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OBSERVATioNS
on
SOME OF THE DIALECTS
IN
THE WEST OF ENGLAND
PARTICULARLY
WITH
A GLOSSARY OF WORDS
NOW IN USE THERE ;
AND
POEMS AND OTHER PIECES,
EXEMPLIFYING THE DIALECT.
By JAMES JENNINGS,
BONORARV SfiCRETARY OF THE ' METROPOLlTA"N LITBRART
INSTITUTION, LONDON.
"Goo little Reed!
" Aforn fha vavvk, an vor me plead :
" Thy wild nawtes. m^-be, tha ool hire
" Zooner than zater vrom a Ivre.
" Za that thy Maester's pleas'd ta blaw 'em,
" An hatips in time tlia'll come ta knaw 'em ;
" An nif zaw be thill please ta hear,
*■ A'U gee zum moor another year."— TAe Farewel.
Printed for
BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
LONDON.
1S25.
•
« < * * * •
• •
. • • •.
'•:.'.
• . c ' . • • • • ♦
••-••.'-' .:..:.•".•.
T. C. H»nsaril, r;itcr-nu.»ter row I're^i.
TO
THA DWELLERS O' THA WEST.
Tha Fruit o' longvul labour, years.
In theaze veo leaves at last appears.
Ta You, tha Dwellers o* tha West,
I'm pleas'd that thu shood be addresst :
Vor thaw I now in Lunnun dwell,
I mine ye still — I love ye well ;
An niver, niver shell vorget
I vust draw'd breath in Zummerzet ;
Amangst ye liv'd, an left ye zorry.
As you'll knaw when you hire my storry.
Theaze little Book than take o' me ;
'Tis all I ha jist now ta gee.
An when you rade o' Tommy Gool,
Or Tommy Came, or Pal at school.
Or Mr. Guy, or Fanny Fear, —
(I ihenk you'll shod vor her a tear)
Tha Rookery, or Marys Crutch,
Tha cap o' which I love ta touch.
You'll vine that I do not vorget
My naatal swile — dear Zummerzet.
JAS. JENNINGS.
a 2
PREFACE.
The utility of works similar to the present is too
generally admitted to require any apology for their,
publication. There is, notwithstanding, in their
very nature, a dryness which requires relief: the
Author trusts, therefore, that, in blending some-
thing of the imaginative with the details of philo-
logical precision, his work will not be found wholly
destitute of that amusement which must necessarily
make it more acceptable to the general reader.
The Glossary contains the fruit of years of un-
wearied attention to the subject ; and the work, alto-
gether, will, it is hoped, be of some utility in elucidat-
ing our older writers, in affording occasional helps to
the etymology of the Anglo-Saxon portion of our lan-
guage, and also in exhibiting a view of the present
state of an important dialect of the Western pro-
vinces of England.
A late excursion through the West has, however,
induced the Author to believe that some valuable
information may yet remain to be gathered from our
Anglo-Saxon dialect — more especially from that part
of it still used by the common people and the yeo-
Ti PREFACE.
manry. Under this impression, he respectfully
solicits communications from those who feel an in-
terest in this department of our literature; and
should it be the good fortune of this little work to
reach a second edition, he hopes that it may be, by
such communications, materially improved.
To a native of the West of England this volume
will be found, the Author believes and trusts,
an agreeable and convenient vade-mecum of refer-
ence, and assist the reminiscence of well-knomi,
although, perhaps, too often unnoted peculiarities
and words, which are fast receding from the polish
of elesrance, and the refinement of literature.
In regard to the Poetical Pieces, it may be men-
tioned that most of them are founded on JVest
Country Stories, the incidents in which actually
occurred ; they will not, therefore, on this account,
be the less acceptable. If some of the subjects
should be thought trifling, it will not, it is hoped,
be forgotten that the primary object has been, to
exemplify the Dialect, and that common subjects
offered the most ready, and, indeed, the best means
of efte<;tuating such an object. Of such Poems as
Good Bmje ta thee Cot ; the Rookery ; and Mary
Ramsey's Crutchy it may be observed, that had the
Author felt less he might, perhaps, have written
better.
MeiropoUtan Literary Instiiutioti, LoiidoiXf
March 25, 1825.
CONTENTS.
Page,
Additions and Corrections - - - - ix
Observations on some of the Dialects of the
West of England, particularly Somer-
setshire - - - - - - - J
A Glossary of Words commonly used in
Somersetshire - - - - - -19
Poems and other Pieces, exemplifyini^ the
Dialect of the County of Somerset - - ^7
Good B\vye ta Thee Cot 89
Fanny Fear - - - - - - -95
Jerry Nutty 107
Teddy Band — a Zong — Hunting for Sport - 123
The Churchwarden 131
The Fisherman and the Players - - - 140
Mr. Guy 145
The Rookery 153
Tom Gool 161
Mary Ramsey's Crutch - - - - - ICS
Hannah Verrior - - - - - - 170
Remembrance - - - - - -171
An Impromptu - - - - - - 17^
viii CONTENTS.
page.
Mary Puddy 174
A Dedication ---___ I77
The Farewel 178
Farmer Bennet an Jan Lide, a Dialogue - 179
Thomas Came an Young- Maester Jimmy, a
Dialog-ue - - - - - - 181
Mary Ramsey, a Monologue - - - 184
Concluding Observations - _ - 187
Miss Ham on the Somerset Dialect - - 188
(& Jlic Author's anxiety to render his work as
complete as possible, has prompted him to make
the Jollofving ADDITIONS «« J corrections : the
reader is, therefore, respectfidhj requested to
peruse these be/ore he proceeds to the observa-
tions. Sec. The// are placed before the work
itself frojn an apprehension that, if added as a
SuppIemcJit, they might not insure that notice,
rvhich it is desirable ihei/ should obtain.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
In addition to what has been said concerning
the dialects of the West, in the Observations, &c.
it may be noted here that the diphthong oi, is often
pronounced like ivi. Thus for spoil, we have
spwile ; for boil, bwile ; for point, pivint ; for
poison, prvison ; for soil, swile, &c.
