears the cry of ' cockles alive,' in a dark wintry night, concludes that
a storm is at hand, and breathes a prayer, backwards, for the soul of
'Bad-Weather-Geordy.' " — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 207.

BAER, BEAR, a blacksmith's tool for punching holes in iron.

" To Robert Thickpenny, his servant, a pair of bellows, a fore hammer,
a nail hammer, and a baer." — Witt of Rd. Hogg, of Newcastle, blacksmith.
Proved $rd January, 1502. — R. Welford, Hist, of Newc., XVI. Cent., p. 2.

BAFF, blank. A pitman, if paid fortnightly, speaks of the
alternate weeks as " the baff week," and " the pay week."
" The Baff week is o'er — no repining —
Pay Saturday's swift on the wing."

Henry Robson, " The Cottier's Pay Week,"

Allan's Collection, 1863, p. 237.

" A card not a trump is a baff one. The partly decayed, split, or root
end of a log or tree of timber is also called the baff end ; and from the
baff ends, or otherwise useless pieces or ends of timber, are cut baffs,
which are used to keep the wooden cribs in position, when sinking pits in
our North-Country." — Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, May 15, 1886.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2Q

BAFF-ENDED, blunted. Picks are said to be so when the
points are off. — Brockett.

BAFFLET, a wooden mallet for killing salmon. It is esteemed
very unlucky to produce the bafflet until the fish are drawn
ashore.

BAG, dismissal. "He's gettin' the bag" means "He's been
dismissed." This is just as frequently expressed "gettin'
the seek." The explanation of this curious phrase seems to
be in a reference to the payment received on dismissal,
which would be carried in a sack, or bag. The man dismissed
would thus go off with " bag and baggage."

" An' we maun shortly follow them,

An' tyek the bag, maw worthy gentles.
Then what '11 poor Newcastle dee,
Deprived o' aa her ornamentals ? "

R. Gilchrist, " Bold Archy."

Allan's Collection, p. 77.

BAG, the paunch, the udder of a cow.

" Next to the tents-we hied, te get
Some stuffin' for wor bags, man."

W. Mitford.AT.y.Z.

BAG, a cavity found occasionally in fiery seams of coal,
containing highly condensed gas. Usually called " a bag of
gas." Also, a cavity in a pit, filled with water, as, "a bag
of water."

BAGGIE, the belly.

BAGGIE, the stickleback, or prickleback fish. Gasterosteus
aculeatus, Linn.

"Which the North of England boys call the baggie." — Newcastle Daily
Chronicle, Jan. 4, 1888.

BAGGISH, baggage.

BAGGIT-FISH, a salmon on the eve of depositing its ova. —
James Armstrong, The Curing of Salmon Roe.

BAGGOT, BAGGISH, useless, contemptible. It is applied
to a little, vixenish child, or to a worthless man, " a drunken
baggot." " Come oot ! ye baggish."

BAGGY, corpulent.

BAGGY-MENIM, the three-spined stickleback. See BAIN-
STICKLE.

30 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BAGIE (the a sounded as in bay, the <j hard), a Swede turnip.
The term is never applied to white or yellow turnips.

" From Ruta Baga, the Swedish turnip." — Note by Mr. Richard Welford.

BAIDE ; endured — Northd. HalliweWs Did., from Bide.
BAIKIE-STICK, a piece of wood attached to a cow's neck.
BAIKIE-TOW, a rope for tying up a cow.
BAIL, BALE, a signal of alarm, a bon-fire. — Brockett.

BAILIWICK, the limits within which a bailiff of the duke
exercises jurisdiction. — Newburn Bailiwick, &c.

BAINSTICKLE, the three-spined stickleback. Gasterosteits
aculeatus, Linn.

BAIRN, a child. The power of a homely word is in no case
more exemplified than in the use of the word bairn. It is full
of affectionate tenderness, and whether used in old ballad or
in the folk-speech of the present day it equally breathes a spirit
of yearning love for the little folk. A bit bairn or a bairnie is
a little child. The pronunciation is sometimes lengthened,
and a mother is heard to call " Gan up to the barin ! " or
" Mind the baiorin ! "

" Where best te been, maw canny hinny ?
Where hest te been, maw bonny bairn ? "

Song, " Maw Canny Hinny."

Allan's Collection, p. 284.

BAIRNISH, childish.
BAIRN'S-PLAY, child's-play.

BAIRN-TEAM, broods of children, as they expound it to
me. — Ray's Glossary, under Bearnteams.

BAIRSE, BAISE, the space for provender in a cow stall.
BAIRSE, BAERSE, impertinent, impudent.

BAISEL [N.] , to bustle about, to exert oneself here and there.
" A'm baiselin ma sel ta get dyun i' time te catch the train."

BAIST, to beat. See BASTE.

" He paid good Robin back and side,

And baist him up and down ;
And with his pyke-staff laid on loud,
Till he fell in a swoon."

Robin Hood, i., 102, quoted by Halliwell.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 3!

BAIT, to feed. " Hadaway bait the horses."

BAIT, food ; BAIT-POKE, food bag.

" With a tin bottle, full of cold water or tea, a piece of bread, which is
called his bait, the hewer says good-bye to his wife, and speeds off to
work." — Dr. R. Wilson, Coal Miners of Northumberland and Durham.

•' Aw put the bait-poke on at eight,
Wi' sark and hoggers, like ma brothers,"

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. n.

BAIT, the longitudinal direction of wood, the grain, as it is
called. After wood has pined it is said, " You can see the
bait" — that is, the grain has become visible.

BAITIES, fisher girls who gather bait.
BAKE-STICKS. See BEAK-STICKS.

BAKIN, the number of loaves baked for a household at one
time. "A bakin o' breed."

BAKSTONE, a flat stone used for baking oat-cakes, &c.

" The bakstone was often three or four feet in diameter, capable of
holding two cakes, and fixed upon three or four low pillars : the girdle
was less and lighter, and upon an iron tripod, called a brandreth." —
Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ij., vol. ij., p. 306, note.

BALD-COOT, BAL-POOT, or BELL-POOT, the coot.
Fulica atra, Linn.

BALK, a beam. See BAAK.

BALL, the charge from a puddling furnace, also the fused
materials from an alkali maker's balling furnace.

BALL, a nodule. " Ironstone balls."

" Brown thill mixed with post balls." — Boring sand Sinkings, A.B., p. 146.

BALL-FURNACE, the furnace used for fusing a mixture of
limestone, coal, and sulphate of soda, in alkali works.

BALLANT, a ballad.

" Aw liked a ballant or a buik." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii.,
v. 101.

BALLINGER, the ancient name for a vessel carrying about
forty men, acting in a fleet, apparently, as a frigate. (Obs.)

" Every great ship must have attending upon him a barge and a
ballinger."— R. Welford, Newc., XV. Cent., p. 305.

32 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BALL-MONEY, money demanded of a marriage company and
given to prevent their being maltreated. In the North, it is
customary for a party to attend at the church gates, after a
wedding, to enforce this claim. The gift has received this
denomination, as being originally designed for the purchase
of a football. — Brockett, 3rd. ed., p. 23.

BALN-STONE, roof stone in a pit. See BARN-STYEN.

BAND, the string by which the old spinning wheel was driven.
"To keep the band in the nick" is an expression used to
denote ability to continue in any given way.

BAND, a thin layer of stone or shale interstratified with coal.
Sometimes applied to a thin stratum of any kind from half
an inch to six inches in thickness. Compare GIRDLE.

BAND, a broad flat hinge.

BAND-GANNER, the sheldrake, Tadorna belonii, Ray. This
bird has a band of rusty red colour, and flies with great
speed — hence its name.

BANDISH, a bandage.

BANDOLEERS, cartouche boxes with leather sling bands.
(Obs.)

" Pd. one paire olbandelears, as." — Gatefhead Church Books, 1634.

" Pd. for fower pair of new bandaleers with bellts strings and baggs,
73. 6." — The same, 1669.

Also variously in same, bandaleryes, bandeleraws.
BANDSTER, a sheaf binder in the harvest field.

BAND-STONE, the stone immediately overlaying the coal
at the shaft and projecting into it. — Brockett. See BARN-
STYEN.

BANDWIN, BANDSWIN, a band of six reapers occupying
a man to bind after them. Six are usually as many as a
bandster can conveniently bind after.

BANDY, traversed by bands. See BAND, 2.

"Hard scare bandy coal." — Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 163.
"Coal, foul, scared, bandy."— The same, p. 66.

BANE [N.], a bone.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 33

BANE-WORT, the daisy.

"The northern men call the herb a banwurt, because it helpeth bones
to knit again." — Turner's Herbal, i, 78. in Hodgson MS.

BANG, a strong fir pole, used in the game of "pitching the
bang" ; a long pole used for guiding or propelling a boat, or
as a lever, or the poles used in carrying hay when two people
take the bangs between them. A "cow bang1' is a pole in a
byre to which a cow is fastened.

The following challenge appeared in the Newcastle Journal of June 29,
1754 (see Sykes's Local Records) : — " I take the liberty, after this publick
manner, to acquaint the country, that Peter Ditchburn, of Mainsforth,
in the County of Durham, will throw the long bowles, a pound-and-a-
half weight, leap, and pitch the bang with any man in England, for ten or
twenty pounds, and meet them at any place within twenty miles of
Mainsforth aforesaid."

BANG, to strike violently with a resounding blow ; to thrust
off violently ; to rush violently ; to surpass, to excel, to outdo.

"The blacksmith's hammer, yark for yark,
We hear ne langer bangin'."

T. Wilson, Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826.

" And, ay, as the ship came to the land, she banged it off again." — The
Laidley Worm of Spindle ston Heugli.

"Then helter-skelter in we bang." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, P*- 3.
iii., 84.

"For X Y Z, that bonny steed, he bangs them a' for pith and speed." —
W. Mitford, d. 1841, song: X Y Z at Newcastle Races. — Allan's Collection,
p. 117.

" East Heddon, West Heddon, Heddon on the Waall,
Harlow Hill, an' Horsley, an' Wylam bangs them aall."

Old saying.

" Bradford breedless, Harnham heedless,

Shaftee pick at the craa ;
Capheaton's a wee bonny place,
But Wallin'ton bahgs them aa."

Old verse.

" The Reenes, an' the Riding, Langhaugh and The Shaw,
Bellingham Bogglehole bangs them a'."

These rude rhymes were frequently repeated at the hirings in
allusion to the relative merits of the various " places."
Some of them conveyed a warning of " bad meat houses "-
that is, where scant rations prevailed.

BANGER, anything very large in proportion to its kind. —
Hodgson MS.

34 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BANGIN, large and jolly, as " a bangin' lass."

" Wor business duin, wor pitcher tuim,

Jack out his private bottle drew,
And wi' a bangin' glass o' rum.
We finished off as it struck two."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 74.

BANISTY, or BENISTY, anything done secretly. What is
forbidden, or " banned," is termed " done under banisty"

BANK, an incline, a steep road or street. Butcher Bank, Byker
Bank, Lang Bank, Saltwell Bank, Sodhouse Bank, Forth
Bank, &c.

BANK, the surface, or top, of the pit. " At bank."

" You are to buy in a stock of horses to draw your coals to bank
(or day) out of the pit." — Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 32.

BANK-OUT, to teem the coals into a heap as they are drawn,
" instead of into the waggons. — Coal Trade Gloss., 1849.

BANKSIDE, the side of a slope. "The Banksidc" in New-
castle.

BANKSMAN, the man who has control of the shaft top. He
regulates the descent of the pitmen, lands the coals at the top
of the pit, draws the full tubs from the cages, and replaces
them with empty ones. He also puts the full tubs to the
screens, and teems the coals.

" The Banck's-man, or he that guides the sledge horse, has an empty
sledge to set the loaden corfe on." — Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 36.

BANKY, having many banks. " A hanky road " is a road with
many hills, or ups and downs.

BANNIELS, baggage. " He's off wi' aa his banniels."

<

BANNOCK, a thick cake of oaten or barley meal kneaded with
water.

"The word is adopted from Gaelic bannach, query an adaption of Latin
panicium, formed on pcinis, bread." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

" A thick cake bak't before the fire." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse,
Newcastle, 1686, p. 62.

BANTY, BANTLIN, a bantam.

BAP, a baker's roll. " A penny bap " is a penny roll.

BAR, p.t. of bear. " He bar up like a man."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 35

BAR, naked. " He wis iv his bar skin."

BARBER-EEL, the viviparous b\enny,Zoarcesviviparus, Cnvier .

BAREBACKS, turnips with the tops cut off.

BARFIT, bare-footed, shoeless and stockingless.

BARGAIN, a piece of work to be done at a certain price.
Newc. Min. Gloss., 1852. Special work let by proposal,
amongst the workmen at a colliery, to the lowest offer.

In lead mining, "Miners generally take a certain length of ground,
extending either twelve, fifteen, or twenty fathoms, in which they propose
to raise ore, for a fixed time, at so much per bing, according to the
richness, quality, or hardness of the mine. These bargains are taken in
partnerships, consisting of from two to eight men." — Mackenzie, Hist, of
Northumberland, 1825, vol. i., p. 100.

BARGAIN-MEN, men who work by the bargain at special
work, such as stone or coal drifting, rolleyway making, &c.

BARGE-DAY, or BARGE-THURSDAY. Ascension-Day,
on which the Mayor and Corporation of Newcastle, with the
Master and Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, in their
respective State barges, rowed over the tidal limits of the
river Tyne from the Spar Hawk to Hedwin Streams, within
which the Corporation of Newcastle claimed right to the soil
of the river. As an annual custom this has been abandoned,
but is now carried out at longer intervals with little of the
ancient pomp and pageantry which formerly characterised it.
Compare GANG-WEEK.

"O would the Tyne but cease to flow,

Or, like a small burn, bubble
There would not be a barge-day now ;

Nor we have all this trouble ;
But here, alas, we sailing roam

About its conservation,
Instead of sleeping safe at home —
O what a Corporation ! "

R. Gilchrist, 1835, "A New Song for the Barge-Day."
Bards of the Tyne, p. 398.

BAR-GUEST. The Brag and the Bar-ghaist are both of them
local "boggles." See GUEST, GEYEST, and BRAG.

"Barghest. A.lsobarghaist, guest, ghost, gest, gaist [perhaps adapted from
German berg-geist, mountain demon, gnome; but by Scott referred to
German bahre, bier, hearse, and by others to German bar, bear, with
reference to its alleged form] . A goblin, fabled to appear in the shape of
a large dog, with various horrible characteristics, and to portend
imminent death or misfortune." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

36 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BARING, in a quarry, the superficial deposits or other beds
that have to be bared or removed. — Hugh Miller, Geology of
Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geological Survey Memoir, 1887.

BARISH, scanty, rather bare. "The cupboard wis barish"
" Thor wis a barish market the day." He's barish o' brass the
noo."

BARK, a cylindrical receptacle for candles; a candle-box. At
first it was only a piece of bark nailed up against the wall. —
HalliwelVs Diet.

BARK, to abrade the skin.
BARK, a bad cough.

BARKEN, BARCLE, to clot, to harden. "Let the blood
barken on the sare; it saves plaisters." Generally used in
connection with the coagulation of blood.

BARKER, a tanner. "The Incorporated Company of Barkers
or Tanners in Newcastle." (Obs.)

BARKHAAM, a draught-horse's collar. See BRA'AM and
BRIHAM.

BARLEY, to claim. The word is used in a curious sense,
almost always by children in play. The expressions, "He
barleyed that seat," "Aa barleyed the shul," mean that at
sight of the articles one has been first to cry out, "Barley
me that seat, or that shovel." The first to do so has a right
to the use of the article named, and it is a point of honour
among lads to acknowledge and give place to the one so doing.

BARLEY-BAY, BARLEY-FAA, or BARLEY-FAA-AN'-
KING'S SPEECH, a parley or truce; a temporary suspen-
sion of a game. The words always mean that the speaker
wishes the game to stop until some point of order is settled.
In the New Eng. Diet., barley is said to be "perhaps a corruption
of French parlez, English parley." This definition exactly
corresponds to the local use of the word. To barley a thing
is to speak first for it. Compare BARLEY above.

BARLEY-DUGGAR, a cake made of barley meal. Called
also Barley-dick.

BARMEKIN, or BARNEKIN. a fortified wall about a peel-
tower or castle. — Hodgson MS.

" The outermost ward of a castle, within which the barns, stables,
cowhouses, &c., were placed." — Halliwell's Diet.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 37

BARN-STYEN, the roof of the pit at the entrance of the
workings.

" Wor nose within the barn-styen set." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii.
1827, v. 31.

BARRAS, obsolete form of barrace, from the Old French barras,
f. barre bar, a barrier or outwork in front of a fortress, the bar
of a tribunal, a hindrance or obstruction, the enclosure within
which knightly encounters took place ; the lists. The word
in Barras Bridge in Newcastle is apparently derived from the
lists, or barras, where knightly encounters took place outside
the town in open field. Both ancient spelling and that surer
guide, the folk-speech, preserve to us the word barras, not the
barrows (or graves of the lepers), as a last century antiquary
ingeniously surmised.

BARRA-STYEN, the stones of the fireplace to which the bars
are fixed ; the stone seat in an " ingle neuk." This was
frequently a disused and inverted " creein trou" or "bear-
stone."

BARRATER, a brawler. (Obs.)

" For barratters or disorderly persons." — Presentments of offences
committed in the parish of Gateshead. — Rd. Welford, Hist, of N ewe. and
Gateshead, XVI. Cent., p. 458.

BARRIED, buried.

" Here a' wor bairns may christend be,

Wor lads and lasses married —
And when at last we droop and dee,
Here we may a' be harried. "

T. Wilson, Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826, v. 52.

BARRIER, a strong pillar of coal left between two royalties,
or between two districts of workings, for security against
casualty arising from water or foul air.

BARRIES, berries.
BARRIN-OOT. See NICHOLAS DAY.

BARROW, in a pit, the sledge, or tram, on which corves were
" hailed."

BARROW-COAT, BARRICOAT, an infant's first underdress,

38 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BARROW-MAN, a putter; one who puts the tubs of coals
from the working places to the cranes, flats, or stations,
whence they are taken by horses along the main or rolley-
ways to the shaft. — Gloss, of Coal Trade, 1849. The term
barrow-man is very old, for in a lease of five mines in the
Manor of Whickham, by Bishop Hatfield, in 1356, " cynq
barrowemen" — five barrow-men — are mentioned.

" Trams in a pit were formerly worked by putters and barrow-men, the
latter pulling before, and the former putting or thrusting behind : boys
about fifteen or sixteen years old are employed in this department of the
colliery." — A Description cf Felling Colliery previous to May 25, 1812, by
the Rev. John Hodgson.

" There is another sort of labourers which are called Barrow-men, or
Coal-Putters, these persons take the hewed coal from the hewers as they
work them, or as fast as they can, and filling the corves with these
wrought coals, put or pull away the full corves of coals, which are set,
when empty, upon a sledge of wood, and so "hailed" all along the
barrow-way to the pit shaft by two or three persons, one before and
another behind the corfe." — J.C., Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 36.

BARROW-PIG, a castrated boar.

BARROW-WAY, " an old term for tramway, originally from
the time when the coals were brought out from the workings
in barrows." — Min. Gloss. Newc. Terms, 1852.

" Corves are set upon a sledge of wood, and so "hailed" all along the
barrow-way to the pit shaft." — J.C., Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 36.

BARRY, to bury.

"A corp they're gaun to barry." — T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside,
1843.

BARRY, to thrash corn.

BARTLE-KNOT, the knot nearest the ground in straw.

BA-SANG ! MA-SANG! a common exclamation. " Ba-sang !
but he'll get it het noo."

BASEL, to run in a hurried and laborious manner. See
BAISEL.

BASELER, a person who takes care of neat cattle. — Brockett.
See BAISEL.

BASH, to drive or dint with violence. "Aa bashed me heed
again the top." " Hi, canny man, ye've bashed yor hat."
" She bashed the door i' me fyece."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 39

BASH, a heavy blow that beats or smashes in a surface. — Dr.
Murray, New Eng. Diet.

BASLARD, a long dagger, generally worn suspended from the
girdle. Hall, Henry VI., folio 101, mentions " a southerne
byl to contervayle a northern baslard," so that perhaps in his
time the weapon was more generally used in the North of
England. — HalliwelVs Diet. (Obs.)

BASON-CROP, hair of the head cut straight round.

Three apprentices, " showing themselves disobedient and very obstinate,
were first in open court (where a dish is said to have been kept, by the
edge of which their hair was cut round) made exemplary by shortninge
their hair." — Books of Merchant Adventurers, Newcastle, December 7, 1649.

BASS, the soft reeds from which bass-mats, &c., are made ; also
the mat made from bass, or fibre, and the foot-stool covered
with bass.

BASSET, to crop out as a seam of coal does. Used as a noun
it means an outcrop.

The great limestone "bassets out on the north bank of the Tees and
near Frosterley."— George Tate, Geol. of Northum. and Durham. — Trans,
of the Nat. Hist. Soc. of Northum. and Durham, vol. ii., new series, p. 12.

" The High Main bassets out in the cliffs between Cullercoats and
Tynemouth." — Mackenzie, Hist, of Northum., 1825, vol. i., p. 79.

" Its basset forms, in many instances, the limit of cultivated land."—
T. Sopwith, On the Mining District, p. 4. Quoted by George Tate above.

BASTARD, or BASTEY, applied to stone or minerals, means
impure or nondescript. Bastard limestone, impure limestone.
A " bastard sole " (or lemon sole) is the fish lemon dab,
Platessa microcephala, Flem.

" Bastard, thready whin.'' — Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 81. 'Bastard
whin ' is hard post or sandstone, but not so flinty as to be called ' whin.'

" ' Bastey, grey stone.' " — The same, A.B., p. 62.
BASTARD EAGLE, the osprey.

BASTE, to thrash soundly. Beyest [N. and S.] , Byest [T.] .
" Aa'll gie ye sic a byestin' as ye nivver gat i' yor life." To
brand sheep or cattle. See BEYST.

BASTEL-HOUSE, BASSEL-HOUSE, a fortified house, such
as is yet common on the Border. A typical example may be
seen at Thropton, near Rothbury. The ground floor is a
large apartment with vaulted roof. Over this are the living

4-O NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

rooms of the owner. The walls are of great thickness,
affording its inmates protection against a marauding party.
The Peel (or Pele) towers are castles on a small scale.

" Towns, towers, barnekynes, paryshe churches, bastell houses burned
and destroyed 192. Exploits done upon the Scots." — R. Welford, Hist, of
Newc , XVI. Cent., p. 219.

"Whalton was probably composed of bastle-houses, similar in their
construction to the Pele towers, though not so strong or well built ; and
inhabited by the vassals employed in cultivating the outlying farms." —
Rev. J. E. Elliot, Trans. Bks. Naturalists' Club, vol. vi., p. 235.

BASTILE, the workhouse.

BAT, a blow. " A bat o' the jaa."

" It ne'er could be brought to behaviour,
Though it has got many a bat."

The Midford Galloway's Ramble.

BAT, manner, state, condition. " At ony bat " — under any
circumstances. " If aa divvent gan this week aa'll gan the
next, at ony bat"

" Aa's just th1 aad-bat : aa's just th' aad-bat;

Thor's nowt aboot me ye may fear, lads ;
But elwis aa's glad, whether good time or bad,
Just to say— aa's aboot th' aad-bat."

Song, Th' A ad-bat.

BAT, a margin of land within the tide mark of floods or of the
spring tides.

" Various fisheries on the south side of the Tweed between Berwick
bridge and the sea are called Bats, such as ' Bailiff's bat,' ' Davie's bat,' &c.
Upon these fisheries (and also upon others not thus denominated) are
heaps of stones called bats, upon which the nets are drawn when there is
no means of landing them in the usual way (from the bank of the river
being steep)." — R. Weddell, Salmon Fishing in the River Tweed. —
Archceologia JEliana, vol. iv., quarto series, p. 307.

BATCH, a small lot of meal for family use. The hinds, when
paid in kind by corn, &c., took these small quantities to
the miller, who made them into batches. A baking of bread,
or as much as the oven will hold at one baking is called a
batch.

BATE, to abate in price, to lower in amount. "Aa winna
bate a penny."

BATE-WORK, in a pit, short work.

BATTABLE, debateable. " A battable ground lying between
two countries." — Hodgson's Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 342. See
DEBATEABLE-LANDS. Compare THREAP-LANDS.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 4!

BATTEN, to feed, to bring up. " To batten on yon moor."
After a confinement, all the "cronies" who had come to assist,
or to congratulate, were regaled with tea or spirits, according
to taste. As they began, the cup or glass was solemnly lifted
to the health of the father and mother, and a wish was
expressed in the formula of "a good battening to the bairn."

" ' A good battening to your bairn,' is a health drunk at christenings." —
Hodgson MS.

BATTEN, the straw of two sheaves folded together. — Brockett.

"A bundle of straw consisting of two or more sheaves." — Dr Murray,
New Eng. Diet.

BATTER, a drinking bout. "He's on the batter agyen."
BATTERED, tired. «' Aa's fair battered an' deun."

BATTERY, an embankment. — Gloss, of Min. Terms, Newcastle,
1852.

BATTLE, BITTLE, to beat cloth. See BEETLE.

" A very large whinstone in the Hart is called the battling-stone, from its
being used to beat or battle the lie out of the webs upon it in the bleaching
season." — Hodgson's Northumberland, pt. 2, vol. ii., p. 12. note col. i.

BATTLE-DOOR, a kind of barley, known also as sprat-barley.
" Said to be so-called from the flatness of the ear." — Halliwell's Diet.

BATTLEDORE, the name for the old "horn book." It was
simply a flat board with a handle like a battledore. On the
wide face of this a card was fastened, having ABC and other
elementary characters upon it. To protect the card from
the constant contact of the wooden skewer used as a pointer
in teaching, a sheet of horn was nailed over the face. Hence
the name "horn book." Battledore is transferred to the
folding child's alphabet card, still for sale (1891) in book-
sellers' shops.

BATTOCKS, flat grounds, or " haughs," by a riverside.

BATTY, a small cake. " Thoo shall hev a spice batty on tha
borthday."

BAUGH [N.] , tired out, exhausted. Compare BAFF, BAFF-

ENDED.

42 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BAUGHLIN, reproaching, taunting. The inhabitants of
Tynedale and Redesdale were in former days given to
baughling, or reproaching, an adversary — daring him to fight.
(Obs.)

" Baughling at the meetings of the Scotch and English wardens, as it
frequently led to blows, was prohibited under the penalty of a month's
imprisonment." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 138 — note.

" Any band, or promise, or bauchling, that might be made." — Laws o
the Marches.

BAULK. See BAAK.

BAWBER, a salmon poacher. — Berwick.

BAXTER, a baker.

BAY, the imaginary enclosure or place of safety in outdoor
games. " Thoo canna catch me, noo aa's i' the bay"

BAZE, to alarm, to puzzle. — Brockett. See BUMBAZED.

BEADSMAN, one who offers up prayers for the welfare of
another. — HalliweWs Diet. The Hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene at Newcastle provides for "three poor beadsmen."
A petitioner : —

" Your poor orators and bcdemen, the burgesses within the commonalty
of Gateshead."— R. Welford, Hist, of N ewe., XVI. Cent., 1526, p. 54.

BEAGLE, a beadle.

" It. pd- for the belmans Cote and the beagle's and the piper's cots,
£i. 133. icd." — Gateshead Church Boohs, 1633.

" Pd. to the beltnan for burieing the'old beagell, 4d." — The same, 1634.

" Blind Willy slawly led the band,

As beagle o' the way, man ;
A staff he carried in his hand,
An' shook his heed se grey, man."

Thomas Marshall, d. 1869, Liickey's Dream.

BEAK, the nose, the face.

" To the beak o' the second aw held up me fist." — Bob Cranky's Account
of the Balloon, 1815.

" We'll get penny loaves, an' drink tiv wor beak.'"— Old song, Collier's
Rant.

BEAK, to warm at the fire.

BEAKIN-FULL, full to repletion.— Brockett. See BOUKIN.

BEAKS, a punishment inflicted upon the loser in a game of
marbles, by " firing" a marble at the knuckles.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 43

BEAK-STICKS, BAKE-STICKS, a triangular frame of wood
or iron, resembling a small easel, with a prop at the back, for
holding girdle cakes in front of the fire to finish the baking,
or sometimes to warm an old cake.

BEAKY, having a prominent nose.
BEAL, to roar, to bellow. — Brockett.
BEAL, to suppurate, to gather. See BEELD.

BEAM-BIRD, or BEE-BIRD, the spotted flycatcher—
Musicapa grisola, Linn.

BEANGER, anything larger than ordinary of its kind. —
Brockett. See BANGER.

BEANS, small coals, so-called from their size. Duff is the
smallest coal left after screening ; peas are next in size ; beans
next grade higher ; then nuts, — roondy coal being the largest
in size.

BE- AR, the pronunciation of bear.

BEAR, barley; the original English name, in later times
retained only in the North — hence specially applied to the
coarse variety (Hordeum hexastichon or tetrastichon), — with six
(or four) rows of grain in its ear, till lately chiefly cultivated
in the North ; also distinguished as bear-barley and bigg. —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. See BIGG.

BEARDY-LOACH, the loach fish, Colitis barbotula, Linn.
Called also the " Tommy Lodger."

BEARING-DOOR, a main door in a pit which forces the air
through an entire district. — Greenwell.

BEAR-STONE, a husking trough for bear or barley ; called
also "creein trou."

BEAR-THE-BELL, to be pre-eminent.

" Still Piper Tony bears the bell," — Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 20.

BEAS, BEESS, BEACE, BEES, beasts. " Torn thor beess,
lad."

BEASTIE, diminutive of beast,

44 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BEASTLINS, BEASTINS, the first milk of a newly-calved
cow. From this is sometimes made a " beastlin puddin," which
is considered a delicacy. Compare HEFT, 2.

BEAT, to feed a fire with fuel. See BEET.

BEAT, p. Bet, p.p. Betten, to excel, to surpass, to overcome in
contest. " Aa'll gie ye the start an' beat ye." " Renforth bet
ivvorybody." "Aa wis fair betten and deun for." To go
beyond our comprehension, to puzzle. " It beats me what
he's gan te de wid."

" Of a' the plagues a poor man meets,

Alang life's weary way,
There's nyen amang them a' that beats
A rainy weshin' day."

T. Wilson, The Washin' Day, 1843.

" Hoo aa got up aloft, it wad beat me to tell." — James Horsley, Geordy's
Dream,

BEAT, to bruise the feet with excessive walking. " A bet foot "
is a foot bruised by walking.

"Constant hard working horses are subject to beat or founder to their
feet or leggs." — The Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 34.

A bet-hand, " a hand which, from being vesicated or blistered with
hard work, has festered." — Greenwell.

BEATER, a tool for beating down stemming on a charge of
powder for a blast in a coal pit ; also a stone used for braying
sand.

BEATMENT, a measure holding a quarter-peck. It was
formerly in general use in the district, especially in the retail
sale of vegetables and coals. The measure was commonly
made of wood staves hooped, with a division so placed that
at one end up a beatment could be meted and at the other
half-a-beatment. Another form of the word occurs as
beakment. At Hexham the measure was double the size of the
Newcastle beatment ; hence the proverb — " Hexham measure,
heaped full, an' runnin ower."

" Aa's still sair beset,
Coals is threepence a beatment, and nyen for te get."

Ed. Corvan, d. 1865, The Rise in Coals.

BEAUMONT, the name of a seam of coal. See ENGINE SEAM.
It obtains these names from the enterprising gentleman
named Beaumont.

"Master Beaumont, a gentleman of great ingenuity and rare parts,
adventured into our mines with his thirty thousand pounds ; who
brought with him many rare engines not known then in these parts." —
Grey's Choyogyapia, 1649.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 45

BEAUMONTAGUE, BOMONTAGU, a mixture of tar and
china clay, beaten up hard and used in stemming acid
condensers and stone acid tanks and cisterns in chemical
works.

BEB, to act as croupier in the gambling game of " pitch and
toss." The bebber is one who gathers in the pennies ; generally
the one who has lost and does this to earn something to start
the "school" again, should his employer win.

BECAM, became,/./.

BECK, a small stream. This term, which is found in Danish and
Norwegian settlements in England, occurs about sixty-three
times in the county of Durham. Thirty-eight of these are
within the Tees district. In Northumberland it is represented
in the solitary case of the " River Wansbeck," and in this it
is questionable whether the second syllable is beck. In A.D.
1139 it is called Wenespic and Winispic; in time Henry III.
Wanspic ; in Henry VI. it is Wanspike and Wanspyke ; in
1568, Wanspek ; and in 1604 it occurs as Wanspicke ; in Speed's
map of 1610 it is Wanspek; and in 1632, Waynspecke.

BECK, to nod the head and cluck as a strutting cock does —
"The muircock he becks in his wild mossy hame"; or a jerk
of the head like the action of a horse with weak legs.
"It becks."

" The muircock's beck could I but hear."

Jas. Armstrong, Aid Crag, 1879.

BECKER, a wooden dish — Northumberland. — Halliwell. See
BICKER.

BECK-NAILS, thin, flat nails, 2 to 5^ inches long, used for
nailing spouting for water wheels, &c.

BECRIKE, by Christ ! a profane exclamation which is often
heard as becrikey ! or crikey !

"Od'smarcy! wey, marrow, becrike, it's Lord "Size!" — J. Shield, My
Lord 'Size. — Allan's Collection, p. 158.

BED. Such a one has " getten her bed" is the universal term
used in speaking of a woman's being confined.

BED, the foundation of a wall or cribbing. — Gloss. ofNewc. Min.
Terms, 1852.

BEDDY, in soft layers, applied to stone. " Beddy freestone"
is thus distinguished from a compact, granular deposit.

46 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BEDESFOLK, the inhabitants of religious houses or alms-
houses, who offered up prayers for the repose of the founders.
See BEADSMAN.

" ' The hospital of our Lady called West Gate Spital, within the town
of Newcastle, was founded, as it is reported, by the inhabitants of the
town of Newcastle,' for the purpose, among other objects, of keeping
'six beadfolhs in the almshouse there.' " — Richard Welford, Hist, of N ewe.
in XVI. Cent., p. 235.

Item: " To the bede-folk at certain times, 55. rod.; for twenty chalder
of coals to the bede-folk, iys. 4d." — The same, p. 202.

BEDFAST, bedridden.

BED-GOON, bed-gown, a short loose-fitting jacket, worn by
women in the hay-field or harvest-field.

BE-DRITTEN. defiled with ordure.— Brockett.

BEDS, a children's game, generally called " hitchey-dabber."

BEDSTICK, a stick used to straighten the bed-clothes in the
box-beds, which used to be common in the country.

BEDSTOCK, the "stock," or strong side timber of a bedstead.

" An' i' the twinklen of an e'e,
Was fairly ower the bedstock bangin'."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 14.

BEDSTOCKS, a boys' game. In this game sides are formed,
and the lads on one side give chase to those on the other.
When a capture is made the pursuer spits over the head of
his prey, the captive is put into a marked-off place, and the
capturer places his foot on a spot about two yards off. Here
the captive shouts lustily to his side, "relieve a marrow!"
As each is brought in, his capturer takes the place of the
lad on guard, and one can hold several captives. But if one
of the side that is being chased can manage to run through
between the guard and his captives, the whole of his side are
" relieved," and they run off. The game becomes increasingly
difficult to the side that is "out" as further captures are made,
because the capturers leave only one of their number on guard,
and have thus a constant strength to pursue the diminishing
numbers of the "out" side. This is the game known else-
where as " Prisoner's Base."

BEE-BAA, to lull asleep.

"The wind bee-bawed, aw whish'd me squeels,
An yence mair aw was murry."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's IVhurry.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 47

BEE-BIKE, a wild bee's nest.

BEE-BIRD, the spotted flycatcher, Butalis grisola, Linn.

BEEL, or BEELD, to build.

"He beds his aan boat.'' — J. P. Robson, Harry Clasper, 1849.

BEELD, to gather, to suppurate. When a swelling or
gathering occurs, the part is said to beeld. A built or beelt
hand is a swollen hand, and it is said to be hove — that is,
raised.

BEELD, the shelter for cattle. "The beeld side" of a house
or fence, is that opposite to the wind or storm. Bedds for
sheep, &c., are common on the high moors in Northumberland.
They are circular or cross walls of earth or stone. — Hodgson
MS. Compare STELL, SHEEP-STELL, SHEAL.

BEELDY, sheltered from cold. " Aa've gettin a beeldy place."
BEELEY, the Christian name Isabella.
BEER, BE-AR, the pronunciation of bear.
BEERTH, birth.

BEES.

" It is never considered lucky to be the sole owner of bees. A man
and a woman, not man and wife, should be partners. If either should
die, some one should go at midnight, tap each hive three times, and
desire the bees to work for their new master or mistress, as the case may
be." — Rev. J. F. Bigge, Superstitions at Stamfordham. — Trans, of Tyneside
Naturalists' Field Club, 1860-62, vol. v., p. 91.

BEES, the second and third persons singular of the present
tense of the verb to be, sometimes heard in Northumberland.
" What bees thoo deein? " The sound is sometimes shortened
to bis — " He bis ne use at aall."

BEESEN, BEEZEN, blind.— Brockett.
BEE-SKEP, a beehive — made of straw.
BEESTLINS, BEESTINS. See BEASTLINS.

BEET, the bit of a bridle. " Tyek the beets," said to a horse
unwilling to admit the bits into his mouth.

48 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BEET, to feed a fire with fuel. This word is most applicable
to straw, heath, fern, furze, and especially to the husk of oats
when used for heating the girdles on which oaten cakes are
baked. — Hodgson MS.

" 'To beet a fire.1 The development of this (the chief extant) sense,
the antiquity of which is shown, not merely by the O.S.ff/r beton, but by
its existence in the other Teutonic languages (compare Dutch vuur boeten,
Low German fur bitten, etc.), is somewhat obscure, from the fact that in the
earliest instances it appears to mean, not ' to mend a fire,' but as in
modern Dutch, ' to make, kindle, put on a fire." Perhaps this is to be
explained by the primitive conditions (which prevailed more or less till
the days of phosphorus matches), according to which fire was not
generated anew each time it was required, but was usually propagated by
a ' glede ' from an existing fire, often carried and kept alive for days
(compare Genesis xxii., 6), which was surrounded with combustibles,
and 'beeted' into a blaze, when a fire was required." — Dr. Murray, New
Eng. Diet.

BEET-HAMMER, a mason's hammer, having a flat face at
one end and a point at the other.

BEETLE, BITTLE, an instrument used for beating in the
washing of clothes ; a potato masher. See BATTLE.

BEET-NEED, a resource in extremity. " We'll not have to
use it except as a beet-need"

BEFAA, befal.

BEGGAR, a term of address to a familiar. " Where's the
little beggar gan te ?"

" The Skipper saw'd first, and he gov a greet shout,
How, beggar, man, Dick, here's a grunstone afloat."

W. Armstrong, d. 1883-4, Floatin' Grunsfan.

BEGOCK, BEGOX, an exclamation meaning by Gox, or by
God. The word in other combinations is heard as Cocks.
See EXCLAMATIONS.

" Cock, a vulgar corruption, or purposed disguise of the name of God,
in favour oi pious ears, which in early times were not yet used to the
profanation of it. Hence by cock, by cock and pie, and such softened oaths.
We find also cock's passion, cock's body, and other allusions to the Saviour,
or his body, as supposed to exist in the Host ; and when that belief was
discarded, the expression still remained in use. ' By cocfce they are to
blame." — Hamlet, iv. 5. ' By cock and pye.' Justice Shallow's famous
oath, adds the pie, or sacred book of offices, to the former name." —
Nave's Gloss.

" Whei clavers biv the chimlay reek
Begox, it's all a homey."

J. Thompson, d. 1816, Jimmy Joneson's Whurry.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 49

BEGUED, began.

"But suddenly begued a feast,
And after that begued a fray."

Jos. Rumney, " Ecky's Mare."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812.

BEHINT, behind, but oftener A hint.

" Wi' Sir Tommy before and the sailors behint."

Song, " When Sir Tommy made an Oddfellow."

Marshall's Collection, 1823, p. 12.

BELAA, BELAW, below, or in the pit.

" Wor skipper was tyekin his pipe doon belaw." — E. Corvan, d. 1865,
Keel on Fire.

"When they're duen wi' roads belaw,
May they find that to heaven."

T. Wilson, Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826, v. 67.

BELCH, a rapid discharge of gas in a pit. — Brockett.

BELDE, to build ; p.t. Mdeet.

" God presarve Wmfroira Erengton belldete this brege of lyme and
stone, 1581." — Inscription on Linnet's Bridge, Dilston.

BELIKE, perhaps. " Ye'll be gannin' hyem noo belike?"

" Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear."

Wordsworth, Pet Lamb.

BELIKELY, likely. An emphatic use of the word, " Are ye
gannin'?" "Not belikefy."

BELIVE, presently. "Aa'll be there belive." The * is long.
See BELYVE.

BELK, to belch.

"To bealke or breake wynde oute of the stomake." Elyot, word
Eructo. — Halliwell's Diet.

BELLASES, bellows.
BELL-DUCK, the coot. Holy Island.

BELL-PIT, a pit sunk where the mine lies very near the
surface. It is worked away in every direction round the
bottom of the shaft like a bell. — Gveenwell.

BELL-POOT, the coot, FuKca atm, Linn. Also called Bell-
duck and Bald-coot.

BELLUM, a blast. "Turning the corner, I met a great belhnn
of wind." [Long Framlington.]

p

5O NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BELLY, to bulge outward.

BELLYBAND, a girth to secure a cart saddle.

BELLYFLAPPER, a blow on the stomach given by falling
flat on the water in diving.

BELLY-FLAUTS, the fashion of mounting a bare-backed
horse. "He gat on belly -flauts"

BELLYFULL, a common term for a repletion of anything.
" Ye'll get a belly full on him afore he's deun taakin', noo."

" Here an awd wife on a stuil,

And there an awd man on a chair,
Enjoyin' all a bellyfull

Of laughin', at ma stories rare."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 102.

BELLY-RIM, the lower part of the abdomen, where the basin
of the pelvis is surrounded at its "rim," with the sack
containing the bowels. " He's brust his belly-rim."

"The rim of the belly is said to be broken when its muscles are
lacerated or violently sprained. Rim means the circumference of any
round thing." — Hodgson MS.

BELLY- STEND, a stick used by butchers to keep open the
belly when they are taking the inside out of an animal.

BELLY-TIMMER, food.

" Scott puts this word into the mouth of a distinguished euphuist." —

Halliivell's Diet.

" This was the kind o' belly-timmer,
For myekin pitmen strang and tuiff."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 3.

BELLY-WARK, the belly-ache, the cholic.
BELT, built, p.p. See BELDE.

BELYVE, speedily, soon, in a short time. — Hodgson MS.

" To make them all merry belyve."

Song, The Hare Skin.

" Aboot the bush, Willy, aboot the beehive
Aboot the bush, Willy, I'll meet thee belyve."

Song, Aboot the Bush, Willy.

BEN, in, into. "Come ben the hoose." See BUT-AN-BEN.

"When doors stand open dogs comeben." — Joco-Serious Discourse , 1686.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 5!

BEND-AWAY or BEND-UP, a signal in a pit, given to raise
up, or set away. "Bend-off!" — lift gently.

"Bend, to strain, brace, tighten, wind up, bring into tension (like a
strung bow or wound up harquebus)." — Dr. Murray, Bend, v. 3, New
Eng. Diet.

" 'Bend-vp,' or 'Bend-up a bit!' an order given by the person in charge
to raise the cage slowly, so that it may be instantly stopped on the order
1 Hold ! ' being given." — Greenwell.

BEND-LEATHER, the leather of a "bend," that is, the
thickest and stoutest kind of leather (from the back and
flanks), used for soles of boots and shoes ; sole leather. —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. Bendy-leather applied to ice in a
half-thawed condition. In that state it is elastic and will bear
a considerable weight without breaking-in. Children run or
slide over it repeating the following doggerel couplet : —

" Bendy-leather's good to beer,
Tyek a heart an' nivver fear."

BENNEL [N.], a long reedy grass (Arundo phragmitis, L.)
growing in stagnant rivers or burns. "Green as a bennel."
Beimels were layers of this reed woven together and stretched
below the rafters of cottages to serve as a ceiling.

BENSE, a cow stall.

BENSEL, to bang or beat.— Ray's Gloss.

BENT, a coarse kind of grass, usually growing on wet land, or
on sand hills upon the seashore; hence "the Bents," a name for
grassy sand dunes. Under the generic name of Bent we have
Bent-grass, Ayrostis vulgaris; the Bent, Ammophila avundinacea.
The Cavex avenavia of the coast is called Sea.-bent. Juncus
squarrosus is called Rose-bent and Stool-bent, and the large
tough patches formed by it are called Benty-knots. The
Molinia ccerulea is called ~Broad-bent and Flying-bent. Nardus
stricta is called Wire-bent and Black-fowtf.

" Lay the bent to the bonny broom." — Old song.

"'The Bent' is used for 'a place covered with grass, as opposed to
a wood ; a bare field, a grassy plain, unenclosed pasture-land, a heath.'" —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

"Bomen bickarte uppone the bent
With ther browd arars cleare."

"Yet bydys the Yerle Doglas uppon the bent."

Chevy Chase, 1500.

"Half the island — Lindisfarne — is now under cultivation; the rest is
covered with sand — through which the long, thick, wiry bent shoots up
luxuriantly."— Rev. Provost Consitt, Life of St. Cnthbert, 1887, p. 50,

52 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BEO, a not uncommon pronunciation of lie or bee in
Northumberland. "Aa'll beo there the morn."

BERRY, to thresh by flail. "He's been berryin' aa the day."
The e has the old sound of a — and the word is spoken Barry.
See BARRY.

" Hence berrier, or thresher, and the berrying-stead., the threshing
floor." — Ray's Gloss.

BERRY-BROWN, nut-brown ale.

" Had I but kenn'd aw, when I was in the town,
I'ad spent t'other groat on the brisk berry-brown.

Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 3.

The town here referred to is Newcastle, which was at one
time so famous for its nut-brown beer as to inspire the poet
Cunningham to write verses in its praise.

BERTHY, rich, fruitful ; applied to land.

BERWICK SAUCE, the water in which a salmon has been
boiled, served up with the fish as sauce. See DOVER.

BESEEK, to beseech.

BESSY, a character taken by one in a company of sword
dancers at Christmas. One of the men is absurdly dressed
up in women's clothes, and carries round the hat whilst the
performance proceeds.

" Wor Mall cam heym the t'other neet
Dres't like a ' Bessie ' — sic a seet."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Wor Mally Turned Bloomer.

BESTED, overcome in a struggle. We do not say that a man
has been "worsted," but "bested" ; or we say "he bested
his marrow at the job." " Jack bested Tom." " Tom was bested
by Jack."

BET, beaten, surpassed.

" Bet by nyen." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. Hi., v. 123.
" His marrow declar'd he was bet." — Song, The Masquerade.
" There's native bards in yon town,
For wit and humour seldom bet."

W. Watson, " Thumping Luck."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. m.

BET, bruised by heavy walking. " He canna gan se fast ; he
hes a bet foot."

BETTER-END, a majority. " The better-end o' Catton canna
get thor brikfasts till the hens lays." This is a joke at the
expense of the good folks of Catton.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 53

BETTERMER, superior, better. " Aa seed him last neet, an
thowt he leuk'd iv a bettermer way."

" The shape an air o' yen
O' raither bettermer condition."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 4.

BETTERMOST, superlative form of the above. " Aa think
ye've getten the bettennost yen."

BETTERNESS, superior, eminent.
" A betterness kind of body." — Brochett.

BETWATTLED, confounded, overpowered, stupefied,
infatuated. — Brockett.

BEVEL, aslant, aslope, not straight ; as " a bevel-eye," an eye
with a cast or slanting look.

BEYEN [S.] , BYEN [T.] , a bone.

" Aw toil maw byens." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, ed. 1872, p. 10.

BEYETH [S.] , BYETH [T.] , both.

BEYST, BE-UST, a branding iron. See BYEST.

BEYST, to mark cattle or sheep.

BEYUK [S.], BYUK [T.] , a book. This is generally spelt

bulk.

BEYUL, BYUL, BOOL, a bowl, a smooth spherical stone
used in bowling.

BEYUN [S.] , BYUN [T.] , above, beyond. Abbreviated form
of abeyun or aboon. "It's byun ten 'ear sin he left."

BEYUT, to boot ; anything given in addition to make up the
value in a case of barter. For instance, in bartering horses,
the man with the inferior one will say, " Aa'll gie ye five pund
te beyut." That is, he gets the horse he wishes to purchase
by giving his own in exchange, and five pounds added (te beyut}.
The word is sounded as beyut in S. Northumberland, and as
byut in Tyneside. In tenancy, the added right to take hay,
firing, etc., from the waste.

" 1530, August 4, Warkworth Castle. — Letters patent of Henry, Earl
of Northumberland, to Carmelite Friars at Hulne, giving manse there
with 20 marks annually, with the fishery, ' and housebote, haybote, fire-
bote,' &c." — Proceedings of Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, vol. iii., p. 184.

54 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BEYUT (be-yut) [S.] , BYUT [T.] , a boot.
" Luik'd amang the buits and shoes."

Song, The Pitman's Ramble.

BI, by. The * is pronounced very short, as in bit. Bi is used
before a consonant, as, " Bi this and bi that." When a
vowel follows, Biv is used, as, " It wis deun biv a chep i'
Gyetside." Or occasionally the euphonious Bin occurs before
a vowel, as in the sentence, " To be bet bin a bit tape-worm
iv a chep."

BI HIS SEL, distracted, lunatic. "The man's fairly bi his
sel." " Past his sel " is the commoner form.

BIBBER, to tremble to shake. See BIVVER.

BICKER, "a small wooden dish, or vessel, made of staves and
hoops like a tub." — Hodgson MS. A tumbler glass. This
word seems to be the Northern name for beaker. Compare
BOWIE.

" Our friend Bowrie is still able to bend a bicker. Long may he live to
teem a cog." — Dr. Charlton, North Tynedale.

" Scotch form of beaker. Formerly, a drinking cup of any material ;
in modern Scotch applied also to vessels made of wooden staves for
holding porridge, &c." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

BICKER, to skirmish, exchange blows ; to fight.

" Said especially of archers and slingers before the battle was
joined." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

"Bomen bickarie uppone the bent." — Chevy Chase.

"At every such bickering some of them spent their lives, yet by such
meaning, like pretty men, they defended their country." — Bishop Ridley
to Latimer, 1555.

BICK-IRON, a light anvil (originally a two-horned anvil —
Ucornia), corruption from bickern — " altered first in form, and
then in sense, by popular etymology." — Dr. Murray, New
Eng. Diet.

BID. BIDDEN, p.t. and p.p. of bide, to stay, to remain, to
abide. " He had bidden ower lang i' the watter when he was
oot fishin." See BIDE.

BID, to invite, to command. The peculiar usage of this word
is that it is only descriptive of an invitation to which there is
no refusal. Such ceremonies as a wedding or a funeral were
both of them festivals which admitted of no excuse. Hence
the command which the word conveys. "Aa's bid tiv aad
Anty's funeral the morn" (p.t. bad, p.p. boden). "He was
boden ti gan."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 55

BID, BEDE, to pray. Hence a bedes-man, one that prays for
others; and those little globules with which they number
their prayers are called bedes. — Ray.

BIDDABLE, obedient. It is alike applied in describing an
obedient child, or horse, or dog. "It's that biddable, leuk ye,
ye can de owt wi'd."

BIDDERS, the friends who went round to invite their neigh-
bours to a funeral. The custom is now nearly disused.

" The friends of the deceased, as well as the neighbours, are generally
invited to the funeral by bidders dressed in black silk scarfs." — Mackenzie,
Hist, of Northumb., 1825, vol. i., p. 206.

BIDDY, a louse.

BIDDY, Bridget ; hence an Irishwoman, from the common
Irish Christian name of Bridget.

BIDE, to endure, to stand, to abide, to wait. " Aa canna bide
yon chep." "It'll not bide handlin." "It'll bide wor time,
onyway." "Bide a bit." In past tense, bid. "WefoWat
hyem." Past part., bidden. " He's bidden lang." Bedden is
sometimes heard. "Ye should ha' bedden till aa cam."

"Substantiate that wad bide some cuttin." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay,
1829, pt. iii., v. 108.

BIELD, a shelter, that is, a place builded. See BEELD, 2.
BIG, BYG, to build. See BIGGIN.

BIG, important, swollen with pride, elated ; as big bug, a
consequential person. In the Pvicke of Conscience occurs the
passage : —

" Now er we bigg, now er we bare,
Now er we hale, now seke and sare."

BIGG, barley. See BEAR.

" More particularly that variety which has four rows of grain on each
ear." — Hodgson MS.

"The four-rowed barley, an inferior but hardier variety of the six-
rowed or winter barley (Hordeum hexastichon), of rapid growth, and suited
to inferior soils and more northern latitudes. (Barley is generic ; bear
includes the six-rowed and four-rowed kinds ; bigg, the four-rowed only.
But bear interchanges in local use, now with barley, now with bigg)." —
Dr. Murray, New Eiig. Diet.

"Good Big-malt is to be Sold, at as 6d., per Bushell, by Robeit
Sorsbie, Newc., &c." — Advt. in Newcastle Courant, Aug. 2gth, 1713.

" The word survives in the street name of Bigg Market, in Newcastle,
which is anciently called 'the Bere market.' " — R. Welford, Hist, of Newc.,
XVI. Cent., p. 211.

56 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BIGGEN, to recover after lying in.

"I wish you a good bigening," that is, a good getting up again after
lying in. — Kay's Gloss.

BIGGIN, a building. Newbiggin is a common place-name in
Northumberland. Biggin in a pit is a built-up pillar of stone,
&c., for support to a roof. "Biggin the gob" means building
a pack in a worked-out place in a pit.

" Lay him ahint the biggin." — Surtees, Ballad of Featherstonehaugh.

BIKE, a bee's nest. See BYKE.

BILDER, a large wooden mallet, with a long handle, used in
husbandry for breaking clods. — Brockett.

BILDERT, a term of contempt.
"Ye little bildert."— Brockett.

BILE, a boil.

"It is found in the early editions of Shakspeare, and in most early
writers." — Halliwell's Diet.

BILL, a large headless nail used for boot heels. Compare
SPARBILL.

BILL, to keep account.

" Then comes the care
To find that all is rightly bill'd."

Thos. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, ed. 1872, p. 3.

BILL, the pit pay-sheet.

" Eight or a dozen men's earnings are put into one bill, as they call it."—
Thos. Wilson, note to foregoing.

BILL-DAY, the day on which the viewer examines the colliery
account.

BILLET-HEAD, a cleat by which a keel is moored when
lying still in the river.

BILLIE, BILLY, fellow, companion, comrade, mate. "Ah,
ye silly billy," is a very common phrase. See BULLY.

"It has been compared with Bully and German buhle, but to little
purpose." — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

"And now, dear Billy, this is right." (" Billy, brother," in margin.) —
Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 62.

" Your son's a lad, and he's but bad,
And billie to my son he canna be."

The Bewick and the Graeme, 1750.
" Now, Jock, my billie, quo' all the three,
The day is corned thou was to dee."

Jock o' the Syde.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 57

BILL-KNIFE, a cleaver. An indispensable instrument in a
farm-house. It has probably retained its name from being
similar in shape to the ancient bill-knife.

BIN, by. Bi, biv, bin, are used interchangeably in the dialect,
as euphony suggests. See Bi.

BIN, used for are in the sentence "Hoo bin ye the day?"
and in an imperative sense in "Shyem bin ye," that is, shame
be to you. It is used also in anger, as "Ah, bin ye!" a mild
form of curse, like "Sink ye!" or "Sink yor impittence!" but
in this we have probably an obscure abbreviation.

BIN, BIND (pronounced with short *', as in wind), to bind, to
apprentice; to engage by agreement; past, bund. "He wis
nowther to had nor to bin," you could neither hold nor bind
him.

BINDIN, the pitman's hiring or engagement. Previous to 1884,
the bindin was for a year, but after that time the engagement
was on the basis of monthly notice of the termination of the
agreement. Keelmen also made an annual bindin with the
coal fitters.

BINDIN-MONEY, earnest money given to a collier on being
bound, formerly a considerable bonus, but now reduced to
2s. 6d. or 35. — Brockett, 3rd ed., 1846.

BING, a heap of grain, a wooden receptacle, a bin. "The corn
bing," "The hay bing," &c.

BING, a measure of lead ore — 8 cwts.

" To Mr. Fenwick, of Morpeth, for every 7th bing in Sattling — stones
groove, £106 igs. njd." — Hodgson's Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 363.

BING-HOLE, a hole through which lead ore is thrown.

BING-STEED, the place where lead ore is laid ready for
smelting.

BINK, BENK, a shelf, particularly a long flat slab of stone
fixed to a wall, used either as a seat or as a shelf. — Dr. Murray,
(Bink, 3), NewEng. Diet. On shipboard, a bunk is the equivalent
of the word.

"According to Kennett, the bink of a coal pit is 'the subterraneous
vault in a mine.' " — HalliwelVs Diet.

BINOO, by this time. " Aa thowt he'd been here binoo." Not
to be confounded with yenoo^ enough.

58 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BIRD'S-EYES, the germander speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys.
Bird's-eye is also one of the names of the Geranium Robertianum,
the Herb Robert, or " Fox," or " Wild-geranium," as it is
sometimes called.

BIRK, BRICK, the birch tree ; BIRKEN, birch. Birh-buzzom
is a birch besom.

"They made a bier of the birken boughs." — R. Surtees, Barthram's
Dirge.

"The birk tree grows aboon his grave." — The same.
"They hunted high, they hunted low,
By heathery hill and birken shaw."

The Death of Parcy Reed.

BIRKIE, a brisk, active, energetic person: not a term of
opprobrium.

BIRL, BIR-REL, to make a noise, like the rapid turning of a
wheel. Probably from the sound. — Brockett. Hurl has the
same meaning, and the two words probably give the
representative sound of hurly-burly, or in Northumberland

horley-borley.

BIRR, to emit a whirring noise; to move rapidly with such a
noise. — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

BIRSE, a bristle or strong hair twisted on to the wax thread
used in sewing leather. A three-cornered chisel for squaring
out mortice holes. "To set up their birses" is to assume a
hostile attitude.

BIRSEL, to crackle in cooking. See BRIZZLE. " Well birselled,"
well dried by the sun or scorched by fire.

BISHEL, a bushel.

BISHOP, to burn food in cooking by allowing it to adhere to
the pan.

" When a dumpling, hasty-pudding, potatoes, &c., have sitten on to the
bottom of the pan in which they are boiled, they are said to be bishopped,
a punning translation of the word confirmatus. A person who is now said
to be confirmed, in the ecclesiastical meaning of the word, was in former
times said to be bishopped ; in Latin, confirmatus, which is also expressive
of a dumpling's adhering to the bottom of apan."(!) — S. Oliver, Rambles
in Northumberland, 1835, p. 131 — note.

" Bishop, ^th, To let milk, &c., burn while cooking. In allusion to the
proverb, 'The bishop has put his foot into it.' ["1536, 'Tindale Works,'
166 (T). If the porage be burned to, or the meate over rested, we say
the bishop hath put his foote in the potte, or the bishop hath played the
cooke, because the bishops burn who they lust and whosoever displeaseth
them."]" — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 59

BISHOP. In making glue it is poured into trays to cool, then
laid on a table, where it is cut with an instrument, not unlike
a bow, having a brass wire as its string, into three pieces.
When the women by mistake cut only two, that which is
double the size is called a bishop, and doomed to be melted
over again. — Impartial Hist, of Newc., 1801.

BISON. See BIZEN.

BIT. i. Small ; lovingly used for diminutive or homely things.
" An innocent bit lass." " Aa did what bit thing aa could for
him." " Aa waddent he' minded, but, ye see, aa had me bit
better things on."

" She cloots the bits o' bairns aboot." — T. Wilson, The IVeshin Day,
1843.

" Aa gat the bits o' bairns to bed." — T. Wilson, Market Day, 1854.
" She tells me all her bits o' news." — Pitman's Pay, 1826, p. 14.

2. Short. "A bit twine."

"Yen neet he gat a bit waak tiv hissel." — Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 9.

" Set thine hand to this bit writing." — Joco-Sevious Discourse, Newcastle
1686, p. 62.

3. A short time.

" Ses aa, had on a bit." — His Other Eye, 1880, p. 2.

BIT AN' BRAT, food and clothing.

" Maw canny bairns luik pale and wan,
Their bits and brats are varry scant."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, ed. 1872, p. u.

BITCH, to spoil a piece of work. Ye've bitched the hyel job."
Or, as a substantive, " Ye've myed a bitch on't."

BITCH, BECHE, an instrument made of iron, and having
some resemblance to the extinguisher of a candle, used for
extracting bore-rods when they break.

BITCH-AND-PUPS, a mason's hammer used for "scabbling"
stones, having one chisel inserted at each end of its face.

BITCH-NAIL, a holding-down nail for tram-plates, &c.,
having the point faced in the same line as the head, as
distinguished from a dog-nail, or dog, which has a chisel
point faced at right angles to the hook-shaped head.

BITTERSWEET, the woody nightshade, Solatium dulcamara;
called also Puzzen Barry.

60 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BITTLE, to maul, to beetle. " Aa feel as if aa'd been bittled
aa ower." Said on feeling stiff and sore all over, as if the
sensation were that of having been beaten with a stick.
Singles, or handfuls of corn gathered by gleaners, are carried
home and afterwards bittled. See BATTLE.

BITTLE, a beetle, or wooden beater for beating flax or linen
clothes. " As blind as a bittle," a very common expression.
See BEETLE.

BITTOCK, a little bit.

" This end was just twa inches o're,
And that was sax and bittock more."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 60.

BIV, by. It is used before a vowel only, or before a silent
aspirate, as " Bet biv a mile." " He ken'd him biv his (biv ees)
hat." " He steud bi the horse and held him bi the heed, and
he saa his fyece biv a lamp." See Bi and BIN.

BIVVER, to tremble, to vibrate, to quake with fear. " It's aa
iv a bivver." Dother has the same meaning. "Hewisaaliv
a dother." "Gannin dotherin aboot." "A dotherin feyul." See
BIBBER.

" BIVE, verb, obsolete — to shake, tremble." — Dr. Murray, NewEng. Diet.

BIZEN, BISON, BYSEN, a show, a spectacle of disgrace.
" A holy bizen. A very conspicuous thing, or an overdressed
person. " She's that dressed, she's a fair bizen."

" And was I not a very wise one
To gang and make my-sel' a by-zon ?"

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686.

The writer appends a note, " Query ? By song — a thing to be wondered at."

A common menace they (the Sandgate women) use to each other is : —
"I'll makea/joty bysonoi you." — Brand, Pop. Antiquities, 1777, p. 185, note.

" The reck'ning, my soul ! was a bison!" — T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny
Newcastle.

" ' But that's not a, for Mr. Smith
Tell'd me the candles a' were risin ! '
' Dear me,' ses aw, ' Sir, what's that with ?
It's by ma truly quite a byson.'
' It is the plaguey war, I fear.'
' Bliss me,' ses aw, ' that's varry queer,
De they fight now wi' candle-leet ?' "

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 31.

"A bison sight, on Monday night,
The worst that ere you saw."

"Town Clerk's Safety Valve."

Bards o the Tync, 1849, p. 503.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 6l

BIZZ, to buzz ; to fuss about, or go with a disturbing noise.
"Gannin bizzin aboot." "What's the feyul bizzin aboot there
for?"

BIZZER, a circular piece of metal from two to three inches
diameter, notched round the edge, with two holes near the
centre. A double cord is passed through them, and the
alternate twisting and untwisting when pulled causes a
buzzing noise. This toy is usually made of a piece of
tinplate.

BLAA, breath. " Get yor blaa," to take your rest for an interval
during hard exertion.

BLAA, to blow. " It's eneuf to blaa ye off yor feet." " He blaa'd
the leet oot." "The wind's blaan'd off."

BLAA-MAA-LUG, a fleechin, noisy fellow.

BLAAN-MEAT, meat in which a "blow-fly" has deposited its
eggs.

BLAAN-MILK, skimmed milk, that is, milk from which the
cream has been taken, or blown off.

BLAA-OOT, a drinking bout. A man drank two quarts of
beer at a public-house, and, on retiring, observed to the
landlord, "That's good beer, mistor; when aa come back,
aa'll hev a reg'lar blaa-oot"

" The upshot was a gaudy-day,

A grand blaw-oot wi' Grundy's yell."

Thomas Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. Hi., v. 96.

BLAB, to talk loosely, to blaze abroad.

" Hout, hinny, baud th' blabbing jaw."

Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 70.

BLABBER, same as BLAB ; not to be confounded with
" blubber," but often used as BLETHER, which see. " He'll
blabber an taak aall neet, if ye'll oney lissen tiv him."

BLABBER, to cry, to blubber.

BLACK ; in mining, any dark coloured stratum — not
necessarily black, as "Black Bandstone."

BLACK-A-VIS'D, dark in complexion, black visaged. —

Brockett,

62 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BLACK- BOW-WOWERS, BLACK-BOW- WOW-ORTS,
BLACK-BERRIES, brambleberries— the fruit of the Rtibus
fvucticosus. See BUMMEL-KITE.

BLACK BUNTING, the reed bunting, Cinchramus schccniclus,
Linn.

BLACK-CAPS, the field woodrush, Luzula campestris ; called
also Peeseweep Grass and Cuckoo Grass.

BLACK COCK, the black grouse. See BROWN HEN or
BLACK GAME.

BLACK COLE HEAD, the cole titmouse, Parusater; called
also Cole Head and Cole Tit.

BLACK-DAMP, stythe, carbonic acid gas.

BLACK-DIAMONDS, coals.

" The bonny black-diamonds gaun down i' the keels,
To warm a' the starved bodies i' Lunnen.''

T. Wilson, Stanzas on a Line of Intended Road, 1825.

BLACK DIVER, BLACK DUCK, the scoter, Oidemia nigra.

BLACKEY, a blackamoor.

" An' to show them we deal wi' Newcassel,
Twee B lackeys sal mense the dor cheek."

W. Midford's Collection, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.

BLACKEY, the blackbird, Turdus merula.
BLACK-FASTING, rigid, severe fasting.— Brockett.

BLACK-GOB, a term of contempt.

In the books of the Bricklayers' Company of Newcastle, an entry of
July 29, 1812, reads: — "Thomas Hewson complains against Joseph
Galloway for calling him Black Gob."

The reference may be to one wearing a moustache. Beards
and moustaches were, before the year 1851, looked upon with
great contempt.

BLACK GOOSE, the brent goose, Bernicla brenta ; called
also Ware Goose.

BLACK-HEADED LADDIES, the bulrush, Typha latifolia.

BLACK-JACK, the colesay ; often called Rock Salmon by
fishermen.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 63

BLACK-JACK, blende, or sulphuret of zinc.

BLACK-MAIL, a tribute formerly exacted from farmers and
small owners in the Border Counties of England and
Scotland, and along the Highland border, by freebooting
chiefs, in return for protection or immunity from plunder.
[From mail, rent, tribute.] — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.
Black-mail, it is said, was levied in Rothbury and Redesdale,
in Northumberland, as late as 1720. Compare SAUFEY-
MONEY.

BLACK-MARTIN, the swift, Cypselus aptts ; called also the

Screamer.

BLACK MONDAY, the first day of going to school after the
vacation ; so denominated, no doubt, from the Black Monday
recorded in our history ; for which see Stowe. The day
following is called Bloody Tuesday. — Brockett.

BLACK-NEB, the carrion crow, Corvus corone, Linn.
BLACK-POW-HEED, the blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla.

BLACKSMITH. Blacksmiths will not light their fires on
Good Friday. If necessity compels them to do anything in
the shop, they will not bring fire in, but will make it by
striking a piece of iron until it becomes red hot. — Rev. J.
F. Bigge, Superstitions of Stamfordham. — Transactions Tyneside
Naturalists' Field Club, 1860-62, vol. v., p. 92.

BLACKSMITH-OF-KIND is a blacksmith the seventh in
descent of a family of smiths. The Rev. John Hodgson
describes a curious superstition : —

" If a child be ill, seven men, whose fathers, grandfathers, and great-
grandfathers have been blacksmiths, collect in a circle, at the centre of
which the indisposed child is laid upon an anvil, and the circle wave
their hammers over its head, and utter with great force the stroke-groan
' hegh.' If the child be terrified, the symptom is favourable; if it be
regardless of their menaces, life is supposed to be in its socket. To
secure the charm each smith has 6d., ale, and bread and cheese." —
Hodgson MS.