The d is generally omitted in the conjunction
arid : as, i/ou an I.
The g, in the present participle, is also silent.
Thus, instead of loving, we have lovin y for hear-
ing, hearin or hirin ; for singing, zingin, &c. And,
generally, all words of two or more syllables, end-
ing in our polished dialect in ing, have the g
omitted in the Somersetshire pronunciation. Thus,
lightning, is lightnin ; groaning, groanin ; gosling,
gozlin, &c. &c.
Again, prep. Against.
To Auverdro'. v. a. To overthrow.
Bad. adv. Badly.
Bag'inet. s. A bayonet.
Ballet, s. A ballad.
a 5
X ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Ban'nut. s. A walnut. C3" Not generally used ;
only in the Northern parts of the County.
Bee'iis. s. pi. [^Bcastsr\ Cattle. Only applied to
the ox tribe, never to sheep.
For Becdy, read Becdy. See the Glossary.
Bisky. s. A biscuit.
0^ It would be scarcely worth while to no-
tice this difference in the word biscuit (twice
baked), were it not that its pronunciation ap-
proaches nearly to the sound given by the French
to cuit, the latter portion of the word — the t
being entirely omitted in the Somersetshire
deliverv.
Blath'er. s. A bladder.
To Blath'er. v. n. To talk fast and, in consequence,
generally nonsensically ; to talk so fust that
bladders fonn at the vioiiih.
Boar. s. That peculiar head or first flowing of the
water from one to two or more feet in hcij^ht
at spring tides, seen in the River Parret, for a
few miles below, and also at Bridgewater, and
which is seen also in some other rivers.
03" This word is in Todd's Johnson, and there
spelled bore. I prefer the above orthography,
because I believe that the word is derived from
boary the animal so called, in consequence of the
noise, rushing, and impetuosity of the water-
Mr. Todd's definition, notwithstanding the au-
thority of Mr. Burke, is not applicable to the
boar to be seen in the River Parret. With this
phenomenon I have been familiar from my child-
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. xi
hood. It is curious to contemplate the different
opinions of writers on this word, and on the
causes of the phenomenon itself. It appears,
however, by St. Pierre, (Euvres, Tome VI.
page 234, Hamburgh Edit. 1 797, that the phe-
nomenon is not exactly the same in the Seine
as in the Parret.
" Cette montagne d'eau est produite par les
marees qui entrent de la mer dans la Seine, et
la font refluer contre son cours. On I'entend
venir de fort loin, surtout la nuit. On I'appelle
la Barre, parce qu'elle barre le cours de la Seine.
Cette barre est ordinairement suivie d'une se-
conde barre, encore plus elevee, qui la suit a
cent toises de distance. Elles courent beaucoup
plus vite qu'un cheval au galop."
St. Pierre's etymology of the word appears to
me extremely fanciful. " It is called Bar," says
he, " because it bars the current of the Seine !"
Since the above was written, I have referred
to the Encijclopcedia MelropoUlana, article Bore,
and there the Editor does not seem to be more
fortunate in his definition or derivation than
his predecessors.
Bob'bish. adj. In spirits and health.
25' Pirtij bobbish, pretty well.
Under Bra7i {^See the Glossary^ for pice, read
piece'
Bruckle. a, \_See the Glossary] " My things are
but in a bruckle state." — \\ averly. Vol. II,
page 328, Edit. 1821.
To Buck. V. 71. To swell out.
xil ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Cass'n. ") Canst not : as, T/icc cass'n do it, thou
Cass'n't. ^ canst not do it.
03° It may be as well to observe here what
ought, indeed, to have been mentioned in the
Observations on the Dialects, that thcCy as the
nominative for ihou, is in very general use in the
West ; and although ihou is occasionally heard,
it is by no means so common as its brother pro-
noun tJicc.
Catch-corner, s. An amusement correctly de-
signated by its title.
Cla'vy. s. \_Scc the Glossary. J
C3=" The term clavif was, most probably, given
to that piece of wood, or other material, which
is usually laid over the front of the fire-place,
because, in most houses of any consideration,
even country farm-houses, the keys were for-
merly, and, indeed, now are very often, suspended
on pins or nails driven into it : hence from clavix,
Latin, a key, is derived the term clavy — the
place where the keys are himg.
Cla'vy-piece. s. A mantel-piece.
Cla'vy-tack. s. The shelf over the mantel-piece.
To Collo'gue. r. ;/. To associate in order to etfec-
tuate some improper purpose. Thieves collogue
together in order to carry on their depredation:*
effectually.
C^" " But it was hardly possible two such
* * rascals should coUonuc together without
mischief to honest people." — Novels and Tales,
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS, xi'il
hy the Author of Wavcrly, Vol. VIII, Rob Roy,
Edit. 1821, page 319. *
Colic/gin. s. \^g hard'] An association for accom-
plishing some improper purpose.
03=" This and tlie preceding word are in Todd's
Johnson ; but there, it is evident, the definition
is incorrect.
Colt-ale. s. Literally, ale given by a person who
enters upon any new office or employment, to
those already in it ; but, generally, money paid
to be spent in liquor for such purpose. Some-
times called Footing : this meaning of footing
ought to be, I think, in Todd's Johnson.
Coop, interj. A word used, very generally, to at-
tract fowls in order that they may be fed.