The charm has been worked with one smith only, who is a
blacksmith-of-kind. See HEART-GROWN.

BLADDERY, having air bubbles enclosed. Slag from a
furnace, full of little air cells, is said to be bladdery.

64 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BLADE, a keen, sharp, or smart man. " He's a knaain
blade." " A bonny blade ye are."

" While strolling down sweet Sandgate Street,
A man-o'-war's blade I chanced to meet."

Old Song, Till the Tide Comes In.

" That blade for my siller, he's fast in the heft."

Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

BLAE, of a dark colour between black and blue ; blackish
blue; of the colour of the blae-berry. Applied to the complexion
or colour of the human body, as affected by cold or contusion ;
livid. Hence black and blae, now altered to black and blue. —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. See BLEE.

BLAE-BERRY, the bilberry or whortleberry, Vaccinium
myrtillus. See BLEA-BERRY.

BLAEWING, BLEEWING, a favourite artificial fly, used
by anglers on North-country streams.

BLAGAIRD, to blackguard ; a blackguard.

BLAKE, yellow, of a golden colour ; spoken of butter, cheese,
&c. Hence the yellow bunting — emberiza citrinella — is, in some
places, called a blakeling. A wound is said to be Wakening
when it puts on an appearance of healing. — Brockett.

BLAKE, cold, exposed, bleak.

" Blakelaw." — Northumberland. — Brockett.

BLARE, to cry, to lament ; to shout loudly.
" A blairin coo seun forgets hor calf." — Proverb.

" At what he said aw could hae blaired." — T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay,
1829, pt. iii., v. 43.

" Frae the Point round the Girt, a' the time sailing slow,
Each bullie kept bawlin, ' The Empty Kite, ho ! '
But their blairin was vain, for ne Empty Kite there,
Though they blair'd till their kites were byeth empty and sair."

Robert Gilchrist, Skippers Erudition, 1824.

BLARE, a weeping cry, a loud shout.

" It answered wiv a groanin blair." — J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Hamlick,
Prince o' Denton.

BLARE, a paste made of tar mixed with hair, used for
caulking the seams of keels and boats.

BLARIN, roaring loud, applied to peevish children and vulgar
drunken noise. — Hodgson MS,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 65

BLASH, to scatter water or puddle. "He was blushed fre heed
to toe."

BLASH, a downpour of rain.

BLASHCANTER, BLASHMENT, any weak and diluting
liquor. — Brockett.

BLASHY, watery, clarty ; hence thin, poor stuff.

" Their streets are like wors — brave and blashy !" — T. Thompson, Canny
Newcastle. — Marshall's Collection, 1823.

" To get blawn out wi' blashy tea." — T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1829,
pt. iii., v. 107.

" Poor blashy yell." — T. Wilson, Stanzas on New Line of Road.

BLAST, an explosion in a pit.

" There were about 30 persons, young and old, slain by a blast." — J. C.,
Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 45.

" The fiery blast cuts short wor lives,

And steeps wor hyems in deep distress ;
Myeks widows o' wor canny wives,
And a' wor bairns leave faitherless."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, p. 32.

BLAST, is applied to smoking.

" They trudged along, got home at last,
And found old Goody at her blast."

Edward Chicken, d. 1746, The Collier's Wedding.

" A cup, and blast o' baccy, suin
Blaws a' bad temper by."

T. Wilson, The Washing Day, 1843.

BLATE, backward, shy. " He's nyen blate, noo."

" I'm but young and blate, I trow,
And kenna what to say or do."

The Mode of Wooin'.

" Deeth o' late, he's no been blate,

But sent some jovial souls a-joggin'."

W. Oliver, d. 1848, Newcastle Props.

BLATENESS, backwardness, shyness.

" It wasent, mind, because aw'd rued,
But blateness at a knotty case."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 16.

BLATHER, to talk loosely. See BLABBER.

BLATTER, to clatter, to make a noise as with the feet. —

Brockett.
E

66 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BLAVER, BLAWORT, the corn bluebottle, Centaurea cyantis,
L. ; formerly known as Blueblaw (Turner). It is an occasional
weed in cultivated fields, but was formerly abundant.

BLEA-BERRY, BLEE-BERRY, blue berry. It is otherwise
known as the Bilberry or Black Whortle-beny. See BLAE-
BERRY.

The fruit of Vaccinium myrtillus, " everywhere common in denes and on
heaths, ascending to all the peaks, 850 yards on Cheviot." — Flora of
Northumberland and Durham. — Natural History Transactions, vol. ii.

BLEACH, a black shale of the nature of carbon, found in
contact with or near a coal seam. Bleach is probably bleck,
black.

BLEACH, the act of rain falling in a strong wind. Q. "Is
your roof tight ?" A. " It's aall tight, except when the rain
bleaches." That is, when the wind is driven violently aslant,
so finding its way between the lapped edges of the tiles.
" Aa wis oot iv aal the wet, and what a bleachin aa gat !"

BLEACHIN, wandering. " He's aye gan bleachin aboot."
BLEB, a bubble, a blister. See BLOB.
BLECK, pitch or tar upon ropes.

BLEDDER, a bladder ; but see BLETHER, which is the common
pronunciation.

BLEE, BLAE, livid, blue, or purple, the colour of a sloe. It
is applied in the sense as when a man is said to " look blue,"
or to an ashen blue colour. See BLAE and BLEA-BERRY.

" A miller chep aw chanced to see,

Fre oot amang the crood se blae,
Wis running up a yard se slee."

" Theatre in an Uproar."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 184.

BLEED, to yield ; applied to corn, which is said to " bleed
well," when on thrashing it happens to be very productive. —
Brockett, quoting from Ray's Gloss.

"Coal is said to bleed when water oozes in drops from its pores."—
Greenwell.

BLEEZE, to blaze. " The hoose is bleczin" " The paanshop
bleezin"

BLEEZER, a hood to blow up a fire. " Put the bleezer up,
and let's hev a lowe."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 67

BLENDINS, BLENDLINS, or BRANDLINS, peas and
beans mixed.

BLENKARD, a fighting cock that has lost one eye. The
word is also applied to a one-eyed person.

"To be fought at Messrs. Stata and Stephenson's pit, High Bridge,
Newcastle, by cocks, on Monday, April yth, 1817, &c. Stags to be
allowed i oz., Blenkards 202., and the usual allowance for feathers." —
Advt. in Newcastle Courant of the date.

BLETHER, to talk loosely, to blab: to boast.

" Daft John Bull, that bletherin' cull."

J. P. Robson, " Lizzie Liberty,"

Bards of the Tyne, 1849.

BLETHER, loose, blabbing talk.

" Jaw'd a heap o' blether."

]. P. Robson, d. 1870, Hamlick, pt. ii.

BLETHER, a bladder, a purse, the bagpipe.

" Rattlin' like empty blethers."

T. Wilson, Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826.

" Lay by some cotterils i' the blether."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 59.

" When this master of minstrelsy oxtered his blether."

Northern Minstrels' Budget.

BLETHER-BREEKS, a boasting, bragging fellow talking,
not doing.

BLETHERSK1TE, BLETHERSKYET, a babbling person.

" From Blether and Skate, in Scotch used contemptuously." — Dr. Murray,
New Eng. Diet.

BLIG, a blackguard. " He's a reglor Uig"

BLIN, blind. " Blin Willy."

" Aw've oft been sae blin' as te nut knaw me mother."

T. W.lson, Stanzas on New Line of Road, 1824.

BLIN, to darken, as thorns put into the gap of a hedge.
BLIN, to stop, or cause to stop, to cease, to desist. — Brockett.
BLINDERS, blinkers on a horse.

BLIND-WORM, or slow-worm, the Angtiis fragilis. See HAG-
WORM.

68 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BLINK, BLENK, to glance with pleasure.

" O, the transports of gladness that over me reign
To blink upon canny Newcastle again."

T. Oliver, " Canny Newcastle Again."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849.

" Madam, indeed, it's your good nature —
That blenks sae blythly on your creature."

Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 50.

BLINK, a glance, a gleam of light.

BLINKER, the eye.

" Iv a' the greet wonders that dazzles wor blinkers,
The tallygrip's sartin the king o' them a'."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, "The Wonderful Tallygrip"

BLIRT. " In the blirt," exposed to the fury of the elements.
It is to be remarked that cattle and sheep always fly before
the storm into the blirt ; horses never.

BLISS, to bless.

" The bonny oil lamps, too, wi' which we were blist,
That twinkled so gaily, like stars in a mist."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, " Song of Improvement."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 418.

" And how the ground he kist
Wherein it written was, and how himself he blist."

Spenser, iv., vii., 46, N are's Gloss.

BLISS ME ! an exclamation. "Bliss me! bairn, where he' ye
been aall day ?"

BLOACHER, any large animal. See BLUTCHER.

BLOB, BLEIB, BLIBE, a bubble, a blister. Air blobs are
the floating bubbles on the water, or soap bubbles. "His
feet was aal blibes before he gat hyem." See BLEB.

" Like honey blobs me heart '11 brust."

J. P. Robson, Callerforney, 1849.

BLOBBERS, bubbles, soap bubbles. " He's blaain blobbers."
" They're blawin blabbers wi' pipe-stopples."

BLONK, to disappoint.

" Aw fand mawsel blonk'd when te Lunnin aw gat."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

BLOOD-ROOT, the tormentil, Potentilla tormentilla ; called also
Flesh-and -blood, Ewe-daisy, and Shepherd' s-knot.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 69

BLORT, to splutter out, to speak in an abrupt manner. "A
blortin cannle," a sputtering candle.

BLOUSY, BLOWZY, disordered, frousy. Bkwze, a fat, red-
faced, bloated wench, or one whose head is dressed like a
slattern. — Bailey's Diet., 1731.

BLOW DOWN, to bring down coal or stone with gunpowder.

BLOWER, an excessive discharge of gas (in a pit), generally
from a fissure.

It is defined in the Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1848, as "a fissure in the
roof, floor, or side of a mine, from which a feeder of inflammable air
discharges." — Buddie, First Report, Society for Preventing Accidents in Coal
Mines.

BLOWEY, an iron bloomer ; probably the owner of a bloomery,
not a forge. (Obs.)

" To Bloweys, of Newcastle, for a ton of Spanish iron, £5 6s. 8d.,"
under date 1516. — Richard Welford, Hist, of N ewe. XVI. Cent., p. 49.

BLOWN-OUT-SHOT ; in blasting, a charge that only blows
out the stemming, and is otherwise ineffective. See FAST
SHOT or STANDIN BOBBY.

BLUE-BILLY, iron residue left as a waste product in copper
works.

BLUE-BLAWS. See BLAVER.

BLUE-BOTTLE, the blue titmouse, Parus caruleus ; called
also Blue-cap.

BLUE METAL, indurated argillaceous shale, of a bluish
purple colour, resembling that of blue slates.

BLUE-NEB, the name at Belford, Beal, and Fenham Flats
district for the widgeon, Maveca Penelope^ L. ; called also the
Hue.

BLUE STONE, a long stone of granite placed on the eastern
footpath of the Old Tyne Bridge, to mark the division
between the Durham and Northumberland portions of the
structure. Durham claimed only one-third of the bridge.
In a deposition of 25th March, 1412, the franchise and
temporal jurisdiction of St. Cuthbert, of Durham, and of the
bishop, extends him, it is said, "out of the town of Gateshead
towards the town of Newcastle, in the highway that lies over
the bridge to a place that is called Jargonhole." (R. Welford,
Hist, of N ewe. XV. Cent. p. 247.) The "mete" or "bounder"

70 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

stones at this point are elsewhere called Cuthbevt Stones. (The
same, p. 258.) In the structure which preceded the present
Swing Bridge, the Cuthbert Stones were represented by the
single stone which extended across the entire width of the
eastern footway. On the demolition of the bridge this stone
was preserved by the care of Richard Cail, Esq., and now
reposes in the Old Castle at Newcastle. The blue stone is
mentioned in June, 1598, when the Scottish pledges were
delivered by the Northumberland authorities to those of the
county of Durham "at the Blue Stone upon Tyne bridge.
(R. Welford, Hist, of Newc., vol. iij., p. 127.)

BLUEY, one of many names for the hedge sparrow, which is
variously called Hfdgy, Fieldy, Spowey, Smokey, Smotty, and
Blitey — the latter from the colour of its eggs. Bluey is also
one of the names of the blue titmouse. See BLUE-BOTTLE.

BLUM, bloom. " The whins are in Hum"

BLURY [N.] , cold, sharp; applied to the weather on a dull
windy day.

BLUSH, a blister. " Aa've a blush on me foot wi' waakin."
To blister. " He blushed his hand wi pullin the boat."

BLUSH, an appearance. "Aa didn't ken him at the forst

blush.'"

" In all countries we say he or she hath a blush of, that is, resembles
such another." — Ray's Gloss.

BLUTCHER, BLOACHER, a heavy, unwieldy instrument,
or thing. It is also applied to describe a huge animal.

BLYTH, glad.

" How blyth were we." — Joco-Serious Discourses, 1686, p. 8.

BLYTHNESS, gladness.

" Sorrow to blythness was instantly turned." — Joco-Serious Discourses,
1686, p. 8.

Blyth and blythness are interpreted in the margin of these
Newcastle discourses as words otherwise unintelligible to the
Southern Englishman.

BO, a name terrific to children, and a test of manhood when
addressed to a goose. — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland,
1835, p. 98. Bo-man, an apparition, a ghost. See BAD-MAN.

BO [W.-T.], ball.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 71

BOAK, W.-T. form of balk. See BAAK.
BOARD. See BORD.

BOB, a crank attached to a pumping rod, and called a T bob,
or a V bob, or an L bob, according to its form.

BOB, chorus.

" All you navigation well wishers,

Tars, sailors, marines, come along,
You ferrymen, boatmen and fishers,
Come help to bear bob in my song."

Genuine Tom Whittell, 1815.

BOB, a bunch, or cluster, as a "Bob o' ribbons."

" They saw also thare vynes growe with wondere grete bobbis of
grapes." — M. S. Lincoln, A. i. 17 /., 42. — HalliweU's Diet.

"Aw my Jiggs,

And ]iggmg-bobs are laid aside,
Their Lace, their Ribbons, and their Pride."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourses, 1686, p. 45.

" I pu'd her a posie o' gowans,

An' laid them in bobs at her feet."

Song by Robert Beiget, Richardson's Table Book.
Legendary Div., vol. i., p. 317.

BOBBEROUS, BOBBERSOME, hearty, elated, in high
spirits. — Brocltett.

BOBBERY, BUBBERY, a noisy disturbance. " What s aa
this bobbery aboot ? "

BOBBY, the " pink of perfection."

" An' Willy thou, wi1 the jacket blue,
Thou was the varra Bobby, O ! "

J. Selkirk, d. 184.3, Swalii'ell Hoppin.

BOB-NET, called also " ring-net," a long salmon net without
any bosom (which the other nets have). It is fixed by a
stone or anchor at the one extremity in the river to a post or
ring on the shore. Compare STELL-NET and WEAR SHOT-NET.

BOBS, casters, or trimmers of coal on ship board.

" May he live to cheer the bobs

That skew the coals to shivers,
Whe like their drink to grip their gobs,
An' burn their varry livers."

Song, " Blind Willie Singing."

Bards oj the Tyne, p. 304.

72 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BOB'S-A-DYING. A great row or racket is called a BoVs-a-
dying. "What a BoVs-a-dying they made!" means "What
a row they kicked up."

BOBY, a booby.

" In sense they likened us to culls —

In manners to a boby,
Yet oft we've had wor dancen skuels,
And sometimes Punch and Toby."

T. Wilson, Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826, v. 44.

BOCK [N.] , back.
BOD [N.], to command.

BODDLE, a small iron instrument which woodmen use for
peeling oaks and other trees. — Halliwelfs Diet.

BODDLE, a small coin, a half-farthing. It is used in the
sense of a common or comparatively valueless thing.

" And aw the wit in Tony's noddle
Will never make them worth a boddle."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 45.

BODDOM, bottom.

BODE, a bid. " Will anyone give me a bode ? " asks an
auctioneer. " An unlucky bode " is a bid which happens to
be made for anything not for sale. A horse-dealer in passing
a farm took a fancy to a horse which he saw and made a bode
of £60 for it. The farmer said it was not for sale, and that
no money would induce him to part with it. Next day the
horse was found dead in a field, where it had impaled itself
on a sharp stob. This was said, in the year 1888, to have
been owing to the " unlucky bode."

BODEN, BUDDEN (p.p. of bid), to invite, to command. In
frequent use. See BID, 2.

BODEN, to be in a difficulty. " He's hard boden "—that is, he
is in straitened circumstances. — Brockett.

BODLER, a large pin, used to fasten a shawl or plaid.

BODWORD, an ill-natured errand. An old word for an
ominous message. — Bvockett. (Obs. ?)

" Bodeword cam to him fro heaven."

Curror Mundi, MS. Coll. Trin., Cantab, f. S.—Halliwell.

I

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 73

BODY, a person, oneself.

" Times ha'e been when a body's been axt out te tea." — T. Charlton,

Newc. Improvements. — Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 238.

BODY. The parts of the body are enumerated in the Pricke of
Conscience, which was written in the Northumbrian dialect,
civ. A.D. 1340. They may be compared with the present
names in the Northumberland folk-speech for these members :
Heved (head) ; nek ; brest ; bely ; armes ; handes ; legges ; fote,
fete; tas and taes ; fyngers. At the present time the local
pronunciation of these words only differs from the modern
literary English dialect in heed, taes, and fing-er. There are
also hert (heart), nese (nose), mynde, gast (spirit), lax (back),
eghe, eghen (eyes), hare, eves, tung, mouthe, tethe, browes, frount
(forehead), chyn, pouce (pulse). Of these, ghaist and gyest (ghost),
ee (eye), ee-en (eyes), tung (tongue), mooth (mouth), and broo
(brow) are still the spoken forms.

BOGGLE, to start at, to blunder, or bother about. " The
mear boggled at a haystack." " Boggle about the stacks,1' says
Mr. Brockett, " a favourite pastime among young people in
the country villages, in which one hunts several others
between the stacks in a farm yard." He adds : " The
diversion was formerly called barley break, or barley brake."
11 Playing at boggle" is to startle by sudden and unexpected
appearance as in this game round the stacks in a "stagarth"
(stack-garth).

" Nor am I so skittish as to boggle at an affront." — G. Stuart, Joco-
Serious Discourse, 1686.

BOGGLE, BO-BOGGLE, BOGGLE-BO [W.-T.], BO-LO
[N.], BO-MAN [T.], BO-GHEST, BO-GUEST. By such
diverse variety of names is the being called that even yet
strikes ghostly terror to the heart of childhood, or lone
country folk. The boggle is always a personality, having a
proper name, and haunting a certain spot ; and there is small
doubt that his existence is the relic of an older faith. " This
old Northland mythology, I find," says Carlyle, " to be the
impersonation of the visible workings of nature. The dark
hostile powers of nature they figure to themselves as ' JotunsJ
giants, huge shaggy beings of a demoniac character. The
empire of this Universe is divided between these two ; they
dwell apart, in perennial internecine feud. The Gods dwell
above in Asgard, the garden of the Asen or Divinities ;
Yotunheim, a distant dark chaotic land, is the home of
the Jotuns." (Carlyle's Heroes and Hero Worship.} To the
country mind is presented a ruined castle, the name of whose

74 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

builder or tenant has never been known ; or there are walls
and mounds of Roman origin whose history is a blank, or
miles of paved road made in some far-off time. To all of
these, however, the neighbouring hind has a legend, giving
the name and history of a boggle, who supernaturally lived,
moved, and had his being in this world, and still returns to
haunt the spot in marvellous " manifestations." These take
the form of apparition, transformation, rapidity of movement
on earth or in air, and they are accompanied by feats of
strength, or demoniacal performances to fright the beholder.
The gigantic form of Lang Lonkin thus hung round his
ruined castle in Whittle Dene, terrified the lone traveller by
shaking his huge keys, or scared the passer who saw his
dark form lurking over his sunken treasure in the " Whorl
dub." So, too, the north-east branch of the Watling Street,
which goes off from the great road at Bewclay, and passes
athwart Northumberland, is ascribed to the work of a boggle.
In maps, it is the " Devil's Causeway," but in local legend it
is " Cobb's Causey." Cobb was the builder of this Cyclopean
way, and, like his neighbour Cor, he was ajotun. Leland, in
his Itinerary, describes the site of Roman Corstopitum, and
says, " Emong the ruines of the olde toun, is a place caullid
Colecester, wher hath bene a forteres or castelle. The
peple ther say that ther dwelled yn it one Yottm, whom they
fable to have been a gygant." This is "giant Cor," who was
active in times to which the memory of men yet reaches,
though his later feats were limited to such simple doings as
to intercept a lad on his way to the smithy, snatch the
coulter which he carried, and, with one grasp of his mighty
hand, to crumple it like a leaf. The coulter, thus bent and
twisted, was seen of many as it lay on the spot where the
giant had cast it ; so that if there be not " five justices' hands
at it " there is yet fair testimony from respectable people as
to the truth of the circumstance. Cor had two brothers,
named Ben and Con, and thus came the names Corbridge,
Benfieldside, and Consett. " They had a huge hammer in
common, which each, at a whistle, could throw nine miles.
On one occasion, when Con, who had become blind, threw
the hammer, it fell short, and made Howden, which, as the
name indicates, is a hollow dene near Consett." (Legends and
Superstitions of Co. Durham, p. 233.) A boggle of later origin
was the Hedley Kow. " About sixty years since the country
people in the neighbourhood of Hedley, a small village in the
south of Northumberland, not far from Ebchester, in the
county of Durham, were frequently annoyed by the pranks of
a boggle, called the Hedley Kow." (S. Oliver, the Younger,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 75

Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 99.) Mr. Longstaffe gives
the location at this same place, but Mr. Brockie makes the
scene of his exploits at Hedley, near Ravensworth (about 4^
to 5 miles S.S.W. of Newcastle), and details his many
versatile performances as he transformed himself into the
appearance of man, or beast, or fad of straw, and then
suddenly vanished with a demoniac yell of laughter. Nor
were these portentious beings found only in the lone lonnings
of the county. The Bo-ghest, or Bo-ghaist, was a veritable
personality in the streets of Newcastle before lamp and
watch Acts were obtained. In all cases, it is to be remem-
bered that a local habitation and a name, as well as an accurate
account of the life and adventures of the boggle, were given.

BOGIE, a small, low, four-wheeled barrow. The word is
applied to any low truck for the carriage of casks or other
merchandise ; to the small truck of the platelayer so familiar
on our railways ; and to the flat board, with four small
wheels, used by boys in play for running down a hill.

" In Dean Street, when carts or when bogies came down,
The noise made one's heart glad, one's lugs fit to stoun."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, " Song of Improvements."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 416.

Reid then improved wor trip te Shiels

And Tynemouth i' the season,
A kind o' hearse on bogie wheels —

A paten' press for squeezin'.

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside, 1840.

BOG-SPINK, the lady's smock, or meadow bitterness, Cardamine
pratensis ; called also Pinks, or Spinks, Mayflower, and Cuckoo
flower.

BOG-STACKER, a goblin, a ghost ; one in a dilemma who
does not know which way to turn. " He wis stannin just
like a bog-stacker."

BOG-THRISSEL, the Carduus palustris, L.

BOILEY, boiled milk and bread.

" He the brats of their boilcy will bilk."

Song, Tu'ddside.

BOKY, soft. — Northumberland. — Halliw ell's Diet. Probably
"boagy," the spoken form of boggy.

76 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BOLE-HILLS (boal-hills), heaps of metallic scoria, which are
often met with in the lead mine districts. They are the
remains of an ancient and very simple mode of smelting lead
by wood fires, on hills, in the open air. — Brockett.

BOLL, BOAL, BOU, or BOW. At Alnwick, a boll of barley
or oats was six bushels ; of wheat two bushels. At
Hexham, a boll of barley or of oats, five bushels ; of peas,
rye, or wheat, four bushels ; at Newcastle, two bushels ; at
Wooler, six bushels; there called the " aad bow" (or Scotch
boll).

" The Coal Boll has been raised upon a measure equal, probably, to
that of corn. It was as much as a man could conveniently carry. . . .
When ' barrows ' were brought into use, the quantity conveyed increased,
and along with it the boll also increased. In some old grants this
measure is specified as the ' bowle or barrowe.1 By statute 30 Car. II.,
c. 8, the bowl tub of Newcastle is declared to contain 22 gallons and a
pottle (22^ gallons), Winchester measure; it was 27 inches in diameter,
and there were 21 bolls heaped measure to each chaldron. By the same
Act, the content of each wain is to be seven bolls, and each cart three
bolls and one bushel heaped measure, and three wains or six carts are to
be a chaldron." — T. John Taylor, Archeology Coal Trade, 1852.

The coal boll contains "9,676-8 cubic inches, or 34,899 imperial
gallons." — Glossary to Law of Mines, W. Bainbridge, 1856, p. 653.

'.' Item pd for ten bonles of coles for the infected people's use, 53." —
Gateshead Church Boohs, 1646.

BO-LO, a term used by nurses to frighten children. " The
Bo-io will get you ! " See BOGGLE.

BOLT, to fine flour through a sieve. White flour and white
bread were formerly called " bolted " or " booted" An
advertisement of 1828 reads, " Hay and Maclain, Bolted
bread bakers, No. 14, Side, Newcastle." Boult is the
historical spelling of the word — not bolt. See BOOTED-LOAF.

BO-MAN, a ghostly being, or boggle. See BOGGLE.

BON', bond, surety. " He wis Ion' for him" — he was surety
for him. The bond is the agreement between coalowners and
their men. Now an obsolete term. See BINDIN.

BON. This word occurs in the common exclamations "Go
bon " and " Di bon." Bon in these connections looks very
like ban, or curse. If this is the word, then Go bon ! would be
equivalent to " God's curse," and Di bon ! to " Deel's curse."
See EXCLAMATIONS.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 77

BONDAGER, a female field-worker whom the hind covenants
to supply on his engagement to a farmer. The term bondager
is general in Northumberland. An account of the bondage
service will be found in Mackenzie's Hist, of Northumberland,
vol. ii., p. 52. See HIND.

" Bordarius, bondarius, bondus, husbandus. These words are identical in
meaning, and imply a class of men who formed one grade under the
general term villani. . . In North Northumberland at the present day
each hired cottager, or hind, as he is called, is bound by his engagement
to find a person, called a bondager, to work for a certain sum whenever
his master requires it. This seems to be a relic of the old bond
service." — The Rev. Canon Greenwell. Glossary to Boldon Buke, 1852.

" He must not be confounded with the bond-slave, or serf. He was
the buend, or husbandman — the buend with a hus — the equivalent of the
Scandinavian bonder, but not of the Odal-bonder ; and a relic of the
olden time still lingers in the North Country under the name of the
' bondage system,' entailing, not serfdom, but the necessity of finding
extra labour in field work." — E. W. Robertson, Historical Essays, 1872.

" The bondagers pull'd turnips for fower-pence a day,
Wuv stree ropes round their legs ta keep the snaw away."

Geo. Chatt, " Old Farmer" Poems, 1866, p. 87.

BOND-DARG, a day's labour rendered to the lord of the
manor or to the landlord. See BOON-DAY and DARG.

" A remarkable custom, derived from the feudal system, is still
observed at Great Whittington. The freeholders are obliged to send
seven mowers and fourteen reapers to Halton Castle for one day every
year, when called upon. It is called the bond darg. The labourers
receive no wages, but are plentifully supplied with victuals and drink." —
Mackenzie and Dent, Hist, of Northumberland, 1811, vol. ii., p. 810.

BOND-MONEY, earnest money, or arles, given on engaging
a servant.

BOND-RYDING, the name of some piece of ground which
had been ridded or cleared of wood, and for which its owner
was thirled or bound to do certain services to his lord. —
Hodgson's Northumberland, iii. 2, p. 326, note i.

BONE. See BEYEN and BYEN.

BONE-PINS, pins made of mutton bones, formerly used for
fastening roofing slates. (Obs.)

BONETICKLE, the stickleback.

78 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

"For the annual midsummer 'banefire,' or 'bonfire,' in the burgh of
Hawick, old bones were regularly collected and stored up. down to about
1800." — In Ord. Cooks, Newc., 1575. — Brand's Popular Antiquities, 1870, i.,
178. " The said Fellowship of Cookes shall yearelie mainteigne and keep
the bone-fires — that is to say, one bone-fire on the even of the Feast of the
Nativitie of St. John Baptist, and the other on the even of the Feast of St.
Peter the Apostle ! " — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

" The Mayor's muckle bane-fire set on flame." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious
Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 18.

BONGRACE, a shade or curtain formerly worn on the front
of women's bonnets or caps to protect the complexion from
the sun ; a sunshade. — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. This
article of costume is yet in regular use among the women
workers in the Northumberland field?, but the sweetness of
the old name is now-a-days lost to us, and it is commonly
called an " ugly." (Obs.)

" Her bongrace was of wended straw,
From the sun's beams her face to free."

Song, The Northumberland Bagpiper.

BONKER, BUNKER, a fixed seat, often a box or receptacle
below and a seat on top.

" Wha sat them close upon their bonhers." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious
Discourse, Newcastle, 1686.

BONNILY, fairly, pretty well. " Yor gettin' on bonnily wi'd,
aa see."

BONNY, good looking. This word in the dialect is often
used, like the word "canny," to describe character as well as
outward comeliness. "What a bonny bairn !" It describes
any good appearance, as "A bonny hoose," " A bonny horse,"
"A bonny place," "A bonny fyece." "Bonny at morn, canny at
neet." By inversion it means the reverse of anything good.
"Trier's a bonny gam gaan on." " Ye've made a bonny mess
on't, noo." " Aa'd a bonny time on't." " Yor a bonny chep,
noo ! " " Here's a bonny go."

" My bonny keel laddie, my canny keel laddie,
My bonny keel laddie for me, O ! "

Old Song.

BOODY, BOOLY, a piece of broken pot, or earthenware,
used by children for decorating their play-houses. — Hodgson
MS.

" A whirlwind cam an' myed a' souse,
Like heaps o' babby hoodies."

J. Thompson, Jimmy Joneson's Whorry.

" A heap o1 bits o' boodies." — His Other Eye, 1880, p. 4.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 79

BOOD YANKEES ! an exclamation. " Boodyankers ! here's a
traikle barl brust " (chorus of juveniles at a shop door).

BOODY-HOOSE, a child's play-house, set out with "hoodies."
BOOGE (booje), to bulge, to give ground. " He never booged."
BOOK, bulk. " To gan into little book."

BOOL, the bole, or stem of a tree below the branches. " What
length is the bool ? " — what is the length of the best timber —
the tree up to its branches.

BOOL, an iron plate attached to the oars of keels and wherries.
The bool has a round eye in its centre, and through this the
thole pin passes.

BOOL, a rounded water-worn stone, such as is used for paving
side walks in country places. A bowl or ball, usually made
of stone, and thrown in a game of " boolin." " War the
bool!" — the customary caution, shouted as a bowl is thrown.

" War the bool there, wor the bool there ! Harry Wardle's myed a
throw." — E. Corvan, d. 1865, Wor Tyneside Champions. — Allan's Collection,
p. 88.

" Ne lad like him could heave a bool."

J. P. Robson, " Days and Deeds o' Shahspeare."
Bards of the Tyne, p. 99.

" Bob hez thee at loupin' an flingin',
At the bool, football, clubby, and swingin'."

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, Bob Cranky' s 'Size Sunday.

BOOL, to play at the game of boolin, or bowling. The usual
play is to go round a course in the fewest number of throws.
Weights of bowls are specified in a match.

" Then ower the moor, an' roond the coarse, ye'll fynd them boolin there."

E. Corvan, Wor Tyneside Champions.

BOOL, to run very quickly.

" In aw bools." — J. P. Robson, Polly's Nichstick, 1848.

" From a long row of gingerbread and orange stalls could be heard
some dame crying out lustily, ' Bonl up and buy away.' " — Description of
Stagshawbank Fair. — R. Forster, History of Corbridge, 1881, p. 67.

" The Dutchman bool'd alang,

Upon a gimcrack leg."
T. Wilson, Opening of Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, 1838.

BOOLIES [W.-T.j , potsherds. See BOODY.
BOOLTER, a miller. See BOLT.

80 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BOOLY. See BOODY.

BOOLY, BULLY, the bullfinch, Pyrrhula vulgaris.

BOOMER, smuggled gin. In the third edition of Brockett's
Gloss, the word is omitted. In the second edition it appears
with the note, "So called from a place in Northumberland"
(Boulmer), " where that staggering test of loyalty — the
payment of imposts — is impenetrable." The connection of
Boulmer with smuggling was formerly proverbial ; and not
only gin, but all kinds of taxed commodities, were commonly
supplied " duty free " by the adventurous fishermen of that
place.

BOOME-TREE, the name of a venerable tree which stood in
the wall of the churchyard at Alnwick. It was blown down
on i yth February, 1836. It was a noble specimen of the
common ash (Fraximus excelsior}. — Wm. Dickson, in Hist, of
Bks. Naturalists' Club, vol. iv., p. 12. Compare BOR-TREE.

BOON, bound. "Aa's boon to be there." "Where are you
boon for ?"

BOON, BEUN, to do service to another as a landlord. — Ray's
Gloss.

BOON, a band of reapers. See BANDWIN.

" There is a contest among the maidens in the boon or gang of
reapers." — W. Brockie, Legends and Superstitions, p. in.

BOOND, to enclose. The final d often silent.
BOONDARY, boundary.

BOON-DAY, " the service of a day's work which tenants
rendered their lord in agricultural work." — The Rev. Canon
Greenwell, Glossary to The Boldon Buke. Boon-day is also
a day's ploughing rendered gratuitously by neighbouring
farmers to a new tenant. On these occasions the teams
vie with each other in appearance and in the work of the
day. Horses are specially groomed and gaily decorated with
rosettes and coloured ribbons. See BOND-DARG and DARG.

BOONDER, BOUNDER, to control. "Ye mun boonder
yorsel" — you must control yourself. " Here, Mary, help me
wi' this jam ; it canna be boondered" The jam was boiling
over. [Heard at Thropton.]

BOONDLESS, boundless.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 8l

BOONDS, bounds.

BOON-TREE, the elder. See BOR-TREE.

BOOR, BOORY (the pronunciation of bower). The dowager
lady of a house had her own apartment, or bower, separate
from the rest of her son's household — a room set specially
apart for her private use.

"The parlour, or inner chamber through the kitchen, in country
houses, in which the head person of a family generally sleeps." — Brockett,
from Ray.

BOOR, to bore a hole.

BOORDLY, burly, strong, vigorous. " He's a boordly leukin
chep " — applied to a stout, well-made man.

BOOREY, BOWERY, BREWERY, a ring; also a game at
marbles. A ring is drawn, and on its circumference and in
its centre are placed common marbles. The player "fires"
from the " past," or starting mark, and all the marbles
knocked outside the ring become his own. The marble rests
where it has stopped till the next player has had his "shot,"
and each in turn plays from his place of rest till the ring has
been cleared. When all the shots but one have been cleared,
the player next in order has the option of "a lie"; this is
done by laying his "tar" inside the boorey and close to
the "shot." At his next turn he "fires" so as to knock
out the "shot" and lay his "tar" as near as possible to
the "tar" of the player who holds the greatest number of
shots, at which he now "fires," and if he makes a successful
hit, or "kill," he wins the game, and takes over all the
marbles won by the adversary whom he has " killed."

BOORLY, rough, unpolished, boorish. — Brockett. See BOORDLY.

5OOSE, an ox or cow's stall. — Ray's Gloss. Where the cattle
stand all night in winter. It is now more generally used for
the upper part of the stall, where the fodder lies. — Brockett.
"A cow boose." " A. ha.y boose."

5OOT, about.

" Boot Lunnun aw'd heard — ay sec wonderful spokes." — T. Thompson,
d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

SOOTCHER, a butcher.
F

82 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BOOTED-LOAF, a loaf of fine or booted (i.e., bolted) flour, and
made specially for the " cryin' oot," the time when an increase
in the family occurred. In times when brown leavened bread
only was used, a loaf made of fine white flour was a special
luxury. It was served up at confinements, with what was
appropriately called "groaning cheese," to the neighbours
who had come to condole and help on the occasion.

BOOT-HALER, a freebooter, robber, or marauder. — Brockett.
(Obs.)

BOOTHER, BOODER, a boulder.

BOOTHMAN, a corn merchant of former days. The Booth-
men were incorporated with the company of Merchant
Adventurers in Newcastle. (Obs.)

BOOTY, unfairly. (Obs.)

" Sometimes they'll play fairly, and whiles they'll play booty." —
G. Stuart, Joco-Senous Discourse, 1686.

BOOZE, a drinking bout. " He's on the booze" — that is, he has
a drinking fit.

" We'll hev a royal booze te-day."

T. Wilson, The Oiling of Dicky's Wig, 1826.

" We boozed, away till the break of day."

Old Song, Till the Tide Comes In.

BOOZY, drunken.

BOOZY-ALLEY, an ejaculation used by boys. "Ye boozy-
alley, what a crood thor is !"

BOR (the pronunciation of bun], the name for the guttural r
of Northumberland.

BORD, BOARD, "the space allotted generally to one man
to work in, in a colliery." — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay. " A sheth of
boards,'1 is the name of a group of boards. There are "narrow
boards," "travelling boards," "stow boards," "the mother's gate,
or common going board," &c., all of them distinguishing the
kind of board which they describe. In a glossary of coal
trade terms, 1849, a "wide board" is described as a pillar in
length and four or five yards in width — a "narrow board" not
more than two yards wide. The older workings, however,
are described in the following note from a quaint old book : —

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 83

" A yard and quarter broad or wide for a headways is full sufficient,
and out of this it is we turn off the boards or other workings, for every
particular hewer, or miner, and that board or work place for that one
man is generally about three yards, or better, in breadth, and so from
the headways, which we will say runs south, we work the boards east and
west of the headways." — J. C., The Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 42.

" A passage driven across the fibres, or grain of the coal." — Min. Gloss.,
Newc. Terms. See CLEAT.

" The bords, or main excavations, are driven in parallel lines across the
planes of cleavage of the seam (on account of the coal being worked most
easily in this direction), and of a width of three, four, or five yards,
according to the character of the roof of the mine. Between these
bords, walls or ribs of coal are left, while narrow excavations (about two
yards in width), termed headways, are driven at intervals to connect the
bords with each other for purposes of haulage and ventilation." —
R. L. Galloway, Hist, of Coal Mining, 1882, p. 85.

" In bye they bum'd me in a crack,
An' left me i' ma faither's bord."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, p. ii., v. 35.

BORD, a bird. " Arly bord" is the very familiar sound in
Newcastle for " early bird."

BORDE-CLOTH, a tablecloth. (Obs.)

" 3 lyn borde-dothes, a shotr and a longr, 45. Sd." — Will, in Richard
Welford's Hist. ofNeu'c. XVI. Cent., p. 320.

BORDER, THE BORDER, THE BORDERS— the boundary
between England and Scotland ; the district adjoining this
boundary on both sides; the English and Scottish borderland.
(The term appears to have been first established in Scotland,
where the English border, being the only one it has, was
emphatically the border.}. — Dr. Murray, New Etig. Diet.

" She's ower the border and awa'
Wi' Jock o' Hazeldean."

Hazeldean is in the valley of the Tyne, near Haltwhistle. —
See Hodgson, iii., 2, p. 383.

BORDER- WATCH. This was a regular patrol kept to " raise
the scry " in case of inroad. The line of this by no means
coincides with the division now known as the march or
boundary between the two kingdoms. It cuts right through
the present county of Northumberland, and affords a means of
explaining the difference between the men of Central and
Southern Northumberland and those of the franchises of
Redesdale and Tynedale. " The inhabitants" of the latter,
says Dr. Charlton, " were evidently little to be trusted by

84 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

their neighbours on the East, as well as by their Scottish
foes on the West. These two rivers were closely watched
every night along a line, extending from Haltwhistle in South
Tyne, down to the junction of the Tyne at Warden, and
from thence up the North Tyne to Chipchace. From
Chipchace Ford, the line was carried by Throckrington,
Sweethope, and Whelpington to the Coquet. Two watchers
were appointed to each ford. North Tynedale was con-
sidered as beginning at the Nook on the south side of the
river, and at Reedsmouth on the north bank, and extending
from thence up to the Bellyng, beyond which there were
then (time of Henry VIII.), it is said, no habitations." (Dr.
Charlton, North Tynedale, p. 30.) " The parties there brought
up are known either by education or nature not to be of
honest conversation. They commit frequent thefts and other
felonys, and no apprentice must be taken proceeding from
such lawless and wicked progenitors." (Richard Wrelford,
History of Newcastle, vol. i., p. 396, extract from Books of
Merchants' Company, 1564. For the last 150 years North
Tynedale and Redesdale have been "quiet pastoral vales,
peopled by an intelligent, handsome, and strongly-built race,
as free from crime and vice as any part of the British
dominions." (Dr. Charlton, North Tynedale, p. 101.)

BORD-ROOM, or BOARD-ROOM, the width across an old
board in a pit.

BORD WAY'S COURSE, the direction at right angles to the
line of cleavage or cleat of coal. — Greenwell.

BOREN, borne ; the p.p. of bear (p.t. lav) ; also the pronunciation
of born. " When war ye boren ? "

BORE-RODS, iron rods and appliances used for ascertaining
the nature of strata before sinking a pit. The rods are
screwed together in lengths, the end piece faced with a
cutting chisel. A wimble takes the place of a chisel to bring
up triturated material or clay. It is a cylindrical box, or
case, screwed like an auger at the bottom. Sludgers are
somewhat similar tools, but fitted with a clack to hold in
moist material. A bitch is used for recovering broken rods.
The top of a set of rods is fitted with a strong cross pole or
handle called a brace-head. The lever, by which a vertical
motion is given to jerk down the cutting end on the strata, is
called a break. A rotary motion is given at each stroke by
turning the brace-head.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 85

BORN, a burn, the name in Northumberland for a considerable
stream. A burn is smaller than a river, but larger than a
syke. Ouse burn, Skinner's burn, Denton burn, &c.

" Between the foot of Cowon-wood borne and Lamleye — two men
nightly. The borne foot to be watched nightly." — "Border watches"
ordered in 1552. — Hodgson's Northumberland, pt. ij., vol. iii., p. 118, note.
" Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me."

Song in Lear, iii. 6.

This spelling is nearer the pronunciation of the Northumber-
land Zwwthan is theScottishform oiburn. SeeBuRN andBECK.

BORN-DAYS, a frequent expression, as " Iv aa me born-days,"
for " In all my life."

BORNEY, BURNEY, BIRNEY.

" Birnie ground is where thick heath has been burnt, leaving the birns
or unconsumed stalks, standing up sharp and stubbley." — Glossary to
Burns's Works.

" BIRN. The charred stem of burnt heath, which remains after moor-
burning. Hence Birny, or abounding in birns." — Dr. Murray, NewEng.
Diet.

" By dawn of day Mary and Belt,
Hies to the birnie knows."

Verses on a View of Roadley Castle.

BORN-FEUL, an innate fool.
BORRAL, the elder tree. See BOR-TREE.

BORROWED-DAYS. " March borrowed of Aperhill, Three-
days and they were ill." The three last days of March (old
style). The popular notion is that they were borrowed by
March from April with a view to the destruction of a parcel
of unoffending young sheep — a purpose, however, in which
March was not successful. Mr. Brockett says : " The
superstitious will neither borrow nor lend anything on any
of these days, lest the article should be employed for evil
purposes." The whole affair is conveyed in a rhyme thus
given at the firesides of the Scottish peasantry : —
" March said to Aperill,
I see three hoggs upon a hill,
And if you'll lend me dayes three,
I'll find a way to make them dee.
The first o' them was wind and weet,
The second o' them was snaw and sleet,
The third of them was sic a freeze,
It froze the birds' nebs to the trees ;
When the three days were past and gane,
These three silly hoggs came hirpling hame."

'• Most probably the tradition has taken its rise in the observation of
a certain character of weather prevailing about the close of March,
somewhat different from what the season justifies ; one of those many
wintry relapses which belong to the nature of a British spring. "-~
Chambers, Book of Days, i., p. 448.

86 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BORROWED-FIRE, a light obtained from a neighbour.

" To request a light on the morning of the New Year, is held as a
most portentous omen. Several, will not for any consideration, even
allow a borrowed fire to proceed from their dwellings." — J. Hardy,
Richardson's Table Booh. — Legendary Div., vol. ii., p. 288.

BORSE, BIRSE, a chisel of triangular shape, used for cleaning
up the corners of mortice-holes. — Hodgson MS.

BORST, an outburst, a vehement attack. To " bide the borst"
is to stand the oncome. Brockett has birst. See BRUST.

BOR-TREE, BUR-TREE, BOUR-TREE, BOON-TREE,
BOUN-TREE, or BORRAL, the elder tree, Sambucus nigra.
The pith is easily removed, and a hollow tube formed which
is used as a pop-gun and known as " a bor-tyee gun." There
is a salve made from the elder called bountry saw.

" A branch of the common elder, bur-tree, or bore-tree, is supposed to
possess great virtue in guarding the wearer against the malevolence of
witches, fairies, and other ' uncanny ' people. Some say the cross was
made from the wood of the bore-tree; others, equally worthy to be
believed, that Judas hanged himself on it. In some districts the tree
is known as the Bown-tree, which means the sacred tree." — W. Brockie,
Legends and Superstitions, p. 114.

BOSOM, BOOSOM, the bag of a fishing net in which the
fish are generally caught. The net is so constructed as
to belly-out in mid-water when being hauled in.

BOSS, empty ; hollow-sounding, as an empty cask.

BOTTLE, a building, a house. Bottle Bank, Walbottle, Har-
bottle, Shilbottle, Newbottle, &c. Old English botl, a house,
dwelling.

BOTTLE, as much hay or straw, tied or bound together with
a rope, as a man can conveniently carry on his back. A
"fad," or " faud," is a lesser quantity, such as can be
conveniently carried under the arm or in the hand. " To
look for a needle in a bottle of hay " — to engage in a hopeless
search.

"Old French hotel, dim. of hot, masculine form — botte, bundle. — Dr.
Murray, New Eng. Diet

" Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay ; good hay, sweet
hay, hath no fellow." — Bottom, in Midsummer Night's Dream, iv. i.

BOTTOM, a board generally of narrow dimensions, but the
full breadth of the tree it was sawn from. — Hodgson MS.
Bottom board, the movable bottom of a coal waggon.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 87

BOTTOM, the floor of a coal mine. It is generally called the

thill.

" A fathom boring in the thill or bottom under the coal you would
work." — J. C., Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 14.

BOU, a boll, which see.

BOUGHT (pronounced bout], a sheep fold. It is specially a
pen for confining ewes at milking time. — Dr. Murray, New
Eng. Diet.

BOUGHT-BREED (pronounced bout-breed), bread bought from
a baker. The custom in Northumberland being to buy flour
and bake it at home causes the special reference to the buying
of bread. Mr. Brockett says it is " the finer quality bolted by
the baker, in opposition to a coarser kind made at home."
This suggests a connection between bought and bolted, but no
such construction need be put on " bought bread."

BOUK (pronounced bouk), to eructate, to belch. " Man alive,
ov aa things aa like a geuse to eat, 'cas it bouks up se fine."
" Aa varry nigh bouk'd me boiley'' is a phrase — I was very
nearly sick."

BOUK, in mining, a report made by the cracking of the strata
owing to the extraction of the coal beneath ; also the noise
made by the escape of gas under pressure. — Green-well.

BOUK (pronounced booh), to steep or soak in lye. The old
way of " doing up " linen.

" Then the thred is sod, and bleaked, and bucked, and layed to drieing,
&c." — Bartholomew, 302-6, book xvii., c. 97. — Hodgson MS.

Falstaff was carried off in a buck basket, and intercepted. Ford :
" Whither bear you this (basket) ? " Serv. : " To the laundress,
forsooth." Mrs. Ford : " Why, what have you to do whither they
bear it ? You were best meddle with buck-washing." — Merry Wives of
Windsor.

BOUK, to bellow in play or anger, as an ox.
BOUK, bulk, or size.

" As early as the isth century this word was confounded with bulk sb.,
which afterwards usurped most of its senses and has superseded it in
literary use. The modern dialect and Scottish bouh seems to be partly
a survival of the mid-English bouk [trunk of the body], partly the
regular descendant of the M.E. bolk, BULK." — Dr. Murray, New En<>.
Did.

" Ned was nowther laith nor lyem,
An' faith he had baith bouk an' byen."

Song, Wrekinton Hiring.

88 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BOUKIN-FULL, full to repletion.

BOULT, to sift flour through a fine cloth. See BOLT, BOOTED-
LOAF.

BOUNDER, a boundary. See BOONDER.
BOUNTRY, the elder tree. See BOR-TREE.

BOUNTRY SAW, a salve, made from the boon or elder tree.
See BOR-TREE.

BOURD, to jest.—Brockett. (? Obs.)

BOUSE, lead ore picked and ready for dressing. A house-team
is a heap of ore teamed, or emptied from a cart.

" The bouse, or impure ore, is usually let to the washers at so much per
bing." — Mackenzie. Hist, of Northumberland, vol. i., p. 100.

" Long rows of house-teams and bing-steads on each side." — W. W.
Tomlinson, Guide to Northumberland, p. 160.

BOUT, BOOT, a recurring event. — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay.
" He hes the pains agyen, an's hed a bad bout on't this time."
" Hoo are ye thi day, Mally ? " " O hinny, aa've sic boots
i' me heed."

" Bout, a contest or struggle ; especially when applied to a jovial
meeting of the legitimate sons of Bacchus." — Brochett.

BOUT, a bolt.

BOUT, bought, p.t. of buy.

BOWDYKITE, a contemptuous term, often used to a forward
child ; a presumptuous or unskilful person, a young scape-
grace. The term is always applied to a male. It is a term
of derision applied to a youth who has shown some precocious
talent. " He's just a bowdyUte lad."

" De'il smash a good teun could this bowdykite play."

R. Emery, b. 1794, d. 1871, Baggy-nanny.

BOWEL-HIVE-GRASS, the parsley piert, Alchemilla arvensis.
It is made into a decoction and given in cases of hives.

BOWEL-HOLE, BOO-EL-HOLE, the window slit in a byre,
a small circular perforation in a fortified building, any unglazed
aperture in a wall. Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet., gives bowel
as a rare variant of bole or boal, " an unglazed aperture in the
wall of a castle, cottage, stable, &c., for admitting air or
light ; sometimes closed with a shutter." In Northumber-
land bowel is pronounced as boo-el.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 89

BOWER, a bow maker. (Obs.)

" Wm. Wilde, of Newcastle, bower, aged about sixty years, deposed,
&c."— R. Welford, Hist, of N ewe. XVI. Cent., p. 378.

BOWERY, plump, buxom and young. Applied to a young
woman in great health. — Hodgson MS.

BOWET, a lantern.

BOWIE, a wooden dish, made with staves and hoops, for milk
or porridge. Compare BICKER.

BOWLD, bold.

" Bowld Sandy Bowes — Young Cuckoo Jack." — Allan's Tyneside Songs,
p. 6.

BOWLES. (Obs.)

" The knoppes or heads (of flax) are called in Northumberland bowks,
and within these heads are long flat seeds, in colour reddish." — Turner's
Herbal, ii., 396.

BOWLEY, a small bowl.

BO WLEY, a peculiar method of locomotion used by cripples.

BOWOWARTS, BLACK-BOWOWARTS, or BLACK-
BOWOWERS, brambles.

BOWTHERLY, bothersome. (Obs.)

" He was a bowtherly fallowe." — W. W. Tomlinson, Guide to Northumber-
land, 1888, p. 281.

BOWZY, in the family way, bouncy ; also bushy, busky, or
bosky. Bowzy is also a form of " boozey " — drunky.
" My bourtree bush and bouzy tree." — Ettrick Shepherd.

BOX, a benefit or friendly society. So called from the common
box into which the funds were collected. The annual festival
of such a society is called the " Box dinner."

" The excellent arrangements observed in their (the keelmen's) boxes,
or benefit societies." — An Impartial Hist, of Newc., 1801.

BOX-BED, a bed made like a bunk or berth ; formerly a
common arrangement in country houses where room was
scanty.

BOXINGS, the coarse offal from flour after the bran is taken
off; generally used for feeding pigs, &c. The common
name for this is chisel, which see.

go NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BRAA (same as the Scottish braw), fine, handsome, trim, neat.

BRAALY, in fine condition. " Hoo is thoo the day ? " " Aa's
braaly, lad."

BRABBLEMENT, a noisy quarrel, or indecent wrangling. —

Bvockett.

" We hold our time too precious to be spent
With such a brabler."

King John, v. 2, quoted by Nares.

BRACE-HEAD, in a bore-rod, is the strong oak or ash cross-
bar at the top of the rods, by which they are moved round
at each vertical stroke in boring.

BRACK, p.t. of break, or brick.

" He brack his shin."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 20.

BRACKEN, BRECKAN, the brake fern, Pferis aquilina, L.
It is regularly harvested for the bedding of cattle. It was
formerly used for the manufacture of soap and glass.

BRACKEN-CLOCK, the small gay-coloured chafer, Phyllopertha
horticola, L.

BRADE OF, BREID OF, to be like in condition.— Ray's
Gloss,, 1691. (? Obs.)

BRADS, coins, money. — J. P. Robson, Gloss, to Bards of the

Tyne.

BRAE, BREE, a steep bank, as, the broken ground by a river
side. See BREE.

BKAIK, or BRAKE, a kind of harrow used by farmers for
clod breaking.

BRAFFAM, BRIFFAM, BARFHAM, BRIHAM,
BRAUGHAM, a horse collar. It is curious that this word
is seen in such guises that the various forms given hardly
exhaust the ways of spelling it.

" Paide for a grete bregham to the carte heede, 2s. 6d." — Newcastle
Municipal Accounts, March, 1592.

" As country lads be a' arrayed
Wi1 branks and brecham on each mare."

. Jock o' the Syde.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 91

BRAG, a goblin. The Portobello Brag was well-known and
feared at the Low Fell. See BAR-GUEST and BOGGLE.

" A kind of wicked sprite." — T. Wilson, note to The Oilin' o' Dicky's
Wig, 1826. " The description of the Pelton Brag," continues Mr.
Wilson, " by Sir Cuthbert Sharp, in his Bishoprick Gaalaml, induces me
to believe that it must have been the same roguish sprite that played
such tricks at Portobello. It delighted in mischief, and whoever
mounted it (for it always appeared in the shape of an ass) were sure
to be thrown into some bog or whin bush at the last, when the creature,
as if enjoying the mischief, would run off ' nickerin1 an' laffin'."

BRAID, broad. Compare BREDE.

" ' Bessie with the braid apron,' was a familiar epithet applied to
Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Dacre, the wife of Lord William Howard
(Belted Will), whose broad lands swelled the fortunes of his younger
brother, the progenitor of the families of Carlisle and Corby." — Brockett.

" Leanin on the hud steahyn wi' his braid shouthers." — T. Bewick,
The Howdy, &c., ed. 1850, p. 10.

BRAID, to braid, " describes the muscular action which
precedes vomiting, reaching, heaving." — Hodgson MS. "Aa've
braided sair aall neet, doctor."

BRAID-BAND. Barley is often laid in broad-band to dry when
reaped.

BRAKE, a lever forming part of the apparatus used in coal-
boring. It is a simple beam having a crook at one end to
which the bore-rods are attached by a chain and sling rope.
When the depth attained in boring has become so great that
the bore-rods cannot be lifted by the men at the brace-head,
then the brake is brought into requisition. By its powerful
leverage the rods are lifted and then allowed to drop, the
rods being turned by the brace-head at each stroke.

BRAKESMAN, the man in charge of the winding-engine at
a pit.

BRAMBLING, the mountain finch, Fnngilla montifyingilla.
BRAN, a boar ; a male pig.

BRANDED, BRANDIT, brindled. "A branded quey," "A
byandit stot," is a 'beast of a mixed black and red colour.

BRANDERS, the piers or abutting part of the foundations of
a bridge which become visible when the water is low.

BRAND-IRONS, and-irons. The irons for holding up the
logs in a wood fire.

Q2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BRANDLING, a river trout caught in the Tyne.

BRANDLINGS, large peas of a brownish-yellow spotted
colour, quite different from the ordinary grey pea, much
fancied and in request for " carlins'."

BRANDLING-WORM (pronounced bmnlin), the worm found
in manure heaps, which has red stripes round it. It is well
known to trout fishers, and is also called the Dew worm.

BRANDRITH, a trivet or other iron on which to set a vessel
over a fire. — Ray's Gloss. Compare GIRDLE, 2.

BRANDY-SNAPS, very thin, brittle cakes, made of ginger-
bread, and baked hard.

BRANK, to hold the head up affectedly; to put a bridle or
restraint on anything. — Brockett.

BRANKS, a bridle of primitive construction, having a piece
of wood on each side joined to a halter. These side pieces
are referred to in Burns' Death and Dr. Hornbook : —

" And then its shanks,
They were as thin, as sharp, an sma',
As cheeks o' branks."

Sometimes a bit is added ; but more frequently a wooden
nose resembling a muzzle. — Ogilvie, Imperial Diet. It was
thus that the expedition of the Laird's Jock, the Laird's
Wat, and Hobbie Noble were instructed to set out for
Newcastle : —

" Your armour good ye manna shaw,
Nor yet appear like men o' weir ;
As country lads be a' arrayed

Wi' branks and brecham on each mare."

Jock o' the Syde,

In A Joco-Serioiis Discourse, by George Stuart, printed for
Benjamin Toole, London, and John Story, Newcastle, 1686,
p. 27, the word in the following passage is explained, " bridle
or halter" : —

" When wanton Yaud has cast her rider,
And taen sike freeks that nane can guide her,
Under her feet she gets her branks,
And stark-horn-mad she plys her shanks."

But it is as a bridle for humanity that the branks is best
known in Newcastle and Morpeth ; for at each of these towns
an iron muzzle is kept and known as " the branks." It is a
cage-like structure, going over the head. In front is a
tongue of iron which passed into the mouth and effectually

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 93

gagged the wearer. The punishment of the branhs was
inflicted upon incorrigible scolds, who were sentenced to be
led in this guise through the public streets by the "hougher" ;
and the municipal accounts show that the custom was
regularly enforced : —

" Paide for caring a woman throughe the towne for skoulding, with
branks, ^d." — -Newcastle Municipal Accounts, April, 1595.

Thomas Wilson, describing the Polytechnic Exhibition in
Newcastle of 1840, says : —

" The branks, a kind o' brake, is here,

Wor faithers, when a' else was vain,
Compell'd the noisy jades to weer,
Whene'er their clappers ran amain."

Mr. G. B. Richardson states that this punishment was in use
at least so late as 1761, and probably much later. At
Morpeth, it occurs in use in 1741, on December 3rd. — Notes
to Reprint of Municipal Accounts. The branks is now in the
custody of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, and is
exhibited in the Old Castle.

BRAN-NEW, quite new.

BRANT, steep, difficult of ascent, as " a brant hill." It also
means consequential, pompous in one's walk ; " you seem
very brant this morning." A game cock is brant. Loftiness
enters into all the meanings of this word. — Hodgson MS.
See BRENT.

" As brant as the side of a house." — Ray's Gloss., 1691, E.D.S., B. 15.

" The excellent Prince Thomas Howarde, D. of Norfolke, with
bowemen of Englande, slewe King Jamye with many a noble Scotte,
even brant against Flodden Hill." — Ascham Toxophylite, p. 104, quoted in
Nare's Gloss., p. 56. " There it seems to mean 'up the steep side.'" —
Nares.

BRANT, burned. Imperfect tense of the verb to burn.

" He brant the bed bottom out." — Jack Fairlamb's Exploit in the Kitty.

BRASH, acidity of the stomach, causing a flow of water to the
mouth — known as " the watter brash."

BRASH, melted snow. "Snaw brash," "Brashy weather."
" Brashy wettor." See also SLUSH.

BRASH, hasty, impetuous. — Brockett.

BRASH, a rash or eruption on the skin. " He's aal come oot
iv a brash, like mizzles."

94 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BRASH, a vigorous push or pull ; a strong spurt in violent
exertion is called a brash. In churning, for instance, the
proffer of help is often given — " Noo, maa lass, aa'll gie ye a
brash."

BRASHY, small, delicate in constitution, subject to frequent
bodily indisposition or weakness. Soft stone is also said to
be brashy. — Brockett. Compare BRASH, 2.

BRASS, money. Impudence is called brass. See BRAZEN.

" The cheps that fand the brass." — T. Wilson, Opening of Railway, 1838-

BRASS, iron pyrites found in the coal measures ; also called
Brass lumps.

" Coal mixed with brass." — Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 233.
BRASS BAND, a layer of iron pyrites.

BRASSY, containing iron pyrites.

" The coal has the reputation of being in parts brassy." — Hugh Miller,
Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geol. Survey Memoir, 1887, p. 33.

BRASSY, pert, lively, forward in manner. Principally applied
to young people of an active but presumptive turn. " A
brassy callant." " A brassy little fellow."

BRAST, burst (the/.*, ofbrust). Traveller : " Bella, did onybody
ivver get drunk on yer smaall beer, hinny ? " Hostess : " Na;
but there was twee that brast."

BRAT, the name for the turbot on the Northumberland coast.

" The crabby aad dealers in ling, cod, and brats,
An' the virgins that tempt us wi' nice maiden skyet."

T. Wilson, The Movement, 1839.

BRAT, a neglected or disagreeable child.

BRAT, a kind of dual apron, usually made of a sheepskin, or
coarse sacking, worn by farm men when building corn stacks,
or when bathing sheep. In the latter case it is called a
"bathing brat." Brat (knee), a covering for the knees used
by stackers, generally made from coarse sacking, or sheep-
skin with the wool on it. A child's bib. Raiment.

" Maw canny bairns luik pale and wan
Their bits and brats are varra scant."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 57.

Here " bits and brats" mean food and raiment.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 95

BRAT, a scum on the surface of liquid ; the curdled soap
floating on the top of water after washing ; a hard and broken
crust on the surface of soil. Compare BRAT, in coal mining,
and BRAT, to curdle or solidify, below.

BRAT, in coal mining, a thin stratum of coarse coal or black
stone, sometimes mixed with carbonate of lime and pyrites,
frequently found lying at the roof of a seam of coal.

" Limestone brat 2 feet 6 inches." — Borings and Sinkings, L.R., p. 113.

BRAT, to curdle. Thunder brats the cream. Earth is said to
be bratted when baked and cracked with the sun, and plants,
when similarly dried and cracked, are said to be bratted.

BRATCHET, an ill-behaved child; but often applied familiarly
and affectionately to a lively child. " Ye cunnin' little
bratchet ; aa see ye there."

BRATCHET, a thin liquor made from the last squeezing of
the honeycomb. — Brockett. See BRAGGET. (Obs.)

BRATTISH, BRATTISHING, BRATTICE, a partition.
The high wood back acting as screen to a long-settle is
called a bmttish. A Northumberland man was asked to come
further into the room. He replied : " No, thank ye ; aa'll
just sit ahint the brattisk." He had modestly taken a seat
near the screen at the door. In a room, a portion is said to
be "brattishedofi" when a wooden partition has been run up
to form a division or second apartment. In mining, where
one shaft is used for a double purpose, it is divided by a
bmttish, or brattice ; this is called the shaft brattish. " A wood
partition used for ventilation when there is only one opening
or passage." (Gloss. Neivc. Mining Terms, 1852.) "The brattice
that divided the back shaft, or pumping side, from the fore
shaft, where the coals as well as the men and boys were
drawn up to and from their work." (Robt. Scott, Ventilation
of Coal Mines, 1868, p. 34.) When in other parts of the pit,
it is called the "drift," "headways," " board," &c., brattish,
according to the situation in which it is placed. " The
collerens which formerly supported the bratticing were all
gone to decay." (R. Scott, Above, p. 31.) Brattice-cloth is
strong canvas steeped in Archangel tar, and used in making
temporary air courses. In architecture, carved work on the
top of a shrine. " Before we descend let us glance between
the brattishing which surrounds the sides." (Rev. Provost
Consitt, Life of St. Cnthbert, 1887, p. 247.) To fortify with

96 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

timber. " At Clennel is a little tower of the inheritance of
one Percival Clennel, gent., newly reperelled and brattyshed."
(Survey of Northumberland, in 1541, Sir Robert Bowes. —
Hodgson MS.) See Bates, Border Holds, p. 54.

BRATTLE, a fray, a loud noise, a peal of thunder.

" Says he, I have got quite enough,
Sae thus we gave ower the brattle."

Song, " Valentine's Day."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 167.

BRAUTINS, girdle cakes with cheese sandwiched between.
Mr. Brockett says the dish was formerly prepared for
mowers in the hay harvest, and carried to them in the field.
On the authority of a woman, aged 99, he adds that this was
a repast on Midsummer Eve, and also on St. Thomas's
Night.

BRAVE, an emphatic prefix, adding intensity; for instance,
" Brave an' dry " means very dry ; " Brave an' seun," in very
good time ; " Brave an' near," very near indeed. " He's a
brave strang un," he's a very strong one. " A brave lad," is a
nice comely fellow. Brave must always be joined with some-
thing agreeable.

BRAVELY, in excellent health — however deficient in courage. —
Brockett. See BRAALEY.

BRAXY-MUTTON, mutton of a sheep that has died of a
disease termed " the braxies" See TRAIK.

BRAY, to pound, to hammer at, to assault. Brayed sand is
pounded sandstone. " Aa'll bray the sowl oot o' ye."

" He bray'd away byeth lang and sair,

Before the stannin corf was hew'd ;
Was droppin sweet frae iv'ry hair,
An hidden iv a reeky cloud."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 36.

BRAYER, or BRAYING-STONE, a beater used in pounding
soft sandstone.

BRAYS, small coke. See BREEZE.
BRAZEN, impudent. " She's a brazen huzzy."
BREAK, a crack or small natural cavity in a coal seam.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 97

BREAKER, a large crack formed in the roof of a pit next to
the goaf, or a crack caused by cleavage in stratification.
See also BRICKER.

BREAK THE GRUND, to dig a grave. The term is more
applicable to the place where families consider they have a
claim to be interred.

BREAST, the projecting mantel of a chimney. Breast-summer,
the mantel-piece or beam thrown across it.

BRECK, BREAK, a short story.

" Od ; I could tell ye ower as monie o' Jamie's brecks as wad fill a hale
beuik." — James Armstrong, Dandie Dinmont.

BRECK, a portion of a field cultivated by itself. — James Britten,
Old Country and Farming Words, E.D.S. See BRICK, 2.

BRECKAN, the brake fern. See BRACKEN.

BRECK ANY, abounding in, or covered with brake fern.

BREDE, to make broad, to spread. — Ray's Gloss. Hence brede,
breadth or extent. Bred, a board. " Baaks and breds" are
beam and scale-boards familiar in the farm dairy for weighing
butter. See note under BAAKS and BREDS.

BREDS, scale boards.

BRED-VENOM, a gathering or suppuration which originates
in bad blood or from some cause within a person's body, as a
whitlow. It distinguishes from an income, which is a gathering
occasioned by an outside cause. See INCOME.

BREE, BREAY, the breast of a hill, the brink or bank of a
river.

" Bellingham Church stands near the edge of a steep brae which slopes
downward to the Tyne." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835,
P 153-

" The little valley of the Nent was once a fairyland, and had its flowery
meadows, and wild shaws, and bosky breays." — Hodgson's Hist, of
Northumberland, iii., 2., p. 39.

" Aw smacked thir yell, aw climb'd thir bree
Theseet was wondrous, vurry."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jimmy Jonesons W hurry.

BREECHES, the roe of a fish when unbroken or uncut.
G

98 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BREED, to make, to extend. " Here, lads! let's breed a slidey,"
that is, "Let us work on till a slide is made on the ice."
See BREDE.

BREED, bread.

" Think of a heap o' hungry bairns

About an empty cubboard cryin',
Wi mebby he that hardly earns
Their daily breed, in sickness lyin'."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 51.

BREED- AN-CHEESE, the opening bud of the hawthorn tree.
It is often eaten by children, and thus called.

BREEK, to put into trousers. A memorable time in the life
of youth.

" Frae beein' breeh'd till fit to marry."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 78.

BREEKS, trousers.

" Ma bran new coat an breeks wis gyen."

Song, Wor Matty Torned Bloomer.

" Then fierce as fire she seized the breeks."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i. v. 45.

BREER, the eglantine or sweet-briar. Wild sweet brere, the
wild rose, Rosa tomentosa.

BREEST, breast. " His bare breest." " The chimley breest"
To give an infant " the breest " is to suckle it.

BREEST, the iron in a smith's fire next the snout, or nozzle,
of the bellows.

BREET, bright.

" Her high-heeled shoon, wi' buckles breet."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 12.

BREETH, breath. " Aa's run till aa's oot o' brceth."
BREETH, breadth. " A han's breetk "—a handsbreadth.
BREEZE, BRAYS, small coke, or the dust of coke.
BREMEL or BRIMMEL, the bramble.

BREMEL-BARRIES, bramble-berries. Called also Bummel-

Jcites, Black Bow-wotvers, &c.

BRENCH, a branch.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 99

BRENT, steep. Brent-brow, a steep hill; metaph. The brow of
a hill, the edge or side of a hill, or precipice. — Ray's Gloss.,
1691, E.D.S., B. 15. Something set up or standing up;
hence applied to a "stuck-up" or consequential person. See
BRANT.

" Just then aw saw wor lads gannin' by,
As straight as rashers, and sae brent."

" Shield's Races."
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 492.

BRENTIN, the act, in playing marbles, of placing the hand
on the knee and so discharging the marble from an elevation.
" Brent doon" is the instruction, in playing, to keep the hand
down on the ground.

BRERE, to sprout, to spring up, to prick up in the manner
grain does when it first germinates. — Hodgson MS. " It had
just breered when the caad nipt it" — that is, the plant had
just shown above ground when the cold nipped it. See also
BREER.

BREWERY, a boys' game at marbles. See BOOREY.

BREWIS, crusts or pieces of bread soaked in the fat of
pottage. — Bailey's Diet. ( ? Obs.)

BRIAN, " to bvian an oven," to keep fire at the mouth of it,
either to give light or to preserve the heat. — Ray, North-
Country Words, 1691.

BRICK, to break.

" Ye'll brick yor neck, mind.
Yor high-flown cheps oft fyel an' brick."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 95.

BRICK, a patch of growing turnips surrounded by a net within
which sheep are placed to eat off the crop. The brick (break)
no doubt distinguishes between it and the unbroken part of
the crop. See BRECK, 2.

BRICK, the birch tree. See BIRK.

BRICKER, BREAKER, a fissure produced in the roof of the
mine, from the pressure on removing the pillar. — Brockett.

BRICKWAST, BRICKFAST, breakfast.

BRIDAL, BRIDE-ALE, a wedding feast.

" When Brydals, or Horse Races fell." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse,
1686, p. 19.

BRIDE-SPURS, spurs allotted to the best runner after the
marriage ceremony. — Brockett. See KAIL. (Obs.)

IOO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BRIDE'S-WAIN, a wedding custom. (Obs.)

" On the occasion of the celebration of a marriage, the bride's furni-
ture was brought in a wain or waggon to her husband's house, with
much pomp and ceremony ; on the top of the load, and forming the
most prominent object in it, was her spinning wheel, gaily decorated
with ribbons. This was called the bride's wain." — Rev. J. E. Elliot,
Hist, of Bks. Nat. Club, vol. vi., p. 246.

BRIEF, a memorial, or begging letter signed by some
responsible person, and carried about by a poor petitioner
who has lost a cow or horse, or suffered some misfortune.

BRIERS, beams or girders fixed across a shaft top.

BRIG, a bridge. "The aad brig." " Corbrig."

" She'll neist try the Quay — the Custom-House, tee —
The Brig — an' wor awd coaly river."

T. Wilson, The Movements, 1839.
" Fre there aa went alang the Brig." — Ma Canny Hinny.

BRIHAM, BRIME, a horse collar. This word has several
forms — barkham, braffam, briffam, barfham, braugham, brecham,
<§•»£. — but the common pronunciation is briham. See note under
HEYEMS.

BRIHAM, or BIRGHAM-FLAP, the old arrangement of the
trouser band and front.

BRIM. A sow in kind is said to be " a brimmer," or " a
breeming." A sow is said to go to brim when she goes to the
boar.

BRITCHIN, that portion of horse harness buckled to the cart
saddle, passing round the hinder part of the horse and fastened
by chains to the "limmers" of the cart.

BRIZZ, BRISS, to press, to squeeze, to bear a weight upon,
to press down with the fingers, to constrain with the arms.
" Come, let me brizz your breast to mine." " To brizz beneath
the heel of contempt."

BRIZZLE, BRISTLE, BIRSEL, to crackle in cooking.

The carlins " will then parch, crack, and, as we provincially call it,
bristle ; when they begin to burst they are ready to eat." — Correspondent
from Northumberland to Gentleman's Magazine, 1788, p. 189.

" Mr. George Stephenson, the engineer ," was at Mr. Hinde's dinner
(British Association, Newcastle, 1838). He told me that he and his son
had made an inclined plane in their works to ascertain why the railroad
did not rust, and on laying silk on the line, after it had been used, that it
all ' brizzled up,' and he was then assured that they were electrified." —
Journal of Rev. John Hodgson, Raine's Life, vol. ii., pp. 382-3.

" The modern Scotch is birsle ; but i6th century English had brissill,
and i7th century Northern dialect brush" — Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. IO1

BROACH, a reel of yarn. Compare PIRN.

BROACH, the spire of a church. This word is given in the
Gentleman's Magazine of 1794 as a word from Newcastle.

" Chester-le- Street has a bonny, bonny church,

With a broach upon the steeple ;
But Chester-le-Street is a dirty, dirty town,
An mair shyem for the people."

Broach is now used as an architectural term to describe a spire
springing direct from the tower without any intermediate
parapet. "Broach, a spit. It is a French word ; from its
similitude whereto a spire-steeple is called a broach -steeple,
as an obelisk is denominated from (Greek) obelos, a spit. It
signifies also a butcher's prick." — Ray's Gloss.

BROACH, to break a hole through the stopping in a pit.

BROACH, to face stones with a mason's pick. In local work,
the stone is set on its broadest " bed," and the mason so
works it, always striking downward with his pick. "Broached
stones" are stones thus dressed.

BROCK, a badger (Meles taxus), or a badger hound. To stink
like a brock" "To sweat like a brock," are proverbs. The
latter from the little insect (the larva of the froghopper) in
the cuckoo spit, called a brock. See GREY.

" Others brawl about Jack's brock,
That all the Chowden dogs can bang."

Thos. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. i., v. 31.

BROCK, a name sometimes given to a cow or husbandry
horse. — Brockett.

BROCK, any refuse straw or hay, &c., broken short.

BROCKEN, broken. See BROKEN.

" They could, aw think, compare't wi' nowse
But Clootie's gang, a' bracken lowse,
And frae his clutches fleeiu'."

T. Wilson, Opening of Newcastle and Carlisle Hallway, 1838.

SROCK-FYECED, marked in the face with a streak like a
badger. A "brock-faced cow."

BROCKLE, BRUCKLE, liable to break, frail, uncertain,
precarious. Hence applied to variable or uncertain weather,
as " a brockle day."

102 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BROCKWELL ; " the lowest workable (coal) seam of any
district is, ipso facto, called the " Brockwell." — Professor G.
A. Lebour, M.A., Geology of Northumberland and Durham, 2nd
ed., 1886, p. 51. Compare with BROCKLE, above.

BROD, a small nail. (Obs.)

" Four hundred brods, is. 8d. ; two benches laths, as." — Richard
Welford, Hist, of N ewe. XVI. Cent., p. 356.

BROD, or BRUD, to separate peas from beans by means of
a riddle.

BROGLER, an untrained person, "a feckless body." " He's
just a brogler " — that is, he is a poor hand, as a poor preacher,
an unqualified medical practitioner, or a bad workman.

BROGLY, shaky, twisted, uneven. " Aa've a pair o' com-
passes, but thor varry brogly yens " — that is, bent and twisted
in the legs and generally shaky. "The road's a varry brogly
yen."

BROKEN, " a part of the mine where the pillars are in course
of removal." — Min. Gloss. Newc. Terms, 1852.

" They begin to work off the standing pillars of coal, which is (as the
miners say) working in the broken." — Robt. Scott, Ventilation of Coal
Mines, 1868, p. 14.

" The partial working of pillars was commenced at Walker Colliery
by Thomas Barnes in 1795, and improved by Mr. Buddie at Percy Main
in 1810." — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1849.

BROKEN-MEAT, meat left after a meal.

BROKET, a lark — Northumberland. See Pennant's Tour in
Scotland, 1790, i., 48. — HalliweWs Diet.

BRONG, an occasional p. ten. of bring. " He brong it aall on
hissel." Brongen and brong are used as p. part. "Ifye'doney
brong it seuner." See BROWT.

BROO, the forehead. " Sic a heed ! all mooth an' bvoo." The
face of a dyke in a pit. See CANCH.

" The front of the depressed roof at a dip hitch."— Greenwell.

BROO, inclination, good opinion. Used in the negative. " Aa
hed no broo on't" — I had a bad opinion of it and was timorous
of the issue.

BROODY, having a brood. "A broody hen," a hen with
chickens. " Broody, or brcddy," is said of a matron who has
her children in quick succession.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 103

BROON, brown.

BROON-BUZZOMS, besoms made of broom. See BRUM.

BROON-GEORGE, brown bread.

BROONIE, a brown spirit, popularly supposed to be dis-
tinguished from a fairy, or fair-complexioned spirit, by its
brown skin. See DUERGAR.

BROON-KITTY, or KITTY-WREN, the wren, Troglodytes
parvulus.

BROON-LEAMER, a hazel nut, when it becomes brown and
mealy ended, ripe and ready to fall out of its husk. — Rev. J.
Hodgson, Avchceologia ALliana, vol. ii., p. 132.

" The term is figuratively applied to generous persons, called also
Browns/tillers." — Halliwell's Diet.

BROSSEN, BROSTEN, BRUSSEN, or BRUSTEN, burst.

" ' A brossen kite,' one with a large and well -replenished corporation." —
Hodgson MS.

BROTH, used as a plural noun. " A few broth."

BROTT, shaken corn. — Ray's Collection of North-Country Words,
1691.

" BROTTS, fragments, droppings." — Halliwell's Diet.

BROUGH, BROOF, in Northumberland, the name for the
halo which in thin, hazy weather encircles the moon, and
is seen in mist sometimes over the sun. — Hodgson MS.
" He'ye seen the broofroond the myun thi' neet ? It's a lang
way off." The belief is that the larger the diameter of the
circle the greater the anticipated storm.

BROUGHTENS, in Rothbury parish, are cakes, with thin
layers of cheese put on each side and baked, to give to
mowers for their noon, or luncheons. — Hodgson MS. See
BRAUTINS.

BROUT, brought. " He brout them o up." See BROWT.

BROWDEN, BROODIN, to be anxious for, or warmly
attached to, any object ; to be enamoured of it. — Bvockett.
See BROO, 2.

BROWDIN, BROODIN, vain, conceited, bold, forward.—
Brockett, ^rd ed.

104 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BROWN-HEADED-DUCK, the golden-eye duck, Clangula
glaucion.

BROWN-HEN, a name for the black grouse, Tetrao tetrix. It
is also called black cock and black game.

BROWN LINNET, one of the names for the linnet, Cannabina
linota. Other names for the bird are lennart, and grey, red,
and rose linnet.

BROWST, a brewing, a quantity brewed at any one time. —
Brockett, 3rd ed.

BROWSTER, a brewer.— Broclrett, 3rd ed.

BROWT, brought, p. part, browten. " He broivt his fether win
him ; it's a wonder he hadn't browten his grandfether tee."
" He browt him up to the butchin business." Brong is an
occasional form.

BROWTENS-UP, upbringing. " It just shows his browtens-
up " — that is, it shows the way in which he has been brought
up. It is generally applied to misconduct or want of early
training.

BRUCH, the old name for a toad-stool, or a fungus. — Hodgson
MS.

"Toad-stool, or, as the Northumbers call them, britches." — Turner's
Herbal, 1562.

BRUCKLE, to dirty.— Ray's Gloss.

" To brookle, or bmkle, in the North, is to make wet and dirty." —
Kennett, p. 137, quoted Halliwell's Diet.

BRUCKLED, dirty.— Ray's Gloss.

" Wet, stormy; applied to the weather.'' — Brockett.

" BnicheTd wants explanation. Herrick speaks of ' boys and bruckeVd
children, playing for points and pins,' " — Nare's Gloss. See explanation
above.

BRUD, to separate peas from beans. See BROD.

BRUISER, a bullying fellow.

" He can wallop a' the bruisers an' greet bullies on the Kee." — Ed-
Corvan, 1854, Fire on the Quay.

BRULLIMENT, a broil or quarrel.— Brocket*.

BRUM, the plant broom. " Brutn (or broon) buzzoms" are
bezoms made from broom, or, as they are called in colloquial
English, " brooms."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 105

BRUMSEN, brimstone.

BRUN, to burn. This is the common pronunciation in
Northumberland; p.t., brunt. The "Brunt Hoose " was
. formerly a noted hostelry in the Side at Newcastle.

" An aged Jacobite, whom we knew well in early youth, told us that
the most vivid recollection of old Miss Mary (Hodgson of Tone) was
that of general Forster's (Forster of Adderstones) appearance at Hexham,
at the head of the English Jacobites, and of the splendid way he
managed his magnificent black charger ; but, added she, ' That was all
he was worth, for he was a pig-headed fool.' Had she written these
words she would no doubt have added, as she did to her dying day,
' Rede and broun,' read and burn, so habitual had secrecy been to her in
early years." — Dr. Charlton, Society in Northumberland in Last Century,
1874, p. 3.

BRUNLIN, one who is made a butt or fool of. "Ye needn't
think yor gan to myek a brunlin o' me" — said by one too
sharp to be imposed upon.

BRUNT (p.t. of brun), burnt. During a game at ball, or

marbles, if one steps in the way, so as to stop the course of

ball or marble, the plaything is said to be brunt. " He brunt

the baal." " Thoo's brunt maa tar ; aa'll he' that shot ower."

" A piece of brunt stob." — T. Wilson, Joyce's Patent Stove.

BRUSSLE (see BRIZZLE, which is the same word), to crackle
in cooking or burning.

5RUST, to burst (past, brast ; p. part, brussen or brosseri). "To
brust" — to break the skin, as " I'll brust your gob." Brusted is
sometimes used.

" The times we've run till like to brust
To hear blind Willie singin'."

R. Gilchrist, d. 1844, Blind Willie Singing.

" Ne ought could them endure, but all they cleft or brast." — Faerie
Queene, book v., cant, xii.-xvii.

Shakspeare has, " I'll be sworn he never saw him, but once in the tilt-
yard ; and then he burst his head, for crouching among the marshal's-
men."— 2nd Henry IV., iii. 2.

5RUZZLED, over-roasted. — Halliwell. See BRIZZLE.

BUBBLE, to snuffle, to blubber, to cry. The expression, " he
bubbled and cried" is very common.

" The prayer wadn't de, so they started te bubble,
Twas a' they could say i' the midst ov their trouble."

Song, The Devil, or the Nanny Goat.

>UBBLES, the secretion or mucus of the nose. " Wipe the
bubbles off the bairn's nose."

106 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BUBBLY, snottery, soft, blubbering.

" He's an ugly body, a bubbly body,
An ill-far'd, ugly loon."

" Sandgate Girls' Lamentation."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 48.

" The keel-bullies a', byeth great and sma,
Myed a bubbly tide o' the hoppin', O !"

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, " Swalwell Hopping."
Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 47.

BUBBLY-JOCK, the male turkey. Probably so named from
the wattles hanging from the front of his bill and down his
neck.

BUCK, the driver used by players in the games of " trippet
and quoit " and " kitty-cat-an'-&M^-stick."

BUCK, the hook for attaching the chains to a plough beam.

BUCK-BUCK, a game played by two boys. One boy " makes
a back," and the other player leaps on it, calling out, " Buck-
buck, hoo many fingers div aa had up." If the buck guesses
right the players exchange places.

BUCKER, a sand beater, used for making "bray-sand"; a
domestic utensil, with iron head and wooden handle, for
crushing sandstone to a powder for stone floors. Backers were
used formerly for crushing lead ore before the introduction of
machinery for " stamping."

BUCKET, the piston of a lifting set of pumps in a pit. — Newc.
Mining Terms. See SWORD.

BUCKET-TREE, the pipe between the working barrel of a
pump and the windbore.

BUCKLE, to marry.

BUCKLE, a dint, or bend, or twist in the face of a plate of
iron ; " a buckled plate" is a plate that has got twisted or set
awry on its face.

BUCKLE-HORNS, bent horns.

^^^H

BUCKLE-MOOTHED, having a twisted mouth. See BUCKLE,
2, above.

" What a fyess, begok ! had buckle -moothed Jock,
When he twined his jaws for the baccy, O."

J. Selkirk, Swalwell Hopping.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORD?. IOJ

BUCKLE-TO, to work in earnest, to agree with. " Come,
lads, let's buckle to."

" Now, they'd nothing more to do
But make the mother buckle to ;
Which must be done, or else the bargain
Would not be worth a single farthing."

Edward Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1735.

BUCKSHEENED, having the shin bones bucked, or crooked
to the front ; a condition produced by ricket in early life.
" Buchsheen'd Bob, fra Stella, O."

J. Selkirk, Swalwell Hopping.

BUDDEN, ordered ; invited to a funeral. See BODEN and
BID, 2.

BUDDOCK, the buttock, or nether part.

" He sits in his huddock and claws his bare buddock."

Song, Bonnie Keel Laddie.

BUDDY-BUD, BUDDY-BUS, the flower of the burr, or
burdock, Arctium lappa, Linnczus. — Broclcett.

BUDDY-BUDDY, the call to chickens for their food.
BUER, a gnat.— Ray's Gloss. ( 1 Obs.)

BUESS, BEUST, or BUST, a stall, station, or part of office,
or business ; a beast stall, or booze. — Bvockett. See BOOSE.

BUFF, a blow given by one boy to another to provoke him to
fight. Compare COWBAT.

5UFF, to beat. A word formerly in polite use. (Obs.)
" There was a shock
To have buff'd out the blood
Of ought but a block."

Ben Jonson, quoted in Nare's Diet.

BUFF, to labour heavily.

" He was buffin' at a back as hard as whinstone."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1843, pt., ii., v. 34.

BUFF, to polish a knife, after sharpening it, by stroking, or
buffing it on a soft leather strap.

BUFF, the bare skin. " He wis stripped to the buff."

" Adam wore his native buff." — N are's Gloss., under word Adam BelL

5UFFET, a foot-stool ; sometimes called a buffet-stool.

" Five buffette -stools, 2s. 6d." — Witt of Robert Clarcring of Callaly, in
D. D. Dixon's Vale of Whittingham, 1887, p. 39.

IO8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BUFF-FRONTS, BUFF-FACES, or BULL-FACES, tufts
of coarse grass, Aiva caspitosa. See BULL-PYET.

BUFF-NOR-STYE. "He could neither say buff nor stye"—
said of a simpleton, or of one who is surprised past speech.
Another form of this expression is gniff-nor-stye. " He
nowther said gruff-nor-stye " — that is, he churlishly gave no
answer whatever. It is said when a person has been grossly
insulting in his manner by refusing to answer when spoken
to. In Naves Gloss., buff ne baffis given ; " Neither one thing
nor another. Nothing at all."

BUGHT, a sheepfold. See BOUGHT.

" A structure described by the shepherds as a bught for milking ewes,
or assorting sheep." — James Hall, Guide to Glendale, 1887, p. 99.

" Aneath the dusky peak o' Cheviot,

Where the falcon spreads his flashing wings,
Where the wild thyme springs, and blue-bells blossom,
And the lavrock o'er the yovte-bught sings."

James Anderson, The Scottish Lassie, 1879.

BUIK, BUICK, a book. Pronounced bee-yuk and byuk, which
see. In Anglo-Saxon the word is hoc ; and the accented
vowel is in Northumberland sounded as ee-yu.

BUIRDLY, stout, stalwart, of large stately frame.

BUIS, a space for the forage of stall-fed cattle. See BUESS.

BUIST, BUEST, or BUST, to put a mark or brand upon
sheep or cattle by their owners. — Bvockett. The pronunciation
is b-yeast. See BYEST.

BULE, BOOL, the bow of a pan or kettle.— Brockett.

BULK, the open stall of a shop.

" The shop windows of one of these houses (No. 76, Head of the Side)
were the last which remained unglazed in Newcastle, and retained,
within living memory, what were known as open bulks." — Knowles and
Boyle, Vestiges of Old Newcastle, 1887, p. 4.

BULL, a round bar of iron used in blasting in wet holes. The
hole being stuffed with clay, a bull is driven through it, and
thus a water-tight pocket for the blasting-charge is made.
Also a short prop, with forked end, hung loosely at the rear
of a set of tubs in ascending ; or so balanced in front of a set
of descending tubs, on an inclined plane, as to strike with

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. IOQ

the points and hold the set, should the rope break. It is
also called " a cow," and is hung on the lever, or " start," of
a gin or crab. The recoil of the load, when winding ceases,
causes the horns of the cow, or bull, to be thrust into the
ground. The gin is thus brought to rest, whilst the bull
holds the weight and prevents a retrograde movement.

BULL, a stone for sharpening a scythe ; usually a piece of
rounded or squared sandstone of fine grain. A nodule. Iron
bulls, or balls, are ironstone nodules.

BULL-DOG, the slag run from a puddling furnace.

BULLER, BULDER, to gush out as a spring gushes, to
bubble, to boil up. Hence applied to a voluble gush of
words, a tumult of tongues, an uproar. A local revivalist
preacher in Northumberland expressed himself thus : " When
aa startid to speak aa was lost ; but when the spirit moved
me at last, the words cam bulletin oot."

BULLET, a round sweetmeat, like a bullet.

BULL-FACES, the grass, Aira caspitosa ; called also bull-
fronts, buff-fronts, bull-snouts, and winnel-strae.

BULL-GRASS, the brome grass, Bromus mollis, L. ; called
also goose grass.

BULL HAAS, haws, the fruit of the hawthorn, when of large
size. See CAT HAAS.

BULL-HEED, a firebrick, wider at one end than the other ;
measuring gin. long by 4^in. at the wider or bull end, tapering
to 2 fin. wide at the narrow end, and of 2^in. thickness
throughout.

BULLOCK, a steer of at least a year old.

BULLOCK, a variant of fullock, which see.

BULLOCKER, the largest sized marble used in boys' games.

BULLOCKS' TONGUE, the harts tongue fern, Scolopendrium
vulgar e.

ULL-PYET, bull's pate ; a tuft of coarse grass among the
finer meadow grasss. Bull-faces, bull-fronts, and buff-fronts
are various names used for tufts of coarse grass.

BULLS, the heavier bars of a harrow, as distinguished from
the lighter crossbars, or sheth.

B

IIO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BULLS-AND-COWS, " lords and ladies," the flowers of the
Arum maculatum. Also called Lam-lakens.

BULL-SEG, an imperfectly castrated ox.

BULL'S-EYES, large lozenges made of toffey, and flavoured
with mint.

BULL-TROOT, a large fine species of fish peculiar to
Northumberland, and much esteemed. The larger kind of
salmon trouts taken in the Coquet are in Newcastle market
called bull tvouts ; but these fish are much larger than salmon
trouts in the head, which is a part generally admired for its
smallness.

" Bilhope Braes for bucks and raes,

And Carit Haugh for swine,
And Farras for the good bull trout,
If he be taen in time."

Old Rhyme— Brockett.

It is the Salmo eriox. " Bull trout, among us in Northumberland,
from its great size." — Turner.

BULLY, equivalent to brother ; a mate, a comrade. The
crew of a keel are always called " the bullies"

" The bullies an' pee-dee a' huddled together,
Yen an' a did agree it was terrible weather."

Song, The Devil, or the Nanny Goat.

" Keel-bullies is a term used for this species of watermen ; bullies is also
a common appellation among the people concerned in the coal works for
brothers." — Brand, Hist, of N 'ewe., vol. ij., 1789, p. 261, note.

" Four or five days before Ripley died, he went to see him, and heard
Agnes say to him, ' Bullie, thou hast given thy silver whistle and chain
to Leonard Hark, but I trust thou shalt live to wear it thyself." — Trial
of 1584, Richard Welford's Hist, of Newc., vol. iii., p. 19.

BULLY, the bullfinch. See BOOLY.
BULRUSHER, a bulrush.

BUM, to make a humming or drumming noise like a bee, 01
bumler ; also to spin a top. " The soon's bummin in my ears."
To drive violently or hurriedly. " They were bummed oot."
" Hadaway bum yor top."

" In bye they bum'd me in a crack."

Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 35.

" After they bttmm'd us round aboot,
For a' the world like a teetotum."

Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 30.

" The travellers i' thor whirligigs bummin."

T. Wilson, Stanzas, 1824.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. Ill

BUM, a sheriff's officer who distrains, or takes possession.

" There was Preston, the bailiff, Joe Craggs was his bum."

Song, Limbo.

BUMBAZED, bamboozled. See BAZE.
BUM-CLOCK, a flying beetle.
BUMMEL, a bungle.

" They made sic a bummel wi' sail and wi1 line,
That they varry nigh cowpt thorsels inti the Tyne."

Song, The Keelman's Stick.

BUMMER, the driver of a carriage or gig. In former times
commercial travellers were all gigmen, or bummers.

" A road for horse — a road for post —
And yen for a' the bummers."

Thomas Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

BUMMLER, a large fly, a bee. " A btimmle bee" is the humble
bee. " He hummed the tune like a bummler iv a rose bush,"
said of a minister who had attempted to raise a tune.

BUMMLEKITE, BUMMLERSKITE, the blackberry, the
fruit of the bramble, Rubus fruticosus. See BLACK-BOW-WOWERS.

" The fruit is vulgarly known in the district by the name of bumble-
kyte, from its being supposed to cause flatulency when eaten in too
great a quantity. No knowledgeable boy will eat these berries after
Michaelmas Day, because the arch-fiend is believed to ride along the
hedges on the eve of that great festival, and pollute everything that
grows in them, except the sloes, by touching them with his club foot.
The same notion prevails further North, where the bramble-berries are
called lady's garter berries." — W. Brockie, Legends and Superstitions,
p. 115.

BUMMLER-BOX, a small house; an old square bed with
sliding panels in front.

BUMP, to drive against. " He bumped his heed again the top
an' myest felled hissel."

BUMP, a knock, a blow, the swelling or lump caused by a
blow. "Bump against," to fall or drive against with violence.

" The laddie ran sweatin, ran sweatin,

The laddie ran sweatin aboot,
Till the keel went bump agyenst Jarrow,
An' three o' the bullies lap oot."

" Little Pee Dee.'' — Allan's Collection, p. 194.

112 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BUN, BUND (p.p.oi bind], bound. " He wis bun apprentice
tiv a cairtwright." " Aa's bun to gan the morrow," or " Aa's
tied ti gan the morrow." Compare New Eng. Diet., Bound,
ppl. a?. In the present tense the i is short in bind, find, &c.,
and sounded like the i in tin.

" Another lang and slavish year

At last aw fairly struggled through ;
Gat fettled up a set of gear —
Was thought a man — and bun to hew."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 73.

BUN, ready to start. " Where are ye bun for, Jackey ?"

BUN, a hare or rabbit's tail.

BUNCH, to strike, to drive with the knee against the backside.

BUNCH-BERRY, the fruit of the Rubus saxatilis, of which the
country people often make tarts. — Brockett.

BUNG, to close up. " The cundy's bung'd up wi' clarts." " He
gat sic a bat it bung'd his eye up."

BUNG, a worthless person. It is very usual to call a person
" a lazy bung," " an idle bung."

BUNS, bounds. " He's oot o' the buns."

BUNTIN, the cone of a fir tree. " To pepper buntins" is to
throw buntins in play.

BUNTON, a piece of squared timber. The rafts of squared
timber lying by the river side were always called " the
bunions."

" Transverse pieces of wood placed in shafts to which the guides for
the cages are attached." — Greenwell, Glossary, 1888.

" In timbering the shafts of coal mines bunions and sheets are put in
for the purpose of conducting the cages up and down the shafts." — John
Rowell, correspondent Weekly Chronicle, May 22, 1886.

" It. pd for one bunting and two sparres to a yeat (gate) and the makeing
it, 45. 4d." — Gateshead Church Books, 1633.

BUR, the hooked seed vessel of burdock.

BUR, the chock placed behind a crowbar and used as a
fulcrum.

" Raised by levers and burs on rollers up an inclined plane." — Hodgson,
Hist, of Northumberland, ft. ij., vol. 3, p. 276.

BURDEN-BAND, a hay-band or rope, more commonly called
a pht-band.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 113

BURGHER and ANTI-BURGHER, names, imported from
Scotland, of the two early secessions from the Church of that
land. (Obs.)

There are in Newcastle, " six congregations of Presbyterians, properly
so called, united in doctrine, discipline, and communion with the
Church of Scotland ; and one of each of the classes of the secession
from that church, stiled Burghsrs and Anti-Burghers." — Impartial Hist, of
Newcastle, 1801.

BURN (pronounced born), a brook. This word is of importance
in its contrast with its synonym beck, which is the charac-
teristic name in Cumberland and in the North-Riding of
Yorkshire. Mr. J. V. Gregory (Archzologia ^Eliana, vol. ix.,
p. 63) counts in Northumberland the occurrence of burn
upwards of 150 times, and of beck once only — the Wansbeck ;
and in Durham burn occurs 74 times, whilst beck, as applied
to brooks, is found 63 times. (Arckaologia ^Eliana, vol. x.,
p. 173.) " The most northern beck is Wascrow beck, which
flows from the north of Wolsingham into the Wear at that
place. Not one beck belongs to the basin of the Tyne." " No
burn really gets so far south as the Tees itself." (The
same, p. 181.) This test word indicates the probable southern
limit of Bernician, or non- Danish Northumberland — for
beck is Danish or Norse — " More frequent in the Norwegian
than in the Danish region." (Isaac Taylor, Words and Places,
6th ed., p. 106.) Burn, on the contrary, is a common
Teutonic term. Mr. Gregory's conclusion is — " that the
County of Durham is the Northern limit of any important
Danish settlements in the East side of England." (Archaologia
^Eliana, vol. x., p. 180.) The change of dialect which marks
off Shields and Sunderland from the folk-speech of the people
adjacent is further suggested as indicative of a race differ-
ence. ("Permian People of North Durham" Archaologia A^liana,
vol. x., p. 93.) In the western part of the county of Durham
the mark between the burn and the beck is sharply denned.
" The mountain range from Burnhope Seat, at the western
confines of Durham, eastward to Paw Law Pike, forms the
division between the parishes of Stanhope in Weardale and
Middleton-in-Teesdale. The principal tributaries of the Tees,
on the south side of this ridge are becks, whilst those on the
Wear side are burns" (W. Morley Egglestone, Weardale
Names of Field and Fell, p. 12.) See BECK and BORN.

BURN-BANK, the bank which margins a burn. It is the
name of one of the filthiest alleys in Newcastle; a place once
the bank side of Pandon burn.

114 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BURN -GULLY, a term of derision. Formerly, and in living
memory, country blacksmiths were the principal makers of
edge-tools used in husbandry, such as axes, hedge knives,
gullies, &c., and many of them attained to great proficiency in
the art of tempering steel. Others, again, not proficient in
their attempts at the business, burnt the temper out of the
steel, and consequently spoiled their work, and were called
in derision "btwn gullies." In course of time the phrase
extended to inefficient workmen in other trades.

BURNSIDE, the side of a burn.
BURNT. See BRUNT.
BURN-THE-BISCUIT, a boys' game.

BURR (pronounced bor), the sounding of the letter r by a strong
tonsil breathing, as distinguished from the palate r of the
south, and the " tip-tongue-trill " of the letter as heard in
Scotland. It is the guttural sound which strikes a stranger
as the distinction in the Northumberland folk-speech.
" People nor town should I have known
Had I not heard the Burr."

The line within which the burr is spoken may be said to
coincide with the county of Northumberland, but it passes
north of the Tweed at Berwick, and over into the county of
Durham on its north centre. On the Cheviots it is
replaced by the Scottish r. A little to the west of Bardon
Mill it gives way to the trilled r. At Sunderland and
South Shields an absence of the strong r marks off a dialect
difference which is most noteworthy. The bor from the
Northumbrian throat is an intensification, not an elision of
the r sound. See R.

BURR AN, a badger— Yetholm.

" ' Barean,' 'Baretid,' and 'Barren' — a well known word in North of
England, a rocky slope, or hill, where foxes and badgers burrow. It
ranges at least as far south as Kettlewell, where it appears as ' Borrance,'
the stony screes below the limestone girdles or cliffs. It is also called
' Burran,' and among the Yetholm gipsies, ' Biirran' means a badger."—
Jos. Lucas, Nature, vol. xxxvi., No. 928, p. 339, ist col., Aug. nth, 1887.

BURR-TREE, the elder-tree. See BOOR-TREE.

BURTON-CHINE, a chain made of very good iron, used in
lowering and hoisting the masts of keels and wherries.

BUS, a bush. " A whin bus," " A corrin bus," " A grozer bus,"
&c.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 115

BUS, a sunken rock, on which at very low tides the long sea-
weed is visible, like a bush ; hence, probably, the name.
" Bondicar bus," " Pan bus," " Togston bus.

BUSE, a stall, as a cow-buse, a \iay-buse. See BOOSE.
BUSHEL-IRON, scrap iron. (Obs.)

BUSHMENT, an ambushment. (Obs.)

" After which so doone, and the bushment and furray met." — Earl of
Northumberland, letter to Henry VIII., from Berwick, Nov. 2Oth, 1532,
in D. D. Dixon's Vale of Whittingham, p. 12.

BUSK, to get ready, to dress. " Aa'll just busk mesel an gan."
"He's weel buslcit," he is well dressed. "Aa'll busk a troot
flee." See Buss.

" When the fields busk their spring time attire."

R. Roxby, Poetic Epistle, 1845.

" Rise up Josep and busk and ga,
Maria an' thi child al-sua."

Cursor Mundi.

BUSKER, a professional mendicant minstrel.
BUSKY (a variant of bosky), bushy.

>USS, or BUSK, to dress, to don.

"The feathers of the woodpecker were preserved to ' buss flies.'" —
Rev. J. F. Bigge, in Hist, of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. ix., p. 562.

" ' Faith thoo's buss'd like any lady.' "

Ed. Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1735.

" ' Smash ! Jemmy, let's buss ; we'll off
And see Newcassel Races.' "

W. Midford, X.Y.Z., 1814.

" ' For Geordy aw'd die, for my loyalty's trig,

An' aw own he's a good leukin mannie ;

But if wor Sir Matthew ye buss iv his wig,

Bygocks, he wad just leuk as canny.' "

J. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

" ' Buss'd as aw was iv a' maw best.' "

T. Wilson, Opening of 'Railway, 1838.

>USS, a kiss. " Come gi's a buss, ma bairn."

>USSES, hoops for the top of a cart or waggon. — HalltweH's
Diet.

Il6 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BUSSIN-THE-TYUP, dressing the tup. The tup was the
last corf of coals drawn out of the pit on the last day of the
year ; and by way of showing their pleasure at the gaudy-
days now commencing, the pitmen covered it with burning
candles.

" The lads beg, borrow, and steal candles for the occasion." — Note to
Pitman's Pay, 1843.

BUSY-GAP-ROGUE. The name originally was, probably,
bussy, that is bushy-gap, a pass abounding in bushes. Busy-gap
is a "wide break in the ridge of basalt, about a mile from
Sewingshields. This was the pass most frequently chosen
by the freebooters of the Middle Ages when on their
maurading expeditions to the rich valley of the Tyne, and
hence it acquired an evil reputation. In Newcastle formerly,
to call a brother burgess a Busy-Gap-Rogue was to incur the
censure of one's guild, as is attested by an entry in the books
of the Company of Bakers and Brewers of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne." — W. W. Tomlinson, Guide to Northumberland, 1888,
p. 192.

BUT, an abbreviation of holibut. On the Northumberland
coast the turbot goes by the name of brat.

" Holibut, called there turbot, are caught off Holy Island with the
hook." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 210.

BUT, outside of. "But and ben," outside and inside. The
following old rhyme was used in winding yarn : —

"But the house an' ben the house,
In the house and out the house,
Droon the house an' burn the house,
An' heck that's yen."

This was used by the spinners of yarn when forming their
hanks on the great wheel.

BUT AND, an old form of and. " Between the Yule but and
the Pasch."

" Between the night but and the day."
An Excellent Ballad on the Sickness, &>c., of Ecky's Mare,

by the late Bernard Rumney, Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 166.

BUTCHIN', butchering. " He's started the butchin' business."

BUTLER, a term applied in the North to a female who keeps
a bachelor's house, a farmer's housekeeper. — Brockett, 3rd ed.
" Cook, slut, and butler," a common expression applied to a
person who does all the turns of work in a house.

" Butler' s-grace, without any ceremony." — HalliweH's Diet.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 117

BUTTERIE, the bank swallow, or sand martin. — Holy Island.
BUTTER-PLATE, the spearwort, Ranunculus flammnla.

BUTTRESS, a tool used by blacksmiths to pare down a
horse's foot.

BUTTS. Before the commons were enclosed, the holdings in
land consisted of scattered strips under tillage. As dis-
tinguished from a butt, a gored piece was a piece of land
running off to a point, wedged in, as it were, between two
strips. In Northumberland, gored pieces are sometimes called
butts. So also are narrow detached strips.

" Where the strips abruptly meet others, or abut upon a boundary at
right angles, they are sometimes called butts." — The English Village
Community, by F. Seebohm, p. 6.

" Sam-casts, rigs, butts, and doles of land." — Hodgson's Northumberland,
iii., 2, p. 90.

" On back (balk) of Gudeland joyning one with ye but, ye but beeing
on ye west side." — The same, pt. ij., vol. i., p. 92, note.

" The six butts." — Survey of Old Bewick, 1680, Bks. Club, vol. v., p. 255.

BUZZARD, a coward. " What a buzzard — freetened o' the
dark."

BUZZOM, the bosom, the breast. " Wiv a posy in her
Iwzzom."

BUZZOM, a besom, or broom. Buzzom-shank is a broom
handle. " To hang out the btizzom" to invite friends during the
wife's absence from home. The ancient sign of an inn was
a projecting pole, with a tuft, which gave it the appearance
of a besom. Hence the phrase to " hing oot the buzzom" is
an invitation to bachelor friends and a sign of good cheer
within . A broom at the masthead indicates that a ship is for
sale.

" An wor Dick, that leeves ower by High Whickham,
He'll myek us broom-buzzoms for nowse."

W. Midford, d. 1851, Pitman's Courtship.

BUZZOM, a simpleton. " Thoo greet bnzzom" or " He's as
fond as a buzzom" are very common expressions.

BWOARN, born.

" Aw ken weel eneugh when he was bivoarn." — T. Bewick, The Howdy,
&c., p. 9.

Il8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

BY, beside, near to. It is used in combination, as Inby, Ootby,
Owerfry, Backfry, Forfry, Upfry, Doonfry. Inby is further in,
or inside ; in a pit it is in from the shaft. Ootby is just
outside, or in a pit it is the direction towards the shaft or
exit. Owerby is just across ; Backfry just behind ; Forfry is
in addition to ; Upfry is just up the street or road ; and
Doonfry is just down the way. In all these, close neighbour-
hood is suggested.

" Paide to John Carr, post, for keeping horses for bye-paste. Paide
to Mr. Dente, for keepeing the fcy-booke of the rente of Gateshead and
Whickham, 5^." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, October, 1593.

The fry-post is the local post, and the fry-book is the local,
or borough, or town book of accounts.

By, as a suffix in place-names, elsewhere so common
in the districts of later Norse settlements, is not found in
Northumberland. Ton and ham are, on the other hand, found
throughout.

BY'D, by it. " Stand by'd," stand by it.

BYE, the line from which each player first shoots in a game at
marbles.

BYEAKIE, the upright portion of a wooden cattle band
formerly in use. It was attached by a loose joint to a bent
wooden band called a " frammelt." See BAIKIE-STICK.

BYE-BOOTINS, BYE-BOLTINGS, or SHARPS, the finest
kind of bran.

BYE-COMMON, more than common or ordinary.
BYEN, a bone.

B YEN-FIRE, a bonfire. From similarity of sound the word
occurs at Winlaton as burn-five. Until about 1878 the burn-fire
was annually lighted there on the agth of May. Its trans-
ference from Midsummer to Royal Oak Day at this place is
worthy of note. See BONEFIRE.

BYER, BYRE, a cow-house. "The mucking o' Geordie's
byre."

BYEST, a brand or tar mark on sheep or cattle.

BYEST, BASTE, BUIST (pronounced byest), to mark cattle
or sheep with tar. After clipping, each sheep is byeasted,
either with its owner's initials, or with some distinguishing
device.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. Iig

BYET, work left undone.

" If aw sud get maw wark ower suin,
She's flaid te deeth aw've left some byet.".

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, ed. 1872, p. 10.

" Leaving ' some byet ' means he has not completed his day's work, or
hewed the number of corves placed him by the overman." — Note to above.

BYETH, both [T.] , BEYETH [S. and N.] .
" There's be nouse aw winnot de —
To myek us byet It a happy hyem."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 58.

BYGANE, ago.

" Mony years bygane." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 36.

BY-HAND, settled, or aside.

BYKE, BEE-BYKE, a wild bee's nest. See BIKE.

BY-M-BY, bye-and-bye.

BYSEN. See BIZEN.

BY-SONG, or BY-SANG, often MAA-SANG, an exclamation.
"By-sang! thor'd a been a bonny wark, if aa hadn't getten
there."

BYSPELT, a strange, awkward figure, or a mischievous
person. — Brockett. (Obs.)

BYUK [T.] , BEYUK [S. and N.] , a book. Often spelt bulk or
buick in local writings.

" Aa liked a ballant or a buick."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 101.

BYUN, above, beyond. Variously used as a byun, beyun. " It's
byun a joke " — it is beyond or too much of a joke.

BYUT, to-boot, a boot. See BEYUT.
CAA, CAW, a tin pail.

CAA (/.£., cua'd ; p. part., caan), to call. "Give him a caa.''
Also to abuse or call names. " He caa'd us ivvorything."
See CAAL, 4 and 5.

CAA, to drive, to propel. "Gi's a bit can o' the giunstan"-
said by a man having an axe to grind. "To ora-tee" is to put
to, to close, to shut. "Caa-tee the yett." "CVw-oot," drive
out. "Crt0-in," drive in. "Caa the yows oot bye." "Caa
in that nail."

" Ca Hawkie, ca Hawkie,

Ca Hawkie through the watter.
Hawkie is a sweir beast,

An' Hawkie winna wade the watter."

Old Song.

120 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CAAD, COULD [T.] , CALD, CAULD [N.] , COAD [W.T.] ,
cold. " Caad-comfort," cold-comfort ; " Caad-deed," stone dead,
or cold and dead. To "catch caad" is used ironically for
what is known as "getting into hot water."

" If cau'd deed ye'd freeten'd wor skipper, se brave,
We'd myed ye te follow his byens to the grave."

W. Midford, The Bewildered Skipper, 1818.

CAADISH, coldish, somewhat cold, but generally spoken
caadrif.

CAAD-PIE, CAWD-PIE. any accident happening to the
train or carriage (in a pit). — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay.

" Sic thsn was the poor putter's fate,
Wi' now an' then a stannin fray,
Frae yokens, caw'dpies, stowen bait,
Or cowpt corves i' the barrow way."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 55.

CAADRIF, CAWDRIFE, chilly, shivering, or cold.

" Tha faither, Ned, is far frae weel,
He lucks, poor body, verra bad :
A' ower he hez a cawdrije feel,

But thinks it's but a waff o' cawd."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i , v. 95.

CAA-HANDED, CAW-HANDED, or CAR-HANDED, left-
handed.

CAAKER, the iron plate on a clog or shoe heel ; the heel of a
horse-shoe.

CAAKER, or CORKER, an astonishing statement, meaning a
" stopper." " That's a caaker, Geordy ! "

CAAL, need. " What caal had ye to come there at all ? "

CAAL, the movement of water driven by the wind on its
surface. "Call of the sea." Compare CAA, 3. The contrary
phenomenon (smooth oily surface of the water) is known as a
held on the Tyne.

CAAL, a mill dam. " He was fishin below the caall, and
tumbled into the wettor." The "call-heed" is the top of a weir
or dam crossing a stream. The dam is sometimes called a
"ora-back."

CAAL, COA [W.T.] , to call. " Thoo tyeks a vast o' caalin on "
— you are long in responding to my call. To abuse. " She
did nowt but caal us."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 121

CAAL, to announce, to publish. " Get the bellman to caaVd."
"Caalin the fair." "Caal at church," to have the banns
published. To name. " They caal her Bella, efter her aunt."

" Nowt else was wantin' but the priest
To call us, and to tye the knot."

T. Wilson, The Pitnuris Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 71.

CAALER, caller. An official at a colliery engaged to call up
the men for work. " He makes his first round at half-past
twelve a.m., and knocks at all the doors with D chalked on
them. Those are the deputies' houses ; they go to work an
hour before the hewers. Every man of the fore-shift marks
i on his door — that is the sign for the caller to wake him
at that hour. The hewer fills his tubs, and continues
alternately hewing and filling. Meanwhile, the caller having
roused the putters, drivers, and off-handed men, the pit
' hings on,' that is, starts work at five o'clock." (Dr. R.
Wilson, "Coal Miners of Durham and Northumberland,''1 Transac-
tions of Tyneside Naturalists'1 Field Club, vol. vi., pp. 203-4.)
In pit villages several figures may be seen chalked on the
doors. Each figure represents one slumberer to be caaled.
Hence 2 2 on a door moans two persons to be roused at 2
o'clock 5334, that two are to be called at 3 o'clock and one
at 4, and so forth. The caaler not only knocks, but waits till
each worker has presented himself at the door, to show that
his calling has been an effectual one. In former times the old
caaler would cry, " Robin Winship ! a-ho ! i' the neam o' God,
rise and come to your wark." In one of the Tyneside
melodies Edward Corvan gives poetry to the voice of the
caaley.

" Why sweet slumber now disturbing,
Why break ye the midnight peace,
Why the sons of toil perturbing ?
Have their hours of rest to cease ?

Ho ! marrows, 'tis the Caller cries.

And his voice in the gloom of the night mist dies,
The twinkling stars, through night shade peering,

Blink above with heavenly light
On the sleeping world, as a voice calls clear,

In the stilly air of the sable night.

Ho ! marrows, 'tis the Caller cries.

The collier sleeps, e'en now he's dreaming
Of a pure bright world and loved ones there,

Ha basks in the rays of fortune beaming
In some far land full and fair.

Ho! marrows, 'tis the Caller cries."

122 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CAALER, an auctioneer. The only auctioneer in Reedwater
for many years was one Jock Brown, who was always known
as " Jock the Caaler"

CAALIN-COURSE, the time at which the men are called to
go to work.

" Aw thought the time wad ne'er be gyen,

That callin-course wad never come ;
And when the caller call'd at yen,
Aw'd getten neither sleep nor slum."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 13.

CAAN (p. pavt. of caal), called. " He's caan Bobby efter his
granfether." "Aa wis caan back hyem agyen." See CAAL,
4 and 5.

CAAS, cause ; also the sound of the plural of calf, for calves.
" It's been the caas o' aa the fash." 'Caas and 'cas are also
abbreviated forms of because.

CAASEY (the pronunciation of causey], a way, a causeway.
" Causey Bank," Newcastle. " Keep on the caasey aal the way ;
the road's se dorty." See CAUSEY.

CAATION, caution. " It's a caation noo." " He's a caation"-
that is, a spectacle, something extraordinary. A "caation-
board " in a pit, is a board set up to warn the men of the
condition of the mine beyond it.

CAB, GOSH-CAB, or GO-CAB, exclamations of obscure
meaning. See EXCLAMATIONS.

CABBISH, a cabbage.

" Ye'll be sayin' 'at coal's nowt but cubbish staaks and tatie peelins."-
Gcordy's Last, 1878, p. i.

CABBISHIN, CABISON, a strong halter, purposely made to
lead about young horses when first broken in. See KABBISHIN.

CABIN, a wooden shelter house, store house, or watchman's
hut.

"Where aall the twisty, twiney, bad-tempered aad beggors comes frev
'at gets putten inti cabins beats me ! " — Geordy's Last.

CABLE, or CAVEL, a stripe or share of land apportioned
by lot, or Ityevel ; hence cable, as it is commonly spelt in
documents ; " the cables " in field names. See CAVEL.

CADE, or KYED, the sheep louse.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 123

CADGE, an anchor. See KADGE, KEDGE.

CADGE, to carry. " Where are ye cadgin the box te ? " " He
cadged the poke aall the way on ov his back." To beg.
" Aa'll cadge a match off him." " Here's a chep come to
cadge " — applied to a beggar.

CADGER, "a person who goes from house to house purchasing
butter, eggs, fowls, &c., and takes them for sale. A higgler,
a huckster." (Hodgson MS.) A carrier. For the carriage of
coals about A.D. 1605, there were employed "the cadgers and
wayne-men, where coals are not carried by water." (Brand,
1789, Hist, of Newc., vol. ij., p. 22, note.) " Cadgers, before the
union, were the chief agents in carrying on the commercial
intercourse between the two kingdoms." (Rev. A. Hedley,
Avchaologia ^liana, vol. i., p. 249.) "Like gentlemen ye
maunna seem, but look like corn-cadgers ga'en the road."
(Jock 0' the Syde.] " Where few but cadgers wi' their cairts till
noo hev iver been." (T. Wilson, Opening Newcastle and Carlisle
Railway, 1838.) " Before the special application of cadger to
one who bought and carried corn, &c., the term appears to
have been used for any carrier of merchandise." (Richard
Welford, Hist, of Newc., vol. iii., p. 171.) Nowadays a cadger
is used only as the name for a beggar. Compare with BADGER.

" Respect to Quality was lost,
Tinkers and Coblers rul'd the rost ;
The Nobles were the Common's Cadgers ;
The Gentry but the Soldiers' Badgers ;
And sae far'd we, fra ill to worse,
When Cart was set before the Horse."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 36.

CADGY, heart}7, cheerful, merry, especially after good eating
and drinking. — Brockett.

CAFF, chaff, the husk of oats. "A caff bed" was the commcn
kind of bed in use where feathers could not be procured.
Figuratively, any light thing.

"Als fyre that caffe son may bryn." — Hampole, d. 1349, Priche of
Conscience (Morris), line 3148.

" Scrimp meals, caff beds, and dairns." — T. Thompson, d. 1816, The
New Keel Row.

" Wi' pleasure aw was ower the muin,
A' else wis caff and sand to mine."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 63.

CAG, a small cask, a keg. See KAG.

124 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CAGE; in a coal pit, "A frame of iron which works between
slides (called guides) in a shaft, and in which, since the substi-
tution of tubs for corves, the tubs of coal are drawn to the
surface, and all passage in the shaft carried on." (Greenwell,
Coal Trade Terms, 1849.) The cage in its modern form
consists of three or four stories or stages, into each of which
two tubs are run. The whole structure is slung from the
winding rope attachment by "cage-chains, "which are united by
a large centre link, from which they depend, to the attachment
at each corner of the cage. The ascending and descending
cages are steadied by "cage-shoes," which clasp the "guides"
at each side. The "cover," or "top," is a sheet-iron shield,
which roofs the cage. The tubs are held in their places by
the "sneck," a simple bolt passing through the top of each
floor, with projecting revolving catches at each end, which
are turned down as the tubs are passed on. At the top of
the shaft the cage is received and supported by " keps,"
catches which yield to the upward passage, but which fall
outward immediately, and form projecting rests, on which
the cage stands whilst the full tubs are being removed and
replaced by empty ones, as each floor in turn is made to pass
and rest on the "keps." At the bottom of the shaft the
structure descends into the " cage-hole," where its various
stages are relieved in turn of the empty tubs, and refilled
with laden ones.

CAGM AG, coarse, bad food ; as an old goose, an inferior
sheep.

CAGUM, a "fair round belly." "He's puttin on a canny
cagum " — that is, growing stout.

•

CAIN -AND- ABEL, the early purple orchis, Orchis mascula.
CAINGE, to whine, to grumble.

CAINGEL, a crabbed fellow. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

CAINGY, cross-tempered. See KAINGY.
CAIRD, a tinker — Northumberland. — HalliwelVs Diet.

CAIRD, a card. Also a wool card, formerly used for preparing
the wool for spinning into yarn.

" Harder caii'ds than wors to play."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 62.

CAIRDER, a wool comber.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 125

CAIRDER, a card player.

" He laughed and joked and ran the rig
Just like a cairder wi' the ace."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 69.

CAIRDIN MILL, a woollen mill.
CAIREEDGE, a carriage.

CAIRN, the harvest. " The cairn-supper." " The cairn-babby."
See KAIRN.

CAIRN, a churn. See KAIRN.

CAIRT, a cart. Compare COWP-CAIRT and LANG-CAIRT.
" Cadgers wi' their cairts."

T. Wilson, Opening Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, 1838.

CAIRT-AIXTREE, a cart axle.
CAIRTER, a cartman.
CAIRT-LIMMERS, cart shafts.
CAIRT-REET, a cartwright.

CAIRT-SHILVINS, the loose side boards of a farm cart.
See SHILVINS.

CAIRT-SPURRINS, the ruts made by the wheels of a cart.
See SPURLIN.

CAITIFF, a cripple.— Brocket*. (Obs.)
CAKE, to cackle as a goose does.

CAKE-CREEL, a rack at the top of a kitchen to dry oat
cakes. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

CALF-LICK, a straight tuft of hair growing up above the
forehead ; differing from a coo-lick, which is a tuft on the
crown.

CALF-YAIRD, the home of one's youth. The Northumber-
land man always looks back with tender regard to his " caff-
yaird," the dwelling-place of his infancy.

" Wor calf-yard, yence thought poor and bare,
To wealth and honour risen."

T. Wilson, Oilin" o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.
" Aw've learn'd to prefer my awn canny calf-yaird;
If ye catch me mair fra't ye'll be cunnin."

Thos. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

126 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

GALLANT, a young man.

" Ye collier callants, so clever,
Residing 'tween Tyne and the Wear."

Collier's Pay Week, 1801.
" Nyen but verra clever callants
Could learnin's leather mount se hie."

Thos. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt, iii., v. 104.

It is also applied to a loose fellow : —

" Gang seek your callands." — G. Stuart, Joco-SeriousDiscourse, 1686, p. 64.

CALLEEVERING, flying wildly or actively about.
"Calleevering over the hills." "A wild calleevering youth. "-
Hodgson MS. " Come inti the hoose an' divent stop there
caleeverin on."

CALLER (a short), fresh, cool. This word is very familiar in
the street cry, " Here's yor caller harrin, here's yor bonny
fresh harrin." " Let's hev some caller air." " It's a fine caller
mornin'."

" Gie me Cairter's caller spring."

T. Wilson, Carter's Well.

CALLER. See CAALER.

CALLET, to scold. " A calletin housewife" is a pert, saucy,
confirmed scold. — Brochtt.

CALLS. Some of the calls to the animals on a farm are as
follow : White-noddy, or Gandy-gandy, a call to geese ; Hick-
hick to ducks ; Chuck-chuck to hens ; Poa-poa to turkeys ;
Cuff-cuff to pigeons ; Gis-gis to the pig ; Sty is understood to
mean "off to your sty"; Fy-lake is a similar command to
geese ; Hoof-hoof, or Hoavy-hoavy, or Coash-coash (always twice
repeated), to cows ; Hup-howay to urge on. In speaking to a
horse a peculiar noise is made something like Fwyee, or Fwyee-
ah-ha ; Whoa, or Woa, is stop ; Heck, or Hite, or Hye, go to the
left, or the side on which the man walks when afoot alongside
his horse ; Gee is go to the right. In urging a dog to drive
cattle away, Fy nout is very often used. A cry of encourage-
ment to a dog is Hone-lad.

CALLUST, hard to the touch. See KALLUST.

CALM-PENCIL, a slate-pencil made from very soft beds of
clay-slate called cam, or calm. It is got at Great Swinburne
Mill, says Mr. Hodgson, " and at other places where beds of
clay-slate have been partially baked by whin dykes."

" Here, too (near Housesteads), a bed of terrified limestone, with one
of coam or pencil schist, lies diagonally in the basaltic cliff." — Hodgson's
Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 288.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 127

CAM (p.t. of come), came. "A chep cam up, ga me a freet ;
'twas little Skipper Clark, man." See COM.

CAM, or KAME, the earth thrown up from a ditch on which
the quicks for a hedge are planted ; an earthen dyke. See
KAIM.

" The hoonds bed a gran run, but some o' the field hed sair tues at the
finish gettin' ower the cams." — Description of a Hunt.

CAM, CAMS [N.] , a mould, generally for making bullets.

CAM, a whitish, indurated shale. " Swinburn cam." See
CALM-PENCIL.

CAMMEREL, CAMBREL, a crooked stick, used by butchers
for hanging up carcases. The hock of an animal. See
HANGEREL.

CAMP, to race, or strive in shearing corn. In the harvest-field
the reapers were accustomed to start upon their allotted rigs,
and the campin was the race in which one strove to finish his
rig first. The custom was abandoned about 1872, in con-
sequence of the general adoption of reaping machines. The
word is also found as kemp.

CAMPLE, to argue, to answer pertly and frowardly when
rebuked by a superior. — Brockett.

CAMSTARY, CAMSTEARY, KAMSTARRY, wild,
unmanageable. See KAMSTARIE.

" A gadman to take charge of the team. His iron-pointed instrument
was made of a young mountain ash or rowan tree, which kept the
witches away from making the cattle camsteery ." — W. Brockie, Legends and
Superstitions, p. 118.

CAN, the allowance of beer claimed by keelmen. Crtw-money is
the cash payment claimed by the same honest fraternity of
" keel bullies," instead of the former customary drink. Can-
house, an ale-house.

" Every time they load a keel of coals from the staith, or ' dyke,' they
get a 'can,' or allowance of ale equal in value to two shillings and six-
pence."— The Northern Tribune, 1854, v°l- *•> P- 2I°-

" Pat by wor gear and moored wor keel,
Then went and drank wor can."

" Wed may the Keel Row."

Allan's Collection, p. 324.

128 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CANCH, a precipitous rise like a step. In a river bed or in a
rock cutting, where the strata leave step-like projections,
they are known as canches.

" At Tyne Main once there was a caunch,

And famous sport was found there.

So long it stood — so high and staunch —

All vessels took the ground there."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, "A New Song for Barge Day."
Bards of the Tyne, p. 937.

There are " a string of canches from the Willows to the glass-houses on
Blaydon Haugh, the river winding about those canches like a mill race.
The said canches must grow worse and worse unless something be done
to protect the channel from the action of the inflowing burns." — Newc.
Daily Chronicle, Aug. 23rd, 1887.

" A protuberance, or certain thickness of stone to be worked open-
cast."— Mining Gloss., Newc. Terms, 1852.

In a thin seam of coal it is necessary to work either an upper
or lower stratum of stone along with the coal, to give height
to the passage way. The coal being worked first, leaves a
steep-like projection of stone. This is a canch. Coal and
stone are thus worked away alternately. A top canch is
left until the stone in the "roof" is thus worked away. A
bottom canch when the stone in the "thill" is being taken
out. Where a slight fault or slip occurs in a bed of coal,
the dislocation leaves one part of the seam above the other,
the step thus formed being a canch. Here top and bottom
canch have to be worked away to make a gradient for the
roadway. A top canch is also called a broo (brow).

CANDLE-BARK, a round cylindrical box, used for storing
candles. Often called simply a bark.

CANDLE-CREEL, a basket for storing candles. " Playing
at candle-creel," playing at cards for candles. In early winter,
farmers used to set off to a neighbouring rendezvous, each
man with a creel or basket of candles. A successful player
obtained a stock enough to serve his needs for the farm use
throughout the rest of the winter.

CANDLE-SIEVE, a candle with wick made of the pith of a
rush.

CANDYMAN,, a bum-bailiff or process server ; the man who
serves notice of ejectment. As the pitman occupies his
house in part payment of wages, it becomes necessary for
him to vacate it, should he leave his work at the colliery.
During "the great strike," as it is still called, in 1844, the
war between capital and labour was carried out very bitterly,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. I2Q

and the men were served with notices of ejectment all round.
To do this, the services of " vagrom men" were impressed;
quite a small army being necessary to enforce the disagree-
able task. In these the pitmen recognised several faces that
had been familiar to them on their pay-Saturday strolls
through " the toon " as the itinerant vendors who called
" Dandy-candy, three sticks a penny." Thus the term
"Candyman " became generally applied in pit villages to those
who served and carried out notices of ejectment.

CANGLE, to wrangle, or haggle, or make unnecessary talk-
over a thing, as to cangle with the ticket-collector at a railway
station.

CANKER, to rust, to blight, to inoculate with an irritating or
poisonous substance ; hence, probably, its application to a
cross-grained or bad-tempered wretch. A tree is said to be
cankered when it appears blighted from some cause affecting
its growth ; or a wound that festers is cankered, and a bad-
tempered or cantankerous man is said to be cankered. " I give
the following," says Mr. M. H. Dand, "as an instance of the
superstition still lingering among old people. In 1847 a
young man in my employment was "stuck" in the shoulder
with a pitchfork, which his mother put into the fire, and
which she implicitly believed would burn the canker out of
the wound, without the actual cautery."

C AX KRIS, cankerous, vile, bad.

" Rank bad foaks wi' cankris harts that ne'er can happy be."

J. P. Robson, Maw Gnd Wishes tiv a' Men, 1870.

'ANNA, cannot.

" Ye canna say them nay, Mr. Mayor."

Quayside Ditty, 1816.

*ANNEL, a candle. See CANDLE-BARK, CANDLE-SIEVE.
" Ma tail hung lowse, likecannel weeks."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i, v. 45.

'AXXEL, gravel. A variant of .channel, which see.

C AX X EL-COAL, a hard coal, which can be cut and polished
like jet. It burns with a bright flame, like a candle.

II

AXXEL-SNOT, the burnt wick of a candle.

AXNILY, kindly, gently, softly, comfortably. "He com
that cannily tiv us." " Gan cannily doon the stair." " Aa
hope ye may aall get cannily hyem."
i

130 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CANNINESS, kindliness, and all the virtues included in being

canny.

CANNON-NAIL, the nail that holds the cart body to the axle.

CANNY, an embodiment of all that is kindly, good, and gentle.
The highest compliment that can be paid to any person is
to say that he or she is canny. As " home " expresses the
English love of the fireside, so in Tyneside and Northumber-
land does canny express every home virtue. All that is good
and loveable in man or woman is covered by the expression,
" Eh, what a canny body ! " A child appealing for help
or protection always addresses his elder as " canny man."
" Please, canny man, gi's a lift i' yor cairt." " O, canny man,
O show me the way to Wallington." What Northumberland
bairn but has appealed, when punishment impended, " Please,
canny man, it wasn't me ! " The fishwife who wishes to
compliment her customer says, " Noo, canrty-hinny, see what
yor buyin'."

" O, bonny Hobby Elliot,
O, canny Hobby still,
O, bonny Hobby Elliot,

Who lives at Harlow Hill."
The word "refers as well to the beauty of form as of manners and
morals ; but most particularly is used to describe those mild and
affectionate dispositions which render a person agreeable in the domestic
state." — Hodgson MS.

" Wor canny houses, duffit theek'd —

Wor canny wives within 'em,
Wor canny bairns, se chubby cheek 'd,
And sweet and clean ye'll find 'em ;
Are a' decked out in Sunday trim,
To mense this great occasion."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.
" Gan wi' me, like a canny lad."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 71.

It has also the following significations : Endeared : —
" How well we remember the canny bit shop."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, " Song of Improvements."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 417.
. Modest : —

" To get us a canny bit leevin,

Aw kinds o' fine sweetmeets we'll sell."

W. Midford, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.
" What canny little wegges we used ta ha ta pay ! "

Geo. Chatt, Old Farmer, 1866.
Orderly, neat : —

" Eh, lads, but it's a bonny way !

But what myest pleased wor Nanny,
Was seeing fogies, awd and gray,
Paid just for keepin't canny."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.
Careful : — " Be canny wi' the sugar."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 13!

Canny is also used adverbially, as "Canny, noo, canny!"
or "Gan canny" — that is, go gently.

"A, U, A, maa bonny bairn,
A, U, A, upon maa airm,
A, U, A, thoo syun may lairn
To say dada se canny."

R. Nunn, d. 1853, Sandgate Wife's Nurse Song.

" They stroked them canny, wi' the hair."

T. Wilson, Opening Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, 1838.

" No canny" means unhuman, as a witch or wizard. See
note under No.

In combination, we have canny-bit, a considerable portion of
anything, a good deal. " Aa've steudin' here a canny-bit " —
I've stood here a considerable time. " He wis a canny-bit
aheed on us" — he was a good way ahead of us. Canny-few,
a fair number. " Was thor mony at the meetin' the day ? "
" Wey, a canny-few."

" Then Gyetside Jack

Wad dance wi' goggle-eyed Mally, O ;
But up cam Nick, an' gav him a kick,
An' a canny bit kind of a falley, O."

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, Swalwell Hopping.

CANNY-NANNY, a small species of the humble bee, dis-
tinguished by having six stripes, commencing on the nose.
It is so called because it is stingless.

CANT, an angle greater than a right angle ; a sharp, sudden
turn which upsets. The tip or turn given to a scale beam
in weighing is called a cant. In the thrifty marketing of the
pitman, the pound of sugar is described as " in quarter
pounds in order to secure four cants of the scale in weigh-
ing."— T. Wilson, Note to Pitman's Pay, end of pt. i., 1843.

I ANT, to turn on edge, to tip over, to make with a cant,
Hexagon nuts are called canted nuts.

" If the tram had gi'en a cant, 'twad flung the maister oot." — T. R. V.,
A Ramble to see Sadler's Balloon, 1816.

ANT, to sell by auction. Hence cantin, an auction, and cantin
caalor, an auctioneer.

" I will yt all my goods after my deathe shalbe canted and sold at my
foredore." — Newcastle Wills and Inventories, 1570.

CANT-DOG, a handspike with a hook, used for turning over
large pieces of timber.

132 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CANTEEN, a small wooden flat barrel, containing about half
a gallon, in which a pitman carries water or coffee with him
to his work. — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1849.

CANTER, old milk cheese.

CANTLE, the top of the head, the crown ; the head of a cask.

CANTLE-PIECE, that part of the end of a cask into which
the tap is driven — Northumberland. — HalliwelVs Diet.

CANTRIP, CANTRAP, a spell, a charm, a trick, or out-of-
the-way performance.

" Where like a conjuror he'd sit,
His black airt at some cantraps try in'."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v, 46.

CANTY, lively, cheerful, and comfortable.

" Still Jack's an honest, canty cock,
As ever drain'd the juice of barley."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 90.

" Half cock'd, an' canty, hyem we gat."

The same, pt. iii., v. 82.

" O, my sweet laddie,
My canny keel laddy
Se hansum, se canty, and free, O !"

H. Robson, " Sandgate Lassie's Lament."
Allan's Collection, p. 211.

" Upon a pin hung a silk manty
And wily-coat (to make her canty)."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 50.

CAP, to overtop, to surpass. " This caps the stack " is a
proverb, meaning something overtopping. " A good story
capped" (Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 5) — a good story surpassed.
To put a cap or shackle on a rope.

"An1 let wor canny townsfolk knaw
That Billy's show still caps them a'."

J. P. Robson, Billy Purvis's Bundle, 1849.

CAP, the blue "top" on a candle or lamp when it burns in a
mixture of fire-damp and air, not in an explosive condition. —

Greenwell.

'

CAPES (kyeps), ears of corn broken off in thrashing, or grains
of corn to which the husk adheres after thrashing.

CAPHEED, a top placed upon an air-box used in sinking a
pit, &c., for the purpose of catching as much air as possible. —
Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1849.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 133

CAPPER, one who excels ; a story that surpasses another.

CAPPIT, or CAP, a piece of leather sewn on a shoe to
mend it.

CAPPY, a boys' game, in which one stoops or gives " a back,"
on which a cap is laid ; the players vault over, as in leap
frog, each one resting his hands on the cap as he leaps. The
one who first causes the cap to fall must exchange places
with the boy who is " making a back."

CAPPY, captain ; used facetiously in colloquial address.
" What cheer, cappy."

" A dog, called Cappy, he doated upon." — W. Midford, Cappy, OY the
Pitman's Dog, 1818.

CAPRAVEN, probably a cap, or hood, in a framework of
timber.