To Cork. V. a. To make a horse's shoe so that
when passing on ice, or on a frozen road, he
will not slip.
Craup. preterite of To creep.
Cubby-hole. s. A snug, confined place.
Cute. adj. Shaq), clever.
Dang, interj. This word is always followed by
some noun or pronoun, as dang it ; dang 'em ;
sometimes it is preceded by od, as od dang it.
0^ It was formerly a kind of imprecation,
implying God hang it ; but the present meaning
of dang or rather dang it, is little more than
expletive; it is rarely, if ever, used in a bad sense.
For Dawzin read Dam'zin \^See the Glossary.]
03" Ray, in his Catalogus Plantarum Anglite,
X17 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
&c. article Conjlus, thus speaks of the Divining
Rod. " Vulgus mctaUicorum ad virgulara di-
vinam, ut vocant, qua venas mctallorum in-
quirit, prae ceteris furcam eligit coluniam." —
And he adds^ " Qui de virgula divinatoria plura
velit, adeat J. Bauhhium." The curious, there-
fore, in this affair may, if they please, consult
John Bauhin, for whose lucuhrations on this
subject, I confess that I have no particular pre-
dilection.
Dig'ence. s. \_g hardT^ The evil one ; the devil.
{& In some modem publication, which I
have lately seen, this word is spelled Die Ice na ;
why I do not know .
Dow'sty. adj. Dusty.
For Drill get, read Dring^et. \_See the Glossary.]
Duck-an-Mallard. s. The play of throwing slates
or other flat st(mcs upon the water, so that they
may rise several times after striking the surface
before they sink ; Duck and Drake.
Q^" Hen pen
Duck-an-Mallard
Amen.
Dwon't. Do not.
Eese. adv. Yes.
Eet. adv. Yet. isee It.
Fooiise. s. Force. See Vooiisc. '
To Fooiise. X. a. To force.
Foo'ty. adj. Insignificant ; paltry ; of no importance.
Fout. preterite of To fight.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. xr
To Frunt. v. a. To afFront.
Fur'nis. s. A large vessel or boiler, used for brew-
ing, and other purposes. It is always fixed
with bricks and mortar, and surrounded with
flues, for the circulation of the heat and exit of
the smoke.
Gaern. s. A garden.
Gal'lise. s. The gallows.
Gifts. 6\ pi. The white spots frequently seen on
the finger nails.
For Gilaiv'fer, read Gil'aivfer. See the Glossary.
Girt. adj. Great.
Goose-cap. s. A silly person.
To Gree. v. n. To agree.
Hang-gallise. adj. Deserving the gallows^ felo-
nious, vile : as a hang-gallise fellow.
Hay'ty-ta/ty. > s. ^Derived, most probably, from
Highty-tity. \ height, and tite weight : see titc
in the Glossary.]
A board or pole, resting, in the middle only,
on some elevated place and balanced so that two
persons, one sitting on each end, may move up
and down alternately by striking the ground with
the feet. It is sometimes called simply a Tayiy,
Herd. s. A keeper of cattle.
Het. pron. See the Glossary.
03= Although I have not used this form of
the pronoun it in any of the pieces exemplifying
the dialect, it is nevertheless occasionally, in-
deed I may say often, heard among agricultural
xvi ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
labourers. That it was thus formerly used wc
have tlie authority of Sir John Forfescuc, a
judge in the reign of Henry VI. — '■' Hyt may,
peradventure, be marvelid by some men." —
Difference between an ahauhUc and limited Mo-
narchy. Chap. II.
Hiz'en. sing;, and plur. pron. Used for //,/* when
not followed by a substantive : as whose house
is that ? Hizen.
Hi''zy Pri'zy. A corruption of Nisi Prius, the
name of a well known law assize.
Under Hollardy \^See the Glossary]] for HoUiday,
read HoUday
Home-screech. \_See the Glossary.] For evisci-
vorus, read viscivo?'us.
Howsomiver. adv. However ; howsoever.
Under Ise \^Sce the Glossary] add 3^ West of
the Parret.
1st. [_i long] .V. East.
Istard. adv. {j long] Eastward.
It. adv. Yet. 05" It is very remarkable that two
distinct sounds of this adverb prevails : it and
eei : see N'eet.
JifTey. s. A short time ; an instant.
Keep. s. A basket : applied only to large baskets,
never to a small one.
Kirsmas. s. Christmas.
To Kirsen. v. a. To christen.
03" The two preceding words are exemplifi-
cations of the change of place of certain letters.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS, xvij
particularly the r, as mentioned in the Observa-
tions : these are, however, clearly corruptions.
Knack-kneed, adj. In-kneed; having the knees
so grown that they strike against each other.
Lat. s. A lath.
To Leath'er. v. a. To beat.
List. 1 s. The strip or border on woollen cloth,
Lis'tin. 3 which, when taken off, is used for va-
rious purposes.
Lis'tin. adj. Made of list.
Littlest, adj. Least.
Lock-a-daisy. iutcrj. Of surprise, or of pleasure.
To Lose Leather. To be galled on the nates by
ridino;.
Lowance. s. Allowance ; portion.
Mad'am. s. This word, fully accented (not as
ma'am), is applied- very generally to the more
respectable classes of society : as Madam Green-
wood. Madam Saunders, &c. See Dame, in
the Glossary.
Man'der. s. A corruption, probably, of the word
manner ; but used only in the sense of sort or
hind : as all mander o thcngs ; all sorts of
things. Mander is sometimes used as a kind
of plural ; all mander means all kinds ; a great
variety : as, Ducks an Geese an all mander.
To Maw. V. a. To mow.
May. s. The blossom of the white thorn.
May -fool. s. The same character as is designated
by April-fool in other parts of the kingdom.
xviii ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Na'atal. adj. Natural.
Na'atally. adv. Naturally.
N'eet. ) 7 XT ^
-KT,. >adv. Nor yet.
Nor'ra one. ) xt
XT ' ? Never a one.
JNorry one. ^
Nor'ad. adv. Northward.
Not'tamy. s. Corrupted from anatomy ; but it
means, very often, that state of the living body
implied by the terms, inere skin and bone.
Obstrop'ilous. adj. Obstinate, resisting.
Od-rot-it. interj. A vulgar imprecation.
Ods-bobs. interj . Implying surprise.
Ont. ) Of it. / a done ont ; I a done o't ; I have
O't. /done of it.
O/chit. s. An orchard.
Ornd. part. Ordained, fated.
Or'ra one. } »
^ , > Anv one : ever a one.
Or ry one. ^
Pack-an-Penny-Day. s. The last day of a fair,
when bargains are usually sold.
To Par'get. v. a. To plaster the inside of a chim-
ney with a mortar made of cow dung and lime.
Pick. .9. A two-pronged fork, used chiefly for
making hay ; a pike or pitch-fork.
Portmantle. s. A portmanteau.
Pot'icary. s. An apothecary.
To Rough. V. a. To roughen ; particularly a
horse's shoes, so that he may not slip in frosty
weather.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS, xix
Rozim. .9. Rosin.
Rum. s. Room, space.
Sa'cer-eyes. Very large and prominent eyes.
Sar'ment. s. A sermon.
Sar'tin. adj. Certain.
Sar'tinly. adv. Certainly.
Scissis- sheer, s. A scissar's-sheath.
Scollop, s. An indentation ; a notch ; a coUop.
To Scollop. V. a. To indent ; to notch.
To Shod. V. a. To shed ; to spill.
Showl. s. A shovel.
To Showl. V. a. To shovel.
Sizes, s. pL The assizes.
Snip'py. adj. Mean, parsimonious.
Spavvl. s. A chip from a stone.
Stad'dle. s. The wooden frame or logs, &c. wath
stones or other support, on which ricks of corn
are usually elevated.
To Stoor. V. a. and v. n. To stir.
To Squitter. v. n. To squirt.
Suth'ard. adv. Southward.
Tan. adv. Then. Now an tan ; now and then,
Theaze. pron. This.
Them'my. j^^on. Those.
Trim. v. a. To beat.
Tur'mit. s. A turnip.
Tur'ney. s. An attorney.
XX ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Vlan'nin. s. Flannel.
Vooase. s. Force.
To Vooase. v. a. To Force.
Vor'ad. adv. and adj. Forward.
Vust. adj. First.
Walnut, s. A large variety of the walnut, some-
times called the double walnut. The common
kinds of w^alnuts are called French-nuts. See
French-nut, in the Glossary.
Whir'ra. The same as Worra, which see. It is
most probable that this \vord, as well as tvorra,
is derived from the verb to whir, to turn round
rapidly with noise.
Yack'er. s. An acre.
Yal'ler. adj. Yellow.
Yap'ern. s. An apron.
Yes. s. \_Scc the Glossary.^ Thavusthird, tha vust
yes, first come first served, is a common proverb.
Yezy. adj. Easy.
Zitch. adj. Such.
Zooiip. s. Soap.
Zoon'er. adv. Rather.
8^ Since this work has been in the press, my
attention has been directed to a Paper of General
Vallancey, in the second volume of the Transac-
iions of the lioi/al Irish ylcadenri/, which was read
before that Society, Dec. 27, 1788. By this paper
it appears, that a colony of Enirlish soldiers settled
in the Baronies of Forth and Bargie, in the
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS, xxi
county of Wexford, in Ireland, in the years 1167,
1 168, and 1169 ; and that this colony have pre-
served their ancient manners, customs, and lan-
guage, to the present time QTSS^. To the
account of General Vallancey is added a Foca-
bidary of their language, and a song which has,
it is said, been handed down by tradition from the
arrival of the colony in Ireland, now more than
six hundred years since. A few observations on
these curiosities will be conceded to me.
I think there can be no question that the Irish
colonists w^ere from the West of England, and
most probably from Somersetshire, but of what
part is not so easily determined : perhaps from dif-
ferent parts of the county, and from the apparent
admixture of dialects, evident in the vocabulary
and the song, this I should suspect to be the case.
But, from whatever part they came, that their lan-
guage, as given us by General Vallancey, is very
much altered from the Ano'lo- Saxon of Somerset-
shire is certain.
The words nouth, knoweth ; zin, sun ; vrasf,
frost ; die, day ; Zalhardie, Saturday ; Zindei,
Sunday, and a few others, indicate an origin West
of the Parret. There are, however, many words
which with a trifling alteration in the orthography,
would suit, at the present time, the north-eastern
portion of the county ; such are blauther, bladder ;
xxn ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
brekvast, breakfast; crwest, crust; smill, smell;
skir, to rise in the air [I give the definition of
these words as I find them in the vocabulary. See
Skecr in the Glossary]; vier, fire; vier^ a
weazel; zar, to serve; zitch, such, &c. From
such words as ch'am and ch'ull, the southern part
of the county is clearly indicated.
There arc, however, many words in this voca-
bulary of which I have no knowledge, and of their
origin or meaning cannot, of course, speak. But,
I think, the disposition to elision and contraction
is as evident here as it is at the present time in
Somersetshire, and making allowance for differ-
ence of apprehension or of opinion in the convey-
ance of sounds, many of them may be explained
without a great departure from correct etymology.