" Capravens for trussles." "Six capravens at i6d. per peece."-
D. Embleton, MS. Extracts from Barber Surgeon's Books, Newcastle.

CAPS, hood-sheaves of corn-shocks, also called cap-sheaves. —
Halliwell's Diet.

CAPSHELL, the piece of iron which covers the end of the
plough beam to regulate the breadth and depth of the furrow.

CARE-CAKE, a kind of small cake baked with eggs, and
eaten on Pastern's Een (Shrove Tuesday). — Dr. Murray
(car-cake), New Eng. Diet. A blood care-cake is a thick pancake
mixed with blood.

CARECHIN, cheerfully — Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet.
CAR-HANDED, left handed. See CAA-HANDED.

DARKISH, a carcase, the body.

" In wor huddock lie doon.keep yor au'd carkish warm." — W. Midford,
The Bewildered Shipper, 1818.

'ARL, a country fellow.

" Can the silly, daft carles think we'll still be fools." — G. Stuart, Joco-
Seyious Discourse, 1686.

xARLIN, a familiar term for a woman. In G. Stuart's Joco-
Seriotts Discourse, p. 14, the landlady of the inn is called " a
car tin."

" Carline, a woman, especially an old one ; often implying contempt or
disparagement." — Dr. Murray, New English Diet.

134 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CARLINS, "choice grey-peas, of the preceding autumn,
steeped in spring water for twelve or fifteen hours, till they
are soaked or macerated ; then laid on a sieve, in the open
air, that they may be externally dry. Thus swelled, and
enlarged to a considerable size, and on the verge of vege-
tating, they are put in an iron pot, or otherwise, on a slow
fire, and kept stirring. They will then parch, crack, and,
as we provincially call it, bristle : whep they begin to burst,
they are ready to eat." (Gentleman's Magazine, 1788, from a
Northumberland correspondent.) Another method adopted
is to fry the carlins with fat, and season highly with pepper
and salt. The second Sunday before Easter is observed as
Carlin Sunday. A tradition associates this custom with a
commemoration of the disciples plucking the ears of corn on
the Sabbath day. Another associates it with a famine in
Newcastle, which was relieved by the arrival of a ship in the
Tyne loaded with a cargo of grey peas. The remembrance
of their deliverance was thenceforth proclaimed by the people
in observing a feast of carlins on the second Sunday before •
Easter. The use of carlins on this day is, however, not
confined to the Tyneside people. The large peas of a
brownish yellow spotted colour, called " brandlings," are
quite different from the ordinary grey pea, and are much
fancied and in request for carlins.

CARLIN SUNDAY, the fifth Sunday in Lent.

" On this day our labouring people assemble at their accustomed
alehouses, to spend their carting-groats. The landlord provides the
curlings." — Mackenzie, History of Northumberland, 1825, vol. i., p. 216.

CARLISH, hard, stiff; applied to ropes difficult to bend, &c.
" He's as carlish as a piece o' bend leather."

CARLISLE-GATE, CAREL-GATE, CAREL-STREET,
KARLE-GATE. The old Roman roads leading through
Northumberland in the direction of Carlisle were known as
Carlisle- gate. Gait or Gate, a road. See STANEGATE.

" Before the year 1293, the king's justices itinerant seem to have some-
times halted at Fourstones on their way from Carlisle to Newcastle ; and
this way, as it passed through the neighbouring lands of Stancroft, near
Newbrough, is evidently called Carlisle-gate (Karlelgate)." — Hodgson's
Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 275, note c.

" Little more than a century since, one of the names of the causey,"
from Bewclay, north of Corbridge, and north-eastward towards the
Tweed, "was called Carlisle Causey." — The same.

The Roman Wall, "With the outer parallel military way, called
Ca'rel-street." — The same, p. 307.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 135

CARR, a marsh, as Prestwick Carr, which was formerly half
lake and half marsh. The name occurs only once in
Northumberland — in Prestwick Carr above.

" CARRE, a hollow place where water stands." — Ray's Gloss.

'ARR, in place-names, as Bondiflwr, Berling Carr, near
Warkworth, is a rocky place. It is noted in Northumberland
as occurring twenty times. — Mr. J. V. Gregory, Place-names
of Northumberland, p. 63.

"[Old Northumbrian — can, rock.J A rock : now specially applied to
• insulated rocks off the Northumbrian and Scottish coasts." — Dr. Murray,
New Eng. Diet.

" Sail ye near, or sail ye far,
Keep off the rocks of Bondicair."

Old Rhyme.

CARROCK, CURRICK, CURROCK, a crag, a cairn. In Mr.
J. V. Gregory's Place-names in Northumberland its occurrence is
noted five times ; three times as applied to inhabited places.

CARROT-POWED, red-haired or carrot-headed.

CART-BODY, the wooden body of a cart or waggon. Cart-arse,
the loose end of a cart. — Halliwell's Diet.

CARTER-FELL, the dividing ridge between England and
Scotland, from whence issues the river Rede. Near the
southern extremity of the parish of Simonburn we have the
Green-Carts and the Black-Gi^s, signifying respectively the
green heights or hills, and the black or heathy hills. — Rev. A.
Hedley, Archaologia ^liana, vol. i., p. 254.

ICARTIES, or SARTIES, certes, surely. "Sarties, y'or iv a
horry." Probably for Maa Sarties! — an exclamation.

CAS, because.

CASH, a soft band ; sometimes found separating one stratum
from another ; when thin, called a cashy parting. — Green-well.

" White post, with cashy partings." — Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 46.

CASILTY, weakly, in doubtful health. " Hoo he' ye getten
on wi' yor lambs thi *eer?" "Why, thor's a lot on them
nobbut casilty" Ray has the word " Kazzardly (adj.], cattle
subject to die; hazardous, subject to casualties."

CASINS, "dried cow's dung, used for fuel." — Ray's Gloss.
CASKIT, lunar caustic, nitrate of silver. — Dr. Embleton, MS.

136 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CASKIT, a cabbage stalk. See CASTOCK.

CASKITY, or CASKETY, soft and sappy. Anything caskety,
or full of sap and easily broken, is said to be " frush."

CASS, to cast away, to disperse ; p. part., cassen. The form
of kest is used as past tense.

" Like ony chicken efter moot,
When its awd coat it fairly casses."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 5.

" Just like cassen claes."

T. Wilson, Humble Petition, 1832.

" Now have I cassen away my ears."

J. B. Rumney, Ecky's Mare.

" Where me eyes were casssen

It seemed as if the busy shore
Cheered canny Tyne i' passin'."

T.Thompson, d. 1816, Jimmy Joneson's Wherry.

CASSEN, said of a sheep when cast upon its back and unable
unable to rise. See AWELT.

CASSEN-OOT, thrown out ; used with reference to the
ordinary debris of pits, but also to natural outcrops and
faults. Ex. — Casten-oot to the day, cropping out at the surface. —
Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon. — Memoir, Geolog.
Survey, 1887.

CAST, to cast up, to throw up. The word appears to be
marked with its final t as a variant from cass, which means
merely to disperse. Cast, on the contrary, is always distinctly
pronounced, and is associated with the act of cutting or
shovelling and lifting a thing ; hence the expressions, " to
cast snow," " to cast peat," " to cast ballast " are all connected
with work done with a spade or shovel. Compare CASS, and
the substantive form of the word, under CAST below.

" A gutter cast in the Close for water." — Municipal Accounts, Newcastle,
•October, 1656.

" Paide to William Graie, for looking for casting ballist into the river,
or other rubbish." — Municipal Accounts, Newcastle, 1593.

CAST, to twirl, or warp, applied to wood. — Brockett.

CAST, to add up. " Castin 'coonts" (Pitman's Pay] — adding up
accounts.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 137

'AST, a mound of earth cast up as a boundary of lands between
different proprietors, or as a fence. It also means a long
ditch. A worm cast is the familiar excrement thrown up in
soil, or the sand-worm's heap thrown up on the beach.

" The Angerton cast was the boundary between the meadow ground
for mowing hay upon, and the Pow-burn on the tillage side of the
Angerton grounds." — Hodgson MS.

'AST, the space covered by a cast of the hand in sowing.

CAST, a thing atwist or aslant, as " a cast in the eye." " The
frame- work hes getten a cast"

CAST, a lift forward, as " Gi's a cast i' yor cairt."
CAST, a swarm of bees.

CAST, a length of gut, three feet or more, used on a line in
trout-fishing.

CAST, CASTREY, adj., of a very hard nature ; applied to
strata, as " Post girdles and cast partings," " Hard splint or
castrey metal." — Borings and Sinkings, C.E., pp. 20, 52.

CASTER, a shoveller or caster of coal from a keel to a ship.
On the Wear, and at Blyth, the casters were men who entered

I a keel when it arrived at the ship and cast the coals. Keelmen,
casters, and trimmers were formerly distinct sets of men at
those ports.

CASTLEWARD, a rateable division in Northumberland.

" Castlewards. A tax formerly laid on those that dwelt within a certain
distance of a castle, for the support of the garrison." — HaUiwett's Diet.

CASTOCK, the stem of a cabbage ; called also casliit and kaistock.
CAST-OUT, to fall-out or quarrel. —Brockett.

CAST-UP, i. To remind reproachfully or as upbraiding.

• " If aa was to de see, ye wad cast it up to me fyece." 2. To
reappear, to turn up again." "Hes the dog cast up yit ? "
3. To throw off. " They'll cast up my bairns, when I'm dead
and gane." — Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686.

, a piece of soft clay moulded into the form of a mower's
whetstone, This was thrust in between the laths, and after-
wards "daubed," or plastered. See DAABER and CATTER.

138 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CAT, a ball made by mixing coal and clay together. The
"Crow coal" which is found in the extreme south-west of
Northumberland and in Alston district burns with a fcetid
smell. To prevent the discomfort thereby occasioned, cats
are used in the domestic hearth. Placed in a peat fire they
soon become incandescent, producing a hot, lasting glow.
They are sometimes called clay -cats.

CAT, a piece of wood used in the boys' game of kitty-cat.

CAT-BAND, an iron band passing over the cover of a hatch
in a keel, by which it is fastened down ; it is hooked into a
staple at one end, and locked at the other. Still in common
use on the Tyne. Also " an iron loop placed on the under-
side of the centre of a flat corf bow, in which to insert the
hook." — Greenwell.

" Paide for a catt-bande and a staple for the dore that the priest brunte
in prison, 6d." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, 1593.

CAT-BUILT, applied to an old style of shipbuilding, whic
is described as being on the Norwegian model. The sterr
was much narrowed, and the planking swept up in
elliptical fashion, giving a barrel-shaped appearance. The
" tumble in " was so considerable that a man could stand on
the side and paint the bulwark. The last of the old cat-built
ships is said to have been wrecked about 1850. The " pink "
was a development of the model, which was superseded by
the later type of " collier."

CATCH, a sudden pain, a stitch. " Aa've getten a catch i' me
side."

CATCH, a sneck or hasp for fastening a door. The moveable
checks by which tubs are held in their places in a pit cage
are called catches.

CATCH-DAY, a tenant's obligation.

" That is, to go from the lord's house with a horse-load of his goods,
after sunrise, and return before sunset, but during that time not beyond
a reasonable distance." — Hodgson's Northumberland, vol. Hi., 2, p. 67
note e ; also p. 144, note.

CATCHED, p.t. of catch.

" So hyem he com an catched the beast." — M. Catcheside, Ye Lambton
Worm, 1867.

CATCHY, ready to find fault, or quick at playing on the
expressions of another.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 139

CATCHY, a child's game, in which one catches another.

CAT-GALLOWS, a game played by children. It consists of
two sticks placed upright, with one across, over which they
leap in turns. — Brockett.

CAT-HAA, the hawthorn berry; called bull-liaa when of large size.
" Many hips, many haas,
Many frosts, many snaas."

Proverb.

CAT-HEED, an ironstone nodule. A thin compact stratum is
sometimes called " a girdle, or cathead." Or these strata are
described as " cathead girdles " — that is, nodular girdles.
Shale containing nodules of ironstone is called " catheady
metal."

CAT HEP, CAT HIP, the berry of the Rosa spinosissima. See
CAT- WHIN.

CAT-PEASE, the fruit of the vetch, Vicia sativa.

CATRAIL, that singular work called the Catrail, consisting of
. a ditch with a rampart of earth on each side, which has
been traced from the Peel-fell, between Northumberland and
Roxburghshire, across the latter county — to Mosalee farm, a
mile westward of Galashiels. (S. Oliver the Younger, Rambles
in Northumberland, 1835, p. 10.) " It is frequently called the

IPicts-work ditch." (1 he same, p. 104.) " The course of this
singular work, following it in all its windings, was upwards
of fort3'-five miles. In some places the trench has been
observed to be about twenty-seven feet broad, and the
ramparts of earth on each side from say six to ten feet high,
and from eight to twelve feet thick." (The same, p. 172.) " It
is an invented name for an invented rampart, both due to the
imagination of Chalmers. — Caledonia, 1807." (Johnston, Place-
names of Scotland, p. 60.)

CAT'S CLOVER, the bird's-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus.
Called also craa-taes and craa's foot.

CAT'S-COLLOP, the milt, or spleen of animals.

CAT'S-CROP, the crop from small potatoes which have been
left in the ground during the winter, and which spring up in
an irregular manner in the summer.

CAT'S-FOOT, ground ivy.— Ray's Gloss.

CAT-TAILS, the seeding stalks of cotton-grass. See LING.

140 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CATTER, an old name for a plasterer. The fraternity of
plasterers in Newcastle were anciently styled " catters and
daubers." — Brand, Hist, of Newc., vol. ij., p. 268, note. See
CAT, i, and DAABER. (Obs.)

CATTIS, straw much broken in threshing is termed "knocked
aa to cattis." Cotton wadding or cotton wool put in the ear
is called cattis.

CAT-WHIN,burnet rose (Rosa spinosissima). — Brockett, 3rd. ed.
CAT-WITH-TWO-TAILS, an earwig.
CAUK-SPAR, barytes. See CAWK.

CAULDRON BOTTOMS, familiarly called cauldron-arses, cone
shaped masses of stone occurring occasionally in the roof of
a coal mine. They have smooth sides, and, when the coal is
excavated below, they are apt to drop out without warning,
and form one of the serious dangers to which the miner is
liable. They are sometimes called pot-stones.

CAUSEY, CAWSEY (pronounced caasey), a causeway.
" Cawsey Bank," in Newcastle, a street leading from City
Road to Garth Heads, formerly paved with small cobble
stones ; hence its name. The term is also specially applied
to the remains of Roman paved roads in Northumberland,
which are popularly ascribed to supernatural agency, as
" Cob's Cawsey," or " Devil's Cawsey ," a branch from the
Watling Street striking off north of the Wall.

CAUTION-BOARD, a warning notice in a pit to caution the
men not to proceed till instructions are given by the deputy,
who does not permit a naked light or an unlocked safety
lamp to be carried beyond the point indicated by the caution
board.

CAVE, to separate ; to separate with a rake and the foot the
short straws from corn. This operation is done by holding a
rake and kicking the short straw against the teeth to separate
the corn. See GAVINS.

CAVEL, CAVIL, a distribution by lot. Cavels are the lots
cast by pitmen at stated periods for the different working
places. Each collier draws his cavel, and the number on his
ticket is the number of the " bord " at which he must hew
for a stated period, till another cavelling takes place. The
word is pronounced as kyevel. Cavels are also divisions of
land. See CABLE, KYEVEL, and note under KEVEL.

I NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 14!

AVIN, pawing, as a horse does.
AVINS, chaff, broken ears and siftings of corn.
CAW, to turn, to drive. See CAA.

'AWD, CAWTE, cross-grained in temper. " He's a cawd
chep." " He's tarrible cawd"

" The yerlle of Huntlay, catvte and kene,
He schall wyth the be."

Chevy Chase.

'AWEL, a hen-coop.
:AWK, sulphate of barytes.
CAWSEY, a causeway. See CAUSEY.

CENTRE-BAR, an iron bar in a tub or tram, passing
underneath its body, to which the coupling-hooks are
fastened ; the bar in a pit cage carrying a falling catch at
each end for holding the tubs in their place.

CESS, or SESS, an assessment, or rating. To levy a rate.
" The hoose is cessed at ten pund a 'eer."

CEYUK [S.], CYUK [T.j , a cook. The c is sounded hard,
and the word is ke-yuk, kyuk.

" Wor geuses are heuh'd." — James Horsley, 1882, A Ride upon the Swing
Bridge.

CHAAK, chalk. To chaak up is to charge to; from the custom

• of keeping count on a board with marks of chalk.
" She chalks up scores at a' the shops." — T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826,
pt. i., v. 62.

CHAAK AN PIPECLAY, gypsum.

fHAAKIN-DYEL, CHALKING-DEAL, the board on which
reckonings and accounts in chalk are kept.

CHACK, a slight refreshment taken in haste. " Aa just had
time to get a chack."

CHAFE WEED, cud weed Filago Gennanica, L.

:HAFFS, CHAFTS, or CHAFT-BLADES, the jaws.

"As slyly as thy faus Chafts waggs." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse,
1686, p. 64.

" Aw tied his chaffs and laid him out." — R. Gilchrist, b. 1797, d. 1844'
Blind Willie's Death.

142 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CHAIR-DAY, the evening of life; that period which, from its
advanced season and infirmity, is chiefly passed in ease and
indulgence. — Brockett, 3rd. ed.

CHAIRGE, charge.

" Paid to Mr. Christopher Shafto, lawier, in parte paimente of his
chairges, 8/." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, 1593.

CHALDER, CHALDRON, in Newcastle, is a measure of 53
cwts. of coal. The old colliery waggon contains a chaldron.,
and is called a chaldron waggon. Eight of these equal " a keel
of coals." To hear a ship described as "of twenty keels"
refers to the carrying capacity of the vessel. See KEEL.
" The original chaldron (of coals) was 2,000 Ibs. weight. We
accordingly find the chaldron rated in 1530 at six bolls, in
a lease of mines at Elswick, from the Prior of Tynemouth.
In 1600 we find "the coal waynes containing eight bolls, and
some scarce seven bolls." (Books of Hoastmen's Company.} In
point of fact seven and a half bolls of coal are equal to very
nearly 2,000 Ibs. weight, per modern custom-house admeasure-
ment. And we thus perceive how the keels were said, so
early as 1421, to carry twenty-two or twenty-three chaldrons;
twenty-three chaldrons, of 2,000 Ibs. weight each, being equal
to nearly eight modern Newcastle chaldrons, of 53 cwts. each.
If from the London chaldron, a right proportion is deducted
for " heaped measure," we shall have left almost exactly
2,000 Ibs. weight as above. (T. John Taylor, Archeology of
the Coal Trade, 1852.) "The content of the chaldron waggon
(custom-house measurement) is 217-989 cubic inches; and
that of the boll being 9676-8, the chaldron is therefore equal
to 22-526 bolls, and not, as usually but erroneously stated, as
24 bolls." (Glossary of Coal Trade Terms, 1849.) See BOLL.
" Item, paid to the colyeres for their Sant Thomas Chalders, at
Chrystenmas, I2d." (Newcastle Municipal Accounts, December,
1565.) The chalder was also "a measure of grain, consisting
in general of 36 bushels." (Canon Greenwell, Glossary to Boldon
Buke, stib. Celdra, Surtees Society.) Lime, corn, and even grind-
stones were measured by the chaldron or chalder. " At the
Bishop's Staith and Heworth Staith 101 chalder of grindstones,
£35 7s-" (Cole's Inventory, 1583. — Richard Welford, History of
Newcastle, vol. iii., p. 17.)

CHALLENS, CHALLENGE, to accost, to claim acquaint-
ance. " Aa wad gyen clean past if he hadn't challens'd us."
" When he challensd us, aa says tiv him, ' Ye he' the better
on us.' "

CHAM', awry.1 — Grose's Gloss.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 143

:HANCE-BAIRN, an illegitimate child.— Brocket*.

'HANCY, precarious. Uncertain in operation, " a chancy
horse."

;HANGE, or CHANGER-WIFE, an itinerant apple woman,
or dealer in earthenware, who takes old clothes or rags in
exchange for what she sells.

" Cheap apples, wives ! Cheap apples, wives ! Seek oot a' your aud
rags, or aud shoes, or aud claise to-day" — (Newcastle Cry). — Brockett.

CHANGER-AND-GRATHER, the man who changes and
repairs the pumping buckets in a pit. See GRAITH, 3.

CHANNEL, CANNEL, gravel; being the material of which
the channel or bed of a river is composed. — Dr. Murray, New
Eng. Diet. See CHINNEL.

" Sand and channel." — Borings and Sinkings, F.K., p. 14.

" Sand and cannel." — The same, A.B., p. 218.

CHANNER, to scold, not loudly, but constantly; to be
incessantly complaining.

" She keeps channer, channenng all day long." — Brockett.

" The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,
The channerin' worm doth chide."

Wife of Usher's Well.

CHANTER, the fingering pipe of a bagpipe, on which the air
is played.

CHAPPIN, a quart. The northern form of chopin. (Obs.)

" Send in a Chappin of your wine." — Joco-Serioits Discourse, Newcastle,
1686, p. 14.

CHAPS, the jaws. See CHAFTS.

CHARE, a narrow lane. This word is in very common use in
Newcastle as the name of narrow streets or alleys in the
populous parts of the city. Many of these were destroyed by
the great fire which followed the Gateshead explosion of 1854.
In 1800, as many as twenty-one chares were found on the
Quayside, among which were the following : — Plumber's
Chare, Hornsby's Chare, Broad Chare, Colvin's or Colman's
Chare, Pallister's Chare, Peppercorn Chare, Blue Anchor Chare,
Grinding or Grindon Chare, Goudy Chare, Byker Chare, Dark
Chare, Peacock Chare, Trinity Chare, Rewcastle Chare, Cox's
Chare, Crome's Chare, Fenwick's Chare. East of the Town
Wall, at the " old suburb of Sandgate," the word chare is of

i44

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

less frequent occurrence, and is mostly replaced by the word
" entry " ; but formerly there existed here Thorp's Chare,
Dent's Chare, Errington's or Maughan's Chare, Pearson's
Chare, Foxton's Chare, and, at a later date, Joiner's Chare,
Malcolm's Chare, and Common Chare. All these were narrow
lanes. The "Broad" Chare itself would admit a cart, but
the others narrowed down to the straightest and darkest
retreats. " Most of the chares" says Mackenzie, " may be
easily reached across by the extended arms of a middle-sized
man, and some with a single arm ; but a stout person would
find it rather inconvenient to press through the upper part of
this lane" (Dark Chare}. The houses here almost touched
each other at the top ; and the whole of these chares were
densely packed with humanity. " It has been justly observed,
continues Mackenzie, " that the ground occupied by these
chares is the most crowded with buildings of any part of his
Majesty's dominions." (Mackenzie's History of Newcastle, p.
163.) In the upper town are found Manor Chare, Denton
Chare, Friar Chare, High Friar Chare, and Pudding Chare, the
first-named a wide thoroughfare. In Gateshead, the lesser
passes and avenues are, as in Newcastle, called chares.
Oakwellgate Chare, High and Low Church Chare, St. Mary's
Chare, Tomlinson's or Bailiff's Chare (deriving name from
some of the ancient officers of the borough), and Jackson's or
Collier's Chare, and Murk, or Mirk Chare. To the extinct
topography of Gateshead belong Poterschihera, mentioned in
the earliest charter relative to the borough in the Durham
Treasury (but the ,Rev. Canon Greenwell, who prints the
document in his Feodarium Prioratns Dnndmensis, thinks the
property it grants " most probably was a part of the land at
Cramlington held by the Prior and Convent ") ; also Walde-
schere and Pylotchare. At Hexham, St. Mary's Chare, the
narrow street, now called Back Street, and Pudding Chare,
now called Back Row. Both chares lead to the Market Place.
They appear on the map of Hexham dated 1826. There is
also a farm near Acomb called Chare Head. In the village
of Whalton, Northumberland, also at \Yhickham, there is a
" Church Chare," and in Morpeth there is a " Copper Chare."
At Holy Island, "Tripping Chare" is found, and at the same
place we have the name " Chare ends " or " Chare fits " given
to the spot where three lanes converge near the landing-place
of the oversand road. Two of these chares which end here
are mere field roads, so that the term is not applied in all
cases to an alley of houses. The word occurs in the neigh-
bouring county in Sandwell Chare at Hartlepool, in Castle
Chare at Durham, and at Bishop Auckland, where we find
" Gaunless Chare " and " Wear Chare." In Richard Welford's

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 145

History of Newcastle in the XIV. and XV. Centuries, p. 394,
" Bower Chare and Grype Chare " are mentioned. " These
chares seem at different times to have gone by different
names, generally being called after the owners of property in
them, and the names changing with the owners." — R. J.
Charleton, Newcastle Town, p. 313.) "A laughable misunder-
standing happened at our assizes some years ago, when one
of the witnesses in a criminal trial swore that ' lie saw three
men come out of the foot of a chare !' ' Gentlemen of the jury,'
exclaimed the learned judge, ' you must pay no regard to
that man's evidence, he must be insane.' But the foreman,
smiling, assured the judge that they understood him very
well, and that he spoke the words of truth and soberness."
(An Impartial History of Newcastle, 1801, p. 30, note.) As already
mentioned, the worst of the Newcastle chares were destroyed
by fire in 1854, ^*ut tna^ calamity came as the regenerator
of a plague-stricken town. A contemporary observer thus
regarded it: "The elements have done their wild work in
Newcastle; the blocks of human habitations in the disgusting
chares, where the sun's glorious rays never entered, and where
cholera and typhus held revel, are swept away." (Northern
Tribune, 1854, vo^ *•> P- 388.) Chare probably means, like
the Scotch wynd, a turning.

CHARM. The use of charms for the cure of disease and for
warding off ills of any kind is not yet extinct : instances may
be met with quite commonly. The horse-shoe is nailed to the
stable door, and the "holey-stone" is found hung on a nail on
the inside of the door of the dwelling. There are still coins
thirled for luck, or the small bones from a sheep's head, or a
"raa tettie," carried in the pocket to charm off ailments. The
forms of incantation are gone — but not long gone by. In a
note to Pitman's Pay, edition of 1843, p. 17, Mr. Wilson says:
" Quackery is not confined to drugs. The ignorant are often
imposed upon by what designing knaves call 'charms', and when
the former fail, recourse is had to the latter." Patients to this
day travel miles to visit an ignorant and rude practitioner
who has acquired repute in much the same way as a wise
body of old was supposed to posses special mystic powers.
See LEE-PENNY, IRISH STONE, KIN-COUGH.

" Aw've just been ower wi' something warm,
To try and ease the weary cough
Which baffles byeth the drugs and charm."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1824, pt. i., v. 96.

HASER, a male sheep imperfectly developed in one of its
testicles.

I

CHA

146 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CHAT, refreshments, something to eat. — Hodgson MS. See
CHACK.

CHATS, keys of trees, as ash chats, sycamore chats, &c. (Ray's
Gloss., 1691.) " Spray wood, small twigs." (Brockett, 3rd ed.)
Chats in lead-mining, small pieces of stone with lead ore
adhering to them. When the ore has a portion of the matrix
attached to it, it is of less specific gravity than the solid ore,
and in process of dressing it comes to the surface, and the
material so appearing is called chats. It is raked off and
dressed in a finer and closer set mill, called a chat mill, and
the product is known as "seconds" or chat ore.

CHATTER, to tear, to make ragged, to bruise. — HalliwelVs Diet.
Chattered, bruised. See SCATHERED.

CHAVYL, a cleaver, as a butcher's cleaver. — Hodgson MS.

CHAWDY, the stomach of a pig, which is cleaned, boiled and
eaten as tripe.

CHAWLIN, eating with a mumbling sound.

CHEAT, a linen breast piece without a shirt to it — a "dickey."

CHEATRY, deceit, fraud.

CHECKERS, the game of draughts. Checker board, a draught
board.

CHECK-VIEWER, one who checks the working of coal on
behalf of the owner of the royalty.

CHECK-WEIGHMAN, the representative of the men, who
checks the weight of coals at the surface, on behalf of the
workmen at a colliery.

CHEEK, the side of a place. " The door cheek." The rock on
each side of a lode of lead is called the cheek of the vein.

" To show them we deal wi' Newcassel,
Twee blackeys sal mense the door cheek."

W. Midford, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.

CHEEP, to make a noise like a young bird ; to speak weakly
or quietly. " He wis hitten bad eneuf, yit he nivver cheeped."

CHEEPER, a young bird, an unfledged thing.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 147

CHEEPY, the titlark.

CHEER, a common salutation is "Watch hear!" or "What cheer?'
" Cheare, or cheere, look ; air of countenance." — Nare's Gloss.

CHEERER, a glass of toddy. Cheerer -glass, a. large toddy
tumbler. " Buttered cheeyer," a little butter added to spirit
and warm water.

CHEESE. To place the cheese bottom uppermost was formerly
considered as a token of great disrespect to the person so
treated.

" The folk of Chatton say the cheese of Chatton is better
than the cheese of Chillingham ; but the cheese of Chatton's
nee mair like the cheese of Chillingham than chalk's like
cheese." Another reading of their Border shibboleth begins
" There's as good cheese in Chillingham as ever Chafts
chewed." Denham quotes the above and says the " gird " in
it is at the local pronunciation at those places, sk being
sounded for ch. This peculiarity is also located at Chirnside.
See Murray, Dialect of S. Counties of Scotland, 1873, p. 85.

" To set the cheese on the table upside down is still considered as a
want of respect for the person before whom it is placed ; and to set down
a loaf bottom uppermost, after cutting a slice of bread, is supposed to be
as unlucky an omen as to spill the salt." — S. Oliver, Rambles in
Northumberland, 1835, p. 134.

CHEESE-AN'-BREED, the budding leaves of the hawthorn,
which are picked and eaten by children.

CHEESE-AND-BREED-BELL. On Christmas Eve, at
Hexham, the Priory bell was rung at seven o'clock p.m., and
this was called the cheese-and-bread-bell.

CHEESES, seed of common mallow, Malva sylvestris.

"The sitting down when school was o'er
Upon the threshold of the door,
Picking from mallows, sport to please,
The crumpled seed we called a cheese."

Clare.

CHEG, CHEGGLE, to gnaw or champ a resisting substance. —
Brockett.

CHEMMERL Y, CH AMBERLYE, urine bottled till it ferments,
and then used for cleansing clothes.

148 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CHEP, a familiar name for a man. " Wor cheps " means our
associates. " Them cheps is nee use," said in pointing to some
feckless fellows.

" Me nyem is Billy Oliver, i' Ben well toon aw dwell,
An aw's a clever chep, aw's shure, tho' aw de say'd mesel',
Sic an a clever chep am aw," &c., &c.

" Billy Oliver's Ramble.'"

Allan's Collection, p. 79.

" The maister was a cannie chep,
They ca'd him Jacky Carter."

R. Gilchrist, Voyage to Lunnin, 1824.

CHEPSTER, the starling.— BrocMt.

CHESFIT, a cheese vat ; the vessel in which the curd is placed
to be pressed into cheese.

CHESS, to chase. In a colliery " after the winding engine has
been standing for some time, the cages are run up and down
the shaft to see that all is right before men are allowed to get
into the cage." This is to chase or chess the ropes. — Greenwell,

CHESSELL, or CHESSWELL, a cheese press.— Brocket*,
3rd ed. See CHESFIT.

CHESTED, coffined. " He will have to be chested to-night."

CHESTER, a Roman camp. This is always pronounced
Chester, never caster or cester, in Northumberland. As may be
expected, in the land of the Roman Wall, it is of frequent
occurrence, and about twenty-six place-names may be counted
in Northumberland which end in Chester, or are combined with
it. In Northern England we find Tadcaster, Doncaster,
Lancaster. In the Midlands and South-West it is a soft c,
as Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester. Elsewhere the c has
become ch, and we find Winchester, Chichester, Chester-
field— the ch being sounded as in Manchester and in our
Northumberland chesters. " The Romans held Britain for
nearly four hundred years. They left behind them only six
words — Castra, a camp ; Strata, a paved road ; Colonia, a
settlement ; Fossa, a trench ; Portus, a harbour ; and Vallum,
a rampart. The treatment of the Latin word Castra in this
island has been both singular and significant ; and it has
always taken the colouring of the locality into whose soil it
struck root. It is worthy of notice that there are in Scotland
no words ending in caster. Though the Romans had camps
in Scotland, they do not seem to have been so important as
to become the centres of towns." (Prof. Meiklejohn, English
Language, 1886, p. 210.) " When we find ourselves in a land,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 149

no longer of casters, but of chesters, we begin to ask whether
some of these settlements were not Jutish or Saxon, rather
than Anglian." (Freeman, English Towns and Districts, p. 327.)
" The Chesters [of Bermcia] as opposed to the casters ot Deira,
are, if not distinctively Saxon, at least English, as opposed
to Danish." (The same, p. 448.) The chief names in the
limit of Northumberland folk-speech are Chester-le-Street,
Lanchester, Ebchester, Colchester, Binchester, Halton
Chesters, Walwick Chesters, Great Chesters, Chesterholm,
Rudchester, Chesterhope, Rochester, &c. In Cumberland
the Roman stations are called " castles," as Bewcastle,
Papcastle, &c., and the sites "castle steads." Whitley Castle
is a station in Northumberland, but lying close upon the
confines of Cumberland.

CHEVIOT HILLS. According to Johnston (Place-names of
Scotland, p. 62) Cheviot, Welsh cefn, a ridge or back. Compare
Chevy Chase and Chevington, Northumberland, -ot is a difficult
ending to explain. In c. 1250, Montes chieuiti ; a, 1300, Mons
chiuioth. Probably Gaelic c(h)iabach, 'bushy,' from ciabh, hair,
which would yield both "Chevy" and "Cheviot." — Page 255.
These hills give their name to the short-woolled sheep known
as Cheviots and to the cloth made from their wool.

CHEWN, a dish-clout.

CHIBE, a kind of onion. — Halliivell's Diet. See CHIVES.

CHIEL, a friend, one very intimate. " He's a queer chiel " is
applied to a familiar as a pet description of a quaint or queer
character.

" Sae wiv some varry canny duels,
All on the hop an' murry,
Aw thowt aw'd myek a voy'ge to Shiels,
Iv Jemmy Joneson's Whurry."

T. Thompson, Jemmy Joneson's Whurry.

CHIEVE, to achieve, to succeed in, or accomplish any business.
CHILDER, children.

CHILDERMASS-DAY, Innocents' Day.— Ray's Gloss.
CHILL, a cold. " He's getten a chill."

CHIMINS, the seeds or inner husks of oats, soaked two or
three days in cold water to become a jelly, and then boiled in
water or milk, in which state they are by many considered
very good. They are used in Cumberland and Northumber-
land, but most and best made in Scotland. — Hodgson MS.
See So WANS.

I5O NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CHIMLEY, CHUMLA, chimney. Chimley-cruck, the pot-hook
hung in the chimney. Chimley-neuk, the chimney corner.
C 'him ley -piece, the mantel-shelf. General.
" Losh's big cliimley at Walker."

"Changes on the Tyne."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 215.

CHINE, a chain. [S.] In farm work, " lang chines" are plough
chains ; " short chines " are trace chains ; " shoother chines "
are the chains for yoking to the cart shafts. The small
bubbles rising from an otter as he dives across the bottom of
the water are called his chine.

" The chep \vi' the chine."

James Horsley, A Ride on the Swing Bridge.

CHINK, money.

" Noo when aw cum ti think, aw'd better spend maw chink."

Ed. Corvan, The Comet, 1858. — Allan's Collection, p. 73.

CHINNEL, CHANNEL, gravel.

CHINNEL, to separate the dust or smallest coals from larger
ones.

CHINNELY, small, as gravel or coal separated from the dust,
or dead small. "Chinley coals are neither round (large) nor

. small, but such as will pass over the skreen and among the
best coals." — Gveenwell. Chinnely clay is clay with admixture
of gravel. Chinnely sand is sand with gravel. The stream
near Bardon Mill is called " Chineley burn." Compare
TRINDLE, TRINILIES.

CHIP, to break or crack ; said of an egg when the young bird
breaks the shell. — Byockett.

CHIP, a term used by salmon fishers, who say that a fish
" chips," when it cuts the surface of the water without leaping.

CHIRM, to chirp ; applied especially to the melancholy under-
tone of a bird previous to a storm. — Byockett. " A charm of
birds." See CHORM.

" I cherme as byrdes do whan they make a noyse a great nomber
togyther." — Palsgrave, Halliu'ell's Diet.

"What variety of character, as well as variety of emotion, maybe
distinguished by the practised ear in a ' charm of birds.'" — C. Kingsley,
Prose Idylls, "A Charm of Birds," 2nd ed., 1874, p. 13.

CHISEL, CHIZZEL, a common quality of meal from oats.
" A caad chisel crowdy." The coarse offal from flour, known
as boxings, used for feeding pigs.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 15!

CHISEL, the cutting face of a drill, or boring rod.

CHIST, a chest, a variant of kist.

" Two olde chystes." — Will, in R. Welford's History of Newcastle in the
XVI. Century, p 320.

CHITTER, to chatter. " Me teeth wis chittevin wi' the caad."

CHITTER-CHATTER, chat, prattle; also the action of the
teeth when chattering with cold.

CHITTERS, part of the intestines of a goose, used in making
a giblet pie.

CHIVES, the small onions, A Ilium schoenoprasum, found on the
Roman Wall in Northumberland. The chives at Walltown,
&c., are described as " Native, Local type." — Baker, Flora
of Northumberland and Durham.

" In the crevices of the whin rock chives grow abundantly. The
general opinion is that we are indebted for those plants to the Romans,
who were much addicted to the use of these and kindred savoury
vegetables." — Dr. Bruce, Handbook to Roman Wall, 1884, p. 171.

CHOCK, packed, crammed, blocked. " Chock up again'd."
" Chock-toft."

CHOCK, to block ; to choke, as in the phrase, " The spoot wis
chocked up wi' clarts."

CHOCK, a piece of wood for stopping waggons at the top of a
bank. (Mining Glossary, Newcastle Terms, 1852.) Also a
square pillar for supporting the roof of a pit, built up of short
lengths of wood.

CHOCK-AND-BLOCK, tightly filled up.

CHOKE-DAMP, called also after-damp and surfeit, the result
of explosion of fire-damp in a mine ; the deadly carbonic acid
gas. German dampf, " any thick smoke, mist, or vapour,
especially when it is of sulphureous nature." — Adelung,
quoted by Wedgwood, Diet, of Eng. Etymology*

CHOKE-DEALS (for chock-deals], deals fitted closely together
so as to be caulked, if necessary, in sinking.

" We lay choak-deals (as we call them), which is deals put in as fast,
or all along, as we dig the sand or earth." — J. C., Compleat Collier, 1708,
p. 21.

CHOLLER, a double chin ; also the loose flesh under a turkey-
cock's neck — a cock's wattles. — Bvockett.

152 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CHOP, to make a sudden retrograde movement. "The wind
chopped round to the nor'rard." " The fox chops back and
doubles like a hare." (James Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms,
p. 85.) " We have two Labourers at a time at the handle
of the bore Rod, and they chop, or pounce." (J. C., Compleat
Ccllier, 1708, p. n.) "Have good strong wooden Plugs
ready made, whilst boreing, to chop into the Bore-hole
immediately." (The same, p. 14.) It also means to put out,
to confuse. " Now, this has chop't me by my text." (jfoco-
Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 38.) Hence a chop is a
mischance. " Sir, after this there did befaw Another chop,
was warst of aw ! " (The same, p. 28.)

CHOP-BACK, in mining, an excavation driven the reverse
way.

CHOPS, the chaps or mouth.

"For hay but seldom blest their chops" (the donkey's fare being
generally thistles)." — T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

"To find out the nyem, now each worried his chops" — bit his lips. —
R. Gilchrist, The Shipper's Erudition, 1824.

CHORCH, church. The more frequent form on Tyneside,
where kirk is now seldom heard. The hard k for ch is heard
in kist, a chest ; kairn (kirn), a churn ; and in the final sound
of such words as thak, thatch ; scvat or scatt, scratch ; mtickle,
much ; snak, snatch ; stick, stitch ; birk, birch, &c. Compare
KIRK and following words.

" Now we've a chorch te mend the bad,
And help them up to Heeven."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

CHORK, saturated or soaked with water — Northumberland. —
HalliwelVs Diet.

CHORM, to croon, to warble.

" Chorming some bee-a-baa-sang."

J. P. Robson, Lament, 1870.

CHORM, a chirp, chatter, as of birds. See CHIRM, CHURM.

" Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds."

Paradise Lost, iv., 641.

CHORNELS, small hard swellings in the glands of the neck in
young persons, called "waxing chtrnels." — Brockctt — Chirnell.

CHORT, to squirt with the teeth. Brockett gives chirt.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 153

CHOUKS, the glands of the throat, immediately under the
jaw bones. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

CHOUP, CAT-CHOUP, a hip ; the fruit of the hedge briar, or
wild rose — Rubus major.

CHOUS, an old term for small coal. — Chas. Beaumont, Treatise
on Coal Mining, quoted in Impartial History of Newcastle, 1801,
p. 478.

CHOW, to chew. " Chow, chow, the baccy chow " is the chorus
sung in a children's game at merry-go-round.

CHOW, a chew of tobacco, a quid.

CHOWK, to choke. " The stoor meast chowk'd us." In a
dog fight. " CJwwk that dog off." Also used to express thirst.
" Bring me a drink — aa's fit te chowk." " C hawked wi' his aan
fat" — checkmated; hoist with his own petard.

CHOWLS, or JOWLS, the jaws.— Brockett, yd ed.

CHRIS-CROSS, bad tempered, cross ; a fit of temper.

"1772, January 13. The said Wm Smith in his cairs crosses abused
the Beadle and endeavoured to sow discord and division among the
members." — Keelman's Boohs.

CHRIS-CROSS, a cross. In a child's game a distinction is
carefully observed between a chris and a cross, the former
being made thus x and the latter thus +.

CHRISENMAS, CHRISAMAS, Christmas.

" Honest Blind Willy shall string this iv rhymes, and aw'll sing'd for a
Chrissenmas carol." — T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

" Item, paid for seven yardes of yalowe carsaye, and seven yardes of
blue carsaye, at as. 8d. the yarde, for the fulles" (fool's) " cottes and
cappes agaynste Christynmas, 373. 4d." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts,
December, 1561.

CHRISTEN, a human being. "As wise as a Christen," said
of a dog, meaning as wise as a human being. Mr. Halliwell
notes that in Newcastle the sedan chairmen were called
" Christian horses."

CHRISTENING (pron. chrisnin.) This is generally carried
out with attendant pomp and circumstance ; but before the
procession starts for the church the nurse makes up a neat
parcel in which spice cake, or loaf, with cheese and a packet

154 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

of salt are enclosed. This is handed to the first person met
with on leaving the house. If the infant be a girl it is lucky
to give it to a man ; if a boy, to give it to a woman, but it
must be given to the first person met with.

" She deck'd us for church on the Christning day,
Cut the bread-and-cheese meant to be stow'd
In the first lucky pocket she met on her way
To the church from their humble abode."

T. Wilson, The Village Howdy.

Brockett says — under " Child's-first-visit " — "The first time
an infant visits a neighbour or relation, it is presented with
three things — a small quantity of salt, bread, and an egg."

CHUCK, bread. A slang or colloquial word.

CHUCK, a jolly fellow.

" We found mony a hearty chuck."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

CHUCK, to throw away.

" Aw's grieved at heart, push round the can,
Then empty fra wor hands we'll chuck it."

R. Gilchrist, 1844, Bold Archie and Blind Willie's Lament.

CHUCK, the shell of the land and of the sea snail. The game
of "chucks an marvels" is played with five of these shells
and a marble ; sometimes with five small mutton bones, or
with five small stones. The marble is thrown up and allowed
to "stot" (rebound) and is caught in its second fall; between
each "stot" the player picks up one of the chucks at a time till
the five are in hand ; then two and one, then three and one,
and so on, till at the last throw the whole five are adroitly
caught at a sweep. The game is called " chucks and handies"
in South Shields. Compare COCKS and HENS.

CHUCKERS, DOUBLE CHUCKERS, potions of ardent
spirits. Terms well known [in Brockett's time] among
Northern topers. DouUe-chuckers, a bumper which requires
two chucks, or gulps. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

CHUCKLE-HEED, a stupid person. " What are ye deein,
ye greet chuckle-heed,'" said to a clumsy workman by his
master. See CUCKLE-HEED.

" The lubbart wi' the chuckle-heed."

R. Emery, d. 1871, The Owl.

CHUCKY-OOT, look out.

" Clawdy, tee, might chucky-oot,
He's jaws he'd surely plaister."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Hamlick, Prince of Dentoit.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 155

CHURM, to express pleasure or satisfaction by a humming
sound peculiar to quadrupeds and birds. A chirp or bird
note, the coo of the dove. See CHORM and CHIRM.

" The churm o' the turtledove is hurd i' wor country-side." — J. P.
Robson, d. 1870, Sang o' Solomon, Northumberland version, chap, ii.,
v. 12.

CHURN-SUPPER, harvest supper. See KERN-SUPPER.

CINDER BASIN. When a woman has lost her reckoning
it is still not uncommon to hear that " she has lost a cinder."
This phrase refers to a cinder put into a basin at stated times
to mark a date. The counting of the cinders should agree
with the reckoning.

" I remember a hind's wife (I am speaking of sixty years ago), who
was born and bred in Rothbury Forest, where old superstitions and
customs lingered long, and who, in the interval between her confinement
and being "churched," would not go out of her house without first
putting a cinder on the lintel of the door frame." — Letter, Middleton H.
Dand to writer, April 27th, 1889.

CINDER COAL, coal deprived of its bitumen by the action of
a whin d}'ke or slip. — Greenwell.

CIRSE, or SES, a circular sieve for straining buttermilk.
Scarce, to sift.

CLAA, a claw. Claa, claat, to claw, to scratch. "Claa me, claa
thee " — you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours ; or you do
a good turn for me and I will return the compliment.

CLACK, the low valve of a pump. Its use is to support the
column of water when the bucket is descending. — Glossary
of Coal Trade Terms, 1849. In the column of pipes in a pit,
through which water is pumped, that section containing the
valve is called the clack-piece. The face on which the valve
closes is the £/W/i-seat. The clack-door is the plate bolted over
the aperture which gives access to the clack.

CLAES, clothes.

" Nyen can say we are i' debt,
Or want for owther clues or scran."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. i., v. 80.

CLAG, to stick, to make to adhere.

" Aa gets them aa clagged togither agyen wi' cobbler's waax." — His
Oilier Eye, 1880, p. 7.

" The putter clagged his lowe on behind (the tram) and proceeded." — Mr.
John Ro well, article " Soam," Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, April i4th, 1888.

156 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLAG-CANDY, candy, so called on account of its sticky, or
claggy nature. Used to describe something sweet, as : —

" Thou's a' clagcanded, ma bonny hinny,
Thou's double japanded, ma canny bairn."
Song, " Up the Raw."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 298

CL AGGER, a palpable hit, as with a soft missile that strikes
and sticks (dags) ; a repartee that effectually shuts up an
opponent. " That's a dagger, noo ! " Also a cleaver, made of
a circular piece of leather, with a thong through the centre,
a boy's toy ; softened in water, and pressed by the foot on a
stone, it will adhere to and lift the stone by the atmospheric
pressure.

CLAGGUM, toffy made with treacle and a little kneading.
From its sticky consistency, it dags.
" If money's short, I'll take
Rabbit skins for claggum."

W. Stephenson, d. 1836, The Itinerant Confectioner.

CLAGGY, of an adherent, viscid nature. Tar or treacle are
thus called claggy substances.

CLAGGY-TOP, coal adhering to the roof of a pit.

" A seam of coal is said to have a cJaggv-top when it adheres to the
roof, and is with difficulty separated." — Greenwell.

CLAIPIN, noisy, tale-telling.

CLAIRED, dirty, covered with mud. See GLARE.

CLAIRTS, or CLARTS, wool upon which sheep's droppings
have gathered and hardened, which is saved and sold by
shepherds to be cleaned and rendered fit for manufacture.
The word is quite common among the Cheviot shepherds,
and at Yetholm the cleaning of this wool is a regular trade.

CLAITH, cloth.

CLAM [N.] , damp and clammy, viscous. " Ye mun air the
shaal ; it's quite dam," said of a shawl that has got wet.

CLAM, a moveable collaring for a pump, consisting of two
pieces of wood indented to receive the pump, and screw-
bolted together. — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1849.

CLAM, an and-iron. See CLAMPS.

" i. iron chimney with tongs, rakes, and clams." — R. Welford, History of
Newcastle, XVI. Century, p. 239.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 157

CLAM. i. To press, to hold an article tightly. 2. To castrate,
when the operation is performed, not by incision, but by
compression. — Brockett.

CLAM, CLOM, or CLUM, praeterite of the verb to climb.
CLAMJAMFREY [N.] , a rabble crowd.

CLAMMER, to clamber or climb. " Aa've clammend up them
stairs to the Garth, an' aa's fair dyun." In Nave's Gloss, the
word is given as " a colloquial pronunciation." It is in
constant use.

CLAMMERSOME, clamorous.

CLAMP, a large fire made of underwood. — Brockett.

CLAMP, to walk with a clanking or noisy tread ; to bind or
hoop with iron.

CLAMPER, a heavy blow. See CLANKER.

CLAMPS, irons at the end of fires, to keep up the fewel. —
Ray's Gloss.

CLAMS, instruments used in gelding lambs and foals. —
Hodgson MS. A small vice or press. — Brockett, 3rd ed.
The shoemaker's clams consist of two pieces of wood of a bent
shape opening at the top, where leather is held to be sewn.
Cramps used in masonry. Weeding tongs, with long wooden
handles.

CLANKER, a heavy, clanging blow, a hit that settles an
argument, an effective rejoinder.

" That day a' Hawks's blacks may rue,
They gat monny a verra sair danker, O."

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, Swalwell Hopping.

CLANKIN, as "a clankin lass," a stout, active girl. Probably
referring to the clank made by the clogs of an active maiden.

CLANNOMS, streaks of colour in stone.

CLAP, to pat tenderly. " Give him a clap on the back," is
equivalent to " encourage him by your approval."

" She curl'd ma hair, or ty'd ma tail,
And daft and strokt ma little Cappy."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 43.

158 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLAP, to put quickly ; to seat oneself hurriedly.
" Clapt little Neddy on his knee."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 86.
" Clap on the kettle, ninny."
" He clap'd on the jarvies iv a minute."
" If a shoe's wanted ye hardly need stop —
Iv a jiffy they dap on a new 'un."

T. Wilson, Stanzas on an Intended Road, 1825.
" Clap yor lug tiv a stob."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Wonderful Tallygrip.
" Aa clapt mesel doon."

R. Emery, d. 1871, Baggy Nanny.

CLAP, to crouch down as a partridge does. " The covey's
clapped, ye canna see them."

" If any person come near the calves, they clap their heads close to the
ground." — James Hall, Guide to Glendale, 1887, p. 25.

CLAP-BENNY, a request made to infants in the nurse's arms
to clap their hands, as the only means they have of expressing
their prayers, or of signifying their desire of a blessing. —

Brockett.

CLAP-BOARD, a smaller size of split oak, imported from
north Germany, and used by coopers for making barrel
staves ; in later times also for wainscotting. — Dr. Murray,
New. Eng. Diet. (Obs.)

" Item pd for clapbords, 25. 8d." — Gateshead Church Books, 1649.

CLAPPERCLAW, to beat, to abuse.

" He clapper-claw' d their jerkins soundly."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 71.

CLAPPERS, the kind of rattle made of three pieces of flat
wood, usually fastened together by a thong. The middle
piece is about twice as long as the other two and is reduced
at one end to form a handle. It is used about a farm to
frighten crows from the corn and potatoes. " Gallant ! " gan
away to the craas, and take yor clappers wa yea." The word
is also used as a simile for the tongue, as " Had yor clapper
tongue."

CLART, CLAIRT, to besmear with mud ; to do anything in a
sloppy, slatternly way. " What are ye clartin on wi' there ? "

CLARTS, mud, dirt ; also applied to dirty wool. See CLAIRTS.
" That hallion McAdam the pavement up-tore,
And left in its stead darts and dust in galore."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, Song of Improvements.
" Wi' darts they should be plaister'd weel
That jeer'd Blind Willie's singin'."

R. Gilchrist, d. 1844, Blind Willie's Singin'.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 159

CLARTY, to dirty. " Ye'll clarty the door step wi' yor feet."

CLARTY, muddy, bemudded, low, mean, as " He's a clarty
body."

" Other clarty tricks he play'd."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourses, 1868, p. 47.

It also means foul when applied to the weather. " A clarty
day." At Morpeth, a few years ago, on a very wet day, the
old bellman made his announcement as follows : " Oh, yes !
the sale that was to take place at one o'clock by Mr. Storey
is postponed on account of the clartiness of the weather."

" If it be clarty, you're sure for to get
Weel plaister'd byeth 'hint aud afore, man."

T. Charlton, "Newcastle Improvements."

Bards of the Tync, 1849, p. 239.

"Clarty fine" means shabby genteel, and " clarty finery,"
tawdry finery.

CLASH, the sound made by a heavy clanking or crashing blow,
as in the violent shutting of a door or the letting fall of tin-
ware, &c. "She set the tea tray doon wiv a clash." "He
banged the door tee wi' sic a clash."

CLASH, to strike, to slam, to throw down violently or with
clatter. " Hoo wis aa to pull up, wiv a train like that ahint
us, when he just clashed the distance signal i' me feyce as aa
wis passin't." (An Engine Driver expostulating.) At an
assize trial in Newcastle a witness deposed, " He clashed his
jaa ; an then clagged up his eye wi' clarts."

"Oh, lass, dinnet clash the door." — Joe Wilson, d. 1875.

CLASH, to gossip idly; light or idle talk. "Aa canna be
fash't wi' that man's clash."

" I came to have a little clash."

Ed. Chicken, The Cottier's Wedding, 1735.

CLATCH, a mess, slops.

CLATT, to pull the loose wool from about the udders of ewes
as a precaution from being swallowed by lambs when sucking.

CLATTER, a rattling noise ; loud, tattling talk. " The window
shutter cam doon wiv a clatter."

" We need not wonder at the clatter, when every tongue wags."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 12.

" Aw've knawn him sit myest roun' the clock,
Swattling an clattering on wi' Charley."

The same, pt. i., v. 90.

l6o NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CL AUGHT, snatched at — Northumberland. — HalliwelFs Diet.
See CLAA.

CLAVER, to climb up. The Rev. John Hodgson suggests
that the word combines the idea of " cleavering or adhering,
mixed with the idea of climbing." In this sense it is very
suggestive of the act of "speelin'" a tree, or otherwise at
once clinging and climbing.

" Hill upon hill rises ever se high,

Up whilk the poor animals now drag their load,
For a' the warld like claverin up the sky."

T. Wilson, Stanzas on Intended Road, 1824.

" Then into the coach Geordy clavered wi' speed."

R. Emery, d. 1871, Newcastle Wonders.

CLAVER, to gossip in a loud tone.
CLAVER, clover.— Brockett.

CLAVERS, loud idle talk.

" Be dumb, ye leeing, yammerin' hoonds !
Nor wi yor clavers fash us."

W. Oliver, d. 1848, The Bonassus.

CLAVERS, goosegrass, Galium aparine. — Brockett, 3rd ed.
CLAY, a pitman's candlestick, made of a piece of clay.

CLAYDOLLY, the woman worker in a brickfield, who carries
the brick from the moulder's table to the open field where it
is to be dried.

CLEAD, to cover, to clothe. See CLEED.
CLEAR [N.] , to snatch. See CLICK.

CLEAN, entirely. "Aa wis clean done." "He wis clean gyen
iv a minit." Clean gyen is also used as a matter of comparison.
" It is clean gyen wi'd" — that is, superior to some competing
article.

CLEAN, a pit is clean when free from gas. A coal seam is clean
when it is free from dirt partings.

CLEANIN, the after-birth of an animal.
CLEAP, to name or call. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. l6l

CLEAT, the vertical joints or facings in coal or stone. There
are frequently two cleats in coal, at which, when distinct, the
coal may be broken into rhomboidal fragments. These cleats
do not always intersect each other at the same angle. — Gloss,
of Coal Trade Terms, 1849. "She cleats bonny," said of coal
when this characteristic is marked.

CLEAVER, a disc of leather perforated in the centre for a
string. The knot in the string closes this centre hole, and on
the leather being wet and applied to a smooth surface the
disc dags, or adheres to it. Thus stones, &c., are lifted and
carried by boys in play. The toy is also called a dagger [N.] .
See CLAGGER.

CLEAVIN, the fork of the human body.

"What a poor forked creature man is ! " — King Lear.
"A forked radish with a head fantastically carved." — T. Carlyle,
Sartor Resartus.

CLECK, a hook. " Hing yor coat on that deck." See CLEEK, 2.

CLECK, to breed, to hatch.

" Will potato seed deck the first year ? " Will it produce tubers the
year in which it is sown ? — Hodgson MS.

CLECK, CLETCH, CLECKIN, CLOCKIN, a brood of
young birds. Cleckin or clockin is the chuckle, or cluck-cluck
of satisfaction or alarm made by the hen mother over her
brood.

" Wad ye believ'd, in less than a fortnith a beautiful clockin o' chickens
was hatched." — Geddes, Ikeybo. — Bards of the Tyne, 1849.

CLED (p.t.), clothed. See CLEED.

" Aw cled into her mourning weed."

Bernard Rumney, an excellent ballad of
The Sickness of EcUy's Mare.

CLED-SCOOR, a cled score, equal to twenty-one in counting
sheep. In the transference of hill stock the numbers are
frequently calculated by the cled-scoor.

CLEED, to clothe.

" Feed us and deed us weel, she may."

T. Wilson, The Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. iii., v. 52.
" When I cam to your bridal bed
I'd fouth o'claes to deed me back,
But now I've scarce a single plack."

Description of Sandgate.
" The nyek'd to deed, the hungry to feed,
And gie the houseless shelter."

T. Wilson, Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826, v. 34.
K

l62 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLEEDIN, clothing, covering.

CLEEK, CLICK, to snatch. See CLICK.

" I decked yen of them by the arm."

Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686.

CLEEK, a crook to catch at anything. A barbed hook used to
land salmon. (A "gaff" is a salmon hook without a barb.)
A snatch hook.

" He's made a cleek but and a creel —

A creel but and a pin ;
And he's away to the chimley top,
And he's letten the bonny clerk in."

Old song, The Keach i' the Creel.

CLEEK, to breed or hatch. See CLECK.
CLEET, the hoof of an ox or a sheep. See CLUTE, CLOOTY.
CLEG, a gadfly ; hence applied to a tedious, tiresome child.
CLEG, a clever person, an adept. — Brockett. ? Gleg.

CLEUGH, a dell, or cleft through which water runs.

"A gray stone in a clowghe syd under a plac called the Crowkhyl." —
Award dated 1554. — Dr. Charlton, North Tynedale, p. 66.
" The one of them hight Adam Bel,

The other Clym o' the Cleugh,
The thyrd was William of Cloudeslee,
An archer good ynough."

Old ballad, printed 1550.

"A hope is the head of a vale, a cleugh is a sort of diminutive hope,
where the vale is narrowed by opposite craigs." — S. Oliver, Rambles in
Northumberland, 1835, p. 87, note.

CLEW, a ball of worsted ; hence, probably, a globular swelling
like a boil. When a person is restless and uneasy it is
common to say, " He's getten a clew."

CLEW, CLEWS, or CLOOSE, the floodgate of a mill dam.—
Brockett, 3rd ed. See CLOOR.

CLEYT, CLITE, to wear unevenly, to make one-sided.
" Your shoe's cleyted." See ACLITE.

CLIAR, CLIRE, a hard substance formed generally on the
liver or lungs of animals. Clircd, having a dire, a dangerous
obstruction in an animal's throat. See CLYRE.

CLICK, a rent, a tear. " Leuk what a greet click thor's iv her
frock."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 163

CLICK, to snatch, to catch up, to clutch. "He clicked it oot
o' me hand."

" They lower'd the sail, but it aa waddent dee,
So he clicked up a coal, an1 maist felled the Pee-dee."

W. Armstrong, Jenny Hoolet, 1833.

" Aa've seen him, in this muddled mess,
Click up his chalk and wooden buik."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 45.

CLIFTY, smart, busy, industriously active. It is now oftener
applied to a horse, and more particularly to a mare. " She's
a cliffy ganner."

" Clam up the shrouds, and wrought han-spun,
And preuv'd themsels twa cliffy men."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 70.

" There's very few can foot so nice
As cliffy Will Carstairs."

Genuine Tom Whittell, 1815.

CLIM, to climb. Past, clam ; p. part., clommen or clom. Drayton
uses this form in his Battaile of Agincourt, p. 30. dimmer is to
clambtr.

" The waves to climme," ib. p. 5. — Halliwell's Diet.
CLIM, the name Clement.

CLING, to dry up, to wither, to shrivel. In The Pricke of

Conscience one of the symptoms of approaching death is

stated to be that the patient's " bely clynges." Edition
Morris, line 823.

" Pal and clungen was his chek,
His skin was hlungen to the bane."

Metrical Homilies, p. 8.

CLING-CLANG, in confederacy. " Thor aall ding-clang, like
the tinklers o' Yacomb." — Old saying.

CLINK, to hammer up so as to tighten anything, to clench.

CLINK-RING, an iron ring used in building wooden ships.
A bolt with a head is put through first, then the ring is
slipped on the inside and clinched.

CLINKER, a furnace slag, or the fused products of com-
bustion on a smith's hearth, or in an engine furnace.

CLINKER, a clever person, an adept.

164 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLINKER-BUILT, having the edge of each plank or layer
overlapping, not butting, the next to it. The wooden steam-
tug boats on the Tyne are clinker-built, each strake overlapping
the one below it. In Hodgson's Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 76,
there is a description of the discovery at the Roman station,
Whitley Castle, of a large dung-hill. " It abounds with old
shoes, all made right and left — those of men, clinker-built."

CLINT, a cliff of rock. In Northumberland, generally applied
to river cliffs. — Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Eldsdon. —
Geological Survey Memoir.

CLIP, to clamp, to hold fast. To shear sheep.

CLIPPERS, a spring hook used in sinking, by which the bow
of the corf is hung on to the rope.

CLIPPET, a large hook fastened to the end of a stick, and
used in sea fishing to haul the fish into the boat, or out of the
vessel's hold when discharging cargo ; the fish are hooked
through the gills when lifted by the clippet.

CLIPS, weeding tongs; large lifting hooks used in hoisting
timber, made like a pair of tongs, with hooked ends, which
" seize " as the weight of the log bears.

" The pot-hooks, or bow, by which a pot or pan is suspended over a
fire." — Brockett, 3rd ed.

" Shears, scissors — Northumberland." — Halliivell's Diet.
CLIPSE, eclipse. " The meun's i' the clipse"

CLISH-CLASH, CLISH-MA-CLAVER, CLICK-CLACK,
GLITTER-CLATTER, various terms for idle, gossiping
talk.

" I dytter, I make a noyse as harnesse or peuter dysshes, or any cuche
lyke thynges." — Palsgrave, quoted in Halliwell's Diet, under Glitter-clatter.

CLIVES, CLIVAS, CLIVUS, a stick cut with a fork or
hooked branch at one end, like a very long walking stick.
It is used by woodmen to hook on to a tree so as to direct its
fall if it should appear to lean aside. " Had on choppin,
mister, till aa cut a clivus." Said by a woodman at Temperley
Grange, March, 1890.

CLIVVER, CLIVVOR, clever. Well, in good health. » Hoo
are ye the day, lad ?" " Man, aa's clivver"

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 165

CLOCK, CLOCKER, a beetle. Any large beetle is called a
clock. " Killin clocks wi' clubs" is an expression applied to a
person using large means for very small ends, or to one
whose performances fall short of his promises. " He's
elways gan to kill clocks wi' clubs" is the very effective
description of such a person. The seeding head of a dandelion
is called a clock by children, who repeat the words, " Bell
horses, bell horses, what time o' day ? One o'clock, two
o'clock, three and away." The number of puffs, which are
after this required to dissipate the seeds, indicate the hour.

CLOCK, to sit an egg ; hence the phrase " clockin' " — that is,
sitting for an inordinate time. " What are ye sittin' clockin
theor at ?"

CLOCKER, a sitting hen, or a hen with chickens. " docker
an' bords," meaning hen and chicks, is applied to a variety of
the garden daisy which has the large central head surrounded
by diminutive flower heads.

CLOCKER, a maker or cleaner of clocks. " Wor clock's aa
wrang, Bella ; she wants cleanin." " Ay, Harry, but the
docker's comin next week to clean hor."

CLOD-MELL, a wooden mallet for breaking down clods in
potato fields, &c.

CLOFFY, bedraggled, feckless, slattern. "A cloffy body"
describes a woman who is a slut or slattern.

CLOFT, the cleft or branch of a tree.

11 The jointure of two branches, or of a branch with the trunk."—
Halliwell's Diet.

CLOG, in mining, a sledge loaded with stones and dragged
round by the gin, to which it acts as a brake.

CLOG, a log of wood. " Dry the clog a bit mair afore ye put it
o' the fire." The yule-log is commonly called " yule-clog."

CLOG, a shoe with wooden sole. It is usually protected by
iron plates, called " caakers."

" A hat that never cost a groat —
A neckless sark — a clog and shoe."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 61.

CLOG, to patch or repair.

l66 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLOGGER, a clog shoemaker. In Newcastle there was
formerly, at the Head of the Side, a " dogger's Entry."
This, like the " Baker's Entry," " Flaxdresser's Yard,"
" Butcher Bank," and such other places, probably indicated
the special trade carried on in the locality.

CLOINTER, disorder. See CLUNTER.

CLOIT, a clown, a stupid fellow. — Brockett. Clot is the more
common form in Newcastle. " Get oot, ye greet clot, ye."

CLOOD, a cloud. Cloody, cloudy.

CLOOR, a sluice — Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet. The word
was used by a witness in an assize trial at Newcastle, July,
1890. " He pulled doon the door." Compare CLEW, 2.

" Cloor, sluice, &c., dial, form of clow."

Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet.

CLOOT, to clout, to patch with cloth, or to mend anything
with a patch, as " Cloot the tin pan."

" Ods heft ! maw pit claes — dis thou hear ?
Are warse o1 wear ;
Mind, cloot them weel when aw's away."

J. Shield, Bcb Cranky's Adieu.

To strike; as " Aa'll cloot yor jaw."

" She cloots the bits o' bairns aboot,
An packs them off ti skuil."

T. Wilson, The Washing Day, 1843.

In The Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 56, the little trapper boy tells
woefully : —

" Full mony a curse and clout
Aw gat for sleepin at the door."

CLOOT, a cloth, a rag. " Aa'll pin a dish-cloot te yor tail," says
an irate cook to an intruder into the kitchen. A cheese-cloot
is the cloth used in cheese making.

CLOOT-DOLLY, a doll made of cloth.
CLOOTY-HAT, a bonnet for field work, made of cloth.

CLOOTY, the devil ; that is, the cloven-footed one. See
CLEET, CLUTE.

" They could, aw think, compare'! wi' nowse
But Clootie's gang a' brocken lowse."

T. Wilson, Opening of the Newcastle and
Carlisle Railway, 1838.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 167

CLOSE, a small enclosure, as " a close of land," " a calf close."
See GARTH. A narrow street closed up for defence, as the
Close at Newcastle, which was defended by the Close Gate
and the Castle.

" Formerly several of the principal Barons of Northumberland and
people of Newcastle had houses in it, also the antient Mayors." —
Hodgson MS.

CLOSE-BED, a panelled bedstead, or bunk, with sliding
doors. These close, or "box-beds" were sometimes hidden
behind what appeared to be the panelled side of a room. No
better description of their unsanitary condition could be given
than close-bed.

CLOSER, a firebrick 9 inches long by 2^ inches square;
sometimes called a " soap," from its resemblance to a bar of
soap.

CLOT, a clod, a sod. " He hit him wiv a clot." A heavy,
stupid fellow. See CLOIT.

CLOTCH, an ungainly person with awkward gait.
CLOTCHY, clumsy. " Eh, but yor a clotchy han'."
CLOT-HEED, a blockhead.

CLOUD-BERRY, the ground mulberry, Rubus chamamorus, Linn.
It is also called, noops, knot-berry, and knout-berry.

"Abundant on Cheviot, &c. It is said to have been gathered on
Simonside and the Deadwater Fell, at the head of North Tynedale." —
New Flora of Northumberland and Durham. — Natural History Transactions,
vol. ii., 1867, p. 158.

CLOUGHY, a woman dressed in a tawdry manner. — Grose.

CLOUR, a small lump or swelling, a dimple or indentation
like the hollow made in a piece of tin by the blow of a
hammer. In mining, a clour is a " small depression of roof
into coal, mostly in a post roof." — GveenwelL See CLYRE and
CLIAR.

CLOUR, to strike so as to dint the head. " He gat a cloured
heed " — a broken head.

CLOUTER, CLOWTER, to work in careless or disorderly
manner, to perform dirty work.

CLOUTERLY, clumsily, awkwardly.

l68 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CLOUT-NAILS, nails made with very large, flat heads.

CLUBBY-SHAW, a youthful game played by two parties
with a globular piece of wood, and a stick curved at one end
to correspond with the ball. — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay, 1843.

" The famous feats done in their youth,
At bowling, ball, and clubby-shaw."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. n.

CLUBSTER, CLUBTAIL, a stoat.

CLUCKWEED, CLUCKENWEED, or CUKENWORT,
chickweed, Stellaria media.

CLUD-NUT, two nuts grown into each other. Compare
CLUTTERS. Two nuts grown together thus are called a
" St. John." Three nuts similarly intergrown are called a
" St. Mary." The latter, being rare, is much prized, and
when found is usually worn in front of the finder's cap or
hat. See JUD-NUT.

CLUFF, a cuff, a blow. " A duff o' the lug." To cuff. " Aa'll
duff y or jaw for ye."

CLUFF, to strike into standing corn with the sickle. The term
was used to distinguish from the drawing motion necessary in
using the old serrated "hook," which was formerly in general
use for reaping. The "hook" was superseded by the smooth
edged and broad bladed sickle, with which the reaper duffed
the corn.

CLUM, CLAM (p.t. of dim], to climb.

CLUMPER, to encumber, to pack close. " It's sair dumpert"

CLUMPY, CLUMPISH, lumpy, lumpish, unwieldly.

CLUNG, " closed up, or stopped. Spoken of hens when they
lay not ; it is usually said of anything that is shrivelled or
shrunk up; from ding." — Ray's Gloss., 1691. See CLING.

" If thou speak false,
Upon the next tree thou shalt hang alive
Till famine cling thee."

Macbeth, v. 5.

CLUNGY, adhesive. — Brockett, 3rd ed.
CLUNK, to hiccup.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 169

CLUNTER, CLOINTER, to make a noise with the feet. A
person treading heavily with shoes shod with iron is said to

chmter. — Hodgson MS.

GLUT, to strike or cuff. See CLOOT, CLUFF.

CLUTE, the hoof of a cloven-footed animal. A familiar
reference is "aad duty," or "Clooty." See CLOOTY.

" CLUTE, the half of the hoof of any cloven-footed animal." — Gloss, to
Pitman's Pay, 1872.

CLUTHER, a confused crowd ; an entanglement, as of goods
packed indiscriminately.

CLUTHER, to crowd closely. " The folks wis aal duthered
aboot the door."

CLUVS [N.], hoofs of horned cattle. "Atween the cluvs"
See CLUTE.

CLYAITH (kl-yaith), cloth.

CLYAITHIN, CLAITHIN, clothing. See CLEAD, CLEADIN.
dead is the act of covering with anything Clyaithin is
covering, or clothing, with cloth.

CLYRE, CLYER, a sort of gland formed in the fat of beef and
mutton. It is in the centre of the leg of mutton in the
portion of fat called "the Pope's eye," and also in the fat of
a round of beef. It is not considered good food, and is said
to affect the curing qualities of beef in pickle. In mining,
dyers are lumps of stone like hard nodules, as " whin dyers"
&c. Compare CLIAR, CLOUR.

CO [W.-T.] , to call.

COAD [W.-T.], cold. SeeCAAD.

COAF [W.-T.] , a calf.

COAL, originally, charred wood ; coal, as we now know it, was
called sea coal, stone coal, pit coal, to indicate its character
as a distinct substance from coal proper. In the growth
of its use, however, the mineral took the name of coal
exclusively, and the other became charcoal.

To " Carry coals to Newcastle" = "to take a thing to where
it is naturally plentiful ; to do what is absurdly superfluous." —
Dr. Murray, New Eng. Diet. This phrase was current as early
as the seventeenth century.

170 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COAL AND CANDLE LIGHT, the long-tailed duck, Harelda
glacialis, L. Called also Jenny Foster.

COAL-ENGROSSERS, an old term for the vendors of coal
on the Tyne. (Obs.)

" Hoastmen, called in English coale-engrossers." — Gardiner, England's
Grievance Discov., p. 55, ed. 1796.

COAL-HILL, a landsale pit (which) used always to be termed
the Coal-hill. — Raine, North Durham, p. 252. ColeJiill at Orde.

COAL-HOOD, the reed bunting ; called also the black bunting,
Cinchramns schoeniclus, Linn.

COALING-MONEY.

" I must take my leave of this subject of sinking, after you have been
pleased to give your sinkers (because it is customary), the labourers
whom I have employed for you, a piece or guinea, to drink the good
successof the colliery, which is called their coaling money." — J. C., The
Complfai Collier, 1708, p. 31.

COAL-PIPES, very thin, irregular layers, or scares, of coal.

" The small veins of coal, called by the miners coal-pipes" — Mackenzie,
Hist, of Northumberland, 1325, vol. i., p. 85.

Coal-pipy, streaked with thin carbonaceous la)-ers, as "coal-pipy
post."

COALSAY, COLESAY, the coal-fish. It is also called fodlie
when young, and podler, saith, or seath when somewhat larger ;
also black jack and often rock salmon by the fishermen, as it
bears a strong resemblance in form to the salmon. See SOIL,
HALLAN, and POODLER.

Soil is the name by which the fry is known ; they appear at Shields about
June. " In a short time they increase to about five inches in length, when
they are called kalian. By September they increase to about a foot in
length, and are then called poodlers." — Rambles in Northumberland and on
the Scottish Border, by Stephen Oliver, the Younger (W. A. Chatto), 1835,
p. 23.

COAL SHALE, shale of a highly bitumenous kind. See JET,
and compare METAL.

COAL TIT, or COLE TIT, the blackcap. See also BLACK-

PO\V-HEED.

COALY, an old term used when the coal trade was spoken of.

" Pushed aw'd Coaly frev his seat,
And ruined all."

T. Wilson, Dirge OH Death of Coaly, 1838.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 171

COALY, abounding in coal ; applied also to any bed approaching
to the nature of, or mixed with, coal or coaly matter.
"Dark coaly thill." — Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 23.

" Wor awd coaly Tyne, doon frae Stella to Shiels."

T. Wilson, Stanzas, 1824.

" Rivers arise ; whether thou be the son
Of utmost Tweed—
Or coaly Tine, or ancient hallowed Dee."

Milton, A.D. 1627.

COALY-SHANGIE, or CULLY-SHANGEY, a riot or
uproar.

COASH. A milk-maid says, "-Coash-coash, hinney!" or "Coash-
coash, my lady ! " to soothe and make the cow stand during
milking. To cows or cattle generally it is a call to urge
them to come on quickly.

COATS, or COTE, combined in place-names, as Cuttercoats,
and in eight other places in Northumberland. Anglo-Saxon
cote, a hut. — J. V. Gregory, Archaologia ^Eliana, vol. ix., p. 43.
The Duke of Northumberland's cottage allotments are called

COB, a thick, amorphous cake or loaf of bread. It was usually
made from the last piece of dough. (Obs.)

COB, a blow from a ball. In the game of " stand-all " the
losers get their cobs.

COB, a term in football, applied to a kick of the ball when held
in the hand.

COB, to pull the hair or ear, to strike, to thump. " They got
their lugs properly cobbed."

COBBIN, striking, thumping ; a punishment among children
and workmen. — Brockett. See COG.

COBBLE, a small boulder, such as is used in paving sidewalks.
" To cobble with stones, to throw stones at anything." — Grose.

COBBLER'S-WAAK, a peculiar kind of dance performed by
sitting down on the "hunkers" and closing the legs at the
knee. It is very difficult, and from its grotesque appearance
is sometimes called the crab-waak.

COBBLE-TREES, double swingle-trees, whippens, or splinter
bars. — Brocket?, 3rd ed.

172 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COBB'S CAUSEY, or CAASEY, a branch from the Roman
Watling Street, at Bewclay, which leads athwart Northum-
berland towards Berwick. Cobb is a " jotun" to whose work
tradition attributes the making of this Cyclopean way. It
passes near the following places : Ryal, Angerton, Hartburn,
Netherwitton, Brinkburn, over Rimside Moor, near High
Learchild, Glanton, Percy's Cross, Fowberry, Bowsdon and
West Ord, then crosses the Tweed about a mile to the north
of the latter place.

COBBY, brisk, hearty, in good spirits.

" The Bankers now can sport a smile,
And luik byeth crouse and cobby ;
Nay, they've been knawn, just for a while,
To ha'e been even gobby."

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

COBLE, COBBLE, the north-east coast fishing-boat, an open
or deckless craft. " Fakene their cobbles." (MS. Morte Arthure,
fo. 61, quoted in Halliwell.) " Cobalt " in 1372. (Records of Fame
Islands.) Pronounced cowble in the north of Northumberland,
and cobble in the south of the same. The coble is built with a
very deep cutwater ; but towards the stern, which is square,
it is made with a widening flat bottom. It is thus a boat
without a " keel," but the flat bottom has two bilge clogs,
called a " skirval." Under canvas the lines of the boat make
her a splendid sailer, her deep bow holds the water, and her
shallowing after-quarters allow the furrow that " follows fast "
to close without impeding the "way." As the after-part draws
only a few inches, the rudder is carried down much below
the level of the bottom. These peculiarities necessitate the
coble to be towed stern foremost, or, when landed, to be in like
manner turned stern to the beach, and at the same time the
rudder has to be unshipped. The boats thus require rapid
and clever handling, not only in working them under their
single mast, with its square sail and jib, but in manreuvring
them on approach to shore.

COBLE-GATE, the right of salmon fishing for a coble. As
much as can be fished by one coble. See GATE, 3.

CO'BY ! or CO'BY, NOO ! come by; that is, come out of the
way. It has been remarked that nearly all similar exclamations
are given in tone of command by a Northumbrian. There is
no " By your leave" ; and the poorer the speaker the more
peremptory his order to stand aside.

COCK, a thrust, a push. " Gi's a cock up, will ye ?" See COG.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 173

COCK-A-RIDE-A-ROOSIE, a person who is perched or
perked up unduly.

COCKED, tipsy. See COCKTAIL.

" Half cock'd and canty hyem we gat."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, iii, 82.

COCKENS, the field poppy, Papaver rhceas. It is also known
as fire-flaut, lightnings, thunder -flower, thunnor-cups, and stinkin-
poppy.

COCKER, a cock-fighter.

" They're racers, cockers, carders keen."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826.

COCKERS, or COGGERS, properly, half-boots made of
untanned leather, or other stiff materials, and strapped under
the shoe ; but old stockings without feet, used as gaiters by
hedgers and ploughmen, are often so called. — Brockett.

" COCKERS and TRASHES, old stockings without feet, and worn-out
shoes." — Grose.

"A kind of rustic high shoes, or half- boots; probably from cocking
up." — N are's Gloss.

COCKET, brisk, apish, pert. — Grose. See COCKED.
COCK-EYE, an eye set asquint. Cock-eyed, squinting.
COCKLE, a splatch of saliva or phlegm.

COCKLE, to cackle. " A cocklin hen." Also to chuckle
boastfully.

COCKLE, to make a noise in swallowing. " Cocklin in taking
physic."

COCKLES. These favourite bivalves are hawked about the
wintry streets to the thrice-repeated cry of "Cockles alive!"
The weird melancholy of this wandering chant gave a
superstitious attribute to the "Cockle Geordy"; and he
became known familiarly by the name of " Bad-weather-
Geordy." It was considered unlucky in certain cases to hear
his wailing cry, and sailors averted the omen by "breathing
a prayer backwards."

COCKLE-SHELL, or COCKLE-SHELL-BED, the name
given to a highly fossiliferous bed in the Northumberland
coalfield. Cockle-shells or mussel-shells are names given by
sinkers to fossil bivalves. The large cockle is the Producta
gigantea. Mussels in rocks are the Anthracosia.

174 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COCKLING, cheerful.

" A cockling person." — Brockett.

COCKMADENDY, a self-important " dandiacal body."

COCK OF THE NORTH, a facetious name for Newcastle.

" The chief town of those parts." — Joco-Serious Discourse between a
Northumberland Gentleman and Ins Tenant, by George Stuart, Newcastle,
1686.

The winter immigrant bird, the snowflake (Plectropharses
nivalis], is called Cock of the North, snow bunting, and over-sea
linnet.

COCK-PENNY, a perquisite of the schoolmaster at Shrovetide.
This used to be the season for throwing at cocks, when a
yearly cock-fight was part of the annual routine of several of
our northern free-schools. — Brockett.

COCKS- AND-HENS, the stem of ribwort plantain, Plantago
lanceolata, used by children to play at " fighting cocks.1" Cocks-
and-hens, the water avens, Geum rivale. Also the name given
to the shells of the large land snail ; those of a grey colour
are called hens, the others are called cocks. When emptied
of the snails, boys "fight" the "chucks" by squeezing them
together until one breaks the other. After a successful
encounter a " cock chuck " is said to be "one year aad," and
if he remains unbroken after a second " battle," " two year
aad " ; and so on, a year being added each time. Hens are
considered too soft for fighting, and are not considered worth
picking up. See also RATTAN-TAILS.

COCKS-KAMES, the early orchis, Orchis mascula, and the marsh
orchis, O. latifolia. The early orchis is variously called cocks-
kames and deed man's thumb, and the marsh orchis has the
several titles of cocks-kames, de'il's foot, deed men's fingers, Adam
and Eve, Cain and Abel.

COCKTAIL, warm ale and rum, with ginger. This word
probably means cocked ale, which came to be written as a
single word, cocktail. To be cocked is to be tipsy, and a
man half drunk is sometimes said to be half cocked. These
expressions may all possibly belong to the same root.

" At ivery yell hoose i' this toon
We had a cocktail pot."

J. P. Robson, " The Pitman's Happy Times."
Allan's Collection, p. 227.

COCK-WOB, COCK-WEB, a cob-web.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 175

COD, a person who has charge of a set of men at any particular
job, but who is himself under a foreman. The word is much
used among mechanics. — Hodgson MS.

COD, a pillow. A cod is also the pillow or bearing of an axle ;
and the counterpoise on the bottom-board of a smith's bellows.
A pin-cushion is called a pin-cod.

" Item — I give — my bed, that is to know, a feather bed, a bolster, two
codds — blankets, two coverlets, two sheets." — Will in Richard Welford's
Hist, of Newc., XVI. Cent., p. 207.

" Lay my cods a little higher."

Ed. Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1735.

COD, to practise deceit, to pretend. " He mun be coddinye"—
that is, he must be deluding you. " Whe are ye coddin?"
is a common inquiry when one is telling an improbable
story ; it means, " Whom are you trying to deceive ? "

COD-END, the bottom of a trawl net.

" The cod-end, that is to say, the bottom of the net." — Newcastle Daily
Leader, October 4th, 1890, p. 4, col. 6, foot.

CODJYBELL, the earwig. Called also twitchbell and forky-
tail.

COFE, a deep pit, cavern, or cave. — Brockett, 3rd ed. Compare
GOAF.

COFFIN, a cinder which has flown from the fire. If shaped
like a coffin, it is ominous of death. On the other hand, if
like a purse, it omens wealth.

COFFIN-KIST, a hearse.

" Unseetly coffin-kists."

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

COFT, bought — Northumberland. — HalliweWs Diet. Past tense and
part, of coff, to buy. Scottish.

COG, to thrust, or strike on the backside. " Gi's a cog up,
will ye ?" The same as cock.

COG, COGGY, a hooped wooden vessel. A cask sawn in
half makes two cogs. A child's porringer made of wood
is called a coggy ; it is often made to resemble a miniature
milk-pail. A drinking vessel is also a cog, or coggy.

" Long may he live to teem a Cog."

Dr. Charlton, North Ty.tedale, p. 96.

176 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

The meaning here is, long may he live to empty a cog, or
drinking vessel.

COG-AND-RUNG-GIN, a pit windlass worked by horses.
The horse travelled round the pit mouth pulling a lever
attached to a vertical shaft, and the cogs, or teeth, of a
horizontal wheel on this shaft, worked in the rungs, or
spokes, of a small pinion on the windlass, or drum shaft, thus
making it to revolve in the required direction. It was the
earliest form of horse engine, or gin, for raising coals and
water. — R. L. Galloway, Hist, of Coal Mining, 1882, p. 57.
See GIN.

GOGGLE, to tremble, to totter, as anything does when like to
fall. " The waal myest coggled ower on top o' them." Hence
coggly, or cogglety, cranky, unsteady. " The plank wis se
coggly 'at aa nearly tummeled off."

COIL, to whip, to thrash.

COINS, COIGNS, a street corner.

" The coins foot gathering of men and boys. The coins or coignees point
to its position as a place where nearly all thoroughfares converge." —
R. Forster, Hist, of Cartridge, 1881, p. 57.

COL, a road scraper. It is a flat piece of iron plate, like a
hoe, set at right angles to a shaft or handle. See HARLE.

COL, to scrape together with a col.

COLD-FIRE, a fireplace filled with paper, sticks, and fuel
ready for lighting.

COLD-LORD, a boiled pudding made of oatmeal and suet.
One mixed with suet and some treacle and sugar loses the
cold name. — Hodgson MS.

COLE, to put into shape, to hollow out. — Brockett.

COLE HEAD, or COLE TIT, the cole titmouse, Partis ater.
Called also black-coal-heed.

COLLAR-LANDER, a receptacle fixed on top of the delivery
pipe of a pump to receive the water before its delivery into
the conduit. " Hogger" is more commonly the term used for
this arrangement.

COLLAR SHANK, a rope to fasten work horses up in the
stable.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 177

COLLERENS, COLLARINGS, a framing composed usually

of pieces of cross timber, placed under the pump joints in a

pit shaft for the purpose of steadying and supporting the " set."

" The collerens, which formerly supported the bratticing were all gone

to decay." — Robert Scott, Ventilation cf Coal Mines, p. 31, 1862.

"Pieces of wood or iron for securing the pumps in the shaft. "-
Mining Glossary, Newcastle Terms, 1852.

COLLEY, a lamplighter. The last of the oil lamplighters in
Newcastle was always called a colley, and was hailed by
boys as —

" Colley wiv a lamp, colley wiv a leet,
Colley wiv a little dog barkin at his feet."

Newcastle Street Song.

From the soot of the oil lamps and the smoke of his flambeau,
the colley presented the dirty appearance of a sweep. The oil
carried by him added a greasy condition to his clothes.
Compare COLLY.

COLLEY, butcher's meat. The word is never used for bacon
or salted meat. " Ho lads, mind ye come hyem, thor's colley
the morn " — that is, there is to be butcher's meat, as
distinguished from other food. Where crowdy and other
plain fare is the staple food, colley t or fresh meat, is a festival
dish. Compare COLLOP.

COLLIER. The common term is "pitman" in Newcastle.
Collier is rarely heard in use by natives. Yet the term is
a very old localism. " Paide for letting fourthe colters at
Pilgrim streete gate and Newiate earlie in the morninge to
worke, 2s. per pece each on, 43." (Newcastle Municipal Accounts,
1594.) It would have been interesting had the record told
us how "earlie in the morninge" the shivering " fore shift '*
of Elizabeth's days turned out to their darksome toil.

COLLIER, a sea-going vessel carrying coals.

The old phrase, "to carry coals," to put up with insults,
to submit to any degradation, originated from the menials
in a mansion — the " black guards " who carried wood or
coals. They were despised as the lowest of the low, and
the term became one of reproach. This explains the passage :
"Gregory, o' my word, we'll not carry coals." " No, for then
we should be colliers." (Romeo and Juliet, i., i.)

COLLOGUIN, acting in colleague with, scheming together.
" The baccy and yell are still dear;
It's just a colloguin amang them."

T. R. V., The Politicians, 1816.
L

178 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COLLOP, a slice of salted meat, a rasher of bacon. Collop
Monday is the day before Shrove Tuesday, on which it is
usual to have eggs and collops, or pieces of bacon for dinner.
On Collop Monday it was formerly customary to take leave of
flesh for the Lenten fast ensuing. The flesh meat was
anciently preserved through the winter by salting, drying,
and hanging up. See MAIRT. " Slices of this kind of meat
are at this day called collops in the North, whereas they are
named steaks when cut from fresh meat, as unsalted flesh is
usually styled here ; a kind of food which our ancestors seem
to have seldom tasted in the depth of winter. (Brand's
Pop. Antiquities, 1777, p. 331.) The following rhyme gives
an old account of the transition to Lent and the emergence
on the great festival : —

" Collop Monday, Pancake Tuesday,

Ash Wednesday, Bloody Thursday,

Long Friday '11 never be done,

Hey for Saturday at afternoon.

S — for Sunday at twelve o'clock,

When the spice pudding jumps out of the pot."

COLLY, the black or smut from coal ; called in the Northern
counties collow or killow. — Wallis, History of Northumberland,
p. 46. To blacken or make black ; from the substantive.
" Brief as the lightning in the colly 'd night,
That in a spleen unfolds the heaven and earth."

Midsummer Night's Dream, act i.; sc. i.
" And passion, having my best judgment collied,
Assays to lead the way."

Othello, act i., sc. 3. — Nare's Gloss.

COL-RAKE, a small hand-rake for the fireside ; not coal-rake.
See COL.

COLT-ALE, an allowance of ale claimed as a perquisite by
the blacksmith on the first shoeing of a horse. Hence, a
customary entertainment given by a person on entering
into a new office is called " shoeing the colt." The first time
a gentleman serves on the Grand Jury he is called a colt. —
Brockett. See COUT ALE.

COM, came. Used instead of the more frequent cam, " He
com in afore me." See CAM.

" Aw com on a voyage te the toon t'other day, man." — D. C., "Skipper's
Voyage." — Bards of the Tyne, p. 524.

COMB. Seven place-names in Northumberland have this
ending ; examples, Acomb, TSarcombe, &c. In some of these
cases comb appears to be a corruption of ham. Acomb is
anciently Akehaui ; Wincomblee, \Vinkhamlee, &c. Compare
KAIM.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 179

COM'D, CUM'D, the /. part, of come. Cnmmen is still in ordinary
use, however. " He'd oney aunmen in a minit afore aa gat
there mesel."

" They'll think thoo's com'd fra Lunnon, O ! "

" IVreckenton Hiring."

Allan's Collection, p. 292.

COME, the foreward slope of a hoe or a spade. A spade or
shovel too much bent inwards is said to have too much come.
Compare ANCHOR.

COME-AN'-GAN, an expression implying good store of
anything, or resources. " Thor's plenty to come-an'-gan on,"
meaning there is so much that you can cut and come again,
or that you can return again and again. It is by inversion
applied to bodily or financial condition, as " Poor body, he
may we'll be deun ; he hes nowt te come-an'-gan on."

COMELY. " Ma comely" is a common expression, equivalent
to my darling, or my dear.

" Maa granny liked spice singin hinnies,
Ma comely ! aw like thou as weel."

W. Midford, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.
" Noo, hinny — maw comely — aw hope ye believe
That we wish to be cleanly an' canny."

J. P. Robson, "Nanny Jackson's Letter."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 237.

COME-THEE-WAYS ; COME-THEE-WAYS, HINNY,
common expressions, meaning come forward ; generally
spoken to persons in great kindness. — Brockett. " Go your
ways," a mode of dismissal. Both phrases are in Shaks-
peare. — HalliwelVs Diet.

COMFORTABLE, the rowing boat formerly used for passengers
on the Tyne. Having a roof, it was a great improvement
on the older open passenger boat, hence the name. (Obs.)
" We've comfortables, tee, isteed,
O' Jemmy Joneson's whurry."

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

" Before steamboats became so numerous upon the Tyne, there were
several covered passenger boats, called comfortables, which went every
tide to and from South and North Shields." — Mackenzie, Hist, of N ewe.,
1827, p. 722.

COMIN'-ON, invariably used instead of saying " It's raining."
" It's comin'-on."

COMMONY, a boy's marble made of baked clay ; the common
marble. It is sometimes called a " muggy," as distinguished
from a " potty," the latter being made of a fine quality of
clay.

l8o NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COMMOTHER, a godmother. The term was also used in
addressing an aged woman. (Obs.)

" In their communication deponent asked her and said, ' Commother, if
it shall please God to take you to His mercy,' &c." — R. Welford, Hist, of
Newc. XVI. Cent., p. 379.

CON, to fillip.— Brockett. (Obs.)

CONEEK-MAN, an Irish labourer from Connaught.

CONSANT, constant.

CONS ATE, conceit, a self opinion. " He hes consate on hissel,
aa think, noo." " Consate's as bad as puzzon."

CONSCIENCE, an exclamation. "Ma conscience! what a heed
he hes."

CONSIDERATION, money paid to the hewers for bad coal,
or for any extra trouble. — Mining Gloss., Newcastle Terms, 1852.

CONSITHER, to consider.

CONTRAIRY, the old pronunciation, in general use.
" Slippers thrust upon contrary feet! " — Shakspeare.

CONTRARIUS, perverse, given to contradiction. " He's a
varry contraritts chep." "Yo'r the contrariest bairn 'at ivver aa
seed." The word is of very frequent use.

" Yhit has the world, als men sese and heres,
Ma[ny] other contrarius maneres."

Hampole, ed. Morris, line 1,590.

" The world es Goddes enmy by skille (nature),
That contrarius es to Goddes wille."

The same, line 1,110

CONVOY, a lever to which is attached a clog for the wheel of
a coal waggon ; the old name for a "break." (Obs.)

" A person sits on the fore part of the waggon, with his foot upon a
strong piece of wood called the convoy, and that moves on a pivot, which,
rubbing on one of the wheels, he can increase or diminish the velocity at
pleasure." — An Impartial History of Newcastle, 1801, p. 498.

COO, a cow. " An akward thing for the coo." The pronunciation
of the dipthong, now sounded in modern colloquial English
as the ou in now, is in Northumberland a marked peculiarity.
Cooncil, council, counsel ; coont, to count ; coonter, a counter ;
coontless, countless. In Anglo-Saxon hu, thn, nu, en, brii, sur,
are the forms of how, thou, now, cow, brow, sour, all of them

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. l8l

sounded in modern English as on. In Northumberland the
words are spoken as hoo, thoo, noo, coo, broo, soor (long oo sound
as in pool). Sooth, mooth, hoose, doon, broon, thoosand, for south,
mouth, house, down, brown, thousand, are further examples of
the same u sound.

COO. A coo, or "cow," in mining, is a pole having a fork of iron
at the end ; or a short forked iron bar hung behind a " set "
on an incline, or on the " start " of a gin. In a forward
movement the coo drags loosely behind, but, at any recoil,
the forked end, being thrust into the ground by the retrograde
movement, prevents the waggons from running " amain," or
it enables the weight on a gin to be held when the strain
is taken off the "start." Compare BULL, i.

COO, to hide oneself. " When yor hidden, mind ye cry coo." A
children's game.

COO, to cow, to frighten, to intimidate. To " tyek the coo" is
to be afraid. Cooed, cowed. Cooin, disheartening, distressing.

" It was, ne doubt, a cooin sect
To see them hirplen 'cross the floor."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii, v. 16.

COOERN, corn. The generic name for all grains, wheat, oats,
barley, &c.

COOF, a blockhead, a fool. "Yor only a coof, man, after aa
yor brag." This word is probably a variant of coaf, or rather
cooaf, a calf; meaning one that is calf-hearted.

COO-GIT, cow gate, or right of pasturage for one cow on
common land.

COO-GREAP, COW-GRIPE, the space or gutter between the
rows of stalls in a cow house. The Javel Group in Newcastle
is the " gaol gveap " or gaol drain.

COOK, to give in, as "to cry cook." Brockett says: "To
disappoint, to punish, to manage so as to obtain one's end, to
circumvent."

" To cry coke, is in vulgar language, synonymous with crying peccavi.'' —
Brand, Popular Antiquities, 1777, p. 409.

COO-LICK, a tuft of hair which obstinately stands up on the
crown of the head. A "calf-lick " is the same, but above the
forehead.

l82 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COOM, the dust and scrapings of wood produced in sawing ;
the scales of iron found lying near a smith's anvil. — Brockett.

COO-PAA, the left hand. " He gave us his coo-paa ; the beggar
knaas ne better." Coo-paad is left-handed.

COO-PLAT, a heap, or plat, of cow's dung.
COOR, to crouch down. See COUR.

COORSE, coarse. It is applied to rough weather. " It's a
coorse neet."

COO-SHARE, COO-SHAREN, cow's dung.

COO-STROPPLE, a cow tie ; also " a cowslip ; that is, cow's
thropple, or throat — looking deeper than the cow's lip." —
Brockett, under cow-stropple. (Obs.)

"A cowstrople in the month of January, 1632, was considered sufficiently
curious to be presented as a New Year'sgift." — See Chron. Mirab., p. 21. —
Halliwell's Diet.

COOTER, a coulter or ploughshare.

COOTH, loving, kindly, as, " She's a cooth bit lassie." Also
comfortable. " Hoo are ye thi day ? " " Oh, aa's cooth."
Compare COUTHER, COUTHIELY.

COO-TIE, a hair rope for hobbling a cow when being milked.

COP, to catch, " He copt a butterflee." " Run after him an'
cop 'im." Always used in the sense of siezing and correcting.
Compare KEP. Copper, a policeman.

COPPER-TOPT, red haired.
COP-STYEN, a coping stone.

COPT, over-topped, exceeded. "That«|/tf him" — that exceeded
his power.

COPT, caught.

COPY-CHRISTY, Corpus-Christi. " Copy-Christy day." See
Richard Welford's History of Newcastle for particulars of plays
enacted by Incorporated Companies in Newcastle on Corpus
Christi day, " after the laudable and ancient custom of the
same town." " Corpus Christi day, May 29, 1567. For
painting Beelzebub's cloak, 40!." (Obs.)

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 183

CORB-STYEN, a curb stone. See also STOB, and GLENTSTONE.

CORBY-CRAA, the carrion crow, Corvus corone, L. Gnat-corby,
the raven, Covvus corax, L . Both these birds are now extremely
rare in Northumberland.

" In the latter part of the last century a raven annually built its nest in
the steeple of St. Nicholas' Church, Newcastle." — John Hancock, Birds
of Northumberland and Durham, p. 32.

CORF, a basket made of pined hazel rods. It contained from
ten to thirty pecks. Corves were formerly used to bring coals
out of the pits.

"A corf of hayre" — a basket of hair for lime. — D. Embleton, Barber
Surgeon's Books, Newcastle.

" Come, hinny, Barty, len's a hand
On wi' ma corf."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 33.

CORF-BOW, the handle of a corf. (Obs.)

" Young plants of oak, ash, or aller, of about three inches thick, or
better, for the corf-bow." — The Compleat Collier, 1708.

The corf-boiv is about two yards long. It is sometimes made of iron."—
Brand, Hist, of Newcastle, vol. ij., 1789, p. 681, note.

CORF-RODS, the strong hazel rods used for making corves.

CORKER, a smart retort; sometimes called a " settler "-
that is, an unanswerable reply. "That's a corker for him."
Billy Purvis used to say, "Tyek him away ti Ralphy Little :
he'll give him a corker.1" Ralphy, a noted police-officer, would
settle his business for him.

CORKY, soft through exposure, as wood that has suffered
through lying too long with the bark on. See DAZED.

CORL, to curl.

"Aw now began te coii maw hair
(For corls and tails were then the go)."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1843 ed., pt. iii.

CORLYCUE, a flourish in writing — a twisted or curly tail.
CORLY-DODDIES, the field scabious, Scabiosa arvensis.
CORN, to feed with corn. "Is the horses corned yit?"

184 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CORNAGE, or castle-guard rent of the North of England,
was originally a payment in lieu of cattle, and called in
English horngeld and neatgeld, cattle tax, or ox lay. — Hodgson,
Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 322. (Obs.)

"It may either mean simply a Crown rent (Coronagium) , or a rent
payable in horned cattle (Cornuagium). — Archceologia JEliana, vol. i., new
series, p. 44.

CORN-BARRIES, red or white currants.
CORN-BUNTING, the common bunting, Miliayia Europea.

CORNEY, in liquor. (Obs.)

" Yen day when aw was corney."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's Wherry.

CORNEY, prolific; applied to corn when the ears are well
filled. Compare GIFTY.

CORNEY-DOLL, KERN-DOLL, KERN-BABBY,
or MELL-DOLL. These variant forms represent the name
of the figure borne home formerly on the last load of corn
from the harvest field. The corney-doll was an image made
by dressing up a sheaf of corn to appear like a rude human
figure, which was mounted on the top of the last cart-load
taken from the field. See KERN and KERN-DOLL.

CORP, a corpse. " He was browt hyem a corp."

" A corp they're gaun te barry."

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

CORP-CANDLE, a thick candle placed in a candlestick of
a peculiar form — used formerly at " lake-wakes." — Brockett.
(Obs.)

CORPORATION, the stomach.

"'He has a good corporation,' when applied to an individual, means
that he is not deficient in accommodation for the entertainment of his
viscera." — Hodgson MS.

CORRAN-DUMPLIN, the great hairy willow-herb, Epilobium
hirsutum. Called in N. Northumberland apple -dnmplins.

CORRANS, CORNS, currants. " Reed conn harries," red
currants.

" Ah, hinnies! about us the lasses did lowp,
Thick as amis in a spice singing hinnie."

T. Thompson, Canny Newcastle.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 185

CORR'NY-DOOS, cakes with currants in them, or tea-cakes
as they are called. [North Tyne.] Doo, dough. Compare

\ULE-DOO.

CORSE, to curse. " Corsin an sweerin."

CORTAINE, the defensive court attached to a house. See

COURTAIN.

"Cortine, or curtain. Only an antiquated spelling." — Nares.

CORVE, a curve, a bend. Sometimes used for corf.
CORVE, to cut. See KIRVE.

CORVER, the man who makes and repairs corves. The
cower is paid in the following singular way : " He is allowed
4^d. for every score of corves that are brought up the shaft,
for which he is bound to find the pit with as many corves as
are wanted, and also to keep them up to their exact measure,
and in good repair." — Brand, Hist, of Newcastle, vol. ij, 1789,
p. 681, note. (Obs.) See CORF, CORVES.

" His feyther kept a carver's shop,
His mother tuik in sewing."

J. P. Robson, Hamlick, Prince o? Denton.

"And whereas I speak of corves, or baskets to put the coals in, we must
have a man (which is called a carver) to make them." — The Compleat
Collier, 1708, p. 34.

CORVES, the plural of corf, which see.

COSSEN, the p.p. of cost. " It's cossen a mint o' money."

COSTRIL, a little barrel.— Grose.

COT, the strong p.t. of the verb to cut. " He cot his finger."

COT, to mat together, to ravel or hankie. Hair for want of
combing gets cotted. A cotted temper is one difficult to please. —
Hodgson MS.

COT. See CAT, 2.
COTE [N.] , a cat.

COTE, or COATE, a house or cottage. Coate-land, land
attached to a cottage. See COATS.

COT-HOOSE, the house of a cotter. See COTTER.

l86 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COTS, inferior sheep skins, in which the wool is tangled. See
COT, 2.

COTTER, a woman worker on a farm without male relations
in the house with her in the same employment.

COTTERED, applied to stone or coal, hard, cross-grained,
tough. — Greenwell,

COTTERIL. a check or split pin put through a slot in the
end of a bolt to hold it on the inside.

COTTERILS, money, coin.

" When wark's flush, for time o' want
Lay by some cottrih i' the blether."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. Hi., v. 59.

" The loss o' the cotterils aw dinna regaird."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

COUCH, the hole or earth of the otter. Also called the hold.

COUH, to cough. The gh sound is that of a heavy guttural
breathing, quite unlike the modern pronunciation of kof.
Compare ROUH, for rough.

COUL, COWL, to scrape together dung, mud, dirt, &c. To
smooth the surface of what is gathered. — Brockett.

COUL-RAKE, COWL-RAKE, the instrument with which
coulitig is performed. — Brockett. He adds, " This term is also
used for a fire-iron, in which sense it is more properly a coal-
rake." But see COL, which is apparently a variant of coul
and quite distinct from coal.

COULTERNEB, the puffin, Fratercula artica, L.
COUNGE, to beat — Northumberland. — HalliwdVs Diet.

COUNGE, a large lump of bread or cheese.

" Bring him (poor fella) a shive oh butter an breed : cut him a good
counge ; an strenkle a leap'yt ov sugar ont." — Thomas Bewick, The Houdy,
&.C., ed. 1850, p. 10.

COUNTRY-KEEPER. So lately as the year 1701, the police
of Tindale and Reedsdale was maintained by officers called
country-keepers, who, for a certain sum, "insured" their own
districts against theft and robbery, and in case of their taking
place, made good the loss." — Mackenzie, Hist, of Northumber-
land, 1825, vol. i., p. 66.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 187

COUNTRY-SIDE, the district, as distinguished from a
particular spot. " She's the best mear, aa tell ye, iv aa the
country-side " — that is, for miles around.

COUP, to upset, to barter ; to exchange cavils. See COWP.
COUPLES, the roof principals ; anciently couples of chevrons.

COUR (pron. coor, or coo-er), to bend or stoop down. "Coor
doon, or ye'll get hitten."

"They coure so over the coles, theyr eyes be bleared with smoke." —
Gammer Gurton, in Nare's Gloss., under courb.

"Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea courb and woo, for leave to do it good."

Hamlet, act Hi., sc. 4.

COURSE, in coal mining, is the direction in which the mine is
wrought. The broadways course is the direction in which the
boards are wrought — the headways course is the direction at
right angles. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

COURSIN THE AIR, " causing the air to circulate through
every passage of the several workings of a pit. This was
devised about 1760 by Mr. Spedding, of Whitehaven." —
T. John Taylor, Archeology of the Coal Trade, p. 202.

" The system was first adopted on the Tyne at Walker Colliery about
1763." — R. L. Galloway, History of the Coal Trade, 1882, pp. 106-7.

COURTAIN, a yard belonging to farm buildings for enclosing
cattle, sometimes called the "fad" (fold). It will be remem-
bered that cattle folds on the Border were generally arranged
for purposes of defence ; the application, therefore, of a term
in fortification to a cattle fold seems natural. See CORTAINE.

COUT, COWT, a colt. "Wether, cowt, an' steer." (James
Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879, p. 5.) Also a man of
strength, stature, and activity. "The word, which ought
rather to be spelled cowt, is understood in this sense in the
neighbourhood of Keilder, as well as on the opposite Scottish
Border." (Richardson, Table Book Leg. Div., vol. ij., p. 162.)
" The Cout of Keilder is represented by tradition to have been a
powerful chief of this district. Cout — that is, colt." (S. Oliver,
Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 161.)

COUT-ALE, COWT-ALE, allowance to the blacksmith,
when a young horse is first shod. See COLT-ALE.

COUTHER, to comfort. See COOTH.

l88 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COUTHIELY, pleasantly, kindly, neighbourly.

" Sae couthiely then they cried on me ben. '

James Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879, p. 134.

COUTOR-LASHER, an effective check ; a blanking or
disappointing stroke, as in playing a trump card. " That's
a coutor -lasher for ye, noo ! "

COVE, a cavern, a cave. — Bvockett.

COVER, the roof of a coal seam. — Brockett, 3rd ed. Also " the
strata between the seam (of coal) and the surface." —
Nicholson, Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

COW. Kow, or Cow, a local sprite. " The Hedley Kow." See
Coo.

COW, to clip the hair, to trim. (Obs.)

" I garr'd a Barber come to me,
He Cou'd my Beard as you may see."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

CO'WAA, or CO'WAY, come away, get out of the way. Very
commonly used as a colloquialism, and suggesting impatience
and contempt when uttered abruptly. " Co-ivay there ! wi'ye,
what are ye stannin' starin' for ? "

COWANS, clotted wool on sheep.

COW-BAT, a blow given by one boy to another to provoke him
to fight. "There's your challenge, and there's your cow-bat.'"

COW-BERRY, the red whortle-berry, V actinium vitis-idaa, L.

COW-BLAKES, cow dung dried, used for fewel. — Ray's Gloss.
Called also casins. (Obs.)

COWEY, a hornless beast. A coweet-covf is a hornless cow.
Compare Cow, to clip.

COW-GAP, the time when cows are taken on or off for the
grazing season. (Obs.)

" Spent at the COK gapp with the grassmen, js. ad." — Gateshtad Church
Boohs, 1672.

" Every freeman and boroughman — pay at the cow gapp for this present
year for every particular cow 33."— The same, 1677.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 189

i

COW-GRASS, a name among farmers for common purple
clover, very good for cattle, but very noisome to witches. In
the days when there were witches in the land, the leaf was
worn by knight and by peasant, as a potent charm against
their wiles ; and we can even yet trace this belief of its magic
virtue in some not unobserved customs. — Johnson's Flora of
Bevwrck-upon-Tweed, p. 163. It is the Trifolium medium. Called
also wild sookies and zig-zag.

COW-JOCKEY, a beast jobber.— Brockett, 3rd ed. (Obs.)
COWK, or GOWK, to strain, to vomit. — Haiti-well's Dict.,cowk.

COW-KEEKS, the cow parsnip or hogweed, Heracleum
sphondylium. Called also kelks, or kecks.

COWLD, cold ; but more frequently caad. " It's a cowld day."
" It's as caad as ice."

COWLEADIN, the game of "follow your leader." A game in
which the leader does the most difficult things he can, and
which the others must do likewise.

COWP, to upset. "That's cowp'd his apple cairt for him, noo."
General.

"Cowpt corves i' the barroway."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 55.

COWP, COAP [W.-T.],to barter, to exchange. " Aa'll cowp
wi' ye — gi' the galloway for the mear an five pun to beut."

" When the men (in a pit) exchange working places, they are said to
cowp." — Mining Gloss., Newcastle Terms, 1852.

COWPIN-WORD, the last word.

" Thou'll hae the cowpin-word thysel,
Or tawk for everlastin twang."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 39.

COWP-UP-CAIRT, a tip cart; a cart that can be cowped or
tipped up, the shafts being attached to the body by a pin for
the purpose. It is also called a " short cairt," to distinguish
it from the " lang cairt " which does not coivp.

COWP-YOR-CREELS, that is, to turn completely over, head
over heels; to turn a somersault.

" Amang the rest aw cowp'd me creels,
Egox! 'twas funny, varry.

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's Wherry.

IQO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

COW-QUAKES, the common quake-grass, Briza media. Called
also dotherin-dicks, tremlin-grass, quakin-grass, and ladies' -hair.

COWS, bare branches of whin or ling after their leaves are
decayed or burnt off. — Hodgson MS. Compare Cow, 2.

COWT-FWOAL, a young male horse whilst sucking. The
female of the same age is a._filly-fwoal.

COX, an exclamation. The oath is now heard as Gock or Gox.
"Aw waddent tyek the jaw fre the likes o' him, begock!" "By
gox, what a fyce ye've getten ! " Cock, says Nares, is a vulgar
corruption or purposed disguise of the name of God. Hence,
by cock, by cock and pye, and such softened oaths.

"I's cox't if my words preuve no true." — Joco-Serioits Discourse, New-
castle, 1686, p. 26.

" By cock, they are to blame." — Hamlet, act iv., sc. 5.

Shallow: "By cock and pye, sir, you shall not away to night." —
Henry IV., pt. ii., act v., sc. i.

COYSTRIL, a young fellow. [Kersey and Bailey.] Properly
an inferior groom, or a lad employed by an esquire to carry
the knights' arms or other necessaries. — Nare's Gloss. A raw,
inexperienced lad; a contemptible young fellow. — Brockett.

COZY, a cover, like a thickly-padded cap, placed over a teapot,
, as a non-conductor of heat, to keep the tea hot on the table.

COZY, COZEY [W.-T.] , a causeway, a footpath.

CRAA, CRAW, the small lever used for drawing the linch-
pin from carts. There is also a " shekkle craw" used for
drawing bolts from wood.

CRAA, CRAW, speech; sometimes boastful speech.

" It might suen stopp'd me craa."

" Geordy's Disaster."

Allan's Collection, 1863, p. 166.

CRAA, CRAW, the rook, Corvus frugilegus. "Black as a craa."
" He lyuks like a scare-craa ." " When you see the cloodslike
mzrt-scrats an' fillies' tails, look oot for squalls" — often used
in describing a peculiar aspect of the sky.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. igi

CRAA, CRAW, a cock-crow, or to crow like a cock.

"A cock crowing at a door is a sign of a visitor coming." — Rev. J. F.
Bigge, Superstitions at Stamfordham . — Nat. Hist. Trans., 1860-62, vol. v.,
p. 92.

"The gorcock craws crouse." — J. Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879,
p. 69.

" Aommfhenand a whistlin' maiden's twee unsonsy things." — Newcastle
proverb.

" 'Mang cantrips, charms, as hurtfu' 'een,
And things unlucky to be seen,

Plann'd by auld schemy clootie,
A croonin' cow, a crawin' hen,
A whistling maid, fu' weel ye ken,
Are deemed aye unlucky.

Cuddy had a crawin' hen,

And muckle did it grieve him ;
For what ane 'twas amang his ten

That did of luck bereave him

He kent na "

L. Proudlock, 1820, song, Cuddie and his Crawin' Hen.

CRAA, CRAW, an outcrop or crop of strata. "Craw coal"
appears in sections of sinkings at Bannamoor pit, Eglingham.
(George Tate, in Bwks. Nat. Club, vol. v., p. 285.) It there
appears two feet in one section and four feet thick in another.

" The crow-coal is a thin seam of coal worked in the South Tyne,
obtained from grooves made in the craw, or crop of the strata." — Hodgson,
Hist, of Northumberland, vol. iii., pt. ii., p. 33.

" The crow-coal at Mickley Colliery is 2 feet 4 inches thick. It burns
like a candle and will bear a polish equal to glass. It is highly bituminous,
resembling cannel coal." — Borings and Sinkings, L.R., p. 83.

"Crow-seams, thin coal seams of three or four inches thick." — Hugh
Miller, Geology of Otterbiirn and Elsdon. — Memoir Geological Survey, 1887.

CRAA-CROOK, the black crowberry, Empetnim nigrum. Called
also the crow-berry and crake-berry. Craa-crook is an admirable
example of the manner in which the burr is spoken. It has
been described as sounding to Southern ears " like the dying
croak of an expiring raven."

" Everywhere common on heaths, ascending fromPrestwick Carr to all
the peaks, 850 yards on Cheviot." — Nat. Hist. Trans., vol. ii., new series,
p. 244.

CRAADENLY, cowardly.

CRAADON, CRAWDON, CRADDIN, a coward. One boy
refusing to fight another after a challenge will hear : " Yo'r
a crawdon." " A craadon cock," a cowardly cock. A term
used when cock-fighting was practised. [N.] Mr. George
Thompson, in a note on this word, says " he enquired of a
Northumberland man if he knew what a crawdon was."

IQ2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

" Aa've heerd it," replied his informant. " Aa once heerd a
man tell another he wis a ' crawdon hen.' " " What did he
mean by that?" " Aa understeud him ti mean 'at he wis
like a hen 'at tries te craa like a cock." A crowing hen is
considered a very unlucky thing about a house, and it can by
no means be permitted to strut and fret with impunity. See
CRAA, 4.

CRAAL, to crawl.

CRAA-NEBS, or LADY'S-FINGERS, the plant Anthyllis
vulneraria.

CRAA-PEAS, the peas of the meadow vetchling, Lathyms
pratemis.

CRAA-TAES, the common lotus, Lotus corniculatus. Also called
cat's clover.

CRAB, a capstan, for raising or lowering of pumps, &c., in a
pumping pit. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852. A lifting
winch.

CRAB-ROPE, the rope used on a crab.

CRABBY, crabbed, testy. " He's a crabby aad chep."
"The crabby awd dealers in ling, cod, and brats."

. T. Wilson, The Movement, 1839.

CRACK, to gossip, to brag, to boast.

" God's benison light on your heart,
We'll crack a bit before we part."

Joco-Serious Discourse, Newcastle, 1686, p. 9.
" They laughed and cracked about the joke."

W. Armstrong, d. 1833-4, Skipper's Mistake.
" Since the horse-couping he began,
He had great cause to crack of wealth."

Bernard Rumney, " Ecky's Mare."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812.
" There will be Sam the quack doctor,
Of skill and profession he'll crack."

Song, " The Skipper's Wedding."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812.
" I had a few days' fishing, but nothing to crack on."

J. Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879, p. 172.

CRACK, light talk, conversation, boasting.

" Bucclughe and the rest of the Scottes made some bragges and
craches." — Letter of 1595 in Dr. Charlton's North Tynedale, p. 72.

" He ne'er was slack
To give the company all his crack."

Thomas Wilson, Charley.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 193

CRACK, an instant, a moment.

" A highwayman fellow slip't round in a crack,
And a thump o1 the skull laid him flat on his back."

W. Midford, d. 1851, Cappy.

CRACK, super-excellent. " A crack tryst " is a first-rate fair.
The park keeper's house at Meldon, " a crack specimen of
the architecture of the seventeenth century." — Hodgson,
Hist, of Northumberland, pt. ij., vol. ii., p. 3.

" The crack o' whuslers i' maw day,

Maw gew-gaw touch was te the life ;
And at yentime 'could nearly play
' God syev the King ' upon the fife ! "

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., p. 38, 1843 ed.

CRACKED, half-witted, mad.

CRACKER, a small baking dish. — Grose's Gloss. Also a hard
biscuit.

CRACKER, an explosive firework. Also the drop of glass
known as " Prince Rupert's drop," which shivers to powder
on being broken.

C RACKET, a low seat without legs, as distinguished from a
stool.

" The bonny pit laddie, the cannie pit laddie,

The bonnie pit laddie for me, O !
He sits on his cracket, and hews in his jacket,
And brings the white siller to me, O ! "

" The Bonny Pit Laddie."

Bell's Rhymes, 1812.

"They found old Goody smoking fast,
Placed on a cracket near the fire."

Ed. Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1778.

CRACKETS, the game of cricket.

CRACKIN-CROOSE, bold confident.— Brockett, 3rd ed.
Boastful talk.

CRACKLINGS, tallow chandlers' refuse.

CRADDINS, to lead craddins, to play mischievous tricks. —
Grose's Gloss., 1739. (Obs.) Compare CRAADON, CRAADENLY.

CRADLE, CREDDLE, a suspended scaffold used in shafts.—
Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852. Or a cage swung upon
gimbals. The tubs from the cage are run into a cradle, which
tips up and turns them upside down so as to empty the coals
on to the screen.

194 "NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CRAIG, the neck.

" 'Twas sometime gane, they tuik our naigs,

And left us eke an empty Byre
I wad the deil had had their craigs
And a' things in a bleeze o' fire."

The Fray o' Hautwessell.
" Ane gat a twist o' the craig."

Surtees, Ballad of Featherstonehaugh.

" Some were sae keen upon the point,
They danc'd their craigs quite out o' joint."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

" He staik'd his craig."

The same, p. 46.

CRAIG, a crag. See under DODD.

"A craig is used both to signify a cliff and the precipitous side of a
hill." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 87, note.

CRAIG-CLAITH, a cravat.- (Obs.)

"And syne I drew this craig-claith out." — J oca-Serious Discourse , Newcastle,
1686, p. 15.

CRAITCH, to complain peevishly and persistently. Same as
CRAKE, 2.

CRAKE [W.-T.] , to gossip, to boast. See CRACK.

" Monny oh them keept crakin oh the bayrn an tippin its cheeks." —
Thomas Bewick, The Upgetting, ed. 1850, p. 13.

CRAKE, to whimper, or plaintively ask for a thing over and
over again. To " herp " for a thing or to "yammer" for
anything have much the same meanings as to crake. To croak.
" What are ye crakin on there for — a-ah ? " See CRAITCH.

" The carrion craws about them flying
Will keep a craiking.''

G. Stuart, Jcco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 47.

CRAKEBERRY or CROWBERRY, the berry-bearing heath,
Empetrum ntgnim. See CRAACROOK.

CRAME, a stall or stand on which any kind of merchandise,
chiefly sweet-stuff or smallwares, is exposed at country fairs
or hirings. The crame is a jointed stall, easily taken to pieces
and re-erected.

" Off to a craw-stand wi' a dash,
An' boucht her sugar candy
In lumps that day.'1

The Fair, by David Walter Purdie, 1888.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. IQ5

CRAME, to mend a vessel. China or earthenware is warned
by holing and wiring it at the broken edges. Wooden bowls
are cramed in the same way, or more effectively by driving
across the fracture a thin strip of iron shaped like an S.

CRAMER, a tinker or mender of broken china, &c. (Obs.)
See MUGGER.

CRAMLEY, shaking, or " dothering," or weak in the legs.
" Hallo, there! Yo'r varr}' cramley i' the legs thi day" — a
morning salutation to one tottering in his gait.

CRAMP, to wedge or jam up tightly.
CRAMPER, an astounding lie.

CRAMPET, a hook attached to the ends of the back-band in
the gear of plough horses, from which the chains can be
suspended. In pit language, a bracket.

CRAMPLE, to crumple. " Aa say ! yor cramplin maa goon."

CRAMP-RING, a ring made out of the handles of decayed
coffins, and supposed to be a charm against the cramp.
Hence the name. Formerly these rings were consecrated by
the kings of England, who affected to cure the cramp, as well
as the king's evil. — Brockett, 3rd ed. In Naves' Gloss, their
supposed virtue in preventing the cramp is said to be
conferred by solemn consecration on Good Friday, among
the ceremonies of that great day. — Brand's Popular A ntiquities,
4to ed., vol. i., p. 128. (Obs.)

CRANCH, CRUNCH (often spoken as scranch or scrunch), to
grind with a crackling noise between the teeth, as in eating a
hard crust; or to grind the teeth themselves. "Crouching
yor teeth."

" Sand thrown on the floor is said to crunch under the feet." —
Hodgson MS.

CRANE, the junction between the branch railways and the
horse roads in a pit. Here they formerly used to hoist the
corves of coal from the tram to the rolley ; the coals being
"put" to this spot by the barrow-men from the working
places. From the crane they were drawn by horses to the
shaft. It is now called a "flat" or "station."

"We commenced our survey at the crane, going up west." — Robert
Scott, Ventilation of Coal Mines, p. 27, 1862.

CRANEBOARD, a return air course in a pit, connected
directly with the furnace.

ig NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CRANEMAN, the lad in the pit who hoisted the corves of
coals on to the rolleys with the crane. — Gloss, of Coal Trade
Terms, 1849.

CRANK, bent, shaky, as a machine out of repair ; hence
probably applied to a person who is mentally wrong or
eccentric. See CRANKY, 2.

CRANK, to make a harsh noise, to creak.
"The door cranks." — Brockett.

C RANKLE, weak, shattered.— Brockett.

CRANKS, a fireside contrivance consisting of two or more
rows of iron crooks set in a frame and used for toasting
bread. The frame stands on its own feet before the fire.
This utensil is sometimes called "a branks."

CRANKY, crank, tottering. Applied to a person, it means one
whose mind is off the balance — a flighty person. " Crazy
or cranky." Or it means a person weak and poorly and almost
tottering through illness. "Aa's nobbut cranky-\\ke thi day."

CRANKY, checked, or of a zig-zag pattern, as "a cranky
neckcloth," " a. cranky apron." When the pattern of a piece
of cotton is made in bent figures it is a cranky article. See
CRANK, i, bent.

CRANKY. The pitman formerly was called Cranky, or Bob
Cranky. In his dress on a "gaady day" that old-world pit-
man must have been impressive, for he says : —

" 'A pat on my blue coat that shines se,
My jacket \vi' posies se fine see,

My sark sic sma' threed, man,

My pig-tail se greet, man,
Od smash ! what a buck was Bob Cranky.

Blue stockings, white clocks, and reed garters,
Yellow breeks, and my shoon wi1 lang quarters,

A' myed wour bairns cry,

Eh ! sarties ! ni ! ni !
When they saw the smart, clever Bob Cranky.1'

Bob Cranky' s 'Size Sunday, 1804.

The term cranky given by outsiders to the pitman was in later
times replaced by " Geordy." The men who went from the
lower Tyneside to work at the pits in South Tynedale were
always called "Geordies" by the people there. Cranky
probably comes from the checked pit flannel clothes much
affected, when new and unsoiled, as a swagger costume.
"Howky" is another name for a pitman. See CRANKY, 2.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. IQ7

CRAP, or CRUP (p.t. of creep], crept ; p.p. cruppen or crup.
" He'd cruppen oot " — he had crept out.

" While Cappy's transactions with grief they talked o'er,
He crap out o' the basket quite brisk on the floor."

W. Midford, Cappy, 1818.

CRATCH, a rack of any kind, a manger, a cradle. — HalliwdVs
Diet. A manger, particularly that in which our Saviour was
laid. — Naves' Gloss. " This opens to us," continues Nares,
" the meaning of a childish game, corruptly called scratch-
cradle " (cat* s-cradle in Northumberland, &c.), " which consists
in winding pack-thread double round the hands, into a rude
representation of a manager, which is taken off by the other
player on his hands, so as to assume a new form, and thus
alternately for several times, always changing the appearance.
But it clearly meant originally the cratch-cradle, the manger
that held the Holy Infant as a cradle."

CRAVE, to ask, to demand a claim or debt. To crave a person
for a loan or debt before they are able spontaneously to pay
it is an unpardonable insult, of which the offender never fails
to hear on every available occasion.

CRAW. See CRAA and following words, also CROW-COAL.

GRAYER, a small sailing vessel. It is elsewhere called a

cray.

" Acyayerof Newcastle, laden with malveysey, &c." — Richard Welford ,
Hist, of Newcastle XVI. Cent., under date 1513, p. 36.

CRAZED, vexed. " He wis that crazed wiv us ! " It also
meant, formerly, a condition of bodily suffering.

" Beinge of perfect mind and memorie, thoughe verie craysed and sore
wounded in his bodye." — Will of Wm. Clavering, of Duddoe, 1586. —
D. D. Dixon, Vale of Whittingham, 1887, p. 40.

CREANGE, to crackle, as thin ice does in breaking, or as
woodwork when it is crushed.

CREATUR, a creature. The t-ch sound is not used in the
dialect in any case. " The poor creatur was the pictur o'
distress."

CREE, CREEVE, a pen or fold. " A pig-cree." The form is
also crief and creeve, as "a swine-cm/" or " pig-creeve."

CREE, to crush, to husk wheat or barley in preparing it for
boiling as fromerty.

198 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CREEIN-TROW, a stone trough, formerly in general use as a
mortar, in which grain was creed, or pounded, till its husks
came off. The grain was then boiled with milk. See
KNOCKIN-TROW.

CREEL, a kind of basket of wickerwork in which hay is taken
in stormy weather to sheep on the mountains. Its sides are
stiff; its bottom supple. This is called a sheep-creel. Baskets
and pins (pens) for poultry, and wicker utensils for various
other purposes are called creels. — Hodgson MS. The creel of a
Cullercoats fish-wife is a very fine example of basket-work,
fitting to the back, and showing a most graceful form of
construction throughout. In the days of toasts and sentiments
the following rhyme was a common formula : —

" Health, wealth, milk an' meal ;
Here's tiv ivery thinkiu chiel ;
May the de'el rock him weel iv a end,
If he disna wish aall on us weel."

CREEL, to put or pack in a creel. To throw the leg over the
head of another person. This is generally practised by
children, who say after doing it: "There noo, aa've creeled
thoo an thoo'll nivver grou ne bigger." See CRILE. Compare

COWP-YOR-CREELS.

CREEP, "a state of the mine produced by an insufficiency of
coal left to support the roof, and which often forces the top
and bottom of the mine together, and renders the pit unfit for
further use." — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay, 1843.

"A heaving up of the floor of the mine, occasioned by the weight of
the superincumbent strata." — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852.

" An when life's last stook's tyen away,

And nowse but wyest and ruin near ;
When creep comes o\ver wor wrought-out clay,
And all's laid in for ever here."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pa}', 1829, pt. iii., v. 122.

CREEPERS, the sensation of chill on the skin from cold, or the
creeping of the flesh from some blood-curdling fright or fear.

CREESER, a waggon greaser.

CREESH, CREESE, to grease.— J. P. Robson, Gloss, to Bavds
of the Tyne, 1849.

CREESHY, greasy.

" see this Lown-like Lordan squeeze

His chreeshy-baggs, and Laugh, and Fleer."

G. Stuart, Joco-Scrious Discourse, 1686, p. 31.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. igg

CREEVE, an enclosure. See CREE, i.

CREEVE, CREUVE, a crab or lobster trap. A sort of case
covered with net, weighted with a heavy stone and let down
to the bottom. A hole at each end allows entrance but
prevents egress. Cneves are made about two to three feet long
by twelve to eighteen inches high. See CRUIVE.

CREEVEL, crewel, fine worsted yarn.

CREPT PILLARS, pillars of coal which have passed through
the various stages of creep. — Gnenwell. See CREEP.

CRIB, or CRIBBIN, the circle of wood wedged tight in a pit
shaft, to make a foundation for walling when the strata are
loose. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852. Or the lining of
wood or iron put round a pit shaft to dam back the water in
water-bearing strata. A crib used as a foundation for metal
tubbing or for walling is called a wedging crib. A walling crib
is a lining of stone or firebricks made to the sweep of the
shaft and built in where the strata are loose. A ring crib is
an arrangement for catching water which would otherwise
fall down the shaft. See TUBBING.

CRIB, a boy small for his age. "Wey, that bairn's a parfit
crib."

CRIB, to line around

" The sinking was cribbed, and backed, then walled." — Borings and
Sinkings, A.B., p. 10.

" A giblet pie,
Ci-ibb'd roun' wi' coils o' savoury pudden.'1

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v, 28.

CRIBBAGE, CRIBBISH, one side or division of a stall in a
stable.

CRIBLE, to cringe, to curry favour with a superior. " Aa's
not gan to crible tiv him." " He went away cribled " — "He
went away as if with his tail between his legs."

CRIEF. See CREE, CREEVE, CRUIVE.
CRIKE, CRIKEY, an oath. Often becrike.

CRILE, a poor and deformed person. Sometimes applied in
contempt. " Ye crile, ye ! "

Creil, " a short stubbed dwarfish man." — Ray's Gloss.
" To pass the leg over the head of a child is vulgarly supposed to crile
or stop its growth." — Brockett, 3rd ed.

2OO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CRINE, to pine in, to shrink or shrivel up. " Ye've had ower
het a fire ; it's crined the meat."

CRINEY, small and shrivelled. " The corn '11 be varry cviney
an' smaall this 'eer."

CRINGLE, a withe or rope for fastening a gate with. — Byockett.
CRINGLE-CRANGLE, zig-zag, wrinkle.— Brocket*.

CRIT, the smallest of a litter of pigs, &c. In metaphor — a
small-sized person. " Tom's the crit i' the femily."

CROAK, to give up the ghost.

" Baith often's wished the yen was croakin."

J. P. Robson, "Betty Beesley."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 157.

CROCKER, one outside of a trade mystery. (Obs.)

" No brother shall be partner with any foreigners called crackers, on
pain of forfeiting £5." — Ordinary of the Butchers' Company, Newcastle,
July 20, 1621.

CROCKY, a little Scotch cow. — Grose's Gloss.

CROFT.

"A small parcel of ground lying near the dwelling of the owner, but
not necessariry adjoining it." — The Rev. Canon Green well, Gloss, to the
Boldon Buke.

The Croft, in Newcastle, " a small field, bounded on the east side by
the town wall, and on the west by the garden walls of the houses in
Pilgrim Street. It formerly belonged to the family of Carlels, or Carliols,
from whom it was called the Carle, or Carliol Croft." — Mackenzie, Hist, of
Newcastle, p. 179.

" A house and a rig lying in the Croft, value 6s. 8d." — Richard Welford,
Hist, of Newcastle XVI. Cent., p. 87.

" — This have I learnt

Tending my flocks hard by i' th' hilly crofts
That brow this bottom glade."

Milton, Comus, 530, quoted by Nares.

GROGGY, weak in the fore legs ; applied to a horse.
CRONE, a toothless ewe ; an old woman.
CROOD, a crowd ; to crowd. " The hoose is crooded oot."
CROOK. See CRUCK.

CROON, crown. " He cam doon on the croon o' his heed."
" Len's-a half a croon.''1

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2OI

CROON, to bellow, to roar. Also to murmur softly. Croonin,
the present participle, is applied to the roaring of a spoiled
child, and to the continuous bellow of a beast in distress.

" A croonin cow, a crawin hen,
A whistling maid, fu' weel ye ken,
Are deemed aye unlucky."

L. Proudlock, song, Cuddie and his Crawin' Hen.

CROONER, coroner. "The crooner's comin i' the morn aboot
the bairn they fund i' the burn."

CROOPY, hoarse.

" When Hamlick stuck his daddle oot,

To grip his feyther's paw, man,
He gav a kind o' croopy shoot,
To find the caud styen wa', man."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Hamlick, Prince o' Denton.

CROOSE, GROUSE, brisk, lively, eager. Crackin-croose, is, as
we should say, "in great form," confident, talking big.

"Crowse: brisk, budge, lively, jolly. 'As crowse as a new washen
louse.' " — Ray's Gloss.

" A cock's aye croose on his aan midden." — Newcastle proverb.

" An' croose we left oor canny toon
I' Jimmy Joneson's whurry."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's Wherry.

" Wor low-rope let, afield we set,
The trappin trade quite crouse te lairn."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 18.

" It's ha' ye seen how crouse and gay
The lads and lasses bent their way."

" Theatre in an Uproar.'1

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 183.

" Gorcocks beck around Aid Crag
Sae crousely and sae proud."

James Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879, p. 4.

CROOT, CRUT, to sprout, to grow. " The bairns eroded oot
like young trees, man." (J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Bob Stacker's
Secret.) To recover. " She's been varry bad, poor body, but
she'll syun croot oot agyen."

CROP, the head or neck. " A rope they fastened round maw
crop." (J. P. Robson, Malley's Voyage, 1849.) To cut the
hair. " What a crop he's gien ye !"

CROP, or CRAA, the basset, or outburst to the surface, of a
seam of coal or other stratum. This localism has passed into
a scientific term in the form of outcrop, as applied to a stratum.
See under word DAY.

2O2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CROP, to leave a portion of coal at the bottom of a seam
in working. Also to " set out " a tub or corf of coals filled
insufficiently, and consequently forfeited. — GveenwelL

CROPPEN, crept: the p.p. of creep. The verb occurs in the
dialect with a strong past tense which has the variant forms
of crap, and crup, and crop. The past participle has also the
variants croppen and cruppen. "We'd just croppen into bed
agyen." " We fund the beggar hed cruppen oot o' his hole."
" He's getten sair croppen togither" — bent with age.

CROPPIN, the crop of a bird. "To set up the croppin" is
to give oneself an absurd air of importance, or to walk with a
strutting consequential gait.

" The clerk he soon set up his cropping."

Thomas Whittle, " The Midford Galloway's Ramble."
Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 175.

CROSIL, to char small or dust coal in the fire so as to make
cinders. A blacksmith crosils his fire by blowing slowly till
the duff coal has become caked in small cinders, which he
can use to get up a proper heat when he puts in his work.

CROSS, across. " 'Cross the floor " is used for across the floor.
" He cam 'cross ower to meet me."

" In the Side once the houses so nearly did meet,
That folk could so friendly shake hands 'cross the street."

R. Gilchrist, 1835, Song of Improvements.

CROSSCUT, a passage driven at an angle with the fibres of
the coal : " in any direction between headways course and
broadways course." — Greenwell.

CROSSING, an arch by which a current of air is carried
across overhead in a pit.

CROSS-THE-BUCKLE, to cross the arms in playing at
skipping-rope, or the legs in dancing.
" Can ye jump up and shuffle,
And cross oii'cr the buckle
When ye dance like the cliver Bob Cranky."

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, " Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday."
Allan's Collection, p. 218.

CROTLY, CRUTLY, friable, crumby. When the land is in
fine condition and crumbles as the plough turns over the
furrow it is said to be crotly. Crotly -hoofed, in a horse or
beast, is when the hoof crumbles. A crotly temper is a quick
temper. " The aad maister hes a temper as crutly as ewe-
milk cheese."

:

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 203

GROUSE, CROOSE, brisk, lively. See CROOSE.
CROW. See CRAA, &c.

CROWBERRY, the berry-bearing heath, Empetvum nig mm.
See CRAACROOK.

CROW COAL, a seam of coal worked from a crow, or outcrop.
See CRAA, 5.