Of the song, I cannot avoid expressing my sus-
picion, that it must have undergone considerable
change since its first introduction by the early co-
lonists. Louthee is evidently derived from Icwih
\_See the Glossary, article IcivtJi] ; hwthy will be,
of course, abounding with le7vth — equivalent to
sheltered.
The line
" At hy inkluch was i pit t' drive in."
Would in the present Somerset dialect thus stand.
That bji misluck war a put ta drenv in.
That by misluck was placed to drive in.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS, xxiii
In the line
** Chote well ar aim teas t' yie ouz n'eer a blotce.^^
the word chote is, I suspect, compounded of 'ch'
\iche] and know, implying / knew, or rather /
know'd, or knowt.*
The modern English of the line will then be,
I knew well their aim was to j^ive us ne'er a blow.
I suspect zitchelis compounded of zitch, such, and
the auxiliary verb ivili I v'lewe ame, is a veo o'm ;
that is, a few of them. Emothee, is emmeiy, that is,
abounding with ants. Moult cji away, is melting
awav.
Th'a^t ee pait it, thee'st a i}aid it ; thou hast
paid it.
In the English translation which accompanies
♦ The following line is from an amatory poem,
written, it is conjectured, in or about the reign of
Henry II. duiing which the colony of the EngUsh was
established in the county of Wexford.
" Ichor from heuene it is me sent."
In Todd's Johnson, History of the English Language^
page liii. it is thus translated —
*' I wot (believe) it is sent me from heaven."
To an admirer of our Anf^lo-Saxon all the lines,
twelve in number, quoted by Mr. Todd with the above,
wiU be found a rich treat : want of space only prevents
my giving them here.
xxiv ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
the original so?ig in General Vallancei/s paper,
some of the words are, I think, beyond controversy
misinterpreted, but I have neither room nor incli-
nation to go critically through it. All I desire
should be inferred from these remarks is, that, al-
though this Anglo-Saxo7i curiosity is well worthy
the attention of those who take an interest in our
early literature, we must be careful not to assume
that it is a pure specimen of the language of the
period to which, and of the people to whom, it
is said to relate.
Postscript. — The demonstrative pronouns, and
their use in the Somerset dialect, are deserv-
ing some attention. Thecizey this; thecizam,
thedzamy, these; thic, that []VVest of the
Parret, thechj~\ ; them, thcinvuj, those. But
such is the disposition for pleonasm in the use
of all these pronouns, that they are, very
often indeed, used with the adverb there. As
thelize here, thic there []West of the Parret
thecky there~], thccizam here, thciizamy here;
them there ; theminy there.
OBSERVATIONS
ox
SOME OF THE DIALECTS
IN
THE WEST OF ENGLAND,
PARTICULARLY
SOMERSETSHIRE.
B
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
THE district which the following Glossary-
is designed to include, embraces the whole of the
county of Somerset east of the river Parret, as
well indeed as parts of Wiltshire and Glouces-
tershire ; many of the words being common to
all these counties. In the district west of the
river Parret, the pronunciation and many of the
words arc very different indeed, so as to designate!
strongly the people who use them. The chief
peculiarity, however, of the district west of the
Parret, consists in their terminating, in the
present tense of the indicative mood, all the
third persons singular of the verbs in th or eth ;
thus, instead of he loves, he reads, he sees, it
rains, &c. they uniformly say, he lov'th, he
readHh^ he zee'th, it rai'nth, &c. There is also
some variation in some of the pronouns ; thus
they have Ise for 1, and Er for he. The pecu-
liarities and contractions of this dialect are, to a
stranger, not a little puzzling. Thus, her is very
frequently indeed used for she. Harth a doo'd
b2
4 OBSERVATIONS.
it, is, she has done it. This dialect pervades,
not only the more western parts of Somerset-
shire, but also the whole of Devonshire. How"
ever, it is not my intention to enter further into
this subject here. I shall occasionally note in
the glossary such words as are distinguishingly
characteristic of it.
Two of the most remarkable peculiarities in
the language of the West of England, and par-
ticularly of a large portion of Somersetshire, are
the sounds given to the letters A and E. A has,
almost universally, the sound given to it as in the
word father : in the words ball, tall, call, &c.
it is thus pronounced. The E has most com-
monly the same sound as the French give to this
letter, which is, in fact, the slender sound of the
A as heard in pane, cane, fane, &c.
It is a curious fact, and well deserves obser-
vation, that the sound given in our polished
dialect to the letters th, expressed by the
Anglo-Saxon "Ȥ, is frequently converted in the
western dialects into the sound universally given
in England to the letter d. Thus for thread,
we have dread or dird ; for through, droo ; for
thrash and its compounds, drash ; for throng,
dro7ig, or rather draiig ; for thrush, dirsh, &c.
OBSERVATIONS. 5
The slender sound given to th in our polished
dialect is, in the West, most commonly converted
into the thick or obtuse sound of the same let-
ters as heard in the words thisy these, &c. ; and
this, too, very often whether the letters be in-
ceptive or final.
Notwithstanding our lexicographers have
usually given the powers of th to the Anglo-
Saxon letters D and "^, I am very much dis-
posed to believe that these letters were some-
times, nay perhaps often, used indiscriminately
by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors for D only, and
sounded as such, as we find at the present time
they are so frequently thus sounded in the West.
Another remarkable fact is, the disposition to
invert the order of some of the consonants in
certain words ; as the r in thrush, brush,
rush, &c., these words being pronounced dirsh,
birsh, hirsh, &c. ,• and the 5 in such words as
clasp, hasp, asp, &c., they being sounded claps,
haps, aps, Szc. Some of these words will be
found in the Glossary ; but I have not thought
it necessary to notice them all; these general
observations will, I hope, enable the student to
detect the words when subjected to such inver-
sion. On this subject, however, it may be ob-
6 OBSERVATIONS.
served, that it is by no means improbable that
the order in which such sounds are now repeated
in the west, is the original order in which they
existed in our language ; and that our present
polished mode of expressing them is a new, and,
in fact, perhaps, as in many other instances in
our polished dialect, a corrupt enunciation. This
observation may appear singular to many per-
sons ; but T am not the first WTiter who has
made it. There will, I think, be no great diffi-
culty in accounting for such variations. As
the language of the country has been and is too
often accompanied with a coarseness of manners,
our citizens, and other arhiiri ekgantiarum^ have,
no doubt, felt desirous of removing as far as
possible from such coarseness ; and in doing
this the enunciation even of country persons has
been studiously avoided. And hence numerous
anomalies and novelty in sounds, as well as in
orthography, have, 1 doubt not, arisen ; and
hence also the great difficulty, from the inver-
sion or misplacing of letters, of discovering the
genuine etymology of many words.
Another peculiarity is that of attaching to
many of the common verbs in the infinitive mode,
as well as to some other parts of different con-
OBSERVATIONS. 7
jugations, the letter y. Thus it is very common
to say / caii^t sewy, I can't nursy, he cant
reapy, he carCt sawy ; as well as to sewy, to
nursy, to reapy, to sawy, &c. but never, I think,
without an auxiliary verb, or the sign of the
infinitive to, I am very much disposed to be-
lieve, that this arises from an inclination to give
the infinitives of verbs an uniform termination,
as in the French and many other languages.
I am not aware that this observation on our Eng-
lish dialect has been ever made before.
Another peculiarity is that of making two
syllables of words which are monosyllables in our
polished dialect. And thus the words air, both,
fair, Jire, stairs, sure, &c. become ayer, boodth,
foyer, vier, stayers, shower, &c. And thus, I
have no doubt, they were formerly very generally
pronounced, as Chaucer gives many of them as
dissyllables.
The verb to be retains much of its primitive
form in this dialect. Instead of I am, &c. / be,
thou beest or bist, thee beest, we be, you be, they
or thd be, are constantly heard ; but rarely or
never, he be but he is. In the past tense war,
for was and were, is always used : as I war, thee
pr thou wart, he war, we war, you war, they or
8 OBSERVATIONS.
tha war. Besides these peculiarities in this
^erb, we often hear wevi for we are, you'm for
1/ou are, and tlieym for they are.
There is also as strong a tendency to pleonasm
in some instances, as to contraction and elision
in others. Thus we have aloat for lost, ascone
for gone, aboiight for bought, ahrought for
brought, &c. Exemplifications of these prefixes
v;ill be found in abundance in Chaucer ; but
he very often uses the y instead of g, as ylost.
Notwithstanding there is an impression very
generally tiitertained, I believe, that this dialect
of the west is a very rough and inharmonious
one ; except in the frequent and unpleasant use
of Z for »S and V for F, I do not think it will
be found so deficient in agreeable sounds as it
has been commonly supposed. Certain it is, that
it would not be difficult to select many words
which may, for their modulation, compete with
others of gallic extraction ; and, perhaps, in
many respects, would be found superior to num-
bers which we have thought proper to borrow
from other languages, much less analagous to
the polished dialect of our own.
In pursuance of these ideas, I have added
some poetical and prose pieces in the dialect
OBSERVATIONS. 9
of Somersetshire. I cannot say that I have,
by any means, satisfied myself as to the poetry ;
but I think the reader may rest assured that
the idiom is tolerably well preserved ; and
that, as much as possible, the pronunciation
is conveyed in letters the nearest to the sound of
the words : there are, in truth, many sounds
for which we have neither letters nor combina-
tions of letters to express them ; in such cases
I have been under the necessity of adopting
those letters whose sounds approach the nearest
to those which I intended to express : to have
gone into a comparison between the sounds of
all the letters of the alphabet as pronounced in
Somersetshire, and as they are pronounced in
our polished dialect, would have been a degree
of criticism to which, perhaps, the subject is
not entitled; and is, at all events, one into
which I am not now disposed to enter.
The reader will bear in mind that these
poems are composed in the dialect of the county
of Somerset, north-east of the river Parret
Other dialects, as I have before observed,
are to be found; but this is, by far, the
most general : and, it is, besides, that
with which I am best acquainted^ and in
B 5
10 OBSERVATIONS.
which, of course, 1 have preferred writing,
AVhere I have used the circumflex over the
letter a it is to be understood that the sound
of the letter is to be exactly like the a in
father. I might have adopted the same plan
with respect to the vowel o, for the long sound
of it, as heard in the words 7io, gold, &c. ;
which is, for the most part, like aw in the word
awful^ but, as it is very easy to convey this
sound by an additional letter, I have preferred
the latter mode.
The words found in these pieces, which are
not known in our polished dialect, are explained
in the Glossary, except where some altera-
tion in the spelling only is made, such as jny
for joy^ liort for heart, and a few others : the
reader will, in this respect, it is presumed, find
no difficulty in supplying the true meaning :
it did not appear necessary to increase the
Glossary by the explanation of such synonyms.
AVhilst upon the subject of poetry it may
be appropriate here to observe, that in the
periodical work called the Guardian, published
more than a century ago, is a paper No. 40
concerning pastoral poetry. This paper, it is now
very generally understood, was written by Pope,
OBSERVATIONS. 1!
to extol his own pastorals and degrade those of
Ambrose Phillips. In this essay a pretended
Somersetshire poem is spoken of, and quoted
from. But Mr. Pope's invention here fails him ;
it is evident he knew little or nothing about
the Somersetshire dialect. Let us examine a
few of the lines from " this old west country-
bard of ours," as Mr. Pope is pleased to call
him.