" The crow coal about a foot or less thick."

The Compleat Collier, 1708.

CROWDY, a Northumberland dish, made by filling a basin
with oatmeal, and then pouring in boiling water. A vigorous
stirring is required whilst the water is being poured ; and,
when the two ingredients are thoroughly mixed, the "hasty
pudding" is ready. It is served with a little butter, dripping,
or other flavouring, according to taste, or it is taken with
milk. Cvowdy is purely local, as applied to scalded oatmeal ;
for what is called crowdy in Northumberland is in parts of
Scotland "brose." In the island of Skye crowdy is applied
to a peculiar cheese, which is made rich by the addition of
butter, and eaten soft, like cream cheese.
" The crowdy is wor daily dish."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. i., v. 56.

CROWDY-MAIN, an uproarious crowd, a cock fight. The
dalesmen of Rede and Coquet were accustomed to meet at
Harehaugh " for the purpose of fighting their cocks, and of
having afterwards a sort of friendly crowdy-main among them-
selves."— S. Oliver the Younger, Rambles in Northumberland.
" Whei, whei, thinks aw, this caps the stack ;
It was a crowdy-main man."

J. P. Robson, Mally's Voyage, 1849.

CROW-FISH, the spiney crab. [Holy Island.]

CROW-GARLIC, the Allium vincale, L., found in grassy places
and somewhat rare. In Northumberland it grows at Belford
and Gunnerton.

CROWLEY'S CREW, the men formerly employed by Crowley
and Co. in the historic ironworks at Winlaton, Swalwell, and
Winlaton Mill. In comparison with other craftsmen it was
asked : —

" Can they de ouse wi' Crowley' s Crew,
Frev a needle tiv a anchor, O !"

Such, indeed, was the variety of manufactures produced by
these smiths, that the boast was scarcely an empty figure of
speech.

204 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CROWN, a term for the top part of anything. The crown in a
pit is the highest level in it.

CROWNTREE, the top balk used in supporting the roof in a
coal pit ; it is the cross piece laid over two vertical props.
See GALLOWS-TIMBER.

CRUCK, to crook, to bend.

CRUCK, a crook, a hook, the hinge of a gate. See CRANK.

" One pair of croks." — R. Welford, Hist, of Newcastle XVI. Cent., p. 389.

" Item pd to John Marley for a new pann and a crouhe to the Beacon,
i8s." — Gateshead Church Books, 1645.

CRUCK, a disease causing a twisted neck in sheep.
CRUCK-YOR- ELBOW, write it down, put your name to it.

CRUCK-YOR-HOUGH, that is, bend your hough (the hough is
the back part of the knee) ; sit down. "Crook your hoiigh /"-
the friendly salutation of a pitman who wants you to sit down
and " have a crack." It means either to sit on a seat or on
your hunkers ; originally, in all probability, the latter. —
Greenwell.

" Wi, lad ! what's set te here se lyet ?
Draw in a seat, an' crook thy hojjf."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. in., v. 25.

" Wiv hus i' th' north, when aw'm wairsh i' my way,
(But te knaw wor warm hearts, ye yursell come)
Aw lift the first latch, and baith man and dame say,
C ruck your hough, canny man, for ye're welcome."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

CRUCK- YOR-THUMB, the instruction given as a charm
against witchcraft.

"The fists are clenched, but the thumbs are doubled up inside the
palms. The reason for this peculiarity may, no doubt, be found in an
old Northumbrian superstition." "Children," says Hutchinson, "to
avoid approaching danger, are taught to double the thumb within the
hand. This was much practised while the terrors of witchcraft
remained." — W. W. Tomlinson, Guide to Northumberland, 1888, p. 64.

CRUD, CRUDDLE, to curdle.

CRUDDLE, to crouch closely together. " They wor flaid o'
the thunnor and cruddled in."

" The barefooted younkers sit cruddleing on a heap round a fire." —
Collier, Essay on Charters, particularly those of Newcastle, 1777, p. 81.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 205

CRUDS, curds. "The cntds and cream hoose " was formerly
an institution in Newcastle.

" Off the ghost flew wiv a terrible scream :
They ran into a hoose where they sell cruds an' cream."

R. Emery, d. 1871, Curds and Cream House Ghost.

CRUIVE, a fish trap made by enclosing a space in a river.
See CREEVE. Compare CREE, i.

" The ' fish garth ' is called a cruive. It is made of wood, and has traps,
&c., into which the fish on ascending the river enter, and from which
they cannot escape." — R. Weddell, Salmon Fishing in River Tweed. —
Archaologia, JEliana, 4to, vol. iv., p. 305.

CRULL, to work with worsted. — Brockett. " Len us yor stottin
baal and aa'll crull'd for ye" — that is, cover it with worsted in
colours. A crulled-ba.a.1 was a child's ball made of a ravelled-
out old stocking having its surface worked with crewel.

CRULLS, threads of coloured worsted. Compare CREEVEL.

CRUMEL, to crumble. Words in modern English with a b
before e, or le, all drop the b in the dialect : thus tumble,
tumel ; rumble, nimel ; fumble, fumel ; nimble, nimel ; thimble,
thimel ; humble, humel ; slumber, slumer ; timber, timer, &c.

CRUMEL, a crumb. " Dinna drop yor crumels on the floor."

CRUMMY, a favourite name for a cow with crooked horns. —

Brockett.

CRUMMY, plump, in good condition ; applied to edibles.
CRUMP, the cramp ; out of temper. — Grose's Gloss.
CRUN, to whine. See CROON.
CRUNGE, to cringe.

CRUNKLE, to rumple, to make a noise as in crumpling
paper.

CRUNTLE, the front part of a pig's head above the eyes.
Also applied to the human head familiarly. " Aa'll gie ye a
crack ower the cruntle ye noo."

CRUP and CRUPPEN (variants of crap and croppett), crept.
" He's sair cvubben doon."

2O6 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CRUPPER-STONE, CRUPPLE-STONE, a stepped stone,
or series of steps placed near the door outside a house, and
formerly used for mounting on horseback, or for the women
who mounted on the pillion. See also HORSE-STONE, HORSIN-
STONE, MOUNT, and PILLION-STYEN.

CRUPPY-DOW, a cake made of oatmeal and fish, much
esteemed in Northumberland.

" Dunstan-steads for loggerheads,

And Craster for crowdies,
Spital-ford for cruppy-dows,
And Embleton for howdies."

Old Saying, taken down from the recitation
of Mrs. Aynsley, of Embleton, 1891.

CRUSH, a great quantity, a crush of wet, a crush of corn. —
Brockett, 3rd ed.

CRUSH, the fracture of coal pillars in a pit by the weight of
the superincumbent strata.

CRUT, a dwarf, anything curbed in its growth. — Brockett.

CRUTLY, friable, easily crumbed. See CROTLY.

"The cheese you send must not be a cruttley one, as they are so bad
for cutting into slices." — Letttr, March, 1888.

CRUTTLE, a crumb.

" To curdle " — Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet.

CRY-COOK, to give in, to capitulate to an argument or
accusation. See COOK.

CRYIN'-OOT, the time of accouchement. It was made a
special occasion for the assemblage of neighbours and gossips,
when "booted-breed" and "groaning-cheese" were served up.
" De ye hear 'or shootin' ? The de'il's revenge. Thor'll be
one mair o' them afore the mornin'." A proverbial saying on
this occasion.

CUBE, or CUPOLA, a shaft sunk near to the top of a furnace
upcast, and holed into the shaft a few fathoms below the
surface, with a wide chimney erected over it, rising thirty or
forty feet above the surface. It relieves the pit top from
smoke. Called also a tube. — Greenwell.

CUCKLE-HEED, a stupid person. See CHUCKLE-HEED.

" The procession was headed by Barbara Bell,
He was followed by cuckle-heed Chancellor Kell.

T. Marshall, d. 1869, Euphy's Coronation.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2O"J

CUCKOO. See GOWK and following words.

CUCKOO-FLOWER, the meadow bitterness, Cardamine
pvatensis. Called also pinks, spinks> bog-spinks, May-flower, and
lady-smock.

CUCKOO-GRASS, the field woodrush, Luzula campestris,
Called also pees-tveep grass and black-caps.

CUCKOO-MORNIN', "a holiday on hearing the cuckoo for
the first time." — Gloss, to Pitman's Pay. (Obs.)

" A citckoo-mornin' give a lad,
He values not his plagues a cherry."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 64

CUCKOO'S-MAIDEN, the wryneck— Yunx torquilla— which
usually arrives here a few days before the cuckoo, and
migrates in September. — Brockeit.

" It is far from common in Northumberland, but is more frequently
seen in Durham." — John Hancock, Birds of Northumberland and Durham.

CUCKOO'S-MEAT, GOWK'S-MEAT, or GOWK'S-
CLOVER, the sorrel, Oxalis acetosella.

CUCKOO'S-SPIT, the white froth which encloses the larva of
the Cicada spumaris.

CUCKOO'S TILLIN, the meadow pipit, Antlius pratensis.
See TITLARK.

CUDBERD, Cuthbert. See CUDDY and CULBERT.

CUD-BUSH, an esculent plant. (? Cud-weed.)

" 1666. December 8. — Forster to Williamson [about a tumult in
Sandgate, Newcastle, during collection of hearth-moneyj . ' They said
they were willing [to pay] but had not bread to eat. Indeed, hundreds
of them for weeks have lived only on oatmeal, water, and cudbush boiled
together.' " — Calendar of State Papers. Domestic Series, 1666.

CUDDY, a donkey, a stupid person. " What are ye deein
that for, ye great cuddy ?" A half-wit. " Cuddy Willy."

" To let the folks see thou's a leydy,
On a cuddy thou's ride to the toon."

W. Midford, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.

" For on the new line an awd cuddy, wiv ease,
Will draw the mail coach, or even a waggon."

T. Wilson, Stanzas on a Line of Intended Road: 1825.

2O8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CUDDY, the common abbreviation of Cuthbert. The name of
the saint is a very popular Christian name in Northern parts.
The forms Cudbert and Culbert are still heard on the lips of old
people. See CULBERT.

CUDDY- AN '-CREELS, a donkey with panniers.

CUDDY'S-LEGS, herrings. Fishwives used to call herrings
thus : " There's yor cuddy's-legs an' lady's thighs."

CUDDY'S-LUGS, the great mullein, Verbascum thapsus.
CUFF, a simpleton. — Brockett, 3rd ed. See CUIF.
CUFF-CUFF, the call for a pigeon.

CUICK (pron. ke-yuk, kyuk], to cook. See CEYUK.

" Of a' the kinds of hollow meats
That greasy cuicks se oft are speeten."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 26.

CUIF, a lout, an awkward fellow.

CUIFF, to walk in an awkward manner; especially with large
broad feet.— Brockett.

CUIL, KEYUL, to cool. See KEEL.
CUKENWORT, chickweed. See CLUCKWEED.
CULBARD, a cullish, or stupid person.

CULBERT, or CUDBERT, Cuthbert. Also the eider duck,
Somateria mollissima, which is familiar in Northumberland and
at the Fame Islands as the Culbert, Cudbert, or Cndbert's duck.

" For centuries they have been known as St. Cuthbert's ducks. He
lavished upon them special marks of kindness and affection. They were
frequently his sole companions during the long hours of his solitary
nights, clustering round him when he watched and prayed on the rocks
which surrounded his home. They obeyed his every word, and became
so tame and familiar with him that they would allow him to approach
them at all times without fear, and caress them with his hand." — The
Rev. Provost Consitt, Life of St. Cuthbert, p. 82.

CULBERT, a variant of culvert.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2Og

CULL, a cheat, a devil — Nor thumb* rland. — Halliwell's Lict.

CULL, a fond, stupid, simple fellow. " Cull Willy" was the
name of a Newcastle half-wit of former days.

" Had yor tongue, ye cull."

Song, Bitty Oliver.

" Cull cheps for his worm-cakes frae far an' near ride —
Poor pitmen, an' farmers, an' keelmen, an' flonkies."

R. Emery, d. 1871, "Pitman's Ramble."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 70.

CULLISH, raw, clownish, stupid; this and the adverbial form
cullishly — from cull, above.

" To laugh at a prophet she thowt it was cullish."

R. Emery, d. 1871, "Mally and, the Prophet."

Bards of the Tyne, p. 254.

" Declared in her breest greet consarn it inspired
That my Lord should se cnllisMy come by his deeth."

John Shield, My Lord 'Size.

CULLS, animals that are rejected from a herd of cattle, or
flock of sheep.

CUMBER, trouble, oppression. — Brockett, 3rd ed. (Obs.)
" A care, danger, or inconvenience." — Nares' Gloss.

The outlaws of Liddesdale " kept him a great while in cumler." — Carey,
Earl of Monmouth. — Hodgson, iii., 2., p. 120, note.

" Fleet foot on the correi

Sage counsel in cumber,
Red hand in the foray,

How sound is thy slumber."

Lady of the Lake, cant, iii., 16.

CUM'D, or CUMMEN, p.p. of come. "If ye'd ony cnmd
seunor, noo." " He'd cnmmen in afore aa gat there mesel."

CUMMINS, the sprouts from barley when in process of malting.
They form a fine granular powder, and are sold by maltsters
for cattle feeding purposes. Cummins is also applied to the
mixture made from the dust adhering to the dried oat husks
and water. Hence the saying " Thick as cummins" applied
to muddy water.

CUN, or CON, to learn, to know. — Brockett.

N

2IO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CUNDY, a drain, a sewer, a conduit. " A rummelin' cww^y " is
a drain with loose, broken stone laid round to allow of
percolation from the surface. "A cundied corf" was a corf
packed hollow to give an appearance of a greater bulk to
the coals in it. When coals were paid by measure instead of
by weight, this was a point for the keeker's observation.

" Paide for a Ib. of pepper, and a bagg, for the rente of the cunditt
without Westgate to Mr. Thomas Hilton, due at Micklemas last, 43." —
Newcastle Muncipal Accounts, 1593.

" Aw'l inspect ivery cundy an' midden."

J. P. Robson, Collier's Farewell.

CUNNIN-CYEK, a cake of ordinary appearance outwardly,
but when cut revealing hidden fruit, currants, &c., in the centre.

CUPOLA. See CUBE.

CUR (pron. cor), a cowardly man. " Hit one yor size, ye greet
cur, ye."

" A currish worthless person." — Halliwell's Die'.
" A ketty cur," a very vile person. — Bracked.

CURCHOR, a kerchief, as haricurchor, neckcurchor — a handker-
chief, neck-kerchief. The common sound of the word is
korshor — thus, hankorshor, neckorshor.

" Paide for a curchor and a rale to wind her, 2s." at the burial of a
woman. — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, Auguste, 1593.

CURFEW-BELL, the evening bell, which was generally rung
at eight o'clock for the object of having all fires and lights
extinguished, a requisite precaution in olden times. The
name and use is still retained at Newcastle. — Halliwell's Diet.,
1846. See Brand's Observations OK Bourne's Antiquities, chap. i.

CURRENBERRIES, red currants, Ribes riibruin. See CORN-
BARRIES.

CURTAIN, the fold yard in the farm steading. The survival
of this word is a most interesting relic of the times when every
Northumberland fold yard was a fortified enclosure. In
fortification a cortin or courtine is the wall or distance between
the flanks of two bastions. The local pronounciation is still
cortin. See CORTAIN.

CUS, 'CUST, CUSSEN (see CASSEN), cast, applied to
anything thrown aside. " He cast-oot " means he quarrelled.
See CAST-OUT.

CUSHAT, the ring dove. Columba pahtmbns. Called also, but
rarely, cushy doo.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 211

CUSHION-DANCE, a country dance in which one person
held a cushion whilst the rest of the company danced in a
ring, singing :—

" The best bed, the feather bed,

The best bed ov a',
The best bed i' wor hoose
Is clean pea straw."

At the end of the chant the cushion was laid at the feet of a
favoured person and knelt on. The person thus saluted
kissed the kneeling suppliant and then took up the cushion in
turn and danced round with it as the first had done ; all
singing again and again the refrain. " That dance of dances,
the cushion-dance.'"

CUSHY-COO, a pet name for a cow. Cushy-cows, docken seed,
the seed of broad-leaved dock, Rumex obtusifolius.

CUSHY-COO-LADY, the lady-bird beetle.

CUSSEN (p-p. of cast). " Cussen in a mould " — cast in a mould.
" Cussen down " — cast down.

CUSSEN, warped. "Them dyels is aa cussen" — those deals
are all warped.

CUT, an excavation through a hill. " The New Cut." "The
Cut Bank."

CUT, a measure of yarn — one-twelfth of a hank.

CUT, a number of sheep on a large grazing farm. A " hirsel "
is divided into several divisions called cuts, each keeping to
its own range of pasture:

CUT, to run quickly. " Cut an' run," "Cut away noo, as fast
as ye can," " Cut yor stick," "Cut yor lucky," are commands
to leave instantly. " To cut" is to move in a step dance.
" In the dance se sprightly,
He'll cut end shuffle lightly."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, New Keel Row.

CUT, or CUTS. ''To stand your cuts" — to maintain your
position, to hold your own.

CUT. " The last cut." Before the introduction of the reaping
machine, at the finish of the "white corn " harvest it was the
custom for the young unmarried women to endeavour to get
"the last cut," thereby hoping to be the first to get married.
The same practice prevails in Tiviotdale. See " hinmost cut "
in Jamieson.

212 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CUT A PURSE, the method of ascertaining the amount of
fine to be imposed for an offence against the rules of the
river Tyne. (Obs.)

" Paide for two purses of lether which should have bene cutt in the
Towne Chamber and was not, by a Frenchman, 8d." — Newcastle
Municipal Accounts, Auguste, 1593.

" It was a custom in Newcastle, as stated by Bourne, that a master of
a ship who threw ballast into too shallow water at sea, if convicted, must
pay a fine of ^5 ; which was put into a purse, and the offender was
required to cut the purse, by way of acknowledgment that he was no
better than those ' cut purses ' who ripped a man's money from his
girdle. Gardiner says the offender was to pay a fine of five pounds, or
else to cut the purse which hangs up in the town-chamber with sand and
money in it, and so much as is therein he must pay, or is sent to prison,
and thereto lye till he doth pay it." — Richard Welford, Hist, of Newcastle,
vol. iii., under date 1593, p. 82.

" The ' cut-porse ' points te bygyen times,
When truth was niver sowt in wells,
When justice punish'd captains' crimes,
Without the fash o1 weights an' skyells."

T. Wilson, Glance at Polly-Technic, 1840.

CUTBEARD, cudbear. A lichen that gives a purple dye.
The Lecanora tartarea, growing commonly on limestone
rocks. — Ogilvie.

CUTES (pron. kyuts), the feet, used derisively.

" Did ivver mortals see sic brutes,
Te order me to lift ma cutes."

Geo. Cameron, song, The Pitman's Revenge, 1804.

CUTE-SKINS, CUTE-KINS, additional coverings for the
legs during snowy weather, generally worsted stockings with
the feet cut off; a sort of long gaiters. — Brockett. See

KlTICANS.

CUTHBERT'S BEADS, portions of the jointed stems of fossil
encrinites common in the mountain limestone. They are
found at Lindisfarne plentifully, and there, legend says : —

" Saint Cuthbert sits, and toils to frame
The sea-born beads that bear his name."

" While at this task he is supposed to sit during the night upon a
certain rock and use another as his anvil." — Note to Maimion.

CUTHBERT'S DOWN, the down of the eider duck. See
ST. CUTHBERT'S DUCKS and CULBERT.

"In the list of articles belonging to the Feretory at Durham in 1417
are two pairs of cushions, of which one is of Cuthbert' 's downe (Eyre)." —
Rev. I'rov. Consitt, Life of St. Cuthbert, 1887, p. 82, note.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 213

CUTHBERT STONES; two mete or bounder stones which
were let into the Old Tyne Bridge between Newcastle and
Gateshead to mark the limit of the ancient boundary of the
patrimony of St. Cuthbert, which extended from Gateshead
along one-third of the length of the bridge. The bounder
stone was afterwards known as " the bine stone,'1 now preserved
in the Old Castle at Newcastle.

CUTS, lots. " To draw cuts" to determine by lots. This is
generally by straws cut into unequal lengths. The pilgrims
in the Canterbury Tales "drew cuts " who should begin their
tale. The lot fell on the Knight.

CUTTEN, p.p. of cut. "It waddent cutten"—it would not
have cut.

" 'Twas cutten up wi' heuks." — G. Chatt, Old Farmer, 1866.

CUTTER, to fondle, to make love to.

" Aw swagger 'd then ; for ma new suit
Play'd harlekin amang the lasses."

" Amang them aw wad a'ways be,
Aw cuttered, canny things, about "em."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 5-6.

Cutterin is hence the sacred, affectionate talk of lovers, and
the cooing of the pigeon.

CUT-THROAT, the white-throat, Curruca cinerea. See JENNY-
CUT-THROAT.

CUTTY, short. " He hes on his cutty coat."

CUTTY, a short pipe. Cutty-gun, a familiar term for a short
pipe. — Brockett. Compare KOTTY.

Aug. ii, 1570. Will of Allan Dixon, of Newcastle, ropemaker: — "To
John Hall, one cloak and one coot pipe." — Richard Welford., Hist, of
Newcastle XVI. Cent., p. 439.

" She frae ma mouth the citttie pous,
When sleep owercomes ma weary clay."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 79.

CUTTY, a knife.— Brockett. A short spoon.

CUTTY-SOAMS, the name given to a malicious boggle who
mysteriously haunted a pit in the neighbourhood of Calling-
ton and cut the pitmen's soams, or hauling ropes. See
Monthly Chronicle, vol. i., p. 269.

CUTWILLEY, a loop of iron, on each end and in the middle
of a swingle tree, to which hooks and chains are attached.

214 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

CWOAT [T.J , coat.

CYEK, or KYEK, cake.

" The bride-kyek neist, byeth sweet and short,
Was toss'd in platefuls ower the bride."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 83.

CYEK-TOASTER, a rack made in the form of the letter A,
used to brown a cake before the fire. See BEAKSTICKS.

D is sometimes intrusive, especially among children in
Northumberland, and the phrase " Gi' me-^-it," for give it
me, is heard. " We ron by-^-it," for we ran by it. D is
a frequent abbreviation of it at the end of a word. For'ds
for it ; wiW, with it ; deunW, done it ; thraanW, thrown it ;
blaanW, blown it; "Stan' by'd," stand by it. "He wis oot
iW," he was out in it. " Runnin intiW," running into it.
" Gan an by'd," go and buy it. " They'll nivvor di'd agyen,"
do it again. " Did he deeW ?" — did he do it ?

DAABER, DAUBER, a plasterer. (Obs.) The Rev. John
Hodgson, in his MS. Dictionary, points out the passage : —

"One built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered
mortar." — Ezekiel, xiii., v. 10, and following verses.

" The fraternity of bricklayers in Newcastle were anciently styled
cutters and daubers. The cat was a piece of soft clay moulded into the
form of a mower's whetstone. This was thrust in between the laths,
which were afterwards daubed or plastered." — Brand, Hist, of Newcastle,
vol. ij., p. 268, note.

DAB, an adept. " He's a dab" or " He's a dab-hand at it."

" Sic a dab was aw when young at readin."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 103.

DAB, a sharp blow. "A dab of clarts" is a piece of mud
thrown and stuck on where it has fallen.

" Aa myeks a dab at the bit imp." — His Other Eye, 1880, p. 5.
"Starlings stun worms by a dab on the narrow end." — James Hardy,
Hist, of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. vii., p. 295.

DAB, to aim a blow.

" Small boys may be seen— prone on their stomachs— craning over the
edge of the quay, and, with harpoons, ingeniously manufactured,
generally out of steel pronged forks, dabbing at the floating treasures." —
R. J. Charlton, Newcastle Town, 1885, p. 313.

DABBER, a pointed retort. " That's a dabber for him." A
" hitchey dabber" is the piece of earthenware used in the game
of "hitchey beds."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 215

DAB-CHICK, the little grebe. See DOB-CHICK.

DAD, to strike with a heavy blow, but with something soft, as
a pillow or a towel, &c. " Aa'll dad yor jaa." " He dadded his
hide." Also to throw down heavily. " Divvent dad it doon
that way."

DAD, a heavy blow. " He gat sic a dad as he'll not forget."

" He ga the noisy thing dads agyen the waal."

James Horsley, Jim an' the Clock, 1883.

DAD, a large piece. (Scarce.)

" An' lumps o' beef, an1 dads o' duff,
Was there for folks to dine."

J. P. Robson, " Pitman's Happy Times."
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 77.

DAD, to dash out a small fire of gas (in a pit), or a small
accumulation of gas, with a jacket. — Greenwell.

DADDIN, mixing firedamp in a pit with fresh air by duffing it
with a jacket so as to dilute it and render it harmless.

DADDLE, DAWDLE, to walk unsteadily, to waggle, to
waddle.

DADDLE, the hand. See also MEAG, PASTIE, LOOP, PAW.

" When Hamlick stuck his daddle oot,

To grip his feyther's paw, man,
He gav a kind o' croopy shoot
To find the caud styen vva', man."

J. P. Robson, Hamlick, Prince o' Denton, pt. i.
Bards of the Tyne, 1848, p. 129.

DADGE, DODGE, to walk in a vacillating way. Dade is
used elsewhere.

" As u'ude is related to waddle, so is dade to daddle." — Wedgwood.
DADGE, a large piece. See DAD.

DAE, or DEYE-NETTLE, the hemp nettle, Galeopsis tetmhit.
It is often called the deed (dead) nettle.

DAP'F, to daunt.— Ray's Gloss. (Obs.)

" Claudio : Away, I will not have to do with you.
Leonato : Can'st thou so daffe me ?"

Much Ado About Nothing, act v., sc. i.
Quoted in Nares' Gloss.

2l6 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DAFFIN [N.] , merrymaking.

"You wou'd ha' burstne your heart wi' laughing
To've seen the gang sae full o' da tying."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 39.

" Djffin wi' the hunter callants."

Jas. Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, p. 20.

DAFFLE, to be doting, to be forgetful. Persons growing old
and in their dotage are said to daffle. The word means to
betray loss of memory and mental faculty. — Hodgson MS.
Maffle is a similar expression for the above.

DAFFLIN, fooling, merriment. Probably a variant of daffin.
See DAFFIN.

DAFT, silly.

" Can the silly daft Carles think we'll still be fools?"

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

" Thou'll drive me daft, aw often dreed."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1824, ed. 1872, p. 8.

" Stupid, blockish, daunted ; from the word daff. Also, mad. —
Northumberland." — Ray's Gloss., MS. note.

DAFTY, a silly person. " Ye'll hit somebody, ye dafty."
DAFT-LI KE, fond or silly. " That was a daft-like trick, noo."

DAG, to rain, to drizzle. " It's daggin on." " It's daggin
weather."

DAG, a pistol. (Obs.)

"To Francis Liddell, his rapier; to Thomas Liddell, brother of
Francis, his dagg." — Will of Wm. Anderson, Feb. i, 1568. — Richard
Welford, Hist, of Newcastle and Gateslie.id XVI. Cent., p. 418.

" My dag, with the case, and all things thereto belonging." — The same,
P- 377-

" The Maior of New-Castle with the Aldermen his Bretheren rid to
visit on hors-back the colepits, as their office is to do every quartrer
of yeer, where by the waye he was shot with a dag into the arme, which
caused him to fall off his horse." — Doleful News from Edinburgh, 1641,
quoted by Brockett.

DAGGER-MONEY, a present made to the Judge of Assize as
he left Newcastle by what is described in North's Life of the
Lord Keeper Guilford as " the hideous road along by the Tyne."
" Before leaving," the biographer says, " the Northumberland
Sheriff gave us all arms ; that is, a dagger, knife, pen-knife,
and fork, all together." The Mayor of Newcastle gave each
judge a broad piece of gold. In 1561 this is mentioned as

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2IJ

the "reward of the judges, 305.," and in 1566 as "two old
ryalls for their fee, 305.," also IDS. to " the clerke of assis."
In 1595 we find a payment for "2 old spurr riolls geven to
the judges of the assizes, yeirlie accustomde 153. 6d. per
peece, 315.," and, in 1659, the fee occurs under the form of
"two rose nobles" of 425. 6d. value. — G. B. Richardson,
Note to Municipal Accounts, p. 119. The payment was continued
until the route of the judges was altered a few years ago.

DAGGY, DAGGLY, wet, drizzly. " It's varry doggy thi' day."
See DAG.

DAINTIS, a delicacy, a dainty, a tit-bit ; a dish rarely cooked
or served, but toothsome. " It's quite a daintis." (Scarce.)

DAIRN, to darn. " Aa canna find me dairnin needle."
DAIRNS, small, unmarketable fish. — Brockett. (? Obs.)
DAKER-HEN, or DEAKER-HEN, the corncrake or landrail.

DAL ! sometimes OD-DAL ! modified damn. One may hear
Northumbrians speak thus: "Dal! aa'll tell ye what!"
"Od-dal! what a pity ! "

DALE, a valley, or vale. Tynedale, Allendale, Ridsdale, &c.
Dale occurs thirteen times in Northumberland. — Place-names
in Northumberland. — Arckaologia A^liana, vol. ix., p. 61.

DALE, a deal board. See DYEL, 2.

DALL, to tire, as a horse with a long continuance of slow
work. Applied also to people. " It's a varry dallin job," a
common expression.

DAMP, gas; the dampf of the Germans. The word is applied
to the gases generated in a coal pit, as fire-damp, or black-
damp (stythe), and after-damp, or choke-damp.

" The German dampf is explained by Adelung, ' any thick smoke, mist,
or vapour, especially when it is of sulphureous nature.'" — Wedgwood's
Diet.

DAMSELS, the damson, or Damascene plum. (Obs.)

" Paide for daymselks, £lb., 2s." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts
1598.

DANDER, anger, passion. " His dander's gettin' up."

2l8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DANDER, DAUNDER, to walk leisurely.
" Aw tuik a luik aboot the toon,
And efter dandenn up an doon,
To see what folks war deein."

T. Wilson, Opening of Newcastle and Carlisle

Railway, 1838.
" He dandered alang."

Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 9.

We "far up Wbyte Kielder did daunder."— Jas. Armstrong, Wanny
Blossoms, 1879, P- I32-

DANDER, the slaggy cinders from a smithy or foundry.
DANDY, Andrew.

DANDY, fine, gay ; hence " the dandy," the very thing. A
fine carriage is called " the dandy."

" Hoo many men get thor heed torned wi' dandy words."

His Other Eye, 1880, p. 4.
" March to the Dandy Fish Market."

W. Midford, song, " The New Fish Market."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 196.
" Rosy wine, and nectar prime,
For gods and men the dandy."

T. Wilson, Carter's Well.

Hence dandy-candy, gaily coloured or ornamental candy.
Compare CANDYMAN. Describing the old Tyne Bridge, Mr.
J. P. Robson sings :—

" But, spite o1 their ravish an' root,
Blue-steyny is still to the fore, man ;
The apple-wives on her still shout,
Dandy candy's still sel'd in galore, man."

J. P. Robson, " The High Level Bridge."
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 429.

DANDY-HORSE, the old velocipede, propelled by touching
the ground with the feet ; now superseded by the " cycles."

DANG (p.t. of ding), struck with violence. "Deevil, deevil,
dang ye, aa wish God may hang ye," is shouted in chorus by
children to the robber of a bird's nest.

" Ane tuik him on the heid and dang out all his harnes" (brains). —
Letter, 1565, Rowland Fester from Wark, in Charlton's North Tynedale,
p. 69.

" At last a great thrust dang him ower,
He lay aw his lang length o' the flags."

Wm. Midford, song, The Mayor of Bordeaux, 1818.
" She withered about, and dang down all the gear."

Savvey Ogilby's Duel.
" We shouted some, and some dvng down."

J. Selkirk, Sii'alucll Hopping.
" They dang wi' trees, and burst the dcor."

The Ballad of Jamie Telfer.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2lg

DANG, an expletive. Compare DAL.

DANGER BOARD, a board fixed in a mine to .give notice, at
a sufficient distance, of danger to be apprehended by the
presence of noxious or inflammable gas.

DANT, DENT, sofc, inferior, sooty coal, found at backs, and
at the leaders of hitches and troubles. — Greenwell.

" Dent, or sandstone shale." — Prof. Geikie, Hist, of Bwks. Nat. Club,
vol. x., p. 147.

Danty is applied to describe any stratum of this soft, sooty
nature. "Danty coal," "Danty band." Danty coal is also
called " foul coal."

" Black danty metal mixed with coal." — Borings and Sinkings, F.K., p. 42.

"Coal, black, danty, good for nothing." — The same, p. 51.

" Danty stuff." — The same, p. 53.

"Danty swad." — The same, L.R., p. 148.

DAR, to dare to, to challenge. " Come near me, if ye day."
" Aa'll dar ye de that agyen." " Aa dar'd him ti the door," or
" Aa dar'd him oot to fight." " Aa dar say" is equivalent to
" I dare say," or " I suppose." See DOR.

DARE, the dace, Cyprinus leuciseus. a small river fish, rather
less than a herring. Also called a shelly.

DARG, DARGUE, DORG, a day's work. "A day's darg."
At Halton the tenantry are required to give one day's labour
on the estate in the year for which no payment is made.
This is called "the bond darg." Food is supplied, with
beer, on the occasion. In ancient terriers dagg is used as an
equivalent for a certain quantity of land. Probably as much
as can be ploughed in one day's work ; or a day's work of
mowing, as in the Elsdon terrier we have " 9 dorgs of meadow
lying east " and " 4 dorgs in the Todholes Haugh." (Hodgson
MS.) " 13 rigs being 4 dorg." (Hodgson's Northumberland,
pt. ij., vol. i., p. 92, note.} A darg is occasionally used to
mean any set work. " He went three darg" — he went three
journeys; not necessarily day's journeys. [S.] "A mow
darg" is a day's mowing. " A shear darg" is a day's reaping.
(See examples under these words.) " Each tenant is to
perform yearly a mow dargue." (Hodgson's Northumberland,
vol. iii., pt. ii., p. 144, note p.]

'Thou's often help'd te buss the tyup,
And mun knaw a' the joy we fand;

When labour's yearly darg was up,

An' lots o' gaudy days at hand."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, and ed., pt. iii.

Middleton H. Dand, Esq., of Acklington, writes: "Darg, a
day's work. A ploughman was formerly expected to plough

220 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

an acre per day : hence the name of a field at Amble Moor-
house (my property) ' the four and twenty darg,' consisting
of twenty-four acres." A not uncommon sarcasm is to say
to a lazy fellow : ' Ay, ye've deun a darg, aa's sure.' " " In
mining, darg is a fixed quantity of coal to be worked for a
certain price. This word is seldom heard in Newcastle
mines, but it is the general term in use about Berwick. It is
equivalent to the hewing or score price of the Newcastle
collieries." (Greenwell.}

DARK, blind; ALMOST DARK, nearly blind; QUITE
DARK, stone blind. (Obs.)

"Pity a quite dark man." — Brochett.

DARK, to eaves-drop ; to watch for an opportunity of injuring
others for one's own benefit. — Halliweirs Diet. (Obs.)

DARKIN, eaves-dropping. (Obs.)

DARKNIN', twilight. " It was darknin' afore we gat hyem."
"He waaked back i' the darknin'."

DARN. " To the South end of Pitt Moore butts, then up to a
Darn road to the March stone." (Bounder of Old Bewick in
Hist, of Bwks. Nat. Club, vol. v., p. 256.) A "dark way" is
mentioned in the previous paragraph. Darn and dark are
thus probably synonymous for obscure, secret. The word is
found in the street called Darn Crook in Newcastle, which
was formerly a cul-de-sac. "A tenement or burgage, vulgarly
called the priest's chamber, as it lies and is situate in a certain
vennel called Dame cruke." (Deed of 1525, in R. Welford's
Hist, of Newcastle, ii., p. 87.) Derne means secret, and a "derne
street" is a street where concealment or hiding may be had.

"They loked est, they loked west,

They might no man see.
But as they loked in Barnysdale,

By a derne strete

Then came there a knight rydynge,
Full sone they gan him mete."

"Geste of Robyn Hode."

The Ballad Book, Allingham, p. no.

To derne is to hide oneself, to skulk. Associated with this is
dearnly, in which, from secretly, the meaning passes to lonely,
and so to mournfully, and in this way Spenser uses it, when
Alcyon, "breaking foorth at last, thus dearnelie plained."
(Spenser, Daphnaida, 1. 196.) And so also dernly is used as
secretly. "The lady dernly called unto her to abstain." (Faery
Queen, iii., xii., 34.) Derne in Old English was of course

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 221

spoken as darn, as it is to this day in Northumberland, and no
doubt the name of the street originates in this plain Old
English word. A writer in Nature suggests the derivation of
darn from Normandy and Brittany, where it means a piece, a
portion, in the patois of those parts. (Jos. Lucas, Nature,
vol. xxxvi. (1887), P- 339-) But the home origin of the word
is more reasonable. "Crook" is suggested to be connected
with the bends of the Lort Burn, which flowed through Darn
Crook. The "crooks" of Forth are familiar, a "crook"
meaning " a bend in the water."

DARNIT, DARNUT, durst not. See DARRENT,
"Aw darnit tell my brother."

J. P. Robson, Lovesick Collier Lass, 1848.
" The cat's the pictur o' distress —

The kittlens darnut play,
Poor Pincher niver shows his fyece,
Upon this dreary day."

T. Wilson, The Washing Day.

DARRAK, a set-piece of work. See DARG.

DAR-SAY ! with a strong emphasis is "No, I wont!" See
DAR.

DARWENTWATTER, the pronunciation of name of the earl
of that ilk. The tragic details of the history of James, Earl
of Derwentwater, who was executed on 24th Feb., 1716, for
participation in the wretched "rising" of the time are
sufficiently familiar to every Northumbrian. On the fateful
night the " Deel's watter" at Dilston ran blood. "The red
streamers of the north are recorded to have been seen" (says
Mr. Forster in his History of Corbridge, p. 160) " for the first
time in this part of England, on the night of the fatal 24th
Feb., 1716, and are designated, ' Lord Derwentwater's
lights.'" This is still the common name for the Aurora
Borealis in the district.

DASED, benumbed. See DAZE.

DASHING AIR, in mining, mixing air and gas together, until,
by being completely incorporated, the mixture ceases to be
inflammable. This is done by giving the air, after its first
union with the fire-damp, a considerable length of run or
course. — Greenwell. Compare DADDIN.

DAUD [N.] , to abuse. Compare DAD.

" Dand, or gie him weel his souses,
For ilk bad trick."
Poems, by F. Donaldson, Glanton. 1809, p. 13.

222 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DAUR [N.] , to dare, to forbid. Constantly used in Northum-
berland. See DOR.

DAVE, to assuage, to mitigate, to relieve. — Bwckett, 3rd ed.
(Scarce.)

DAVER, to stun with a blow, to stupefy. " He hat him sic a
yark alang the jaa 'at it daver't him.''' " A daveved aad man "
is a superannuated or silly old man.

" Was thor ivver sec a davered fuil ?"

Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 13.

DAVER, a stunning blow. " A daver, a devesher agyen the
metal pump " (Misfortunes of Roger and his Wife). A davesher
is a blow that has stunned or felled.

DAVY, DEAVY, the familiar name for Sir Humphrey Davy's
safety lamp.

DAVY-MAN ; the man who trims and repairs the Davy
lamps.

DAW, DOW, to thrive. (Obs.)

" He neither dees nor daws," i.e., he neither dies nor mends." — Ray's
Gloss., 1691.

DAW, to dawn ; DAWIN, dawning.

DAWB, to plaster. (Obs.)

"Paid for spares, latts, nales and dawbing of a chimney in the Almes
house, 8s. id." — Gateshead Church Books, 1631.

DAWBER, a plasterer. An ordinary of the incorporated
company of slaters of Newcastle, dated March i6th, 1677,
separated them from the company of wallers, bricklayers, and
dawbers, alias plasterers. — Mackenzie, Hist, of Newcastle, p. 697.
See DAABER.

DAY, the surface of the ground, the top of a pit shaft, the
"bank." A stratum is said at its outcrop to have " cropped
out to the day."

" Horses to draw your coals to bank (or day)." — The Compleat Collier,
1708, p. 32.

" The corf is drawn up to the top (of the shaft), or to day, as it is their
phrase." — The same.

DAY-FA', a pitfall.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 223

DAYHOLE, an adit or level working from the surface. Called
also, day-drift and grove.

DAY-SHIFT, when a concern is worked night and day, day
men are called the day-shift, and night men night-shift.

DAYS-MAN, an arbitrator; an umpire or judge. — Ray's Gloss.
" An old word still in use among the farmers." — Brockett.

D AY-STON ES, loose stones lying weathered upon the surface. —
Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geological Survey
Memoir, 1887.

DAYTALE-MAN, a man employed by the day.

" A labourer not engaged by a master for a certain time, but working
for any person who will employ him by the day or by the week." —
S. Oliver, the Younger, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 95, note.

DAYTALIN, jobbing at odd day's works.

DAY WATER, water which penetrates into the mine through
some direct opening to the surface. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle
Terms, 1852.

DAZE, to stun. Dazed, stunned, stupefied. Dazed is applied
also to ill-done bread or meat ; that is, when they have been
too long at a slow fire and have in consequence lost flavour.
The wood of a tree that has been allowed to lie too long with
the bark on after it has been felled, and has been injured
thereby, is termed "corky" or dazed. Hence dazed-like,
benumbed-like, as from cold or fright ; and dazedness,
numbness, as from cold or exhaustion. " Aa've a dazedness i'
that left airm." See DEASED, DEASY, and DOZZENED.

" A dazed look, such as a person has when frighted." — Ray's Gloss.

" A dazed-egg is one in which the young has grown much, but is found
to be dead at the time of hatching." — Hodgson MS.

DE, do. Before a vowel de becomes div. "Hoodiv aa knaa ?"
" To de wor turn " means having enough to live upon. See
DEE.

" Thou hes a witching way o' myekin me de what thou will." — Pitman's
Pay, 1826, p. 13.

" We a' ways had te de wor turn
And something for a time o' need."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 118.

DEADS. See DEEDS.

224 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DEAL, DALE, DOLE, to divide. " Aerator-lands " are
lands divided in acre strips. A dole of land is a piece of land
dealt or doled out, an allotment or apportionment. See DYEL.

"From thence as heaven water deals." — Description of a Boundary. —
Hodgson's Northumberland, pt. iii., 2, p. 24.

DEALT-AN'-DEUN, served out and finished.
" After a' was dealt an' duin."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 95.

DEAN, a deep wooded valley. See DENE.

DEAR KNAAS ! An exclamation equivalent to " I do not
know," or " Nobody knows." " Hes he been yit ?" " Dear
knaas." "Dear knaas what aa's gan te dee?" "He's been
dear knaas hoo lang away." " What the pollis wantit dear
knaas."

DEARN, lonely, solitary, far from neighbours. — Ray's Gloss.
See DARN. (Obs.)

DEAS, DEIS, a stone bench at the door of a cottage, some-
times covered with sods. The deis was " the principal table
in a hall, or the raised part of the floor on which it was
placed. Also, the principal seat at this table. There were
sometimes more than the one, the high deis being the principal
deis in a royal hall." (HalliwelVs Diet.) Mr. Wedgwood
shows its derivation from French dais or daiz, a cloth of
estate, canopy — old French dais, deis, a table, from discus.
The name was then transferred to the raised step on which
the high table was placed, or the canopy over it. In Raine's
History of North Durham, in an inventory of goods in the
Faren Islands in 1436, there is an entry of a " Piece of
blood-coloured tapestry for the desse." See DESS.

DEASED, wanting the life principle, as a dried up plant, or
wood that has lost its sap. When bread has been baked in
a slow oven and not thoroughly " soaked," it is said to be deased.
Wood beginning to rot is deased. A man in a deased condition
is one utterly dispirited and depressed. See DAZE and
DOZZENED.

DEASY, dull, spiritless, depressed. As applied to the weather,
" a deasy day " is a dull, damp, cheerless day.

DEAVE, to deafen, to stupefy with noise.

" Wi' thor hair reet on end, and thor blud like to freeze,
Myest deaved \vi' greet yells ; they dropped doon on thor knees."

R. Emery, " Curds and Cream House Ghost."
Allan's Collection, p. 295.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 225

DEAZIL, a deazil is a walk round by the sun. " Withershir s "
is to go contrary to the sun's course.

DEBATABLE LANDS, lands between the boundaries of
England and Scotland where the demarcation of each
kingdom had not been set out. These lands will be seen
on maps down to recent times, and in A New Map of
Northumberland, by John Gary, 1828, they are called "disputed
grounds." They had a bad name in former days. These
territories are also called bailable and threap-lands.

" This degraded land gave rise to that celebrated joke upon King
James's favourite Cow, which he brought from Scotland when he acceded
to the crown. She, having no taste for English manners, silently
retreated without even a farewell to the monarch, and was the only
personage in his whole train that ever returned to Scotland. When the
courtiers expressed their surprise how she could find the way, as she
could speak neither Scotch nor English, the King replied, that did not
excite his wonder so much as how she could travel over the debatable
ground without being stolen." — Hist, of the Roman Wall, W. Hutton, 1802.

DECK, the platform of a cage in a pit upon which the tubs
stand. — Gveenwell.

DECLINE, DECLININ, consumption. " He's in a declimn"

DEE, DE, to do — p.t. deed ; p.p. deen (heard at Wooler) ; and
deettn, or deughn.

" He hes eneough to de to get it o' deughn." — Thos. Bewick, The Howdy,
&c., ed. 1850, p. ii.

" Three o' the bullies lap oot,

An1 left nyen but the little Pee Dee,
He ran aboot stamping and crying,
' How, smash ! skipper, what mun aw dee ?' "
Song, " Little Pee Dee."

Allan's Collection, p. 194.

DEE, to die.

" If thou'll have me, faith I'll have thee,
And love thee till the day I dee."

Ed. Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1735.

Deein, dying ; p.p. dee-en. " He'd dee-en afore ma time."

" Deiand ai and never ded." — Cursor Mundi.

DEED, died. The p.t. and p.p. of dee.

" Paide for the chairge of buringe Dorathie Ogle, which deed in the
Newiate," &c. — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, July, 1565.

" Noo, Cuddy Willy's deed an' gyen,
Aw's sure ye'll a' be sorry."

J. G. Bagnall, Cuddy Willy's Deeth.
O

226 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DEED, death. The use is common in such expressions as
" Tewed to deed" " Flaid to deed" " Done to deed," "Worked
to deed" " Deed thraw " — death throe.

" Alle manere of ioyes er in that stede,
Thare es ay lyfe withouten dede."

Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of Conscience .
Morris, line 7,813.

DEED, stagnant. An unventilated place in a pit is said to be

deed.

DEED, indeed. " Deed, will aa not ! "— " Indeed, I will not ! "
" Geud deed!" occurs as an exclamation in a Joco-Serious
Discourse, 1686, by G. Stuart. Deed is used so emphatically
as to express more than a mere shortening of indeed. It
is probably an abbreviation of " geud deed"

DEED-HOOSE, a mortuary house.

DEED-KNOCK, a supposed warning of death, a mysterious
noise. — HalliwelVs Diet.

DEEDLY, deadly.

He " tried to shun the deedly blast."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 53.

DEEDLY-FEADE, a blood feud.

" If the (Tynedale or Redesdale) theaf be of any great surname or
kyndred, and be lawfully executed by order of justice, the rest of his
kynne or surname beare as much mallice, which they call deadly feade,
against such as followe the lawe against their cossen the theaf, as though
he had unlawfully kylled hym with a sword, and will by all means they
can seeke revenge there uppon." — Sir Robert Bowes's Report, 1551.

" If any two be displeased, they expect no law, but bang it out bravely,
one and his kindred against the other and his. This fighting they call
their feides or deadly feides." — Gray, Chorographia, 1649.

DEED-MAN, a dead man. It is remarkable that so many
attributes of the dead are repeated in the local common
names of plants.

DEED-MAN'S BELLOWS, the red rattle, Pedicularis palustris.
Also the creeping bugle, Ajuga reptans.

DEED-MEN'S BELLS, the purple foxglove, Digitalis purpurea.
DEED-MAN'S BONES, the great starwort, Stellana holostea.

DEED-MEN'S FING-ERS, the marsh orchis, Orchis latifolia.
Called also Dei'l's foot, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and
cock's kames.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 227

DEED-MAN'S GRIEF, the Silene maritima.

DEED-MAN'S HAND, the spotted orchis, Orchis maculata.
Known also as hen's kames and adder grass.

DEED-MAN'S THUMB, the early orchis, Orchis mascula (or
Aaron's beard}.

DEED-MAN'S OATMEAL, the seeds of hemlock, Conium
maculatum. Called also bad-man's oatmeal.

DEED-NIP, a blue mark on the body, ascribed to necromancy. —
Brockett. (Obs.)

DEED-PIG. A deed-pig' signifies that it is all over with
anything. " Noo, noo, canny judge, play the reet caird, and
it's a deed-pig " — said by a mayor of Newcastle when playing
whist with Judge Buller.

DEEDS, DEADS, the small stones, spoil, or refuse from a
quarry, or an excavation. Compare RED.

"The heaps of deeds, or earth dug from the ditch of the mums." —
Hodgson's Northumberland, iii., 2, p. 282.

" No. i Pit for the drawing of the deads from the Iron Mines." —
Borings and Sinkings, A.B., p. 84.

DEED-SMAAL, the finest coal dust.

DEED-SWEERS, very lazy, very unwilling. — Brockett, 3rd. ed.

DEED-THRAA, death throe, the pangs of death. See DEED.

" A man, when he first borne es,
Bygynnes towarde the dede to drawe,
And feles here many a dede thraw.
Als sere yvels and angers when thai byfalle,
That men may the dede thraws calls."

Hampole, d. 1349, Priche of Conscience.
Morris, line, 2097.

DEEP, deaf.

DEEP, barren, useless, decayed. A deef nut is a nut with an
empty or decayed kernel.

" Twou'd vex a man to th' very Guts,
To sit seaven year cracking deaf Nuts."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686 p. 42.

Deef earth, barren soil. Deef corn, blasted corn. A deef pap is
the teat of a cow that does not render milk.

228 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DEEF-STENT, DEFE-STENT, a payment of money to a
hind in lieu of cowgrass. Hinds were sometimes paid in
kind by farm produce. In this was included the pasturage
of a cow, but for the period in which the cow gave no milk,
before the time of calving, a money equivalent was paid
called the deef-stent. This was often as much as ^"3, and
it was the only cash payment received for wages, except the
"bondager's" wage, which was generally zod. per day in
harvest time.

DEEFY, an empty thing, as a nut without a kernel — hence a
worthless thing with an outwardly good appearance. A deaf
person.

DEEP-SITTEN, eggs in which the young birds are almost
ready to hatch out. " She hes fewer eggs deep-sitten"

DEER'S-HAIR, the tufted scirpus, orscaley stalked clubmoss,
Scivpus ccespitosus.

DEER-STREET, DEOR-STREET, the name given to a
Roman road at West Glanton. It is also the ancient name
in the county of Durham.

DEET, to set in order, to tidy, to clean. See DIGHT.

DEETH-HEARSE, death-hearse ; when the death- hearse, drawn
by headless horses, and driven by a headless driver, is seen
about midnight proceeding rapidly, but without noise, towards
the churchyard, the death of some considerable person in the
parish is sure to happen at no distant period. — S. Oliver,
Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 96.

DEG, to drizzle. See DAG.

DEHYIM, DEEYEM, a dame, a matron. See DEYEM.

DEIL, DEEL, DEEVIL, or DIVIL. This word plays an
important part in the "strange oaths " formerly prevalent.
It was used as an expression of impatience or contempt in
manifold combination, such as " Deel tyek ye !" " Deel smash
ye ! " " Deel brust ye ! " " Deel stop oot thee een ! " And even
in such remarkable invocations as "Deel fetch't ! " "Deel
scart yor nether part ! " " Deel rive ma sark ! "

DEIL'S-DARNIN-NEEDLE, Venus's comb, or shepherd's
needle, Scandiz pecten-veneris. Called also witch's needle and
Adam's needle.

" I have recently heard it called elshins, i.e. awls ; and the deiVs
elshin." — James Hardy, Bwks, Nat. Club, vol. vi., 1869-72, p. 159.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 22Q

DEIL'S-FOOT, the marsh orchis, Orchis latifolia. Called also
Cock's kames, deed men's fingers, Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel.

DEIL'S-LINGELS, knot-grass, Polygonum aviculave. Called
also swine's grass.

DELFS, small pits, which the country people call delfs, no doubt
from delving or digging. These places are invariably attended
with a stratum of ironstone not far from the surface. — Rev. J.
Hodgson, Archaologia JEliana, vol. i, p. 120.

DELIVERY DRIFT, a drift from low ground into a pit shaft
into which water is delivered from the pump. Called also

off-take drift. — Gveenwell.

DELL, a little dale, or narrow valley. Still used in the North. —
Halliwell's Diet.

DELVEN, delved,/./, of delve. " He might he' delven the side
piece."

DEM, to dam back water.

DEMEAN, to lower oneself. " Aa waddent demean mesel to de
sic a thing."

DEN, the place where the scythe is laid into the sned. To
den is to fit a scythe to the sned or handle. " Git that scythe
denrfd as sune as ivvor ye can."

DEN, the point or place in boys' chase games from which they
set out and on regaining cannot be taken.

DENCH, DENCK, squeamish, dainty. (Rare.)

DENE, DEAN, DEN, a valley through which a burn flows.
The Lort burn, crossed by the High Bridge and the Low
Bridge, flowed down what is now Dean Street in Newcastle.
Pandon Dean was once a thing of beauty, as old pictures show.
In " a song published in September, 1776," on Pandon Dean,
the poetess describes a distant view of

" Antique walls which join the scene,

And make more lovely Pandon Dean."

" A dene is a wooded valley — a very narrow opening crowded with
wood." — W. Morley Egglestone, Weavdale Names, p. 57.

There are twenty-seven places with dean and twenty-three with dan
on the one inch ordnance map of Northumberland. — Archveologia
jEliana, vol. ix., p. 64.

In the county of Durham appear twenty deans and twenty-two
dens. — Place-Names, County Durham. — Archaologia SEliuna, vol. x., p. 174

23O NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DEPLOID, a cloak. (Obs.)

"To Launcelot Metcalfe, a deploid and 53. in silver." — Will of Wm.
Bone, 1501. — Richard Welford, Hist, of Newcastle in XVI. Cent., p. 3.

DEPPITY, DEPUTY.

"The man who lays the plates and sets the timber for the hewers,
and has charge of a district of the mine." — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms,
1852.

" The deputies go to work an hour before the hewers. Their work
consists of supporting the roof with props of wood, removing props from
old workings, changing the air currents when necessary, and clearing
away any sudden eruption of gas or fall of stone that might impede the
work of the hewer." — Dr. R. Wilson, Coal Miners of Durham and
Northumberland. — Trans, of Tyneside Naturalists' Club, vol. vi., p. 203.

"On descending to work, each hewer proceeds 'in by," to a place
appointed, to meet the diputy. The deputy examines each man's lamp,
and if found safe, returns it locked to the owner. Each man then
finding from the deputy that his place is right, proceeds onwards to his
kyevel." — The same, p. 204.

" Aw gat, at furst, a shifter's place,
And then a deputy was myed."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 99.

DERN, dismal, dreary. See DARN.
DESARVE, to deserve.

DESS, DESSE, to lay close together, to desse wool, straw, &c. —
Ray's Gloss., 1691.

DESS, that portion of a haystack which is in process of being
cut and used as required. " A dess of hay." In a round
stack the centre, left after it had been dessed, was called a
" gowk."

" Ling, dies, hassocks, flaggs, straw, sedge, &c." — Harrison's England,
1577-

DESS, a step or raised place, a bench. See DBAS.

DEULL, DOLE, DOOL, grief, woe.

" The sorow and dale that thai sal make." — Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of
Conscience.

DEULFOW, doleful.

" What garr's the a dculfoiu fo'ke complain ?" — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious
Discourse, 1686, p. 62.

DEUMS, very, uncommonly. " Deums slaw," or "dry," or any
other action that requires deums to give it great effect, is very
commonly used.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 23!

DEUN-OWER, overdone with exertion.

" When wheit dyun ower the fiddlers went."

J . Selkirk, Swalwell Hopping.

" Then Geordy did caper till myestly deun ower.'"

Song, Newcastle Wonders.

DEVALD, to cease.

" It's rained the hyel day an' ne'er devalded." — Rothbury.

DEVEL, to beat, to maul. " He's getten hissel sair develled."
It is more applicable to a person who has come out injured in
a melee, than to one who has been beaten in a personal
encounter.

DEVESHER, a heavy fall, a crash. This word occurs in the
song of The Mtsfortunes of Roger and his Wife. The wife fell a
deveshev against the pump — that is, fell with a crashing blow.

DEVIL'S CAUSEY, a branch from the Roman way— Watling
Street — which goes off at Bewclay in a north-eastern direction,
crossing the Tweed about a mile north of West Ord. It is
also called Cobb's causey.

DEVIL'S GUTS, the creeping ranunculus, Ranunculus repens.
Also the field convolvulus, Convolvulus arvensis.

DEYEM, DYEM [T.] , a dame, a matron. "The aad dyem
sat aside the fire."

DEY-NETTLE, the hedge sylvatica, Stachys sylvatica. This is
quite distinct from the dae-nettle.

DEYUK, DYUK [T.] , Duke. "The Dyuk o' Newcastle."
" The Deyuk o' Northumberland."

DEYUK, DYUK [T.] , a duck.

" Paide John Belman for carying a flale to avoyd dukes out of the
street, 6d." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, 1594.

DEYUN, DEUN, or DYUN [T.] , done. DEYUN'D, done
it. See DEUN-OWER.

DHAEL, a funeral. (Obs.) Compare DEULL.

" They spak o' the great Swire's deeth — and the number oh fwoak that
went to his dhael." — Thomas Bewick, The Upgetting, ed. 1850, p. 13.

" She spack a deal about the deeth of the Swire and his dhael." " His
muther grat mair at the dhael than ony body that was there." — The same,
p. 14.

232 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DIALING, surveying. — W. E.Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888.

DIBBOARD, the dip or inclination of a seam of coal. See
DIPPER.

DICKY, the head. " Aa'll naap your dicky"— "I'll thump
your head." Dicky, a louse.

DICKY. " It's aall dicky /" " It's aal dicky win him !" means it
is all over with a person, or he is completely ruined. " Up to
dick," on the other hand, means absolutely perfect, either in
dress or in the performance of a thing. " He had on his
Sunday claes, an' wis up to dick, aa can tell ye!" "The
dinner was up to dick, noo ! "

DICKY-BIRD, a small bird. The term is always applied
endearingly. The Dicky-Bird Society, a society of young
people, founded in connection with the Newcastle Weekly
Chronicle, by Mr. W. E. Adams. The members are pledged
to be kind to all living things, to protect them to the utmost
of their power, to feed the birds in the winter time, and never
take or destroy a nest.

DI'D, do it. " Aa wis a fyul to dfd" " Aa didn' dfdt did
aa ? "— " I didn't do it, did I ? "

DIDDER, to quiver with cold.—Rafs Gloss. " To dodder,"
adds the Rev. J. Hodgson. See DOTHER.
" To shiver, to tremble." — HalliweWs Diet.

DIDDER, a confused noise or bother. — Brockett, 3rd ed.
(Scarce.)

DIE-SAND. See DYE-SAND.

DIFFICULTER, the comparative of difficult— more difficult.
The quantity is laid on the second syllable in difficult,
difficulties, and difficultev.

DIGHT, DEET, DITE, to make ready, to prepare. In early
writers it is used as a past part, in the sense of prepared.
Thus it is applied to a hard-boiled egg : "an egge hard <#£&£."
(Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of Conscience. — Morris, line 6,455.)
And, in the same writer, " The kingdom that is prepared
for you" is rendered "The kyngdom that til yhow es dight."
(The same, line 6,149.) In this poem it also means decked:
and the righteous in heaven sit in glory " rychely dight.
(Line 8,532.) So, too, in Chaucer :—

" Er it was day, as sche was wont to do,
Sche was arisen, and al redy dight ;
For May will have no sloggard yea night."

Knighte's Tale, line 1,042.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 233

And in Milton : —

" The high embowed roof,
With antick pillar massy proof,
And storied windows richly dight."

II penseroso, line 157.

To prepare is thus seen passing into the sense of decking and
of dressing. Hence to dight off is to undress.

''The ploughman he comes home fu1 late,
When he wi' wark is weary ;
Dights off his shirt, that is se wet ;
And supper makes him cheery."

Song, " The Ploughman." — Bell's Rhymes, 1812.

The word becomes most frequently used in the dialect, how-
ever, in the sense of tidying, setting in order, and, so, of
cleaning.

" Item, paid to Robert Thompson for dyghting the Cayll Croose (Cail
Cross) this quarter, lad." — Newcastle Municipal Accounts, November, 1561.

" Paid for dighting the Merchants' hall and the court against the feste,
6d." — The same, October, 1595.

" Dighting the fore-street, and carrying away the rubbish, il. 6s. 8d." —
Gatesliead Accounts, February, 1637.

" No armourer of the said town shall from henseforth take any dagger
to dight, or make clean, except the same dagger be made of a sword-
blade." — Order of Mayor of Newcastle, July 2, 1579. — R. Welford, Hist, of
Newcastle in XVI. Cent., p. 512.

"Your dirty sleeves away will dight
The slobber of tobacco-brown."

Song, Newcastle Swineherd's Proclamation, 1822.

" Dight yor eyes" means wipe your eyes ; and so "Dight the
chair," wipe the chair, or dust it. "Stop till aa dite me
hands." The word appears to be obsolescent.

DIGHTER, a winnower of corn. Also a winnowing machine.

DIKE, DYKE, a fence. The word is applied alike to a hedge,
a ditch, an earthen or a stone wall when used as a fence.
" Aa seed him sittin' in a dike back" — that is, in the shelter
or hollow of the dike. The goosegrass (Galium aparine) is
called Robin-run-the-dike, from its habit of clinging and running
over a hedge with its long sprays. A dike slower is a hedge
stake.

" When I was young and lusty,
I could loup a dyke."

Song, Sair Fail'd Hinny.

"Dike, a ditch. This is only a variety of dialect. Though it seems
dyke and scugh, or sough, are distinguished in the North ; a dyke being a
ditch to a dry hedge, either of trees or earth, as in arable lands, where
the ditch is usually dry all summer ; but a sough, or ditch brimful ot

234 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

water, as in meadows or sowbrows, are not above half a yard in height." —
Tomlinson, quoted in Ray's Gloss. Ray adds : " A sough is a subterranean
vault or channel, cut through a hill, to lay coal mines or any other mines
dry."

Dikes were also frequently trackways ; and there are many
earthworks of ancient date which are commonly called dikes.
One such is known as the " Black-dyfo," which is said to
extend from the head of North Tyne to the seaside east of
Morpeth. Another, "~B\a.ck-dyke," ran north and south,
crossing the Roman Wall at Busy Gap. There are also
several Grime's dikes, or Graham's dikes, on the Borders.
The entrenchments which surrounded the walls of Newcastle
were formerly called " The King's Dyke."

DIKE. A depot for coals at the staith was called a dike. It
means a jetty or pier by the river side.

" Every time the keelmen load a keel of coals from the staith, or dyke,
they get a " can." — Northern Tribune, 1854, vol. i., p. 210.

" A pier, or dike, run out at the north entrance" at Blyth harbour. —
Mackenzie, Hist, of Northumberland, vol. ij., 1825, p. 425.

DIKE, a fault in a stratum, caused by a crack, a slip, or by the
intrusion of an igneous rock, familiarly known to the pitman
as a " trouble." " The Ninety Fathom Dike," which passes
seaward at Cullercoats, is a familiar instance of a dike on a
colossal scale. Here a "slip" of five hundred feet brings the
magnesian limestone down against a face of earlier strata and
presents the dislocation known as a dike. When basalt is
intruded, as at Tynemouth Pier, it is called a whin dike. A
stone dike in a pit is an ancient " wash " which has filled
up a valley, cutting through the denuded seam of coal, "in
carboniferous times, before or during the deposition of the
overlying beds." (Professor Lebour, M.A., Geology of Northum-
berland and Durham, 2nd ed., 1886, p. 53.) Clay dikes are most
frequent, and are often impermeable to water. Rubbish dikes
are filled with sand, clay, and rounded stones. Slip dikes
usually contain fragments of the adjacent strata. When
the dike interrupts the working of a seam of coal it is called
a downcast dike if the continuation of the seam of coal lies
at a lower level, and an upcast dike if it is continued at a
higher level. " Doon-thraa," and "up-thraa " are terms for
the same. Compare HITCH.

DIKE-LOUPERS, transgressors.— Byockett, 3rd ed.
DIKER, a hedger or ditcher; a hedge-sparrow.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 235

DIKE SEAM, DYKE-SEAM, a seam worked nearly on end.—
Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geological Survey
Memoir, 1887, p. 59.

DIKE-STOWER, a hedge-stake. See DIKE, i.
DILCE, DULSE, a seaweed, Rhodomenia palmata.

DILL, to dull (Hodgson MS.}, to soothe, to blunt, to silence
pain or sound.

DILLER. The phrase "A diller, a doller, a ten o'clock
scholar" is applied to a dull, dilatory schoolboy, "creeping,
like snail, unwillingly to school."

DILL Y. The old engine on the Wylam railway was commonly
called "Puffing Billy," or "the Wylam dilly." Dilly, says
Mr. Halliwell, is a small public carriage, corrupted from
French diligence. The counter-balance mounted upon two
pairs of tramwheels, by means of which the empty tubs in a
pit are carried up an incline, is called a dilly.

DINDOM, a great noise or uproar. See DURDOM.

DING, to strike, to bang, to knock with violence. Past tense
dang ; past participle, dungen or dung.

" Thus salle thai dyng on tham ever-mare,
With gret glowand hamers, and nane spare."

Hampole d. 1349, Pricke of Conscience.
Morris, line 7,031.

" He bad

That thai suld tak kobille (cobble) stanes,
And ding his teth out al at anes ;
And when thai with the stanes him dang,
He stode ay lagh and them omang."

The same. — Morris, p. 288.

The word is frequently used in the dialect in the compound
form, as ding-doon and ding-ower. " Stand oot o' the road or
aa'll ding ye ower '' — knock you over. To ding also means to
deafen, to repeat noisily : —

" So, if ye please, aw'll myek an end,
My song ne farther din gin."

R. Gilchrist, Blind Willie Singing, 1824.

DING, used for damn.

DINGLY, deep cut like a ravine.

" The steep, wild, and woody bank of Stonecroft burn which joins the
dingly channel of the brook." — Hodgson, Hist, of Northumberland, iii. 2,
P- 393-

236 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DINMONT, DINMOND, a ten month. A lamb is called a
hog in autumn, and after the first shearing of the new year a
dinmont if it is a male sheep, and a gimmer if it is an ewe.

" Male sheep from the time of weaning to the first time of clipping are
called hogs, hoggerels, or lamb-hogs; then they take the name of shearing,
shearling, shear-hog, or dinmond-tups or rams." — George Culley, Live
Stock, 1801, p. 18.

DINNA, DINNET, DIVENT, do not. All these words are
used with the same meaning, but euphony suggests their
selection. This is an example of the richness of the dialect
which may well be noted : —

" Aw dinna mean te brag o' this."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 198.

" Dinna let it gan, Mr. Mayor."

Quayside Ditty, 1816.

" O, dinnet clash the door.
Divent dee'd ne mair."

DINNEL, to tingle, as from a blow, or in the return of
circulation after intense cold. " Aa felt me fing-er ends
dinnel agyen."

DINNY, dingy, dun coloured. See DUNNY.

" We tread aw Sheels, se dinny."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's Wherry.

DINT, as much land as there is mown in one direction at a
sharpening of the scythe.

DIP, deep.

" She's as dip as the deevil, or ony draw-well."

J. P. Robson, " Wonderful Wife."

Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 107.

DIP, the downward inclination of strata.

"There is a Rise, or Ascent, for a Colliery under Ground, and so by
Consequence the contrary way a Dip or Settling."—). C., Compleat Collier,
1708, p. 40.

DIP-HITCH, a hitch, or slip, in a bed of coal which casts
down the seam below the level at which the hitch is found. —
Greemvell. It is also called a doon-thraa, or doon-cast, or dipper.

DIPNESS, depth. " The well's nee dipness."