Cicely. Ah Rager, Rager,chez was zore avraid
When in yond vield you kiss'd tha parson's maid :
Is this the love that once to me you zed.
When from tha wake thou broughtst megingerbred?
I would remark, in the first place, that what is
here of the Somerset dialect is neither east,
west, north, nor south, but a strange ad-
mixture. Chez is no where used, that I know
of, but in the southern part of the county,
uichy or iche is sometimes spoken contract-
edly che. See the article Utchy in the
Glossary. Vield, for field, should be veel.
Again, I know no part of Somersetshire
where the word wake is used : revel is the
synonym. The word parson is always, in the So-
merset dialect, puson. In another line, not quoted
12 OBSERVATIONS.
above, he calls the cows kee ; now this is not
Somersetian ; nor is he go for begone; it should
be, he gwon ; nor is Fvc a he, but I've a hin,
Somersetian. The two last lines above quoted
are a complete exemplification of Pope's man-
ner of sacrificing the persons of the verb to
the measure.
To conclude these remarks on Mr. Pope : it
would not be very difficult to suppose that,
when he used the word chezy he was thinking
of French rather than English, although there
is little analogy between the sounds of chez,
French, and of cAe, English. But with the
French language, I make no doubt. Pope was
much better acquainted than with the dialect
of Somersetshire. Even in London, at the
present time, such is the disposition for foreign
sounds and idioms, that our English ch is
frequently sounded sh, more especially in pro-
per names. It is very easy for a writer, such
as Mr. Pope, to invent and publish a £ew lines
of a thins which he chooses to call a Somer-
seishire pastoral, in order to bring another writer,
his cotcmporary, in*o contempt ; but such dis-
ingenuity must ultimately find (Mr. Pope's
long ago has found) its proper desert. This is
OBSERVATIONS. 13
not one of the transactions of a great poet's life
on which it is complacent to repose.
The idiomatic expressions in this dialect are
numerous. Some will be found in the Glos-
sary. The following may be also mentioned.
/V sley do it, for / would as lief' do it,
Righiing-lawn, adjusting the ridges after the
wheat is sown. Throw irig-hatches. cutting up
and destroying ant-hills. To goo out a choov'
ing, to go out to do any kind of dirty and
other household work. Slike for it is like ; a
power of rairi, for a great deal of rain; to
rake the vicr, to cover the fire with ashes, so
that it may remain burning during the night;
^Tword'n /, it was not I ; ''Tword''n he, it w^as
not he. The following are common plurals :
cheezen, cheese; houzen, houses; peazeu, peas;
plazen, places.
I have made an occasional suggestion in the
Glossary relative to the etymology of some
of these words. A few are evidently derived
from the Latin, and the monachism, no doubt, of
some of our forefathers, and a few from the
French ; but by far the greater part have, I
presume, an Anglo-Saxon, some, perhaps, a
Danish, origin. And although their roots may
14 OBSERVATIONS.
not be found in Zj/e, I should be disposed to
think that they had escaped the researches of
that lexicographer ; and when we consider how
many words escaped Johnson, the omissions of
our earlier dictionary compilers are not surprising.
In my own case, although I here present the
reader with the fruits of twenty-five years as-
siduity, I cannot flatter myself that the field
is yet completely gleaned. And mine is, com-
paratively, a small district ; although it has
more relation to our general language than has
been commonly supposed. I incline, indeed,
to think that the present language and pro-
nunciation of Somersetshire were, some centuries
past, general in the South portion of our island.
Before I close these observations, I am de-
sirous of noticing an error into which, I fear, too
many of our lexicographers have fallen, in com-
piling a dictionary from a living language. Theij
have depended too much upon books, and too
little upon the use and accepted meaning of
ivords as they are current in the ev€ri/-daj/
transactio7is of life. Hence it sometimes hap-
pens, that the meaning in a dictionary is at
variance with the use of the word in society ;
and it has happened, too, that many words
observations: J5
are current in society, which no lexicographer
has arrested, but which are nevertheless use-
ful words. Books are not, in fact, the only-
sources whence information of this kind should
be derived. In compiling this Glossary I
have derived very little assistance from books ;
but have defined the words from their actual
usage. If some of the definitions should not
appear so correct as could be desired, it will, I
hope, be remembered that the path was, in
great measure, untrodden, and that a follower
in the same walk may find it much more smooth.
But, although 1 have derived little assistance
from books, the reader should know that 1 have
carefully consulted Junius, Skinner, Minahew,
and some other of our old lexicographers. In
these, it is true, I have found several of the
words which are in my Glossary ; and I find also
that many of their definitions are correct, and will
correspond with my own ; but their conjectural
etymologies are, in too many instances, calcu-
lated to mislead. For this reason, I have my-
self avoided conjectural etymology ; and have
only mentioned the derivation when high pro-
bability or absolute certainty was apparent. It
is remarkable that few, if any, dictionaries of
16 OBSERVATIONS.
our language are to be obtained which were pub-
lished from the invention of the art of printing in
the middle of the fifteenth century and during the
whole of the sixteenth, a period of about one hun-
dred and fifty years. These dictionaries would,
no doubt, throw considerable light on our early
literature and provincial words. It is true some
scarce copies of such works are to be found, I
understand, in the cabinets of the curious, but
they are not accessible to the general reader.
Yet, after all, it must be admitted that, besides a
practical and extensive acquaintance with the
viva 2;oce dialect, our old wiiiters are our chief
resource in this study ; and 1 doubt not that
many MSS. now in the various depositaries in
this country which were written at difterent
periods of our history, before printing was intro-
duced, would throw the most light on this sub-
ject.