DIPPER, or DOWNCAST, a fault in strata by which the
coal is thrown down to a lower level.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 237

DIPPER, a very shallow wooden dish which floats on the
water in a tub, or " skeel," and so prevents splashing over
when the vessel is borne on the head. A flat piece of wood,
called a " stiller," is also used for the purpose.

DIPPER, the water ouzel, Hydrobata cinclus. Also called the
water plot and water crow.

DIP-SIDE, the low side.— W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss.,
1888.

DIP-TROUBLE, DIP-HITCH, or DIP-DYKE, where the
coal on the other side is thrown down. — The same.

DIRDUM, DIRDOM, DURDUM, DURDRUM, DORDUM.

Noise and excitement, a confusion, a hurly-burly, needless
stir or noise, din.

" For aw their Dirdom, and their Dinn,
It was but little they did winn."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 70.

" Syke dirdom 'tween thy pipes and thee."

The same, p. 44.

" The dirdum now there's nowse can beat,

Hawd, Dicky, till aw get a chow !
Here, aw say, Willy, gie's a leet !
Dick, damn ye, hand about a low !"

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1827, pt. ii., v. 32.

" It raised such a durdem,
The stones and the brick-bats flew up like a cloud."

Song, Newcastle in an Uproar, 1821.

DIREC, direct. When used for "instantly," it is often "the
rec-lys."

DIRL, to produce a deafening or a painful vibration. " Hear
hoo the win's dorlin." To " dirl the elbow " is to strike the
sensitive bone of that part — the "funny bone," as it is
called.

" Thy tongue runs like wor pully wheel,
And dirls my lug like wor smith's hammer."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, ed. 1872, p. 8.

DIRT, DIRTY, applied to the weather in heavy rain. "Dirty
weather." " PL dirty night" is a wet and "clarty" condition
of things. It is also used to express foul-air or firedamp in a
pit ; also rubbish mixed with coal.

238 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DIRT-BIRD, the skua gull. Several species of small birds
are confounded under the not over-complimentary title of
dirt-birds, because they sing on the approach of rain. —
W. Brockie, Legends and Superstitions, p. 136. Mr. Brockie
mentions the woodpecker, the plover, and the peacock as
rain birds. But in the case of the skua the term dirt-bird is
applied to it for an obvious and very different reason.

DIS, DIZ, dost, or does. " Dis thoo hear me?" "He die
nowt aall day."

DISANNUL, to injure, to incommode, to contradict, to
controvert, to dispossess, to remove. — Halliwell's Diet. The
word is still in common use.

" I never disannulled thy cow." — Brochett.

DISGEST, to digest. "He hes a bad disgestin." It is still
common in Northumberland.

" This is a very common form of the word in early writers." —
Halliwell's Diet.

DISH, the length or portion of an underground engine plane
nearest to the pit bottom, upon which the empty set stands
before being drawn " in-bye."

DISHALAGIE, or DISHYLAGIE, the colt's foot, or foal's
foot, as it is often called. Tussilago farfara, Linn. A
mispronunciation of the Latin name apparently.

DISHCLOOT, dishcloth.

" For dishcloot serves her apron. mark."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, p. ir.

DISHEARKEN, to dishearten.

DISHED, fuddled, overcome with fatigue or drink.

" Here Dicky's tongue wad de ne mair,

His wig was oil'd completely ;
And every drouthy croney there
Was dish'd and duin up neatly."

T. Wilson, Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826, v. 68.

DISHER, a turner of wooden bowls or dishes. Within the
memory of some still living (1886) there was a disher working
at Mitford. (Obs.)

DISH-FYECED, hollow-faced.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 239

DISH-PLATES, in mining, plates or rails dished to receive
the fore wheels of a tub, to facilitate the teeming. — W. E.

Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888.

DISHT, or DEESHT [S.] , just that.

DISN'T, DIZN'T, does not. " He disn't knaa nowt."

DISPORSE, to disburse ; DISPORSEMENT, disbursement.

DISTA, dost thou. A common colloquialism, as " Dista ken
the heed o' the Side ? " Hesta, hast thou ; wasta, wert thou ;
ista, art thou; cansta, canst thou, &c., are examples of similar
contractions.

DITARMIN, to determine. " Aa wis ditarmin'd to di'd."

DITE, to sprinkle flour.

"She forgat to dite the girdle, an' there's the kyek sittin' on." —
J. L. Luckley, Alnwick Language.

DITHER, to shake, to tingle. " Ma fing'rs is dithenn wi' the
caad." See DIDDER and DOTHER.

DITHERY-DOTHER, the grass Briza Media. Known also as
dotherin dicks, ladies' hands, cow quakes, and quakin or tremlin grass.

DITING, a very small quantity of meal or flour. — Brockett, 3rd
ed. Probably from the sweeping up of flour on the board
after it had been used ; the flighting. "Thor wis oney a bit
deetin on't." See DIGHT.

DITTEN, DITTANY, broad-leaved pepperwort, Lepidium
latifolium, L.

"There is an herbe whiche hath leaves like ashe leaves, calld Ditten.
I have found it at Tinmouth Castle, where plentie doe growe upon the
rockes." — Dr. Wm. Bullein, Book of Simples, London, 1564. — Quoted in
S. Oliver's Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 29.

"Now destroyed at Tynemouth." — A New Flora of Northumberland and
Durham. — Natural History Transactions, vol. ii., 1867, p. 124.

DIV, do. This form is used when the word precedes a vowel
or an h mute: before a consonant, de is used. "Div aa not
de'd ivvory day ? " "Aw wad div owt aa could."

" Thor'll be a most wonderful change if we div."—R. Elliott, Pitman's
Quarrel.

DIVAA, do I ? or I do. "D'ye hear us ?" — "Aye, divaa."

240 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DIVART, to amuse. A person is always said "to be dwarfed"
never "to be amused." Divarsion, amusement.

DIVENT, DIV'NT, do not. See also DINNA, DINNET.
DIVIL, devil. See DEIL.

DIVOT, turf; a sod. See DUFFIT.

"Jack Peel was a pitman, and also a theaker, a business of some note
when the cottages on the Fell were all covered with divots." — T. Wilson,
Note to Pitman's Pay, ed. 1843.

DIVUS, shy, retiring, moody, melancholy. " She's a varry
divus bairn."

DIZ, does. See DISN'T.

DIZEN, to dress, to bedizen. Dizen'd dressed.

" Day dissens the skies." — J. P. Robson, Tiptop Wife, 1870.

DOAG [N.] , dog.

DOBBY, a fool, a simpleton ; a silly old man. — Ray.

DOB-CHICK, the little grebe, the smallest bird of the grebe
tribe. It is called dob, or dab-chick, from its habit of constantly
"dabbing" or bobbing under water. — Wedgwood. It is also
called douche?, dipper, or didapper. In Naves' Gloss, also dive-
dapper.

DOCKAN, or DOCKEN, the plant Rumex obtusifolius, or the
Rumex Crispus. The seeding stems are called "Cushy-coos"
by children, who strip off the ripe seeds in imitation of the
milking of a cow. The leaves are accounted an antidote for
the pricking of a stinging nettle. Children rub the sting with
a docken leaf, repeating the words, " Nettle oot; docken in."
Soor-docken is the Rumex acteosa. The flowery -docken is the
Chenopodium bonus Henriciis.

DOCTOR, a hymenopterous insect that emits a dark brown
fluid from its mouth when caught. This fluid is supposed by
children to heal sores.

DOD, to lop, to cut off. Specially applied to the trimming of
wool from the hind parts of a sheep.

DOD! an exclamation of wonder. "Dod! but yor a queer
fellow ! "

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 24!

DODD, a blunt hill, or butt end of a hill. Its occurrence is
noted thirteen times in place-names in Northumberland. —
J. V. Gregory, Archaokgia ALliana, vol. ix., p. 64. The
truncated chimney or ventilator of a malt-kiln is called the

" Sand and gravel dodds." — Professor G. A. Lebour, M.A., Geology of
Northumberland and Durham, and ed., p. 24.

" Pike, crag, law, head, know, dod, edge, rig, predominate in the
nomenclature of the Redesdale eminences." — Dr. James Hardy. Hist, of
Bwks. Nat. Club, vol. ix., p. 452.

DODD, a fox. This is the family name of one of the old
"grains" of North Tynedale, who have been located here
from Saxon times. Reginald of Durham, writing about A.D.
1150, gives the history of their progenitor, one Eilaf, who
with his companions bore the body of St. Cuthbert in the
flight from Lindisfarne. Being changed into the shape of a
fox, his fellow monks prayed to God and St. Cuthbert to
restore him to his human shape. And from that day all the
race of Eilaf bore the name of Tod [Dodd] , which, in the
mother tongue, signifies a fox. — Dr. Charlton, North Tynedale
and its Four Surnames, p. 9.

DODDED, hornless. Dodded corn, is corn without beards.
" Dodded sheep, that is sheep without horns." — Ray's Gloss.

DODDER, to trim or clean sheep. See DOTHER, 2.
DODDER, to shake. See DOTHER, DIDDER, DITHER.
DODDERED, confused, shattered, infirm. — HalliweWs Diet.

DODDERIN '-DICKS, the quivering heads of the briza, or
quaking grass.

DODDINS, the fore parts of a fleece of wool. — HalliweiVs Did.
DODEY, George. " Here's aad Dodey comin'."

DOD-LIP, or DOG-LIP, or PET-LIP, a projected lower lip
indicating a pet or pout. " Dinna hang a dog-lip that way."

DOFF, to put off, or divest of anything. " Doff and don one's
clothes, contracted from ^0-0^" and do-on," to put off and on. —
Ray's Gloss., 1691.

DOG, a chock or block ; anything used to hold back. Dogs,
pieces of wood at the bottom of an air door. The part of the
chain which is fastened to the rope. (Mining Gloss. Newcastle
P

242 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

Terms, 1852.) The nails with a hooked head used for holding
down tram rails. See BITCHHAIL. Dog, used in timber work,
is an iron bolt, made up to about a foot in length, with iron
pointed ends. These ends are bent at right angles to the
bolt, and are driven into the timber which they are required
to hold together.

" A wooden utensil in the rude form of a dog, with iron teeth for
toasting bread." — Brockett.

" Clamps — irons at the ends of fires, to keep up the fewel. In other
places called creepers, or dogs." — Ray's Gloss., 1691.

DOG-CRAB, the shore crab.

DOG-DAISY, the ox eye daisy. — Chrysantkemun leucanthemum.

DOG-HEAD, the hammer of a gun lock.

DOG-HIPS, the fruit of the dog rose, &c. — Rosa canina, &c.
Dog-hips and cat-haws are commonly associated by children.
Cat-haws are hawthorn berries.

DOG-LOUP, a narrow slip of ground between two houses,
only wide enough for a dog to pass. " Dog-loup Stairs," a
street name in Newcastle.

"The narrow space allowed for eaves droppings, between houses, is
known as a ldog-loup ' (dog leap or jump)." — John Nicholson, Folk-Speech
of East Yorkshire, 1889, p. 5.

DOGS, the dog-fish. [Holy Island.]

DOG-SHORES, in ship launching, are the last shores to be
knocked away. They hold back the vessel on the ways.

DOITER, to be silly, like an old man. " He doitered on aboot it."
DOITERED, imbecile, silly. "Yor like a doitered aad fule."

DOLE, a dole of land is a strip dealt out or allotted, or a strip
of pasture left between furrows of ploughed lands. See
DEAL.

DOLLUP, a lump or large piece. " The hyel dollup"

DOLLY, a clothes washing stick, made with feet, but otherwise
like a poss-stick.

DOLLY, a contrivance attached to a chainmaker's anvil for
pressing the link after it is welded. A machine for punching
iron.

" A punching dolley, 16^ cwts."— Inventory of Wallsend Colliery, 1848.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 243

DOLPHIN, a mooring post in a river.

DON, in place-names, a hill ; sometimes den, as Wan&w-law,
where law has been added pleonastically. Don occurs upwards
of fifty-seven times in Northumberland place-names.

DON, to put on, or " do on." Donned, dressed. See DOFF.
" She's ready donned, like Willy Ho's (Hall's) dog." — Old Saying.

DONCH, fastidious, over-nice, squeamish, especially applied to
one who has been drunk over night. — Halliwell's Diet. See
DENCH.

DONCY, DONSY, fat, puffed up, important, unlucky. (Scarce.)

" That donsie laddie, Billie Brown."

Poems, F. Donaldson, Glanton, p. 4.

DONK, dank, moist, humid.

DONKINDALE, DANK-IN-DALE, DUNCAN-DYEL,
humidity rising in the evening in the hollow parts of
meadows. A raw mist on the water. It is difficult to explain
this peculiar word ; but a key to its meaning is possibly found
in " down come," a very common expression for a sudden fall
of rain. Dyel is to divide, to part asunder, just as a sudden
fog would shut out the view.

" Swa sodanly he sal doun come." — Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of Conscience,
line 4,821.

DONNAT, DONNIT, DONOT, DONNERT, DONNERD,

a wild, purposeless, wanton one. Donnat (dow naught), that
is, thrive not. Daw or Dow, to thrive. " He neither dees
nor daws" that is, he neither dies nor mends. " He'll never
dow" that is, he will never be good. — Ray's Gloss., 1691. It
is often applied to one with want of perception ; naturally
stupid. " She's a poor, silly, donnert body."

" Wor awdist lass, Jinny, the slee witchin donnit,
Had coaxed her aud minnie te buy her new stays."

W. H. D., " The Pitman's Tickor."

Allan's Collection, 1863, p. 352.

" Janet thoo donot, I'll lay my best bonnet
Thou gets a new gude man afore it be night."

Robert Surtees, Death of Feather stonehaugh.

DOO, a little cake, often made in shape like a child. " A
yull doo." " Corney doos." " A

DOOK, a bathe. " He ye had a dook yit ? "

244 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DOOK, to dip or to duck overhead in water, to dive. Also to
duck the head to avoid a missle. Compare JOOK.

" Payd for the doukinge stoull 123." (ducking stool). — Gateshead Church
Books, 1628.

" Aw'd dook her in wor engine powen,"

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 64.

DOOL, a cramp pin. See DOWELL.

DOOL, DOLE, DEUL, grief, woe. Sometimes used as an
interjection. See DEULL.

" God shilde you from all doole and shem." — W. Bullein, Redesdale
Beggar. 1564.

" ' O dool,' quo he, ' how can I thrive !' "

James Proudlock, Cuddle and his Craivin' Hen.

DOON, DOWN, to throw down.

" We down'd byeth him and Davy-o."

J. Selkirk, d. 1843, Sivalwell Hopping.

DOON, down. See note on ow, under Coo.

" Ho ! lizzen, aw ye neighbors roun,
Yor clappers haud and pipes lay doom ;
I've had a swagger through the toon."

W. Midford, Pitman's Ramble, 1818.

DOON-BY, along, or near by. " Will ye be doon-by thi neet ?"
" Aa's gaan doon-by."

DOONCAST, DOWNCAST, in a downward direction.—
W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888, under downcast.

DOONCAST, or DOWNCAST SHAFT, the shaft by which
the air enters the mine, as the ''upcast" is that by which
return air is discharged.

DOONCAST, DOWNCAST, a "trouble," or dyke, or dis-
location of the strata or " fault " by which a seam of coal
and its associated beds are cast down to a lower level. See
DIPPER, DOON-THRAA, DIP-HITCH.

DOON-COME, DOWNCOME, a descent. Generally applied
to reduced circumstances. " He's had a sair doon-come, poor
body." Also a heavy fall of rain or snow. " It's sic a doon-
come as aa nivver saa i' me life." The down pipe for rain-
water in a house front.

DOON-DAD, a puff of smoke coming into the room from the
chimney.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 245

DOON-I-THE-MOOT, depressed or out of sorts, like a bird in
the moult. "What's the maiter wi' Tom? He's sair
doon-i-the-moot."

DOON-LYIN, a lying in.

DOONPOOR, a downpour, a heavy rain. " It com on a parfit

doonpoor."

DOON-SITTIN, a location, a home, especially applied to a
place likely to prove of permanent comfort. " He's getten a
canny doon-sittin" Brockett, under down-sitting, describes it
as " a comfortable settlement, especially in marriage. " Ah,
hinnies, she wed him just for a down-sitting" [Newcastle] —
said of a handsome young girl who marries a rich old man,
where it is obvious that the ladyloves the house and furniture
as dearly as she does her husband.

DOONTHRAA, DOWNTHROW, the dip or low side of a
hitch or dyke. — W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888,
under downthrow.

DOON-THRUSSEN, thrust down, put down by force.
DOO-OR, door. A frequent pronunciation.

DOOR-CHEEK, the side posts of the doorway.
" To shew them we deal wi' Newcassel,
Twee Blackeys sal mense the dor-cheek."

W. Midford, Pitman's Courtship, 1818.

DOORS, used underground in a pit, where, unless a passage
were occasionally required, " stoppings " would be necessary.
They are usually placed in pairs, one being at a few yards
distance from the other, so that when one is open the other
may be closed. Several different descriptions of doors are
employed, of which are the following : — Frame-doors, man-
doors, fly-doors or swing-doors, bearing or main doors, sheth-
doors, &c. — W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss.,

DOOR-STEED, the doorway. " Set the skeel i'the door-steed."

DOOR-STYEN, the threshold. " She's nivver crossed wor
door-styen sin a twelmonth past."

DOOSE, DOUSE, comely, comfortable.

" Shem bin ye, says I, ye should keep the king douse."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.
" The duke e'er has been byeth wor glory and pride,
For dousely he fills up his station."

T. Wilson, Northumberland Free o' Newcastle, 1824

246 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DOOSE, DOWSE, to beat, to slap, to flap. " Aa'll doose yor
jacket for ye " — I will thrash you soundly. " She gav him a
reglur doosin."

DOOSEY-CAP, the punishment inflicted in a boys' game,
where the victim is compelled to run the gauntlet through two
ranks, each boy in which stands ready, cap in hand, to give
a " bat " with it as the object of the game runs past.

DOOT, doubt.

" Thor's mony a voice that is welcome, nee doot,
But the bonniest soond that aa knaa is ' Lowp oot.' "

Song, Howdon for Jarrow.

DOOTIN, doubting.

DOR, fear, numbness as the result of trepidation. " Aw was iv
a parfit dor at the time " — I was in a perfect state of fear, or
paralyzed with fear.

DOR [T.] , dare, a variant of dar. " Aa dor bet ye owt it will,
noo."

DORDUM, DIRDUM, a great noise, uproar. See DIRDUM.
DORG, a day's work. SEE DARG.
DORL, to shake, to vibrate. See DIRL.
DOR-LINE, the line used for catching mackerel.

DORMANT, the large beam lying across a room, a joist. —
HalliweWs Diet.

"For renewing our dormand, aos." — Trinity House Accounts, 1550. —
R. Welford, Hist, of Newcastle XVI. Cent., p. 273.

" Sometimes called a sleeper." — Todd.

DORNET, dare not.

"Aa dornet gan hyem for me life." — James Horsley, Geordy an' the
Sovereign, 1883.

DORSN'T, dare not.

" Folks dorsent say owt tiv him." — Ed. Corvan, Fire on the Quay, 1854.

DORST, durst. " Let him come to me if he dorst, noo."
DORT, dirt. " He's aal ower muck an' dort."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 247

DORTY, dirty, conceited, contemptible. " Hor, an hor dovty
pride!" "She's a dovty body." Also wet and stormy,
applied to the weather. " It's a dovty neet."

" The hearth is a' wi' cinders strewn,
The floor wi' dorty duds."

T. Wilson, The Washing Day.

DOSOME, healthy, with promise of improvement in it, as a
"dosome beast " — a beast likely to turn out well.

DOSSY, dull, not bright ; applied to seeds. Soft, not crisp. —
Brockett. Compare DEASED.

BOTHER, DODDER, DITHER, DIDDER, to shake, to
quiver, to tremble with age, to shake with cold.

" Ham's mother dothered like a duck."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Hamlick, Prince o' Denton.

DOTHER, to clean away the dirty wool from near the tails of
sheep. See DOD, i, and DODDER, i.

DOTHERIN-DICKS, common quaking grass, Briza media.
DOTHERS, the Spergula avvensis. Called also yawv.

DOTHERY, shaky. " Aa canna write; me hand's se dothery
thi day."

DOTTLE, the tobacco left at the bottom of a pipe after
smoking. In refilling a pipe, where twist is smoked, a
common practice is to save the dottle and put it on the top of
the new-filled pipe. " Aw like a baccy dottle to leet wiv."

DOUBLE-CHUCKERS, two of a kind ; twins.

DOUBLE-DUTCH, unintelligible talk. " Ye taak double-Dutch,
coiled agyen the sun " — said of a child or of any one speaking
indistinctly. Compare GALIC.

DOUBLE-HANDED GEAR, heavy drilling tools which
require two men to use them. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms,
1852.

DOUBLER, a platter, a large dish, plate, or bowl. (Obs.)

See DUBBLER.

DOUBLE-TRAM, a tram in a pit when worked by a "heed's-
man and foaleys " — that is, by more that a single putter.

2, [8 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DOUBLE-WORKING, in a pit, where more than one man is
put to work in any one working place. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle
Terms, 1852.

DOUBTSOME, doubtful. " She may pull through ; but aa's
varry dootsome."

DOUF, DOUFEY, low-spirited. " He wis varry doufey." The
latter word is sounded as douf-vey. See DOWF.

DOUFY, damp, humid, wet.

DOUP, the buttocks.

" Yor canny dowp is fat and roond." — R. Nunn, d. 1853, Saiidgate Wife's
Nurse Song.

DOUP, to dump, or thump, especially on the hinder part.
" Here, lads, let's doup him."

DOUPIN, a thrashing. " Aall gi' ye a good doupin."

DOUR, hard, sour-looking. " That's a dour lookin' chep."
" Dinnet leuk dour it us."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Sang o' Solomon, ch. i., v. 6.

DOUSE-THE-ODD-UN, the game of French tag.

DOVER, the water in which a salmon has been boiled, served
up as sauce for the fish. [Berwick.]

DOVER, to go lightly to sleep, to fall into a dose. " She's just
dovey'd, silly thing." " Dinna scranch on the floor ; yor fethor's
just dover't." " Aa dovered ower."

DOW, dear. Used in affectionate address. (Obs.)
" My Dow, quo she, the're wond'rous bonny !
My Dow (quo she), it's very strange."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, pp. 24, 26.

DOW, to be able to. (Scarce.)

" As mickle as four o' their braid backs dow bear " — Johnie Armstrang.

DO WELL, DOO-EL, an iron or wooden cramping or fastening
bolt. The wooden pins that connect the fellies in a cart
wheel are termed, by carpenters, dooled. Duelled is also applied
to a pin used by coopers to keep the edges of the staves from
starting.

" A Doul — a nail sharpened at each end ; a wooden pin or plug to fasten
planks with." — Halliwell's Diet.

"In mining, an iron bolt sometimes used in putting main brattice
together ; a portion of the bolt being let into the under plank, and the
remainder passing into a hole in the upper plank." — Green well.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 249

DOWF, dull, spiritless. " Dowf and blunkit "— dull and
disappointed.

" Lord Dacre fain would see the bride,

He sought her bower alane ;
But dowf and blunkit grew his look
When Lady Jean was gane."

Robert White, Lady Jean, 1842.

DOWIE, DOWY, dull, depressed. " It wis a dowie day when
the lad went away." " Cheer up, hinny, dinna leuk dowie like
that."

DOWK, a broken mass of shale. — Hugh Miller, Geology of
Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geological Survey Memoir, 1887.

DOWLY, doleful, miserable, lonely, darksome, awe inspiring.
Of a far-away, lone country house, it is said, " It's a dowly
pleyce i' the wunter time." A Hexhamshire rhyme says : —
"Dowly Dotland stands on the hill,
Hungry Yareesh (Yarridge) looks at it still ;
Barker's House a little below,
There's mokes i' the cairn at Hamburn Ho."

" Mokes i' the cairn" — maggots in the churn. Ho is the
Hexhamshire pronunciation of hall.

" We'll moralise, for dowly thowts are mair wor friends than foes,
For death, like when the tankard's out, brings a' things tiv a close."

R. Gilchrist, Lamentation of Bold Archy, 1824.
" Ma dowly cavel " — (my doleful lot).

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 48.
" This dowly lot's been Nelly's."

The same, pt. iii., v. 52,
" The Quay, just like some dowly place,
Wi' troubled spurrits haunted."

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

DOWN. See DOON and following words.

DOWNA, unable to. See Dow, 2. (Scarce.)

" Up and down I dow no' ride." [In margin, dow no' — am not able.]
G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 62.

DO WNDER, a repast. " Make your doivnder " — that is, take a
good hearty meal. " Your downder's ready."

DOWN-HOUSE, the back kitchen.— Brockett.
DOWP, the carrion crow.

DOWP, the buttocks. See DOUP.

" Some hardly fligged ower the dowp."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

250 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DOWPY, the youngest child, the youngest of a hatching of
birds.

" A dowpy wife" (that is, a lady in the family way).

J. P. Robson, "Pawnshop in a Bleeze."
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 340.

DOWSE. See DOOSE, 2.

DOWTOR, daughter.

" Like a lily 'mang thorns is maw love amang the dowtors."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870,, Sang o' Solomon, Northumberland
version, ch. ii., v. 2.

DOXY, a sweetheart, in an innocent sense. — Halliwett.

DOZEN, a galloway's load of pollings of birch and alder, varying
from ten to a hundred in number. — Bailey's View of Agriculture
in County of Durham.

DOZZENED, without spirit or energy; dazed. The word
has much the same meaning as dazed, which is, benumbed, as
from cold or fright, a condition in which the spirit, or life, or
sap has gone out of a person or thing. Compare DAZE,
DEASED, and DEASY.

" The joiners a' pin'd in wi1 drouth,
Shrunk up to spelks, and dozzen'd."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

DOZZLE, the tobacco left at the bottom of a pipe and put on
the top of the next fill. " Neebody can smoke twist without
a dozzle" See DOTTLE.

DOZZLE, a paste flower on top of a pie cover — the straw
ornament on top of a stack.

DRAA, to wind coal either along the workings or in the shaft.
Also to remove props in a pit.

" Draa me to the shaft, it's time to gan hyem."

Old Song, The Collier's Rant.

DRAAS, drawers. " A kist o' draas " — a chest of drawers.

DRAA-TO, or DRAWTS, a home in want.

" My father, poor man, has little of this world's gear, but his house is
a kind drawls for his bairns when they stand in need of a home." —
Hodgson MS.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 25!

DRAAIN A JUD, bringing down the face of coal, previously
set free to fall, by withdrawing the sprags after kirving. " In
mining parlance, 'draain a jud' also means the removal of
the timber or props after the coal has been taken away in
what is termed a broken lift, and is a dangerous, if not the
most dangerous work that a deputy is called upon to do in
his daily duties in the pit or mine." — " Northumbrian," in
Weekly Chronicle, Aug. 10, 1889.

DRAAK, DRAK, DRAUK [N.] , DROAK [W.-T.J , to saturate.
Also to absorb any liquid or dry it up with a dry medium.
" Put a bit o' whitenin on the oil an' draak 't up."

" Me heed's drackt wi' weet." — J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Sang of Solomon,
Northumberland version, ch. v., v. 2.

" A finer kind of barley meal, called, by way of distinction, flour, is
sometimes draukei with milk, and made into thin, crisp cakes or
biscuits." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 160.

DRAFT-NET, a salmon net for river fishing. See DRIFT-
NET.

DRAG, a rake for drawing out litter from cattle lairs and other
places. See HACK.

DRAG, the scent left by an otter on his track over the land.

DRAG, a sprag of wood thrust between the spokes of a wheel
to act as a brake.

DRAG, in mining, the friction of the air on the surface of the
passages in which it travels. — W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade
Gloss., 1888.

DRAK, or DRUCK, drank, the p.t. of drink.

DRAP, a drop.

" When Cheviot tap puts on his cap,
O' rain we'll he' a wee bit drop."

North Northumberland Proverb.

DRAPE, a farrow cow, or cow whose milk is dried up. Drape
sheep, the refuse sheep of a flock. — Ray's Collection, 1691.
(Obs.) See EILD and GELD.

DRAUGHT, the worst sheep " drawn," or culled out from a
flock. " Draught ewes." In parts of England these are called
culls.

DRAW. See DRAA.

252 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DRAWD-N AIL, a flat-pointed nail. [Winlaton term.] (Obs.)

DREAP, DREEP, to drip.

" Maa's heed's dreepin wi dew." — J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Sang o'
Solomon, Newcastle version, ch. v., v. 2.

" Dreeping pannes." — Inventory of Sir William Reade. — Raine's North
Durham, p. 178.

DREDGE-SUMP, a settling hole, through which water is
passed on its way to a pump, in which grit, &c., is lodged,
and so prevented from entering the pump.

DREE, a sledge or cart without wheels. On the authority of
the Rev. John Hodgson, it appears (Hodgson MS.) that drees
continued in use in Northumberland till as late as 1760-70.

DREE, to suffer, to bear, to endure.

" Whatever may be her punishment in the next world, she certainly
dreed a heavy penance in this." — Richardson's Table Book, Legendary Div.,
vol. i., 1842, p. 36.

" He lughe never, ne made blythe chere,
For drede of dede that he most efte dreghe."

Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of Conscience, 1. 6,522.

" Nor ever shall I wed but her

That's done and dree'd so much for me."

Lord Beicham.

DREE, DRIE, dread, to dread.

" Alas ! he'll doe you drie and teene."

Ballad, Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas.

" The English louns may hear, and dree."

Jock o' the Side.

" Ye'll dree the deeth ye'll nivver dee."

Northumberland Proverb.

DREE, long, seeming tedious beyond expectation, spoken of a
way. A hard bargainer, spoken of a person. — Ray, 1691.
(Scarce.)

DREED, to dread. " Aa's dreedin the warst, hinney."

DREED, dread, fear. " Aa've a parfit dreed on't."
" The day of drede."

Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke cf Conscience.

" Weive thy lusts, and let thy ghost thee lede,
And trouth thee shall deliver, it is no drede."

Chau cer, Good Connsail.

DREEDFUL, dreadful.

DREEP, to drop, to drip. " Dreepin wei " — dripping wet. See
DREAP.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 253

DREEPY, spiritless. " She's but a poor dreepy creetur."
DREEVE, to fly-blow. " It's fly dneven."
DREEVEN, driven. " White as dneven snaws."

DREIGH, deceiving. A piece of ground is said to be dreigh
when there is more of it than there appears to be. — Brockett,
3rd ed. Compare DREE, 4, above.

DRIDDLE, to loiter, to be slow in doing anything. "What
are ye driddlin on there at ?"

DRIE, dread. See DREED and DREE, 3.

DRIFT. A drift is a place driven to explore or reach the
coal. A "stone-drift" is one driven through sandstone or
strata other than coal.

" Oh ! marrow, oh ! marrow, where hast thou been ?
Driving the drift from the low seam."

Old song, The Collier's Rant.

" We have carried our headways drift about eight or ten yards from
the pit shaft." — Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 42.

"Drift, a horizontal passage underground." — Bainbridge, Treatise on
Law of Mines, 1856.

" Drift, an inlet for the emission of water in a mine." — Brockett, 3rd ed.
" A head driven on the strike of the coal seam." — Gresley's Gloss., 1883

" In coal, an exploring place ; usually a pair of companion drifts are
driven simultaneously for ventilation. Drifts (called stone-drifts) are
mostly single. In stone they are driven sometimes for the purpose of
exploration, but more frequently rendered necessary by the occurrence
of dislocations in the strata." — Greenwell.

DRIFT-NET, a salmon net used in the sea. " Drift-net fisher-
men " are the sea salmon fishers. " Draft-net fishermen " are
the river fishers. Compare DRAFT- NET.

DRIFT- WAY, a trackway or road used by drovers.

DRILLER, one who minds a drilling machine.

" The amalgamated society of horizontal drillers." — Trades union notice.

DRIP, a stalactite. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

DRITE, to speak thickly and indistinctly. — Halliwell's Diet.
" To void excrement. — Brockett, 3rd ed.

DRIVE, to dig, to excavate in a pit. The pitman drives in as
he digs, or hews his way, or gets the coal. See DRIFT.

254 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DROOK, DROUK, to drench with water. " He wis oot iv aa
that rain an' gat drooked ti the skin." Compare DOOK, 2, and
DRAAK.

"Drouh, to drench, to soak, to besmear." — Brockett.

DROOND, to drown (p.t. drund). Droonded is also a common
form of the past tense.

DROONED-OOT, applied to a colliery that has become filled
with water.

DROOT, drought ; DROOTY, droughty. See DROOTH.

DROOTH, thirst.

" We'll not wyest ower drams and drouth."

Pitman's Pay, pt. Hi., v. 60.

DROOTHY, thirsty.

DROP, the arrangement at a coal staith by which a waggon is
let down to the level of a ship's hatchway.

DROP, used in the imperative mood for stop. "Drop that" is
the usual peremptory order to stop doing anything.

" Ye cripple ! just drop yor fond gob."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Maw Wonderful Wife.

DROP, a trick, a surprise. "What a drop.'" — that is, what a
surprise. A reduction of wages. " Thor gan in at the drop."

DROP-DRY, water-tight, said of a building well secured in the
roof. — Brockett.

DROPPY, showery. " It's fair yenoo, but still droppy like."
DROPS, the common name for fuchsia.

DROP-STAPLE, a staple (shaft) down which coals are lowered
from one seam to another.

DROUK, to drench, to soak. See DRAAK.

DROVEN, driven, as with force of circumstances. " She's been
fair droven to deeth, poor body." Droven or druven is used as the
p.p. of drive. "Mony a day hev aa droven the gin-gan."

DROVE-WORK, the manner of facing building stones with a
chisel, as distinguished from broached work.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 255

DRUBBY, muddy. — Northumberland. — Halliwell, eleventh ed.
See DRUVY.

DRUCK, or DRAK, p.t. of drink ; p.p. drucken. " He dntck half
a gallon at a sittin."

DRUMLY, muddy, thick. Jummley orjumly is used in exactly
the same sense.

" For right or wrang he made nae matter,
So he could fish in drumly watter."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686.

DRUMMOCK, meal and water mixed. — Brocket*.

DRUNV,p.p. of drown.

" Al thai drund in the se."

Cur soy Mundi — Visit of the Wise Men.

DRUNKARD'S CLOAK, a tub with holes in the sides for the
arms to pass through, the head appearing through a hole
made in the end, which rested on the shoulders. It was thus
in former times used in Newcastle for the punishment of
drunkards and others, who were led through the streets in
this strange guise.

DRUV, p.t. of drive; p.p. druven. " He druv us ower iv his gig."
" She's been ower hard dmven"

DRUVY, dirty ; literally, troubled as water is troubled. Drovy,
or troubled water, is spoken of by Chaucer.

" Ayont yon dark an' druvy river."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1829, pt. iii., v. 123.

DRY, not diluted ; genuine, unadulterated.

DRY, a division in a quarry or stone where it can be parted.

DRY-ASK, a lizard, or a water newt when found in a dry place.

See ASK.

" Dry-asks an' tyeds she churish'd."

J. P. Robson, Hamlick, Prince o' Denton, pt. ii., 1849.

DRY DIKE, a stone fence, built without lime — that is, with
dry stones only.

DUB, a dirty pool. Also a still, deep place in a stream. " He
floondered amang the dubs " — that is, he splashed and stumbled
in the puddles. In Whittle Dene there is a deep pool called
" the whorl dub."

256 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DUBBIN, the dregs offish oil, used for softening leather. An
angler's bait.

BUBBLER, or DUBLER, a large dish.

" Two pewter dublers, two copper basins, and a pottle pot." — Will of
H. Yowton, 1581.— Richard Welford, Hist, of Newcastle, vol. Hi., p. 9.

" The platters, dubblers, and the delf."

Old song, Description of Sandgate.

DUBEROUS, DUBERSOME, doubtful.

DUB-SKELPER, a bog trotter.

" Like a dub-skelper he trotted."

T. Whittle, " The Midford Galloway's Ramble."
Bell's Rhymes, 1812, p. 175.

DUCCOT, or PIGEON-DUCCOT, a dovecot.

" A waste called a duckett lying within the castle of Newcastle." —
R. Welford, Hist, of Newcastle in XVI. Cent., p. 498.

DUCK-AND-DRAKE, the game of throwing flat stones on
water which tip the surface in their flight. From this game
probably originated the phrase of making ducks and drakes of
one's money — that is, spending it foolishly. — Halliweirs Diet.

DUCKEY, a drink ; generally used in child talk. " Dis thoo
want a duckey, hinny ? "

DUCK-STONE, a game played with smooth water-worn
stones, called ducks.

DUDS, clothes ; applied generally to working clothes.

" Dudds. A rag ; clothing of an inferior kind." — Rev. Canon Greenwell,
Gloss, to the Boldon Buke.

" The duds thrawn on, the breakfast tyen,
They're ready for another start."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 17.

" Clad in hard labour's hyemly duds."

T. Wilson, Death of Coaly.

DUDDIN, an outfit of clothes ; a suit of clothes.

" I packed up all my duddin."

R. Gilchrist, A Voyage to London, 1824.

" My flannel duddin donned, thrice o'er,

My birds are kissed, and then
I with a whistle shut the door
I may not ope again."

Jos. Skipsey.

DUDDY, ragged. " A duddy laddy " is a ragged boy. " He
put on his diiddiest clothes."

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 257

DUERGAR, a goblin race of beings known on the Border and
characterised as " the worst and most malicious order of
Fairies." Brownies, rather than fairies, they should be called,
for a duergar is a brown elf, and the apparition of " the
Brown Man o' the Moors" has "flayed" many a herd lad in
the solitudes of Northumberland.

DUFF, dough. The guttural sound is still preserved in many
words which in modern English are softened, as dough is to
" doe." See PLEUFF, THRUFF, used still for plough and
through — " thniff styen."

" 'Twas ne use then to teyk the huff —
Aw wesh'd the currans, mey'd the duff."

]. P. Robson, Wor Mally Tonied Bloomer.

DUFF, to sprinkle over with flour or fine powder, as in dredging
or puffing a burn or sore place. " Duffin'1 the bairn."

DUFF, coal dust or smaller coals, after separation of the nuts.

DUFFIT, a sod. " Dw^-theaked "—thatched with sods.

" Wor canny houses, rftt$i£-theek'd."

T. Wilson, The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.

DULBART,|DULBARD, DULBERT,a dullard, a dull person,
a thickhead.

"A feat that dulberts cudent de."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 104.

" To learn your exercise be quick,
An' dinna be a dulbard,"

Poems, T. Donaldson, Glanton, 1809, p. 45.

DULL. " Dull o' hearin " — hard of hearing.

DUMB-DRIFT, in mining, a drift by which the return air is
carried into the upcast shaft without passing over the
furnace. — W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888.

DUMB-SCREEN, a screen through which the small coals will
not pass. — W. E. Nicholson, Coal Trade Gloss., 1888.

DUMMY, a dumb or silent person; a blank or make-believe.
A dummy tram was one moved by two boys, or by a man and
a boy.

" She's nobbut a dummy eye."

His Other Eye, 1880, p. 3.

DUMPLIN, pudding of flour and suet or similar ingredient.
Pudding is the intestines, and is never used for the above
except for something foreign, as Yorkshire pudding.
Q

258 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DUMPY, sullen, discontented, in the dumps.

DUN, a yellowish brown colour. " A dun horse," " a dun mare,"
" a dun cow."

"John Read, charged with the stealing of one Dunn mare." — Calendar
of Prisoners at Newcastle, 1627.

DUNCH, to knock against ; to nudge.

" To dunch people off is most rascally mean."

"Simpson's Failure." — Marshall's Songs, 1827, p. 182.

" Somebody (lunched his airm."

Geordy's Last, 1878, p. 9.

DUNDERHEED, a blockhead; a simpleton. "What's the
dunderheed myed on't ? "

DUNGEN, DUNG (the p.p. of ding), driven or knocked about
with violence. See DING.

" Giff ony be tane with the loaf of a halpenny in burgh, he aw throu
the toun to be dutigyn. And for a halpenny to iiij penys worth, he aw
to be mar fayrly dungyn." — Frag. Vet., quoted by Dr. Murray, Scottish
Dialects, p. 32.

'• They'd dung my puer harns out." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse,
1686, p. 35.

" Aa thowt he'd a dungen doon the door ; he cam wi sic bats on't."

DUNGEONABLE. A dungeonaUe body ; a shrewd person ;
or, as the vulgar express it, a divelish fellow. As Tartarus
signifies hell, and a dungeon ; so dungeon is applied to both. —
Ray's Collection, 1691.

DUNG-TEAZER, the Arctic skua gull, Skua longicaudns, Brisson.
DUNK, damp, dank. See DONK and DONKINDALE.

DUNNY, dark-coloured, smoke-beclouded, and, so, of a dun-
coloured aspect.

" Tyneside seemed clad wiv bonny ha's,
An' furnaces sae dunny."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Jemmy Joneson's Wherry.

" Come thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell."

Macbeth, i., 5.

DUNSTANBOROUGH-DIAMOND, a name popularly given
to the crystals occasionally found near Dunstanborough
Castle on the coast ; and applied proverbially to the younger
branches of females belonging to that locality. — M. A.
Denham, Folk-lore of Northumberland, &*c., 1858, p. 44.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 259

DUNT, to strike or give a blow on the backside. This was a
favourite custom among schoolboys, who held up the victim
by legs and aims and struck the nether part of the person
against a stone.

DUNT, bad coal, mineral charcoal; any imperfection in the
quality of a seam of coal. — Brockett.

DUNT-ABOOT, a person ill-used, made a convenience of, or
knocked about. " Aye, poor thing, she's a fair dunt-aloot." —

DUNTER, a porpoise.

DURANCE, very strong, enduring material. (Obs.)

" An upper body of durance, pair of new black hose, and a new apron of
durance." — Will of William Grey, Miller, Newcastle. — Richard Welford,
Hist, of Newcastle, vol. iii., p. 32.

DURKE, to laugh— Northumberland. — Halliwcll's Diet. (Obs.)
DURR, numb.— Brockett.

DUSH, to thrust, to strike. (Obs.)

" For thare sal be swylk raryng and ruschyng,
And rawmpyng of deeveles and dynggyng and duschyng."

Hampole, MS. Bowes, p. 214.

DUSTIN, a thrashing, a hiding. " Aa'll gi' ye sic a dustin as'll
gar ye scart where it's not yucky." Compare with DUSH.

DUSTY-MILLER, a humble bee that leaves on the hand,
when taken hold of, a light dust. The plant Auricula.

DUZZY, dizzy, giddy, foolish. " Ye duzzy beggor, what are
ye deein ?" " Me heed wis quite duzzy"

DWALM, a slight illness, a faint fit. "He tyuk a kind o'
dwam, like."

DWALM-OFF, to doze off to sleep, to go off into a faint.
" Ah dwalmed off to sleep."— Dr. Embleton MS.

DWAMY, faint.

" Bet tornea dwamy, like to fall."

J. P. Robson, d. 1870, Betty Beesley.

DWINE, to pine away, to dwindle.

" Cattle dwitiing away under the power of witchcraft." — T. Wilson,
Note to Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, 1838.
" A flour, that es fay re to se
Than son aftir that it es forth broght,
Welkes and dwynes til it ba noght,"

Hampole, d. 1349, Priche of Conscience (Morris), 1. 704.

260 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

DWINEY, sickly, ill-thriven, dwindling through illness.

" There was dwiney little Peg, not se nimmel i' the leg."

W. Midford, Pitman's Shelly scope, 1818.

" Men are se dwiney noo-a-days."

W. Oliver, d. 1848, The Lament.

DWININ, a decline, a consumptive state, from dwine. " She
tyuk a dwinin, poor thing."

DYEL, DEAL, DALE, DOLE, to divide, to apportion.
" Dyel smaal an' sarve aal." Hence a dyel of land is a
portion divided, allotted, or dealt out to the occupier.

" The tan bad dele the child in tua." — Hampole, d. 1349, Pricke of
Conscience.

DYEL, DALE, a deal board. See THILL.

" But heavy puttin's now forgotten,

Sic as we had i' former days,
Ower holey thill and dyels a' spletten,
Trams now a' run on metal ways."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 67.

DYEM, dame.

" Will wakened up the drowsy dyem."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 129.

DYE-SAND, ochraceous sand produced by pulverizing a soft
sandstone. Its bright colour makes it a favourite article for
washing over stone floors or steps.

DYKE. See DIKE.

DYUN, done (p.t. of do). Often given as dttin. " Dynn up"-
done up, or exhausted. In Northumberland, generally, the
word is sounded as de-yun ; on Tyneside as dyun.

" Aw wonder when they will be dnin."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. iii., v. 28.

DYVOUS, moody, melancholy. See Divus.

EACH, an adze. See EDGE.

EALD, old, also age. — Halliwell's Diet. (Obs.)

EALDREN, elderly. (Obs.)

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 261

E ALE, an island. " Eales " is the name of a hamlet on the
Tyne, at Knarsdale, and of a portion of the haugh at
Corbridge. There is a place called Wyden Eels in Halt-
whistle. Wide-eels and Bridge-^/s are places on the East
Allen. On North Tyne there are the Eels, near Wark,
Bellingham Eels, and Eels in the parish of Greystead, and
EWs-bridge on the Derwent. — Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ij.,
vol. i., p. 86, note. These eales, or eels, are low grounds liable
to river floods.

EANY. " Eany and light," a term applied to bread when the
interior has a glazed appearance and is full of holes.

EAR, year. It is both singular and plural. " Fower cay come
May-day."

EAR, or NEAR, a kidney.

EARFE, fearful, timorous. See ARF.

EARTH-FAST. An earth fast, or an insulated stone enclosed
in a bed of earth, is supposed to possess peculiar properties.
It is frequently applied to strains and bruises and used to
dissipate swellings, but its blow is reckoned uncommonly
severe. — Richardson's Table-book, Legend. Div., vol. ij., p. 164,
note. The stones thus specially venerated were wrought
flints, or stone axe-hammers. Compare HOLEY-STONE.

EASING-DROPS, the drops of water from the eaves of houses
after rain. — Halliivell. The word occurs in " evesyng-bord"
the board at the eaves of the house, in account for repair of
the Heron-pit, at the Black Gate, Newcastle, 1358.

EASINGS, the projection of the roof of a house; the eaves. —
Hodgson MS. Also the projection of the covering of a stack
of corn or hay.

EASTER-MONTH-GIONS, EASTERMAGIONS, the
esculent (still common in meadow ground in the neighbour-
hood of old castles, villages, and monasteries), Polygonnm
Bistorta of Linnaeus. — Rev. John Hodgson, on Wardley,
Archaologia Ailiana, vol. i., p. 117.

EATHE, easy. See EETH.

" The uttermost walles were eathe to win."

Ballad, The Rising in the North, 1569.

262 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

EAT-OUT. This expression is applied when a level coal-
drift is turned to the dip, in order to take advantage of (or
eat-out) a rise hitch. — Gnenwell.

EBB, shallow ; an expression referring both to the depth of
shafts and strata.

"The coal lies very ebb." — Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and
Elsdon. — Geological Survey Memoir, 1887.

ECKY, sorry. " Aw wad be ecky." — Brockett, third edition.
EDDER, an adder. See ETHER.

EDDLE, money earned. EDDLE, to earn. See ADDLE.
" Savin's good eddle." — Proverb.

EDDLE, putrid water — Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet.

EDGE, a ridge, or rim of ground, generally an escarpment. —
Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon. — Geological
Survey Memoir, 1887. There are twenty-one place-names in
Northumberland into which edge enters (Biddleston-^^,
&c.) — J. V. Gregory, Archaologia JEliana, vol. ix., p. 64. See
under DODD.

EDGE, EADS, an adze.

EDIE, or EDOM, Adam.

" Edom o' Gordon." — Percy Ballads.

EDOM'S NEEDLE, ADAM'S NEEDLE, or SHEPHERD'S
NEEDLE, the Scandix pecten veneris. Called also Witch's
needle, and Deil's darnin needle.

EE, eye. EEN, eyes.

" Come to me, ma little lammy,
Come, thou apple o'ma ft"

Thomas Wilson, Pitman's Pay, 1826, pt. i., v. 92.

Ee is also applied to an orifice, such as the hole in a pick or
hammer, or a grindstone. The mill-ee, the orifice in the
casing of mill-stones where the flour is conveyed into the
spout ; or the channel hole by which water passes on to
the wheel of a water mill.

" The mousey she cam to the Mill ee, to the Mill ee, to the Mill ee ;
The mousey she cam to the Mill ee.

Cuddy alone an' me.

The mousey she cam to the Mill ee, there the froggy for to see.
Kick m' leary, cowden dan, Cuddy alone an' me."

Old Northumberland Rhyme.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 263

Well-ee, the mouth of a well. Kiln-ee, the orifice in a
lime kiln from which the lime is drawn. The pronunciation
is generally ee-uh, ee-ih ; plural, ee-yen. See also EYE.
" That sight he sal se with gastly eghe."

Hampole, d. 1349, Priche of Conscience.
Morris, line 2,234.

EE ! an expression of delight or wonderment.

EE, you. " It wis ee 'at did it " — It was you who did it.

EE-BREE, the eyebrow.

" I would the faem were ower my face,
Or the mools on my ee-brce."

A. C. Swinburne, Tyneside Widow, 1888.

EECHY, itchy.

EEL. See EALE.

EEL-BEDS, the water crowfoot, Ranunculus aquatilis.

EELD, to yield. " Hoo much is the coo eeldin .p"

EELEITE, ELEATOR, EELY-EELY-ITE, EELY-EELY-
ATOR, various names for a small eel. A boy who puts off
his clothes, but fears to bathe, is contemptuously called an
eely-eely-ite.

" Eely-eely-ator, cast your tail in a knot
And I'll thraw ye into the waitor."

Juvenile Rhyme.

EEL-WARE, the plant Ranunculus fluitans. Compare EEL-
BEDS.

EEN, eyes.
EER, year.

EERAND, an errand, a journey. " He went ance eevand
for'd " — he went a special journey or errand for it.

EET [S.] , it. " Aa seed eet mesel."

EETH, easy — Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet.

" Where ease abownds yt's eath to doe amis."

Spenser, Faerie Queenc, ii., iii., 40.

EEZ, a form of his. So sounded in such sentences as " Him
an' eez new fangles." When it occurs, however, as in the
phrase, " If he comes here agyen wi' heez new fangles," the
aspirate is strongly marked.

264 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

EFA, a small, diminutive person. " He's nowt but an efa."
EFTER, after.
EIDENT, industrious.

EIGHT, eighth. Frounced eit.

" This is the seevent or eight.'" — Thomas Bewick, The Howdy, ed. 1850,
p. ii.

EIGH-WYE, equivalent to " Well-you-know." A colloquial
expression sometimes used to express indifference or regret.
" Eigh-wye ! it canna be helped." " Eigh-wye ! tyek yor aan
way wi'd."

EILD, without milk. " Eild gimmers, eild ewes." — Auctioneer's
advertisement, Newcastle Daily Journal, April 23, 1887. The
term is applied to a barren ewe, or to one that has missed
having a lamb ; but more frequently to a cow after she has
ceased to give milk, ranging from four months till the time of
calving. See GELD, 2 and 3.

EIT, eight.

EKE, an addition to a building, an added piece. An "eke " is
also the addition to a beehive.

EKE, EEKE, the dressing or oil in woollen cloth. " The
eeke's no' oot." .

ELD-FATHER, father-in-law. (Obs.)

Nicholas Rayne wills that he be buried in the Church of St. Nicholas,
Newcastle, "as near my eld-father as possible may be." — Richard
Welford, History of Newcastle, vol. iii., p. 329.

ELDIN, the butter-burr, Petasites vulgayis. See ELL DOCKEN.

" Called in Northumberland an eldin, in Cambridgeshire a btttterbur." —
Turner's Herbal, 1562, ij., 83.

ELDIN, rubbish, or brushwood, for fuel.

" Elding, or fire-elding, fuel, such as turf, peat, or wood." — Hodgson MS.

ELDRITCH, ghastly, frightful. See ELLERISH.

" Screachin out an eldritch sound." — Lewis Proudlock, Cuddle and his
Craw in' Hen.

ELF-SHOTS, ELF-ARROWS, stone arrow-heads.
ELICK, Alexander. " Elick's Lonnin' " in Newcastle.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 265

ELL-DOCKEN, ELDIN - DOCKEN, the butter - burr,
Petasites vulgaris. See ELDIN, i.

ELLEMS, the bars of a gate. Sometimes called selms.
ELLER, the alder, Alnus glutinosa, L. See ALLER and OLLER.

ELLERISH. dismal, frightful. Halliwell spells it elriche,
giving it as a Durham word. The form is sometimes heard
B.B yellerish. It is often written eldritch.

" An ellerish cry" — a fearful, dismal cry. — Brockett, third edition.

ELL-SHINDERS, or YELLOW-ELL-SHINDERS, the
plant ragwort, Senecio Jacobcea. Known also as yellow-top-
ragwort, or yellow-weed.

EL-MOTHER, a stepmother. (Obs.)

ELM-WYCH, the wych-elm, also called the Scotch-elm, Ulmus
montana.

ELSE, already. " Hoo quick ye've been ! He' ye been there
else ?" It is also used for " in the meantime." " There noo ;
that'll dee, else" But frequently as we use "eh ?" when an
interrogative is meant. " Wait ye war there, else ?" is
thus, " Is it not a fact that you were there, eh ?"

ELSHINS, the plant Scandix pecten veneris, L. See DEIL'S-

DARNIN-NEEDLE.

ELSIE, or AILSIE, Alice. " Do ye ken Elsie Marley, hinny ?"

ELSON, ELSKIN, ELSHIN, ELSEEN, a shoemaker's awl.
" 600 elsone blades." — Appraisement of the goods of Thomas Liddell. —
R. Welford, History of Newcastle, XVI. Century, p. 490.

ELSPITH, ELSPETH. A woman's Christian name,
Elizabeth. It is not used as an abbreviation of Elizabeth,
but as a distinct name.

ELWAYSEES [S.] , in every way. " Aa've tried eet elwaysees,
an' it winna gan."

EME, an uncle by the mother's side. — Bailey's Diet. Earn is
more proper, on account of the etymology, but cine is perhaps
more common.

" Henry Hotspur and his eame,
The Earl of Wor'ster."

Drayton, Polyolbion, 22, p. 1,070.

Nan's Glossary.
" Still (1824) used in Northumberland." — Hodgson MS.

266 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

EMPY, empty.

ENCIENT, ENNCIENT, the pronunciation of ancient. Ancient
means in old forms a standard and a standard bearer. In the
following entry from St. Nicholas' parish register, Newcastle,
it is used for "colour-sergeant": — "1644, Will. Wayre,
Enncient to Coronell Arishin, bur. 4 Jan." — J. R. Boyle,
Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, p. 88. "Yours is a very old
town, Mr. Mayor," said a distinguished guest to the chief
magistrate of Newcastle. " Yis, sor," replied the mayor, " it
always was an encient pleyce."

END, to set upright, to set on end. Upend is often used
similarly, and " end it up," or "up end it," are indifferently
spoken with the same meaning.

END-ON, having the end towards the spectator. Hence
conveying the meaning of an advancing body. " The waggons
wis comin' end-on."

ENDWEDGE, a fire-brick, gin. long by 4^in. wide, made 2^in.
thick at one end, diminishing to i£in. at the other.

ENDWIS, ENDWAYS, forward, on end. " Co' bye, let me
get endwis wi' me wark." "Even endways" — in an even,
continuous flow. " He taaked even endwis."

ENDY. An endy fellow is one who is always trying to control
matters for his own emolument.

ENEUGH, ENEW, ENOW, enough.

ENGAGE, to attract. The word is used in the dialect with
the early meaning which is still present in its form of engaging —
attractive — in the literary dialect.

" Maw bed wad engage ony duchess."

J. P. Robson, " Nanny Jackson's Letter."
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 237.

ENGINE-BANK, an inclined plane at a colliery where waggons
are hauled by a rope and stationary engine.

ENGINE-PIT, the shaft of a colliery in which the pumps are
worked.

ENGINE-PLANE. At a colliery, a level main road, "a road
on which the tubs are hauled along by ropes from a stationary
engine." — W. E. Nicholson, Glossary of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 267

ENGINE-SEAM, the name of a seam of coal on Tyneside.
In 1649 Gray wrote : " Master Beaumont, a gentleman of
great ingenuity and rare parts, adventured into our mines,
who brought with him many rare engines not known then in
these parts." The memory of these " rare engines" survives
in the name of the seam which he appears to have discovered,
still called the engine seam or " Beaumont."

ENOO, YENOO, shortly, anon. " Aa'll be there yenoo."

ENTRY, a passage way ; a narrow lane, like a chare. There
were in Newcastle, formerly, the Bakers' Entry, doggers'
Entry, Fenv/ick's Entry, Mackford's Entry, Joint Stock Entry,
Dowie's Entry. Mill Entry, Johnson's Entry, Wrangham's
Entry, Spencer's Entry, Scott's Entry, Wood Entry, White-
boar Entry, &c. In Newcastle the word is pronounced as a
trisyllable — en-ter-ee. The narrow lanes in the suburb of
Sandgate were nearly all called entries, whilst those on the
Quayside were generally known as chares. The passage-
way of a house. " Leave yor dorty shoes i' the entry " — leave
them in the passage.

" Such sighs and soft wishes, from lads and from lasses,
Who tell their fond tales at an entry-end."

W. Stephenson, senr., Newcastle on Saturday Night.

EQUAL-AQUAL, equally balanced.

ERDSREW, ARD-SREW, the common shrew mouse.

ERLES, earnest money ; pronounced arles, which see.

ESH, the ash-tree, Fraxinus excelsior. " An even esh " is an ash
leaf in which the terminal leaflet is wanting, and the pairs of
leaflets are consequently even. It is considered as lucky to
find an " even esh" as to find a four-leaved clover.

ESK, a newt. See ASK.

ESP, the aspen tree, Populus tremula, or trembling poplar.

ESS, ashes. See Ass.

ESS-HWOLE, an ash bin.

ESTOVER, a hedge stake. Compare STOWER.

ETHER, EDDER, an adder. In Northumberland the dragon-
fly is called " bull ether," or " fleein ether" flying adder.

268 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

ETHER, NETHER, to blast, as by frost or cold wind. See
NETHER.

ETHERISH, keen, cold, biting. " It's an etherish mornin1."

ETTIN, or YETUN, a boggle.

"The peple ther say that ther dwelled yn it one Yottin, whom they
fable to have been a Gygant." — Ley land, on Corbridge, Itinerary, third
edition, vol. v.

ETTLE, to intend, to endeavour, to foresee, to contrive by
forethought, and, so, to appoint, to arrange ; always meaning
some action that has been thought out beforehand. " Aa'll
ettle to be there, noo, if I can."

" A galvanic machine 'at aa ettled to myek mesel." — Geordy's Last,
1878, p. 10.

ETTLEMENT, intention. That which is set aside or
intended for one.

EVENDOON, straight down, straightforwardly, An cvendoon
rain is a steady downpour. Evendoon thump is a blunt,
straightforward statement.

EWE-DAISY, the plant Potentilla tovmentilla. Known also as

shepherd's knot, flesh-and-blood, or blood-root,

EWE-DYKE. See EWE-HUNG.

EWE-GOWAN, or EWE-GOLLAN.

" The Daisy in North Tindale. Gowan is any flower of a golden
colour, and then figuratively a flower." — -Hodgson's MS.

EWE-HUNG, a dyke set with hazel or willow bows on the
top, to keep sheep from leaping over ; or a row of short stakes
stuck in a sod hedge with a rope drawn along their tops
through a hole in each. — Hodgson's MS.

EWER, an udder,

EXCLAMATIONS. Most of these are nowadays used without
any thought whatever of their original meaning. They are
spoken as "idle words" ; but some of them enter so frequently
into the common speech that to omit them would be to leave
a blank in the collection of Northumberland words. Aa's
coxed ! Aa's goxed ! Ad smash ! Aehy ! Assay ! Ay-di-
me ! Baa ! Baa sang ! Bi blist ! Bi cavers ! Bi crike !
Bi crikey ! Bi gell ! Bi gocks ! Bi golly ! Bi gum ! Bi jing !
Bi jinks ! Bi maa truly ! Bi maa jinkers ! Bi me sowl !

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 269

Bi the gowky ! Bliss me ! Bliss us ! Blou ma rags ! Blou
ye ! Boodyankers ! Boozy Nick ! Buzzy ! By eye ! By
Goshen ! Carties ! Crike! Crikes ! Crikey! Dal! Dang!
Dang it! Dash! Dash me wig ! Dash me buttons! Dearie
me ! Dear knaas ! Deed ! De'il bin ! De'il fetch't ! De'il
ken ! De'il me ken ! De'il rive thor sark ! De'il scart ye !
De'il smash ! De'il stop out tha een ! Deuce tyek ye !
Deums ! Di bon ! Di me rattle ! Ding ! Dod ! Dool !
Drab it ! Eee ! Egocks ! Eh ! Eh what a ! Eh wow !
Eigh wye ! Faiks ! For-a-sykes ! Gad smash ! Gad smash
me sark ! Gan ti Hecklebarny ! Geh ! Get oot ! Get away !
Geud deed ! Go ! Go bon ! Go cab maa lug ! God geyhd
us ! God's wuns ! Go set ! Gosh cab ! Gox ! Hadaway !
Heigh how ! Hinny how ! Hoot ! Houts ! How ! How
marra ! How there! I'faiks! I'faikins ! Kaa ! Kid away
man ! Kiver awav ! Leuk a day ! Lilly leuds ! Lilly wuns !
Lilly wunters ! Loaky me ! Losh ! Losh a daisy ! Losh
man ! Losh marcy ! Losh me ! Lucka ! Lucksta ! Luck
ye, see ye ! Maa ! Maa carties ! Maa conscience ! Maa
faith ! Maa patience ! Maa sang ! Maa santies ! Manalive !
Marcy on us ! My Joes ! Od ! Od bin ye ! Od dal ! Od
man ! O dool ! Od's bobs ! Od's fish ! Od's heft ! Od's
marcy ! Od smash ! Od smon the' ! Od swell ye ! Od
swite ! Od's wunners ! Od's wunnerful ! Od zounds !
Sankers ! Sarties ! Seesta ! See ye ! Shem a ma ! Shem bin
ye! Sink! Sink me! Sink me heart! Sink me sowl ! Smash!
Smash man ! Smash marra ! Smash me ! Smash me crop !
Smash me hoggers ! Smash me sark ! Syeks man ! Sykes
alive ! Ye boozy alley ! Wae's me ! Wally ! Weelet o' the
fellow ! Well aa nivvor ! Welladay ! Wellaway ! What
cheer ! Wow ! Wuks ! Wuns ! Wuntersful ! Wye, wye !
Ye buzzy ! Ye buzzy-alley ! Zoons !

In the foregoing it will be seen that Od and Dod are thin
disguises. It is not so apparent that gosh, gox, golly, gocks and
cocks are also corruptions of the same name. But such is the
case, as the oath in Hamlet — " By cocke they are to blame "-
shows us. It is yet more difficult to see how these words have
acquired the verbal form "tobegoxed," or " to be coxed."
The oath "Boodyankers" is ingeniously suggested to be
" body and croix " (or cross) ; and " sankers " is also said to be
a disguised form of saint croix (holy cross), "Crike" and
" Crikey " are a veiled form of Christ. " Smash " may also
be mess, or " by the mass," and "Ad smash," or " Od smash,"
would thus mean "God's Mass." "Baa Sang" may
similarly mean, " by the Sangrail " — that is, by the holy dish.
The Saviour's passion is referred to in the " Od swite," or

270 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

God's sweat, and the "crucifixion" in "Wuns," "Od zounds,"
" Od's wunners," and " Wuntersful," meaning God's wounds.
Many of these references it will be seen pass into grotesque
and meaningless variations, but it is noteworthy that these
formerly pious expressions greatly prevail over invocations
a diabolic kind. Finally, every one of the expressions of
given in this list is from recorded usage in the county of
Northumberland.

EYE, the orifice in a pick ; the hole in a grindstone; the opening
at a water-mill through which the water is delivered over
the wheel ; the discharge hole in a lime-kiln ; the orifice in
the casing of millstones through which the flour passes ; the
mouth of a well. See EEE.

EYEN, the eyes. In common use as late as 1824, now scarce.
See EEN.

FA' AND FA' ABOUT, the portions of the holders in a
"field" under the old system of tillage, in which the strips,
called falls, were said to lie fa1 and fa1 about, that is, in
alternating order. Compare ATHER, BAAK, CABLE, CAVEL,
RIG 2.

FA A, the common name for a Gipsy or a vagabond, " vagrom
man." Itinerant tinkers, besom makers, muggers, and such
like, were known as Faas, after the gipsy tribe of that name.
The name in Newcastle expresses contempt, and in a street
brawl, " Get oot, ye clarty Faa," sums up the measure of a
woman's scorn for her adversary. See CRAMER, MUGGER,
and TINKLER.

" The place was a common receptacle for all kinds of vagrants, called
' Faas ' (Faws)." — Thos. Wilson, note to The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1825.

" A Faw gang is a general name in Northumberland for all sorts of
wandering people." — Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ij., vol. i., p. 101.,
note.

FAA FAAL. to fall ; p. faad, p.p. faan. '• Did ye faa ? " " Yis,
aa faad clean doon, an' aa felt nowt till efter aa'd faan" To
faa-oot is to fall out, to quarrel.

FAAD, a fold yard. See also CORTIN.

FAAD, a fold for sheep of cattle. " Many-funds," manifolds, a
kind of tripe.

FAAIN. FA WIN, FOWIN, folding ; the act of folding the
sheep.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2JI

FAC' AS DEETH, true as death. A very common expression.

FACE, the end of the coal working ; the solid coal at which the
hewers work. See FEYACE.

FACE-AIRING, the current (of air) passed round the face or
extremity of the workings. — W. E. Nicholson, Gloss, of Coal
Trade Terms, 1888.

FACING, a cleat ; the vertical joint or cleavage of a stratum.
FAD. See FAAD.

FAD, a bundle. A " bottle" is as much hay or straw bound
together with a rope as a man can conveniently carry on his
back. A fad, or faud, is a lesser quantity, such as can be
conveniently carried under the arm or in the hand.

" The boggle called the Hedley Kow would sometimes appear like a
fad, or truss of straw, lying in the road." — S. Oliver, Rambles in
Northumberland, 1835, p. 99.

" Aw thowt aboot the fad o' straa
That Mick gae te wor Dolly."

" The Keelman's Reasons for Attending Church."
Allan's Collection, 1863, p. 177.

FAD, a hobby, a whimsical fancy.

FADDER, FETHER, FAITHER, father.

" I am a pilgrym, als alle my faders was."

Hampole, Pricks of Conscience. — Morris, line 1386.

FADDY, finicking, over-particular, bothersome, like one in
dotage. " He's a varry faddy body."

FADGE, a bundle of sticks, a faggot. — Bvockett.

FADGE, a small loaf of bread. Generally the little cake or
loaf made up from a bit of dough left over from a baking. It
is not baked in a bread tin. Near the Border, afadge is an
oval bannock, or scone, about two or three inches thick ;
made of pease meal, often with an admixture of bean meal,
and fired very hard on a " girdle."

FADGE, to eat together. At Warkworth, " at the season of
the New Year there is provided a rich cake with its usual
accompaniment of wine. Great interchange of visiting takes
place. It is called 'fadging,' or ' eating fadge.' Fadging
really means eating the bread of brotherly union and concord.

272 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

' Come and fadge with me ' is as much as saying ' Come and
break bread with me and taste wine, in token that bygones
shall be bygones.' " —The Rev. J. W. Dunn, on Warkworth,
History of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, 1863, vol. v., p. 56.

FADGY, a thick-set, fat little man.

FADGYAN, a very fat child. It is spoken as Fadgy Ann.

FADOM, FATHOM, a fathom, an arm's stretch, or six feet.
A huge ash tree having ten trunks, " each more than I can
fathom" — that is, stretch round. (Raine's Life of Hodgson,
vol. i., p. 65.) A fathom of rope is measured off by seizing
the end in the right hand and passing it through the left
across the chest. The stretch by an average man is six feet,
and ropes are in this way measured off most rapidly and with
great accuracy. Like the "foot," the "hand," and the inch
(French ponce, a thumb's breadth), standard measures of
length , the f adorn is a part of the natural man.

FADOM, FADDOM, a proper use or feeling. "I hae ne
faddom i' my legs.

FAFF, fallow land.

FAFFLE, to stutter, or stammer ; to saunter ; to trifle ; to
fumble. — Halliw ell's Diet. Brockett adds, "to f addle."

FAG, the fresh water fish, the loach, Colitis barlatula.
FAGGIT, a term of contempt. " Ye impitent faggit"

FAHREN, the pronunciation of the word Fame in Fame Islands
and in Lindisfarne. The a soft as in Fair-en, " Fairen
Islands." The word fern is also pronounced in the same
manner.

FAIKES, an exclamation, meaning "i' faith !" See FAIX.

FAIL, soil or turf as used in the North in a fail dyke. Perhaps
it may originally have had the same origin as vail, a sod
wall ; and it is remarkable that the great German Wall, from
the Danube to the Rhine, was called the Pfahl or Stakes,
from the materials that composed it. — Hodgson MS.

" In behint yon auldfail dyke,
I wot there lies a new-slain knight."

The Tiva Corbies.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 273

FAIR, FOR FAIR, or FOR FAIRS, in reality, in earnest—
i.e., seriously, in opposition to jocosely, playfully. " Nyen o'
yor shamin ; gan on for fairs this time !"

" Aw myest could wish, for his dear sake,
That aw'd been drowned for fair."

R. Gilchrist, d. 1844, Bold Archy.

" That's nobbut lees ; come, speak for fairs."

Ed. Corvan, Bull Dog o' Shields, 1853.

FAIR, FAIRIN, a present from a fair. " What '11 ye buy i,s
for me fair ?" " If ye gan, bring'z a fairin hyem, mind !"

FAIR, quite. See FAIRLY.

o' love."

J. P. Robson, Sang o' Solomon,
Northumberland version, ch. v., p. 8.

FAIR, exactly, straight. " He hit himfair on the heed." " Fair
i' the middle."

FAIR-DAYS, the goose grass, Potentilla anserina.

FAIR-FALL-YOU, fair befall you; a common benediction — a
blessing attend you. — Brockett.

FAIRLY, used to express the sense of quite, or thoroughly.
"Ye can see the poor beast is fairly deun." " Sair deun "
means very much done ; but "fair deun " means complete!}'
done. See FAIR, 2.

" ' Fairly on to the bottom,' is a call from banksman to brakesman to
lower the cage in a pit gently on to the bottom." — W. E. Nicholson,
Coal Trade Glossary, 1888.

FAIRNEY-TICKLES, or FARNEY-TICKLES, freckles on
the face or hands.

FAIRY. The superstitions concerning fairies still linger in
such names as follow : —

Fairy-butter, a fungous excrescence, sometimes found about
the roots of old trees, or a species of tremella, found on furze
and broom. — HalliweWs Dictionary. When found in houses it
is reckoned lucky. — Brockett.

Fairy-lint, fairy flax, Linum catharticum.

Fairy -money, treasure-trove ; also the seed spores of a cup-
shaped fungus.

Fairy-pipes, small old tobacco pipes. Some of these have
been made to hold a piece of tobacco, or other narcotic, about
the size of a pill. See PIPE-STOPPLE.

R

274 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

Fairy-rings, the circular windings of the spawn or roots of
mushrooms, or some other fungi. — Hodgson's MS. Fairy rings
are connected in some way with the special mode of growth
of Agaricus oreades and A . gambosus. The green " sour grass" is
not, however, always in a circle, for it maybe sometimes seen
running in a wavy line, interrupted irregularly. — Johnston,
Botany of the Eastern Borders, p. 273.

Fairy-tickles, freckles. See FAIRNEY-TICKLES.

FAITHOR, FATHOR, FETHOR, FADDER, father.
FAKISH, FAKED-UP, dressed up, made up.
FALL. See FAA.
FALL, the falling down of the roof or stone in a pit.

FALL, a rope. A " block fall," or a " taickle fall," is the rope
for a set of blocks. In a pumping pit a fall is used for lifting
portions of the pumping arrangements during repairs. A fall
is also " the bucket or clack-/a// in a pump, which opens and
shuts to allow the passage of water." — Mining Glossary, New-
castle Terms, 1852.

FALLS, the division of a large arable field attached to a
village. — HalliweWs Diet. See FA'-AND-FA-ABOUT.

FALSE-BEDDING, oblique lamination in a stratum of stone.

FALT, fault. This word illustrates a characteristic sound in
the Northumberland dialect, the a being short, as in the
a in French a la mode. The words fait, malt, salt, are all
pronounced thus. The contrast between the short sharp a
and the an sound, in the speech of the literary dialect, is very
notable.

" O base mault,
Thou did'st the fault,
And into Tyne thou shalt."

In North Northumberland the I is elided in fault and salt,
and they are spoken fat and sat. Malt retains the /, however.

FAMILIOUS, adj., family. " A familious complaint."

FAMISH, FAIMISH, famous.

The Fell is " quite faimish for rearin' young bairns."

T. Wilson, Stanzas on a Line of Intended Road, 1825.

FAMP, clayey shale. — Hugh Miller, Geology of Otterbuvn and
Elsdon. — Geological Survey Memoir, 1887.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 275

FANCICLE. fanciful, capricious.

FANCY, variegated, parti-coloured, out of the common. " He's
getten a fancy neckercher."

FAND (fi.t. oifind), found ; p.p. funden (pronounced funnen), or
fund. " He hadn't funnen'd when aa left the place." " He
should a. fund it oot bi this time." See FUN.

FANG, to shoot down; to capture. Compare INFANGENTHEOF.

FAN KIT, stuck hard and fast. In the ballad of Parcy Reed a
description is given of the treachery of " the fause-hearted
Haa's," who

" fixed his sword within the sheath,

That out again it winna come."

In this plight he was suddenly attacked by the Croziers ; and
the story says

" Brave Parcy raised hisfankit sword,
And felled the foremost to the ground."

To fang, is to seize, to gripe, to clutch.
" Destruction fang mankind."

Shakspeare, Timon.

Fanged, orfankit, is therefore seized, and, so, stuck fast. (Obs.)

FANNY-GRASS, couch grass, Triticum repens. Called also
quicken grass and rack.

FANTOME, or FANTOOM CORN, oats which have the
shells empty, or so nearly empty that they are blown over the
tail-board of the " fanners " in the process of winnowing.

FAR AND, used in composition for advancing towards, or being
ready. Fighting farand, ready for fighting ; farand man,
a traveller or itinerant merchant. This usage is probably
from fare, to go. Farand also means fashion, manner, and
countenance, perhaps from faring ; so well or ill- far and, good or
bad looking. — Halliwell's Diet. (Obs.)

" Farand is used in composition: as fight ing -farand, i.e., in a fighting
humour. (See Andfarand.)" — Ray's Gloss.

FARANTLY, orderly, handsome, comely, good-natured,
respectable, neat. — HalliweU's Diet.

" Fair zndfarantly, fair and handsome."

Kay's Gloss.

FARD, or FAURD, favoured. " Ill-fard," " vtee\-fard "—that
is, ill-looking or good-looking.

276 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FARDIN, a farthing. " A fardin candle" — the small candle,
formerly in much use.

FARDIN-PANT, a fountain, pant, or stand at which water
was sold for a farthing a skeelful. These were common
in Newcastle in the times of the early Water Company.
Edward Corvan absurdly tells us about " The Phantom
Skeel ; a tale of a Fardin Pant."

FARE, to near, or approach.

"The cow fares a-calving." — Brockett.

FARL, a term of contempt. " Gid away, ye aad farl /"

FARL, or FARREL, an oatcake — Northumberland. — HalliwelVs
Diet. Or the fourth part of a round cake, as " a farl o' short-
bread."

FARLEY, a wonder, a strange thing. To "spy farleys" is
equivalent to seeing strange and wonderful matters in common-
place things.

FARM, the pronunciation of firm.

FAR-OWER, by much too. " Far-ower cunnin." "Yor far-
ower late a comin." "Far-ower far."

FARRAW, a milch cow not with calf.

FARREL, the fourth part of a circular oatcake, the division
being made by a cross." — HalliwelVs Diet. But /aw/ is simply
the broad pronunciation of farl.

FASAN, a pheasant. Very common. So spoken by old people.

FASHION, to grow in resemblance.

" If ii fashions like its dad."

J. P. Robson, b. 1808, d. 1870, Betty Beesley.

FASHOUS, troublesome. " Aa've hed a fashous job on't, aa
can tell ye."

FASTENS, or FASTERNS EEN, or EVEN, Shrove or Pan-
cake Tuesday ; the eve of Ash Wednesday, on which begins
the Lenten fast. See PANCAKE-TUESDAY.

FAST-HAUD, the occurrence of "the 'set' getting off the
road, and the tubs jammed fast (in a pit), or the cage getting
fast in the shaft." — Nicholson, Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 277

FAST-JENKIN (in mining), a bordways place driven up the
middle of a pillar.

FAST-SIDE, the side next the solid coal.

FAST-SHOT, a charge of powder exploded in a pit without
the desired effect. Called also stannin bobby.

FAST-WALL, a sheth wall in a pit ; the wall in which, at the
top or bottom of an air course, the bearing-up or bearing-
down stopping is placed. — Greenwell.

FAT-COAL, an old term for blacksmiths' coal, a caking coal,
highly bitumenous and free from sulphur.

FAT-CROWDY, a " crowdy " made from the skimming off the
pot which contained meat and broth. When the pot
containing the meat and broth for the Sunday's dinner was
boiling, the upper stratum of water with the fat floating
thereon was used to mix with the oatmeal of the crowdy, and
thus called a. fat-crowdy. See CROWDY.

FAT-HEN, the Chenopodium album, a weed, common in richly
cultivated ground, which is occasionally cooked and eaten.
It is also known as goose foot, muck weed, and miles. Fat-hen is
also a name in North Northumberland for the Atriplex patula, L.

FATTY, a fat person. " What a fatty he is."

FAURD, favoured, as " weel faurd" or "ill faurd" — well
favoured, ill favoured. See FARD.

FAW. See FAA.

FEADE, an enemy. The word has come down to us in the
" deedly feade " of the Border. Compare FEID.

FEAK, to be restless. See FYKE.

" And truly, sir, it burnt my leg,
And garr'd mefeek like Hen with Egg."

G. Stuart, Joco-Scrious Discount, 1686, p. 18.

"They/^flA and cannot keep a seat."

Ed. Chicken, The Collier's Wedding, 1735.

FEAL, to hide.

" He thatfeals can find." — Proverb.

FEAR, to put in dread, to frighten.

278 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FEARDLIKE, frightened, afraid.

FEARDY, a frightened or terrified person. " He's a feavdy"

FEARENTLY, in fear of, afraid of.

FEARSOME, dreadful-looking.

FEAT, neat, clever, dexterous, elegant. — Halliwell's Diet,

FEATHER, the thin side of a plough sock — that is to say, the
far side from near the point to the " little heen," or heel.
See also STOOK AND FEATHERS.

FEATHER-FUL, FEATHER-FOOLY, the feverfew, Pyreth-
rum parthenium. Feather fool is apparently fever f mile.

FEATLY, neatly, dexterously.

FECK, FYEK, a quantity, an abundance. He' ye ony feck ?"
— Have you any quantity of it ? " Aa he' nee fyek i' me
hands " — I have no great quantity on hand.

FECKFUL, resourceful.

FECKLE, to entangle. — Brockett, third edition.

FECKLESS, one without resource. "A feckless body" is one
unable to make any effective effort. A weak or incapable
person. This word is much more common than its opposite,

feckful.

FECKLY, FEEKLY, chiefly, mostly. " It'sfeckly his aan dein."

FEDER. father; also FETHER, FITHOR, FADHOR, and
FADDOR.

FEE, wages.

" Ye shall nev'r crave twice of me
The smallest penny of your fee."

G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1886, p. 26.

To this line the Newcastle author adds a marginal note for
the Southern reader, "fee — wages." And again, " He pays
us fa and finds us cleathing," p. 32.

FEED, to serve in a game. The lad who throws a ball, or
"cat,'1 towards the batter, or striker, in a game is said to
feed, and he is called the feeder.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 279

FEEDER, one who " serves " in a game. Also that part of the
machinery where cereals are fed into a mill.

FEEDER, a spring, or inrush of water in a pit.

" All which water we suppose to come from the sea, and so being fed
by that inexhaustible fountain, we call it by the name of a feeder."—
The Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 25.

FEEDER-IN, the person who feeds or supplies a machine with
material to be worked or dressed. The man who passes in
corn to a thrashing or to a winnowing machine is thus called.

FEEDING-STORM, a continuous snowstorm.

FEEL, to perceive. " Can ye feel a smell ?" is a very common
expression.

FEEL, FEELY, soft, smooth, downy, velvety.
FEEMY, the Christian name Euphemia.

FEERY-FARY, a noise, a tumult. " Feery-fary" is explained
in the margin of the Joco-Seiious Discourse as "coil kept."
" Now what needs aw this feery-fary ?" p. 12. (Obs.)

FEG, a fig ; a valueless thing. " 'Tisn't worth a feg." Also the
droppings of a donkey.

FEID, a deadly feud ; the ancient blood feud common on the
Border in former times.

FELL, a lofty brown hill; a mountain, or open, untilled ground;
broad wettish moors covered much with heath, rushes, and
sparts. — Hodgson MS. Fell enters into combination with
about fifty-six place-names in Northumberland, and into
some twenty-eight place-names in Durham county. Examples :
Carter Fell, Gateshead Fell, Throckley Fell.

" The western part of Northumberland was bounded by Norwegian
settlements in Cumberland and Liddesdale, and most of the names in -fell
are in the hill country bordering on Cumberland and Scotland." —
J. V. Gregory, Arcluelogia, JEliana, vol. ix., p. 41.

FELL, to stun with a blow.

" We didna want to hurt them, so we just felled them an' flang them
oot." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 156.

28o NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FELL, FELLON, sharp, clever, crafty, brave, enduring ;
descriptive of work done under difficulty. " She's a little fell
'un " — said in complimenting a servant girl, not robust, who
had done more than could have been reasonably expected.
" He'd a fell job on't " — that is, the work took more doing
than was anticipated. The word is very common. " A fell
bit callant " — a brave, enduring little body.

FELL, to sew down on the inside the edges of two pieces of
any article sewn together.

FELLIN, FELLON, an eruption on the skin ; a rash ; aboil ;
a whitlow. Also a disease in cows.

FELLY, to plough a ridge towards the " reen " (rean), in
contradistinction to gathering up towards the " mid-rig."

FELTERED, unkempt, shaggy, neglected.

" It's hard to say what a raggy lad an' a fettered foal may turn to."—
Northumberland Proverb.

FELTY, or FELTY-FARE, the fieldfare, Titrdus pilaris. It is
called also the fendy and fendy-fare.

FEMMER, weak, slight, frail, cranky, tender. " She's nobbut
femtner, poor body." " Mind hoo ye gan ; that brig's nobbut
femmev."

FENCE, a word in place-names, as Heckley Fence.
FEND, to struggle in obtaining a livelihood.

FEND, FEN, a struggle for a livelihood, an attempt at doing
a thing. Few has much the same meaning.

" Still, we have myed a decent fend,
And niver fyel'd to pay wor way."

T. Wilson, The Shifting Day, 1852.

FEND, to defend, to ward off a blow. Hence the fender used
on board ship. "Fend off that keel."

FENDY, resourceful, good at managing. "He's a. fendy body."
Fensome is used in the same sense.

FENDY, FENDFARE, the fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. See also
FELTY.

" An abundant winter visitant." — John Hancock, Birds of Northumber-
land and Durham.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 28l

FENKLE, a bend, or corner, or elbow, as of a street or river.
Finchale probably derives its name from the corner or elbow
of the river on which it is situated. Most of our old towns
possess a fenkle or corner street. Fenkle streets are^ found in
Newcastle, Alnwick, &c.

FENSOME, resourceful. See FEND, FENDY.
FERACIOUS, ferocious, dangerous, furious.

FERLY (pronounced favley], to wonder, a wonder, wonderfully,
wonderful, strange.

FESH, fish. [Holy Island, and the coast generally.]

FESSEN, to fasten.

FEST, bound. Fest, or bound apprentice.

FEST, a mooring place.

" There keelmen, just landed, swear may they be stranded
If they're not shaved first, while their keel's at thefest."

The Quayside Shaver.
FESTEND, FESSEND, fastened.

FESTIN-PENNY, the " arles," or binding money.

FETCH, the distance required, by a body put in motion, to
acquire velocity ; as the waves of the sea acquire a great
fetch when the wind blows from a far unsheltered direction.

FETHER, father. It is sometimes father (the a short) and
faithor. See FAITHOR, FADER, &c.

" Feder andfethof are the common Northumbrian ways of speaking the
Anglo-Saxon word fader, fadther, or father." — Hodgson's Northumberland,
iii., 2, p. 353, note.

FETTLE, to put in order, to sharpen or repair tools, to get
ready. " The lock wants fettlin." "Fettle the scythe."

FETTLE, condition, working order. " What fetth ? " " That
horse is i' grand fettle.

FETTLE, ale warmed and spiced.

FEUS, to turn into fibres, as the head of a chisel does by
repeated strokes of the hammer.

FEUSOME, handsome.

282 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FEW, an effort, a struggle. "He made a good few on't, any-
way." " Aa'll/w to be wi1 ye the morn." This word is used
in a similar sense to fend, which see.

FEW, to show an aptitude. " He's a likely leukin chep ; he
fews weel."

FEW, a small quantity, or a number. " Will ye he' a few mair
broth ?" " A good few" or " a canny few " means a consider-
able number of people or things.

FEWSOME, very few. " Thor's oney fewsome on us the neet."
Not to be confounded with feusome, although spoken like that
word.

FEY. Fie and fay in Halliwell.

" The \vordfey was formerly used both in Scotland and in the North of
England to express the state of a person who was supposed to be dying,
but who would rise from his bed and go about the house, conversing
with his friends, as if nothing ailed him. Persons also in health, whose
eyes displayed unusual brightness, and who appeared to act and speak in
a wild and mysterious manner when preparing for battle or for a perilous
journey, were frequently said to be 'fey ' ; that is, doomed shortly to meet
with their death." — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 108.

FE-YACE [S] , FYEACE, FYES [T] , the face.
" His fyes as white as ony cloot,
Ses aw, ' What he ye been aboot ?' "

Song, As Aw Wis Gannin Oot Yen Neet.

In a pit the face is the wall of coal at which the hewer works.
See FYES.

FEYACY, FACY, impudent, shame-faced.
FEYACY-GATE, a brazen-faced person.

FEYEL [S] , FYEL [T] , to fail. " To want a frien' when
natur fyels."

FEYUL [S] , FYUL [T] , a fool. Often spelt fuil.
FIB, to finish.

FICKLE, to puzzle, to do something which others cannot do.
Fickly, puzzling.

FIDGE, to fidget, to worry, to be anxious. " To fidge and
fyke " is to be restless and uneasy. " Pidgin fain " is being
worried and anxious about a thing.

FIDGY, fidgetty.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 283

FIE, predestined. See FEY.

FIE, shortened form of signify. " What jfos taakin' ?"

FIELD, a division of land consisting of many separate holdings,
grouped together in the ancient system of cultivation for the
purpose of a rotation of crops. The hedged rectangles which
are now familiar to us as our fields are the result of Commons
Enclosure Acts. For terms formerly used see ATHER, BAAK,
CABLE, GABLE, KYEVEL, FALL, REAN, RIG, BUTTS, ACRE-DALE-
LANDS, HUSBAND-LANDS, DYEL, SCRIBE, TEN, SHETH, GORE,
SWIN.

FIELD-LARK, the tree pipit, AntJms arboreus.

FIELDY, or FIELD-SPARROW, the hedge-sparrow, Prunella
modularis. Called also smokey. Hedgy and blney are also names
by which this bird is known. The fieldfare is also known as
fieldy in some parts of South Northumberland.

FIERY, applied to a coal-pit where gas is given off in dangerous
quantity.

FIERY-HEAP, a heap into which the small or duff coals of
Northumberland were formerly teemed and burnt. — Gloss, of
Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

" The deposit of rubbish and waste or unsaleable coal which usually
takes fire spontaneously." — Greenwell.

FIFT, fifth.

" Here begyns t\\efifte part." — Pricke of Conscience, A.D. 1349.

FIGHTING-COCKS, or FIGHTEE-COCKS, the stems and
flower heads of Plantago lanceolata (Linn.), or lamb's tongue,
used by children in a game which tries the endurance of a
cock, or "kemp," as it is called. Each combatant is provided
with an equal number of stalks and heads ("kemps"), and
holds out one to be struck by the opponent. If it is
decapitated by the blow the player gives his return stroke
with a fresh "kemp" ; but if it survives the -blow it is used
in return. The play is thus kept up alternately until one of
the players has lost all his heads. The victor then counts his
survivors — or, as is usually the case, he is left with one only
to mark his conquest in the game. See KEMPS.

FIKE, to be very fidgetty ; to move in an unconstant,
undeterminate manner ; to go about idly. — Halliwell's Diet.
Fikes, restlessness, trifling cares. See FIDGE.

" To have the fikes." — Brochett.

"Fiky, fidgetty, itchy, minutely troublesome." — Brjckett.

284 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FILE, to make foul. The "file in the foot " is a disease peculiar
to cattle and sheep.

FILLERS, men employed in filling the loose coals where
separate holers or kirvers and getters and fillers are
employed. — Glossary of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

FILLETS, the hollow between a horse's ribs and haunch bones.

FILLINGS, infiltrations of water.

" A sump (or well to a coal-pit) to hold the drawings (or filings, as we
call them here) of water, whether rain or otherwise." — J.C., Compleat
Collier, 1708, p. 14.

FILLY-FAIR, a concourse of young girls.

FILLY-FWOAL, a young mare while sucking. The young
horse of the same age is a cout-fwoal.

FILLY-NAIL, a nail i£in. long by about r3Fin. thick in the
stalk, having a large square head about i in. across and made
T3gin. thick. These nails were specially made in former times
for warships, to cover the bottoms before sheathing of other
metal had been introduced. They were made by superannuated
nailors incapable of heavier work.

FILLY-TAILS, clouds of cirrus kind, long trailing white
clouds.

FIN, to find. When find is used, it is always pronounced with
the i short, as in window (p.t. fand; p.p. fund}. " Aa couldn't
fin' oot what ailed it."

FIN, to feel. "It's that dark, aa'll he' to Jin' for the sneck."
" Justym me hands, hoo caud th'or."

FINDY-FEE, the fee or reward paid to the finder of anything
lost.

FINDY-KEEPY, who finds keeps. A formula repeated by
children when searching for any lost thing, its utterance
giving the finder the right to keep the article. The form is
sometimes extended, as " Lossy, seeky, findy, keepy"

FINE, quite well, pleasant. " Hoo are ye thi day ?" " O, lad,
aa's fine"

FINGER. This is invariably pronounced jing-or, not, as
modern use has it, fin-gev.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 285

FINGER-HAT, a finger-stool. Compare HAND-HAT.
FINOODLE, to fumble. " What's thoofinoodlin there at ? "

FIPPLE, the under lip, a pet lip, a wry face. "What a
fipple ! " — What a face you're making. A person is said to
" hang hisfipple " when he looks sulky or discontented. After
stooks of corn remain standing for a time, the bottoms of the
sheaves become naturally longer on the outside than the
inside, which is called their fipple.

FIRE, to explode. A pit is said to have fired when an explosion
of gas has taken place.

FIRE, to throw. The phrase "fire away" is equivalent to the
colloquial " go ahead."

"They fired styens at him."

"Pitman's Ghost.''
Bards of the Tyne, 1849, p. 409.

FIRE, or WILD FIRE, sheet lightning. "Did ye see
hoo the fire wis fleein last neet ? " Fw-flaught, lightning.

FIRE-CLAY, deposits of more or less silicious clay known as
under-clay, seggar-clay, or thill, and often used as fire-clay. —
Professor Lebour, Geology of Northumberland and Durham, 1886,
P-45-

FIRE-COAL, coal supplied to workmen (at a colliery) for
domestic purposes, free of charge, except sixpence per
fortnight for leading, which is done by the colliery carts,
within a reasonable distance. — Glossary of Coal Trade Terms,
1888.

FIRE-ENGINE, the term formerly applied to the steam
engine, distinguishing it from a " horse engine," or "gin."

" The charge of water was calculated as if to be drawn by horses,
whereas now it may be done much cheaper by help of afire-engine." —
Affidavit re Walker Coliieyy, 1722. — Brand, History of Newcastle, vol. ij.,
p. 685, note.

" At Walker Colliery there are two ventilators worked with a machine
by the help of the fire-engine. This machine is also applied to turn a
wheel for raising coals." — Wallis, History of Northumberland, 1767, vol. i.,
p. 128.

FIRE-FLOUT, the common poppy, Papaver rhecas. Also
called stinking poppy and lightning. See COCKENS.

FIRE-LAMP, a portable fire used as a lamp.

286 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FIRE-STEED, a fireplace.

FIRE-STONE, a silicious sandstone, formerly used as furnace
linings.

FIRST, until, hence, following.

"Till you have occasion, which I hope will not be long first." — J.C.,
Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 31.

FIRST-CALLER, the time when the caller goes round to call
the fore-shift men. — Glossary of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

FIRST-FOOT, the first who crosses the threshold after mid-
night on New Year's Eve. The person so doing must on no
account enter empty handed, and a present to the house even
of a piece of coal or a piece of loaf will qualify tht first- footer .
The entrant, to be lucky, must be of the male sex. If he have a
squint, he brings bad luck. If he be of dark complexion, he
is not a desirable comer. The luckiest is a fair-haired first-foot.
It is a kindly custom ; and a hearty welcome is always given
to those who go first-footing on New Year's morning to carry
from circle to circle the greeting " A happy New Year."

" It is unlucky to lend anything whatever on New Year's Day. It is
unlucky to meet a female first on New Year's Day, or indeed on any day
of the year. Specially unlucky it is when a woman is your first-foot." —
W. Brockie, Legends and Superstitions, p. no.

FIRTHLESS, unmethodical, shiftless, extravagant. " Aa
nivver saa sic a firthless creetur."

FISH, a flat plate of iron or other substance, laid upon another
to protect it or strengthen it. A "fish beam " is a composite
beam, where an iron plate is sandwiched between two wood
beams. A "fish joint " is a joint made by bolting or riveting
a plate on each side near the ends, as in a railway plate.

FISH, to seek about blindly, or doubtingly. " What are ye
fishin i' me box for ? " " Aa'll gan an fish for mesel " — that is,
endeavour to find something to eat.

FISH, a tool used for bringing up a bore rod or pump valve.
See FISH-HEAD.

FISH-BELLIED, having the bottom part curved like the belly
of a fish, as a "fish-bellied rail," which was " bellied " or curved
between each pair of chairs.

FISH-FAG, a fishwoman.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 287

FISH-GARTH, an enclosure made of stakes and wattles for
trapping fish in a river. See CRUIVE.

FISH-HEAD, an implement used for drawing the clack from
a set of pumps.

FISSLE, FISSEL, to move about restlessly and with a gentle
crackling noise. "What do youfissel aboot on the seat for ?"
" A moose wentfisselin through amang the stray (straw). " A
fisselin wund " (wind). It is also applied to the crackling
noise heard in a pit when the coal fissles, or crackles, in the
early stages of creep. — Gresley's Gloss., 1883.

FIT [N.] , FOOT or FUT [T.j , a foot, Fit-sted, a footprint.
FIT, p.t. of fight. See FOWT.

FIT, able, capable. " He's not fit te gan." " Aa'sfit for owt,
man." " Fit te loup a yett or stile."

FIT, to sell and load coals.

" None shall fitt any keel or keeles of anie other brother without the
consent of the owner thereof." — Order of Hostmen's Company, January,
1600-1. — Brand, History of Newcastle, vol. ii., p. 272, note.

i

FITCH, to shift (without a felonious intention). " Fitch that
flake " — remove that hurdle.

FITCHEL, a beam or shaft of a waggon. The fitchel bolt is
that which goes down through the block and holds it to the
bearings, or vice versa.

FITTAGE, the commission allowed to a coal shipper.

FITTEN, p.p. of fight.

" When we had fairly fitten oursels clear o' them." — S. Oliver, Rambles
in Northumberland, 1835, p. 156.

FITTER, the agent at the shipping port who sells and loads
the produce of a colliery. Formerly called hoslmen. A
" running fitter" is an outdoor messenger.
" Mourn, a' the Jitters o' the Quay !
And a' the swarms o' Brokers, tee,
That tell the captains mony a lee,
To myek them fix ! "
T. Wilson, A Dirge on the Death of Coaly, 1843.

FITTIN, coal shipping.

"The faithers o' thefittin-tra.de
The Quayside a'ways pacin' "

T. Wilson, Captains and the Quayside.

288 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FIVE QUARTER COAL. The " quarter" here is a quarter
of a yard. Five quarters, therefore, = 3 feet 9 inches — this
being the average thickness of the particular seam.

" Which is of about that thickness of five quarters, and that is in some
collieries very fine." — The Compleat Collier^ 1708.

FIX-FAX, the great white tendon of the necks of animals. —
Hodgson MS.

FIZ-BALL, a ball of damp gunpowder kneaded into the form of
a cone. It is lighted at the apex, and burns with a hissing
noise.

FIZ-BALL, FUSS-BA', the fungus (Lycoperdon bovista, Linn.)
found in pastures. When dry the pores can be squeezed out
like a cloud of smoke. Also called puff-baa's, devil's smiff boxes,
and blind-man's-buff.

FIZZER, a cake, with rich kneading, baked on the girdle.
"A spice fizzev " is a girdle-cake (singing-hinny) with currants
(spice). Anything super-excellent is styled %.fizzev.

FIZZERT, a term of reproach. " Ye clarty /**«*."

FIZZY, anything well or cleverly done. " That's fizzy, noo !"
It is used as the colloquial nobby is used. " That's a fizzy
coat he hes on."

FLAA, flaw. Draa, laa, &c., are all similarly pronounced, the
aw becoming a very long a.

FLAA, turf for fuel. Compare FLAG.

FLACKER, to flutter, to vibrate like the wings of a bird.
Compare FLAFFER.

FLACKET, a flask. (Obs.)

" A score jlachetts of stone and glass." — Inventory, 1577.

FLAFF, to flutter ; same as flaffev. " Had yor skemy oot an'
myek him fluff his wings." Boys, in luring pigeons,/^ their
caps to imitate a fluttering bird. A flag on a staff is said to
flaffin the wind.

FLAFFER, to flutter, to move with an awkward rustling
motion.

" It flaffered oot at neets, man." — R. Emery, d. 1871, The Owl.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 289

FLAG, a flake of sandstone used as a roofing tile; sometimes
called a " Northumberland^?^." Or a flake of sod used for
the same purpose. " The flags " is the common name for the
side-walk of a street when paved with flat stones. A flag is
also a snow-flake. "What big flags is comin" doon." A
banner is not called a. flag in Northumberland, but invariably
" a colour." Water flag is the name for the Iris psendacoris.
See SEG.

FLAGON, a tin water-can ; still known in places as a. flagon.

FLAG-POST, sandstone suitable for splitting into flags for the
pavement or for roof tiles.

FLAID, afraid, frightened, terrified. " He's flaid te deeth."
See FLAY.

FLAIK, a space allotted for a stall in a market-place. So
denominated to this day by the fishwomen in Newcastle. A
flaik, or fleak, is a hurdle, especially a wattled hurdle, and
thus applied to a space hurdled, or divided, or set apart. See
FLEAK.

" Aw've had aflaik in this market thur sixty year." — Old Dolly Simpson.
Brochett, ed. 1846.

FLAIL. The Northumberland flail consists of a "handstaff,"
3ft. gin. to 4ft. long, having a smooth eye in the end. Through
this eye, and through a loop of cow-hide lashed to the end of
a moveable arm, passes a leather " couplin." Themoveable
arm is 3ft. long, and is called the "swingle" or " soople."
The loop of cow-hide is called the " heudin," and its lashing
is held by being passed through two holes in the end. The
"handstaff" is of ash, peeled smooth. The "soople" is
made of any tough wood, having the bark left on. Flails are
generally kept above a cow in the byre, the notion being that
they are thereby toughened.

FLAM, a heavy fall; a lie. See FLUM.

FLAME-STONE, the stone screen in front of a blacksmith's
hearth to protect the smith's face from the heat of the fire.

FLAMMY, or FLAMMIN, to praise, pet, or coddle.

FL ANG, flung, p.t. of fling,
s

2QO NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FLANK-HOLE, in mining, a bore-hole made from the side of
a place where there is a danger of holing into old workings
which may contain accumulations of gas or water. — W. E.
Nicholson, Glossary of Coal Trade Terms, 1888. Also a hole put
in the flank or side of a drift to widen it by putting in a shot. —
Greenwell.

FLANNEN, flannel.

FLAP, anything that hangs broad and loose, fastened only by
one side. — Todd. A manhole door in a pit. A "_/?a/>-ower-
tyeble " is a table with a folding leaf.

FLAP an unstable person. A young giddy girl is called a. flap,
or a woman or girl who does not settle down to her domestic
duties, but goes gadding about, and is generally one of
slatternly habits.

FLAP, a sharp blow. " He hadn't his lessons off; so he gat
his flaps at skyul."

FLAP, to strike down quickly.

" Flap her doon at once wi' pouther."

T. Wilson, Pitman's Pay, pt. ii., v. 76.

FLAPPER, a heavy, resounding fall ; or the noise of a heavy
fall.

FLAPPER, a flat piece of leather on a stick, used by butchers
for killing flies.

FLAPPY, uneven, unsteady. " The carpet's lyin' aaftflappy."

FLARE-UP, a quarrel, usually applied to a domestic broil.
Also a rout or entertainment.

FLASH, the small globules of molten iron which drop from the
blacksmith's anvil during the process of welding and become
concretionary. Flash is not to be confounded with " scale."
Compare SMIDDY GUM.

FLASS, a shallow, marshy pond ; swampy ground.

FLAT, the part of a screen at a pit where the coals rest, and
are cleaned before being put into the waggon. — Glossary of
Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2QI

FLAT, the termination of the horseway in a pit, the coals being
brought thereto by the putters. — Mining Glossary, Newcastle
Terms, 1852. It is also called a " station." See CRANE.

" The lateral extension of a lead vein." — Professor G. A. Lebour, M.A.,
Geology of Northumberland and Durham, second edition, 1886, p. 62.

FLATCH, to flatten by expansion.

FLAT-LAD, the lad at the flats or crane in a pit. See

CRANEMAN.

FLATLINS, flatly.

FLAT-SHEETS, smooth iron plates laid over an even floor at
a pit bank, on which the tubs are run to be emptied or
returned to the cage. Flat-sheets are also laid at the foot of a
shaft where the tubs are run between the cages and the end
of the tram lines, or in the workings at crossings or junctions
of the lines of rail. See SETTLE BOARDS.

FLATTY, a flatfish. See FLEUCKOR, FLUCKER, &c.

FLAUGHTER, the thin turf turned up when ground is pared. —

Brockett.

FLAUT, FLOUGHT, a roll of wool carded ready for
spinning. — Hodgson MS.

FLAUTCHING, flattery, hollow praise, false coaxing, pleasure,
artful wheedling. — Hodgson MS. See FLEECH.

FLAW, a joiner's cut nail or brad.

FLAY, a fright.

FLAY, FLEY, to terrify, to frighten.

FLAY [N.], a flea.
FLAY-CRAA, a scare-crow.

FLAYSOME, like to frighten, awesome. " The plantin's that
dark it's real/zysow^." " What a leuk ye he', aa kltflaysome
at ye."

FLEAK, a long, thin piece of timber or a lath. The use of
fleaks appears in the weiring of rivers. Flakes also were laths
adapted to lay barley cakes upon. Barley cakes were first

2Q2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

baked on the "gairdel," then they were toasted before the
fire, being placed on the "bake-sticks " ; afterwards they were
laid on the flakes to dry. The forms are also flake, flaik, and

fleek.

"A gate to set up in a gap. This word fleak signifies the same as
hurdle, and is made of hasel, or other wands." — Ray, Collection of North-
Country Words, 1691.

"The remains of this mill and thefleaks may still be seen in the Wear
at Finchale. Ihefleaks are large, rudely-shaped oak trees, fastened down
in the water with iron cramps, hurdle-wise. In later times a fleak was a
hurdle, suspended horizontally, a foot or two from the top of a room. It
generally bears the cheese, bacon, &c., of the household." — Rev. James
Raine, junr. — Archa-ologia SEliana, vol. i., p. 202, note.

FLEAM, phlegm.

FLEASTER, a fluster, a hurry-scurry. " What are ye gettin'
into sic a fleaster for ? "

FLEA-WOOD, the bog myrtle, or sweet gale, Myrica gale. A
housewife's cure for fleas.

FLECK, or FLICK, a flitch of bacon.

FLEGDER, FLEDGY, a fledgling, an immature person, a
child. See FLEG.

FLEE, to fly as a bird.

" Flock o' flock o1 wild geese— where di yef.ee ?
Fre Howdon to Bowden — to Newcassel Quay."

Old Rhyme.

FLEE, a fly. " Let that flee stick to the waall " (proverb) —
"Let that matter rest." Halliwell gives fleg as Northumber-
land for a fly. See FLEG.

FLEE-BY-THE-SKY, a romantic or visionary person.

FLEECH, FLAUTCH, to flatter, to wheedle. " Aa wadna
gan ti church wi1 him for a' hisflefchin."

" Thatfleetching knave." — G. Stuart, Joco-Serious Discourse, 1686, p. 64.

FLEECHY, a flattering humbug.

FLEECY, laminated. Anything lying in leats, or thin, compact
layers, like pastry, or the flakes of fish, is said to be fleecy.

FLEEIN-ETHER, the dragon fly.

" Probably called adder (ether) because in a winged state they rise out
of stagnant and putrid waters, and are constantly found hunting after
other flies in damp meadows." — Hodgson MS.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 293

FLEET, a fishing place. It occurs in the ancient spellings, as
flete andflet in place-names, and is applied to salmon fishings
within the tidal flow. (Obs.) Compare STELL, YARE, WEAR.

FLEET, a row of floating herring nets at sea attached to each
other and to the fishing boat.

FLEET, to stop hauling so as to adjust the rope or chain.
To "fleet the rope" or '•'•fleet the crab," is by gripping and
holding the rope to adjust the coil on the crab. In hauling
up a vessel on a slipway the slip is held by the pauls till the
hauling chain is fleeted, by removing successive links and
readjusting the shortened length for another haul.

FLEET, to float, a fisherman's term.

FLEETERIN, FLETERIN, falling lightly. " It's/afom on
o' snaa."

FLEG, to be furnished with feathers. " Flegged and flown,"
said of young birds that have left their nest. See FLIGGED.

FLERDS, showy or gaudy articles of women's dress.

FLESH-AND-BLOOD, the plant sometimes known as
shepherd's knot and blood-root (Potentilla tovmentilla).

FLESH-AND-KAIL, a name given to the religious persuasion
otherwise known as Glassites or Sandemanians. The meeting-
house of the persuasion in Newcastle was formerly on the
town-wall, near the New Road, and was known as " The
Flesh-and-kail Meeting-house," from the custom observed by
the members of the church of dining together on Sunday
morning after service. See GLASSITE.

FLEUCKER [S.] , FLUCKER [T.] , also FLUKE, FLUCK,
or JENNY-FLUCKER, a flounder.

FLEYED [N.] , flew. " Aw catch'd a burred, but it gat oot o'
ma hand an' fayed away."

FLICKER, to flutter. See FLACKER.

FLIGARISHON, a lively meeting, such as a wedding party.
Probably used jocosely. Compare GARISHON.

FLIGARY, finely dressed. " Ma word, she went doon the
street quite

294 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FLIGGED, or FLIG, fledged. " Hardly fligged ower the
dowp" — young, immature. "Yon borridsisflig" — those birds
are fledged.

" Ah, hinnies ! About us the lasses did loup
Thick as curns in a spice singin hinnie ;
Some aud, and some hardly fligg'd ower the dowp."

T. Thompson, d. 1816, Canny Newcastle.

FLIGHT, to set a-flying, to start in flight. "Aa'lly/^/z/ ye
pigeons for a shillin'."

FLINCH, finch ; as bu\\flinch for bullfinch

FLING, to kick ; applied to a horse. Fling also means to
vomit, to throw ; to make a sarcastic or scornful comment on
a person or thing.

FLINT, the core of an animal's horn. Called also the gowk.
The term is likewise applied to the hard excrescence formed
on a cow's head where a horn has been knocked off.

FLIPE, FLYPE, to flay, to strip, to skin, to take off the bark.
" Aa flyped him," figuratively used, means, " I robbed or
stripped him." To turn half inside out, as a stocking isjlipcd
in order the more easily to put it on the foot.

FLIPE, FLYPE, a thin piece, a piece of skin torn off. To
take off in flypcs, is to take off in thin pieces. A hatjlipe is
the brim of a hat.

FLIRE, FLYRE, FLEER, to laugh, to jeer.

FLIRTIGIG, a forward, talkative, snd unconstant girl. —
Halliwell's Diet.

FLISK. to flip in one's face. " Dinna jlisk yor hankersher
about that way." " Flisk them flies off." Also to leap nimbly.
" Heflisked off like a lop."

FLITE, to scold, to make a great noise. — Hodgson MS.
FLITIN, scolding.

FLO AT- WHEY, curds made from whey, much used in
Northumberland. — Halliwell's Diet. Compare FLOTE. Milk
squeezed from cheese-making.

" Flot-whey, those curds left in whey, which, when boiled, float on the
top." — Jamieson.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2Q5

FLOG, to work with a hammer and chisel. The work of
chipping and surfacing iron is spoken of as flogging. To flog
is any rapid action in striking.

FLOORS, flat lands lying at the foot of slopes. Flooys and
flats are of frequent occurrence in field-names.

FLOTE, to flatten in plastering.— Hodgson MS. To jlote, to
fleet, to skim milk ; to take off the cream : whence the word
fleeting dish.

FLOTHERY, slovenly, but attempting to be fine and showy. —
Halliwell's Diet. " He's fat art flothery"

FLOW, or FLOU, a peat moss, a peat bog, generally large
and straggling. Flow in place-names occurs, as in Manside
Flow, in Northumberland ; probably from its being on the
watershed.

"The rider dreading every instant that he will sink overhead into the
flow, crawls out on his hands and knees. — S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumber-
land, 1835, p. 164.

" Between the hills are broad and flat morasses, called flow mosses." —
Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ij., vol. i., p. 84.

" The bog overflows along the outlet or outlets, and that part of it
which thus dips away from the bog proper is aptly called theflotv of the
bog." — Professor Lebour, Geology of Northumberland and Durham, second
edition, 1886, p. n.

fLOW, FLOU, gusty. " It's a flow day." " What a flow
neet!"

FLOWERY-DOCKEN, the Chenopodinm bonus Henricus.

FLOWS, FLOUS, floats, applied to the cluster of corks which
support the " bosom" of a salmon net.

FLOWTER'D, affrighted.— Ray's Gloss., 1691.

FLUCKER, or FLUKE, or FLATTY, a flounder. See
FLEUCKER.

FLUFF, a sudden ignition. " A fluff of poother." The down
from the wool of cloth. See FUFF.

FLUFTER, FLUFFER, to disconcert, to fluster.

FLUKE, the flounder, Platessa flesus, Flem. See FLEUCKER,
FLUCKER.

296 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FLUM, deceit, misleading talk. " Let's he' nyen o' yor flu in,
noo.'

FLUMMIX, to suprise, to overwhelm with astonishment. In
argument the person who has the best of it says, " Aa
flmnmix'd him.

FLUTHER, a flutter, a state of mental agitation. " It put
us aal iv a. father. '

FLUTHERY, slovenly, in a state of bustle or confusion. See
FLOTHERY.

FLY, sly, crafty, smart. " He's a fly chep." " Aa see the
gam — but yor not fly."

FLY-DOOR, or SWING DOOR, a door so constructed as
always to fall close when left alone, but to open either towards
or from the current of air, according to the direction of the
force exerted against it. — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

FLY-DROVEN, fly-blown. Applied to meat on which the
eggs of the blow-fly have been deposited.

FLYING-BENT, the Molinia ccentlea. See BENT.

FLYING-CRADLE, a framing of about four feet by one and
a half feet, upon which one or more men may sit astride to do
temporary work in the shaft. — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms, 1888.

FO [W.-T.] , to fall. The o as in snow.

FOAL, FOALEY.

"Where a youth is too weak to put the tram by himself, he engages a
junior assistant, who is called the foal, and in this case the strongest pulls
the tram by a short rope called a soam, while the foal pushes behind." —
S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 41.

The position of heedsman and foaleys appears to have been
sometimes reversed ; for, whilst the description above given
coincides with the note on the subject in The Pitman's Pay, an
experienced writer puts

" The strongest one behind and the foaley in front." — Mr. J. Rowell,
Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, April 14, 1888, article "Soam."

In the same paper, Mr. G. Halliwell, Seaham Harbour,
corroborates the latter statement. See HEEDSMAN.

FOALEY-MEAR, a mare with young.
FOALS-FOOT, coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 2Q7

FOG, the clover, or second crop, that follows a hay crop.
" Fogs to let " is the common heading of advertisements
where the eatage of autumn pasture is to be let. Also
moss or lichen growth. When mosses are in excess the
pasture is said to be full of fog.

FOIL, scent or track. " The hoonds hes lost the foil." The
foiling, among hunters, is the mark, barely visible, where deer
have passed over grass. — Todd.

FOLK'S GLOVE, the foxglove.

FOLLOW1NG-IN, the action of one man working after
another in the same working place.

FOLLOWING-STONE, loose stone lying on coal, which
comes down as the seam is worked. Called also ramble.

FOLLOW-TAR, a game at marbles played by two boys, who
shoot alternately, one following after the other.

FOLLY, any ridiculous building. At Byker an imitation of a
ruined castle occupied the site of the new church, and it was
always known as Byker Folly. Anderson's Folly was the
name given to a mansion at Elswick, in which the builder
carried out many original conceits.

" Mr. Cuthbert Dykes and others, in 1693, agreed with the Corporation
to erect a water engine, for supplying the town with river water, without
Sandgate. This building was afterwards called ' the Folly.' " — Mackenzie,
History of Newcastle, p. 724.

The site of this is still known as the Folly Wharf on the
Quayside.

FOND, soft, silly, half-witted, insane. In West Tyne and in
East Cumberland the word is font, the t being most emphatic.

FONDY, a fool. "Sit doon, ye greet fondy."
FOOL-GOWK, an April fool. See APRIL-GOWK.
FOOL-PLOUGH. See FULL-PLOUGH.

FOONDER, FOUNDER, to break down, to go lame. A
horse is said to have foondered when it has become lame or
useless.

FOOR, or FURE, a furrow which a plough makes in going up
and down to form a rig. This is not an abbreviation of
furrow, but the original word. Foorlang, a furrow long ; hence
a furlong. See RIG-AND-REAN.

298 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FOOR-HORSE, the far horse, or right side horse of a pair in
ploughing. The horse on the left is the " land," or " nar-side
horse."

FOOT, the lower part of a street, as " head " is the upper part.
"Head of the Side" and " Foot of the Side" are still
constantly used in Newcastle.

FOOTAGE-MONEY, the foy, or fee, received by a pilot.
The footage-monies received by pilots are called by them " foys."

FOOT-AN'-A-HALF, a game like leap-frog. The last leaper
must call out " foot-an'-a-half" If he fails he must become
the " back." After each round the "back " steps on to the spot
where the last leaper touched, and the " frogs " who follow
must in the second round leap from the original mark and
clear the back. The move forward is repeated after every
round till the players fail in turn.

FOOT-COCK, a small hay-cock, of less size than a kyle, used
in showery weather. It is a small heap of hay gathered off
the ground and cocked lightly up with the foot and rake to
assist drying. See HAY-MAKING.

FOOTH, plenty. See FOUTH.

FOOT- WASH IN. On the evening preceding the wedding day
the feet of the bridegroom were washed in a company of two
or three of his 'own particular friends. A similar office was
also performed to the bride, but in a more private way. —
Richardson's Table Book, Legendary, vol. i., p. 342.

FOOTY, small, mean, insignificant, low, shabby. " He's a bit
footy body." But when applied to a girl it means a small,
neat person.

FOOT-YELL, the drink customary on the " footin," or beginning
of a new work. When a young horse gets his first shoes, it
is customary for the smith and the owner to drink the foot-yill.
This is the " footin."

FOOZ, or FUETS, the common house leek, Sempervivum
tectorum.

FOR, until. " Wait for aa come."

FOR, joined to what = why ? As " What for will he not ?"

FORAN, a person beforehand.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 299

FOR-A'-SYKES, a common exclamation. Probably " for all
our sakes." " For-a'-sykes drop it.

FOR-BECAAS. " What for-becaas ?"— what for ?

FORBY, besides, over and above.

" To whom pigs and pullets are sent — and other good things forby." —
Address to Mr. Peter Watson, 1824.

" He's sixteen stane onyway, forebye the heavy side-saddle." — James
Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, 1879, p. 122.

FORCED-FIRE. See NEED-FIRE.

FORCE-PUT, a thing done of necessity or under compulsion.
"We'll not dee'd except as a. force-put." "A force-put' 's ne
plisure " — a thing done of necessity is no pleasure.

FORDER, to further.

FORE, the front. "Fore door ''• — the front door. " Is he still to
the fore P" — is he still to the front — that is, still alive and
well?

FORE-DAYS, FOOR-DAYS, towards evening.— Halliwell's
Diet.

FOREIGNER, the name applied to any craftsman not
belonging to the freelage of the town. Formerly the free
burgesses of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were resolute in harassing
and oppressing every foreigner, as they emphatically call all
non-freemen. A foreigner was not allowed to keep a shop but
by the sufferance of the corporation.

FORELOCK, a washer or circular disc of iron for the nut of
a bolt to press against when screwed up.

FORENENST, FOREANENST, FORNENT, next in front,
right in front, right against.

FORE-SHIFT, the first shift of hewers that descends a pit for
work. They go down two to three hours before the boys.

FORE-WON, in a pit, " a wall driven over before the board
was holed." — Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms.

FOR-FAIRS, or FOR-FAIR, in earnest. See FAIR.

" Whene'er we saw his sonsy face, wor steam got up for- fair." —
R. Emery, 1853, Deeth o' Bobby Nunn.

300 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FORGIMMETY, and FORGIMMETY-ME-SINS, an excla-
mation of surprise.

FORKY-TAIL, the earwig. Called also codgybell, twitchbell, and
scotchybell.

FORPET, or FOR-PIT, a measure containing—

" At Alnwick the fourth part of a peck, about three quarts. At Hexham,
four quarts, J peck of wheat, 1-5 of barley and oats. At Wooler, 4 quarts,
J peck, 1-9 bushel. The word seems to be a corruption of fourth-part. "—
James Britten, Old Country and Farming Words. (E.D.S.)

FORRAT, FORRIT, FORRAD, forward, bending forward,
and, thus, weakened. " Getten sair/omY i' the knees " — that
is, bending very much with age.

FORRATSOME, FORRETSOME, of a forward disposition,
impudent.

FORSMAN, foreman.

" She smacked iheforsman on the face."

J. P. Robson, Hamlick, pt. ii.

FORTHERLY, forward, early, " A fortherly harvest."
" Fortlierly potatoes." — Brockett.

FORTHY, industrious, well doing, free, kindly spoken. " A
forthy body."

FORTYFOALS, a blue and white potato of good increase.
Most likely originally called forty -folds"

FORWHY, wherefore. " He comes here ; forwhy aa's sure aa
canna tell."

FOTHER, FODDER, of coals, one-third of a chaldron ; about
as many coals as a one-horse cart will contain. A father of
lead = 21 cwts. The word has come to be applied to a cart-
load of anything in general." " A fothey of muck, or of lime,
&c." The fothey differs from the load, the latter being as
much as can be carried on the back of a pack-horse.

" A father [of coals] is properly as much as can be conveyed in a cart
with one horse." — T. John Taylor, Archeology of the Coal Trade, 1852.

"Pother, a measure of coals — six bushels." — Hugh Miller, Geology of
Otterburn and Elsdon.

FOTHER, to feed horses and cattle, to give them their fodder.
To "do up" horses or cows for the night. "He ye fathered
the beass yit ? "

FOTHER-BARN, a straw barn.

FOTHERIN, the last feeding at night for horses and cattle.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 3OI

FOUL, impure and inferior, as coal that is mixed with slaty
materials, or is soft and sooty and not fit for use.

FOULNESS, explosive mine gas.

FOUMART, FOOMART, the polecat, Mmtella putorius.
The stoat is sometimes called polecat, or pow-cat, but the
animal is almost extinct in South Northumberland. Foumart,
at Hexham, means the stoat or marten, not the polecat,
which is a much larger animal of the same species, extinct
in Northumberland.

FOUSTED, FUSTED, gone mouldy, spoiled.

FOUT, a dear, fond, affectionate child. — Hodgson MS. The
word has been wrongly defined as meaning, when applied
to a person, lazy, untidy, dirty, or spoiled, like a spoiled
child. It is really applied as a pet term to a romping, giddy,
lively girl. See FOUTER.

FOUTER, a foumart, a term of contempt, "Ye stinkin fouter"
FOUTH, FOOTH, plenty, fill.

FOUTHLESS, empty, useless. " He's nobbut a peer fouthless
body."

FOWER-BANWIN, four shearers on one rig. See BANDWIN.

FOWERSOME, four persons ; like twosome for two persons,
and threesome for three together.

FOWIN, folding and foddering cattle. See FAAIN.

FOWT, fought, p.t. of fight. Fit is often used as the p.t. of
fight — p.p. fouten. " Hoo lang is't sin Sayers^ Heenan ?"

FOX-FOOT, the grass Dactylis glomevata.

FOX'S-CLAWS, FOX'S-TAIL, the club moss, Lycopodium
clavatum, L. It is also known as stag-horn moss and tod's tail.
The spikes of it are called forks and knives, according as they
are single, double, or triple. — Johnston's Botany of the Eastern
Borders.

FOX-TAIL-GRASS, the Alopecurus pratensis, L.

FOY, a fee ; specially used formerly as a fee to a fitter's clerk ;
also used for the money received for pilotage. The "footage"
monies received by pilots are called by them foys.

3O2 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FOY-BOAT, a boat used by a /by-boatman.

FOY-BOATMAN, a boatman whose occupation is to watch at
sea, off the mouth of the Tyne, for incoming ships, in order
to obtain employment in mooring them on their arrival in the
harbour.

FOZY, applied to a turnip that is frost bitten ; and, hence,
spongy. A fozy turnip is also one overgrown, deficient in sap,
and of a dry, spongy nature inside. These, when handled,
are very light and have a hollow sound. The youngsters on
a farm sometimes use them for footballs.

FRA, FRAE, FRE, FREV, FREN, from. "Where hes he
come/ra ? " This is the usual form in Northumberland. On
Tyneside the sound is much shortened.

" Frae Team Gut to Whitley, wi' coals black and brown,
For the Amphitrite loaded, the keel had com'd down."

Robert Gilchrist, Skipper's Erudition, 1824.

Fre is the usage when the word following begins with a
consonant ; but when a vowel, or a mute aspirate, follows,
the forms arefrev andfren. See also FREN.

" Can they de owse wi' Crowley's crew,
Frev a needle tiv an anchor, O ? "

FRAC, audacious, undutiful, bold, obstreperous.

FRAISE, FRAKE, a disturbance, a fight. " A bonny frake
they gat up amang them." [Heard at Harbottle.J These
appear to be variants of fray. Compare FRASY and FRAY.

" The auld wives aften mak' afraise."

Poems, F. Donaldson, Glanton, 1809, P- 77-

FRAKE, a freak.

FRAME, to attempt, to strive, to show promise of ability. " He
frames well." " How does he frame P "

FRAME, the head gear carrying the pulleys of a pit.

FRAME-DAM, a strong separation of wood and clay, to stop
water back. — Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852.

FRAME-DOOR, a pit door set in a frame of special construction.

" It only opens in one direction, namely, against the pressure of the
current of the air, and should always be hung so as to fall to should any
one passing through it neglect to draw it close." — Gloss, of Coal Trade
Terms, 1888.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 303

FR AM MELT, the bent portion of an obsolete form of cattle
band, made of wood, to embrace and slide on the stake. The
upright portion is called a " byeakie."

FRAMPISH, to bend tightly.

FRAP, to strike, to rap. " Aa'll fmp yor heed when aa get a
had on ye."

FRASE, or PHRASE, a disturbance. " What are ye myekin
the fvase aboot ; thor's neebody kill'd." See FRASY.

FRASS, fine dust.

"A caterpillar mines between the bark and the wood, and throws out
a brown dust or frass." —Dr. James Hardy, Hist, of Bwks. Nat. Club,
vol. 9, p. 371.

FRASY, fray, excitement, hubbub. The same as fraise. See
FRASE and FRAY.

"Hoping thefrasy might turn out a hoax." — James Armstrong, Wanny
Blossoms, 1879, p. 132.

FRASY, disturbing, talkative. "Hoot! he's no worth mindin' ;
a poor frazy body." Probably the adjectival form of the
foregoing word.

FRATCH, to make a disturbance in a querulous, fretful way ;
also a slight quarrel, a disagreement, an obstruction. " He's
nivvor easy till he can raise a fratch wi' somebody."

FRATCHER, a fault finder, a disturber about petty things.

FRATED, frayed, fretted ; having rough, ragged edges, as torn
or worn cloth.

FRATISHED, perished, half frozen, benumbed with cold. —
Bvocketi. See FRETISHED.

FRATISHMENT, starvation from cold.

FRAY, a great disturbance. A house cleaning or a washing
day leads to the exclamation, " What a fray thor's on thi
day."

FRAZE. See FRASE.

FREAK, FREYK, FREKE, a strong man, a fighting man.
(Obs.)

FRECKEN, to frighten.

304 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FREE-COAL, coal well jointed, and working freely. — Hugh
Miller, Geology of Otterburn and Elsdon, 1887.

FREEDSTOLL, FRITHSTOLL, FRIDSTOLL, the seat
of peace. Still preserved at Hexham.

"A Stone Chair in the Church near the Altar, to which Offenders used
to fly for Sanctuary. Anglo-Saxon, fridh, peace, and stole, a seat." —
Bailey's Diet.

FREELEGE, FRELIDGE, the privilege of acquiring the
freedom of the town. " He took up his freelege from his
father." " He served his freelege as a joiner." (Obs.)

FREE-LEVEL, discharging at the surface without engine
power. — Nicholson, Gloss, of Coal Trade Terms.

FREEND, friend. Relatives are generally called freends. " Aa's
gan ti see ma freends." " He's a far away freend o' mine."
The word is frequently shortened to frin, or frind.

FREESE-ROOTER, possibly a name for a portcullis. (Obs.)
FREET, fright ; FREETEN, to frighten.
FRE-GITHER, apart. " They've been lang fre-gither."

FREM, FREMD, FREMIT, strange. " Fremd folk "—alien
people. " Aa've hed mair kindness shown us fre fremd folk
nor fre me aan kin." Thus generally applied to distinguish
people who are not one's blood relations. Hence anything
out of the way or strange. " Afremd day."

"A.fremd man this." — Hodgson MS.

" Frem'd or fremt, far off, not related to, or strange, an enmity." — Ray's
Gloss., 1691.

FREMANG, from among.

FREN, from. "He's teyun'd fren him." This form is used
instead of fre, in the same way that f rev is used. " Did ye get
it fre Tom, or frev Anty ?" Here a vowel or consonant
following determine the use of fre, frev, or fren. " He gat the
teyun fren an aad fiddler." " He played the teyun fre
memory."

FRENCH LENART, a redpole.

FRESH-WOOD, the threshold, or foot-beam of the front door
of a dwelling-house. — Hodgson MS.

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 305

FRET, FREET, a wet fog. It is generally called a seafret.

FRETISHED, FRATISHED, starved with cold (as fam'shed
is starved with hunger). Common in Northumberland.

FRETISHIN, FRETISHMENT, an attack of cold. » Aa've
getten a tarrible fretishin ; aa've neezed (sneezed) a' night."
" He gat a real fntishment"

FRETTEN, or FRITTEN (the p.p. of fret), worn or eaten
away ; fretted into marks or scars, as pock-fntten, marked with
the small-pox.

FREV, from, before a vowel. See FREN and FRA.

FRIEZY, made of frieze. A friezy coat is made of a kind of
rough home-spun yarn, and has a woolly or hairy appearance.

FRIM, vigorous, thriving, well fed.

FRITH, a clearing in a forest. This term appears to be
equivalent to the Cumberland thwaite. In Northumberland
the word frith occurs as a place-name in one example only. A
variant form of the same word probably occurs in Gosforth.

FRIZZLE, in flint and steel guns the piece of iron acted on
by the flint to produce the explosion. Also the piece of steel
used for striking fire upon a flake of flint, often carried yet by
old men to get a light with when in the fields. A piece of
"matchy," or brown paper steeped in a solution of saltpetre,
then dried, is used to take " had " from the spark obtained by
striking the frizzle against the sharp edge of the flint. The
frayed edge of the " matchy" projects well to the face of the
flint in the operation.

FROG, a disease in the throat of infants. " Frogo' the mooth."

FROST, in Northumberland is the name of dew, or the rime of
hoar frost. The dew condensed on the glass of windows is
also called frost. Also a fine September night which covers
the grass with dew is called a frosty night. — Hodgson MS.

FROST-RIND, or FROST-RY-END, frost-rime, hoar-frost.

FROTH, FROUGH, weak, foamy. Applied to wood, it means
light and brittle, as the crack willow. Light, like froth. —
Hodgson MS.

FROWDY, a slovenly or slatternly woman.

T

3O5 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FRUGGAN, a curved iron scraper with which ashes in an oven
are stirred. — HalliweWs Diet.

FRUSH, the thrush, or tender part of a horse's foot.

FRUSH, brittle. "It'svarry/VwsA" (said by a mason hammering
a quad which broke easily, 1887). Anything full of sap and
easily broken is said to be fnish.

FRY, children.

" The skulls are shut ; the gabblin/ry
A' skelp aboot at pleasure."

The Oilin' o' Dicky's Wig, 1826.
" And them before the fry of children yong
Their wanton sportes and childish mirth did play."

Faerie Queene, I., xii., v. 7.

FU, FUH, full ; generally shortened in this way when at the
end of a word. Hoose/wA — house/w// ; nief/wA — hand/w//, &c.

FUD, the tail, or " scut," of the hare, rabbit, &c.

FUDDLING, a practice in fish poaching.

" They not only use a net when they have one, but resort to the more
destructive practice of what they c&\\ fuddling the fish, by liming the water,
or throwing into the pools a preparation of Coculus Indicus."— S. Oliver,
Rambles in Northumberland, 1835, p. 83.

FUE, or FEW, to endeavour, to struggle. " Aa'll/w to di'd."
" He fues well at the job." See FEW.

FUE, an effort. " He myed the best fue on't aa've seen."
FUETS, the house-leek. See Fooz.

FUFF, to puff out with an explosive or hissing sound.
" The poother fn/ed off iv a jiffy."

FUGIE, FUGEE. (Obs.)

" Thefugies, that is to say, such cowardly cocks as tried to run and
avoid fighting." — W. Brockie, Legends and Superstitions, pp. in and 133.

FUIL, a fool. See FEYUL,
FULL, rich, well-to-do. (Obs.)

FULL, FULLEN, the house-leek, Sempervivum tectorum. See
FUETS, Fooz.

" Country people plant the house-leek, or sen-green, locally termed
full or fullen, on the thatched roofs of their cottages, in order to preserve
them from thunder and lightning, which, it is said, will never strike this
evergreen herb." — Legends and Superstitions, p. 117,

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 307

FULLOCK, to jerk or advance the hand beyond the "past,"
or boundary line, in playing at marbles. It is a form of
cheating at the game. " Nee fnllockin, noo," is the common
expostulation to an unfair player.

FULL-PLOUGH, or FOOL-PLOUGH. Anciently the
hinds and agricultural labourers of Northumberland used
to celebrate the termination of the labours of the plough
by a pageant, which is variously called the white-plough,
slot-plough, full-plough, and fool-plough or fond-plough. The men
who joined were dressed in white shirts (without coat or
waistcoat), on which were stitched a profusion of coloured
ribbons and rosettes. They yoked themselves to a plough,
and went round the country-side preceded by a flag-bearer
and accompanied by a man with a gun. At each house a fee
was demanded, and when a gift was obtained the gun was
fired. A refusal of the customary largess was followed by
the plough being drawn in many furrows through the ground
or pavement in front of the house. Compare SWORD-DANCERS
and GUIZARD. (Obs.)

FUME, lead smoke.

" A sort of bad foul air, or fume, exhaling out of some minerals." —
Compleat Collier, 1708, p. 23.

FUMMLE, to fumble, to do a thing clumsily. " What are ye
fuinmelin on that way for ?" To seek for in a fumbling
manner. " Aa fummeled on till aa fand it." In the dialect
the b sound in tumble, grumble, humble, nimble, thimble, tremble,
&c., is always elided.

FUN, FUND, FUNDED, preterites and p.p. si find.

FUNERAL-CUSTOMS. See BIDDERS, LAKE-WAKE, STREEK.

FUNK, to kick, to kick up the heels as a horse or donkey does.
" To funk off" is to throw the rider. " To be in a funk " is to
be in a tift or passion about anything. "The gaffer's in a
fine funk " — in a great passion.

FUNK, to raise a noisome smell, as is done by blowing
pungent smoke through a keyhole — that is, "Finikin the
Cobbler."

FUNKER, a hollow cabbage stalk or a horn filled with lighted
tow, out of which volumes of smoke are blown by way of
amusement or mischief.

308 NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS.

FUR, or POOR, a furrow.

FUR, FURRIN, the deposit of lime from limestone water.
A pipe when choked with deposited matter is said to be
furred up.

FURNACE-DRIFT, a passage leading into an "upcast" pit
provided with a furnace for the purpose of ventilating the
mine. Where two such passages exist, one only of which
has the furnace burning, they are distinguished as the furnace-
drift and dumb-drift.

FURTHERANCE, extra price paid to the hewers when
required to put the coals (Mining Gloss. Newcastle Terms, 1852),
or as an allowance in respect of inferior coal, a bad roof, a
fault, &c. (Gresley's Gloss., 1883).

FURTIG, fatigue.

FUSHENLESS, FUZZENLESS, dry, wanting in nourish-
ment.

" Fuzzcn means 'nourishment, natural juyce, strength, plenty, abun-
dance, and riches," — J. Britten, Old Country and Farming Words. (E.D.S.)

" Nature should bring forth
Of its own kind, a\l foizon, all abundance."

Temfest, act ii., sc. i.

Fushenless is, therefore, sapless, sackless, useless. "He's a
poor, fushenless body."

FUSOME, FEUSOME, deft-handed, but generally in a
sinister manner.

FUTCHEN, fur, probably of the fitchet, polecat, or stoat.
(Obs.)

" A black futchen doublet, lined with sarsnet." — Will of John Lawson,
1578.— R. Welford, History of Newcastle in XVI. Century, p. 508.

FWOAK, folks, people. See FOLK.

" Jenny, the gardner, an sum mare sic \ey\ae fwoak."— Thomas Bewick.
The Hoivdy, ed. 1850, p. n.

FWOAL, a foal. A cowt-fwoal is a young male horse whilst
sucking. A filly- fwoal is a female of the same age. A foaly
mear is a mare and foal.

FYE, an exclamation calling to attention. " Fye for a guide to
Durham ! " exclaimed the broken fugitives after the battle of
Newburn, in August, 1640. The word also occurs in early

NORTHUMBERLAND WORDS. 309

times. "Fy^-loan!" is a call to cows to be milked. " Fye-
nout ! " is the cry of the herd to his dog as he sends him away
after straying cattle, and " Fye-yaud I " when he is sent after
sheep. "Fjtf-lake ! " or "Fye-la.ig ! " is the call when driving
a flock of geese. Fye! is also used in urging a horse. In all
cases the word is a cry of alarm, or a call to exertion or to be
on the alert.

FYES, the face. See FE-YACE.

FYSEABLE, faceable ; something not to be ashamed of; any
bit of work well done.

FYES-STRAP, a strap suspended from the " heed " of a horse's
bridle, hanging down the face just above the " nosepike," and
generally ornamented with brass.

FYKE, to fuss, to worry at trifles. See FEAK and FIDGE.

FYLETT, probably a baptismal fee. (Obs.)

The will of Robert Clayton, proved Jan. igth, 1579, leaves to " Elinor,
daughter of William Selby, whom he christened, aos. and a fylett." —
Richard Welford, History of Newcastle in XV I. Century, p. 511.

" Fo!ht, baptism ; Folut, baptised ; Folut in a font stone." — Anturs of
Arthur, p. 9. — HalliweU's Diet.

FYUL [T.] , a fool. See FEYUL.

END OF VOL. I.

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