From an extensive view of the dialects of
this country, and particularly of those of the
West of England, I think we cannot avoid
arriving at the conclusion, that the Anglo-Saxon
dialect, of which I conceive the dialect of the
AVest to be a striking portion, has been gradually
retiring to make way for our polished idiom,
OBSERVATIONS. 1/
till that original dialect has ceased to be consi-
dered any thing but a barbarism ; whereas
many of the sounds of that dialect will be
found in Holland and in Germany a part of
the respective living languages of those coun-
tries, as well as in other districts of the North
of Europe.
To a person, therefore, acquainted with this
dialect, who has leisure, and who should feel dis-
posed to go through a course of study amongst
our old writers, and who has an opportunity
of examining our old MSS., an abundant har-
vest offers, from which an amusing book might
be made, illustrative of many of our pro-
vincial words and of our ancient manners. But
such leisure, whatever may be my disposition,
does not fall to my share ; the compilation of
such a work must be left to some more fortunate
individual than myself. I must be contented
with having thus far elucidated the lanjruajie of
my native county.
I have omitted several words which I supposed
provincial, and which are of frequent occurrencf;
in the West ; but as I have found them in
Todd's Johnson, I thought it useless to repeat
them here. A few words will, however, be
18 OBSERVATIONS.
found in this Glossary which have a place in
Todd's Johnson. These I have given, either
because I did not conceive Mr. Todd's definition
correct, or in order to make some observations on
their etymology, or for some other reason. I
cannot take my leave of this labour without
adding, that although Todd's Johnson will
still admit of considerable addition and improve-
ment, it contains, in my judgment, the greatest
mass of information on the subject of our own
language at present extant. In another edition
many of Dr. Johnson's definitions should be
corrected, they are manifestly erroneous ; the ac-
centuation should also be improved : instead of
the accent being always placed over the vowel,
it should be varied according as the stress is on
the vowel or on the consonant.
In concluding these observations on the dia-
lects of the West, I would direct the reader's
attention to the very general use of the demon-
strative pronoun thic for that ; as, thic house,
that house ; thic man, that man, &c. Chaucer
uses the word very often, but he spells it thilk,
GLOSSARY OF WORDS
COMMONLY USED IN THE
COUNTY OF SOMERSET;
BUT WHICH ARE NOT ACCEPTED AS LEGITIMATE WORDS OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ;
OR
WORDS
WHICH, ALTHOUGH ONCE USED GENERALLY, ARE
NOW BECOME PROVINCIAL.
A GLOSSARY OF WORDS
USED IN
SOMERSETSHIRE.
A. adv. Yes. A is also frequently used instead
of the pronoun he : as a zed ad do if ; he
said he'd do it.
Ab'bey. s. The great white poplar : one of the
varieties of the jJopulus alba.
Ab'bey-lubber. s. A lazy, idle fellow.
Abought. paii. See Vaught.
Abrood', adv. When a hen is sitting on her eggs
she is said to be ah rood.
Ad''dle. *. A swelling with matter in it.
Ad'dled. a. Having pus or corruption; hence
Ad'dled-egg. s. An egg in a state of putrefaction.
Affeard'. a. Afraid.
Afo're. ")
A r / * > prep, and adv. Before; afore, Chaucer.
A son'. ^ adv. Qhese words literally mean gonc.~\
Ago; agoo, Chaucer; from the verb to
goo, i. e. to go ; he is up and agoo ; he is up and
Agoo'.
gone.
Alas-a-day. interj. A-lack-a-day.
Ale. s. A liquor, brewed with a proportion of malt
22 A GLOSSARY.
from about four to six bushels to the hogs-
head of 63 gallons ; if it contain more malt
it is called beer ; if less, it is usually called
small beer.
Al'ler. s. The alder tree,
All'once. pron. [jaW ones^ All of us ; Let's go
allonce; let us go all of us.
All o's. pro?i. All of us.
Alost'. part. Lost ; ylost, Chaucer.
Amang'. prep. Among.
Amawst', ? 7 m .
. ,.. ^ > adv. Almost.
Amoo ast. ^
Am'per. s. A small red pimple.
Anby'. adv. Some time hence ; in the evening.
Anear'. 1
Ane'ast, > prep. Nigh to ; aneast e?i, near him.
Aneoust', 3
An'passy. s. The sign&, corrupted from and per se.
A]piist\ part, and prep. Past; apasf, Chaucer.
A''pricock. s. An apricot.
Aps. s. The asp tree; populus tremula.
Aps'en. a. Made of the wood of the asp ; belong-
ing to the asp.
To Arg. V. 71. To argue.
To Ar gufy. v. n. To hold an argument ; to argue.
Ascri'de. adv. Across; astride.
Aslen'. adv. Aslope.
Assu'e. adj. Wlicn a cow is let up in order that she
may calve, she is said to be assue — ha>4ng no
milk.
AGLOSSARY. 23
Ater. prep. After. Goo atern : go after him.
A thin', adv. Within.
Avaur'. 1
Avaur'en. x prep. Before.
Avaurn'. }
Avraur'. adj. Frozen ; stiff with frost.
Awa'kid. adj. Awake ; awakid, Chaucer.
To Ax. V. a. To ask ; ax, Chaucer,
Ax'en. s. pi. Ashes.
Axing, s. and part. Asking ; axing, Chaucer.
Ay'ir. s. Air.
B.
Back'sid. s. a barton.
Back'y. s. Tobacco.
Baily. s. A bailiff; a superintendant of an estate.
BaU. adj. Bald.
Ball'rib. s. A sparerib.
To BaFlirag. v. a. To abuse with foul words ; to
scold.
To Ban. v. a. To shut out ; to stop.
To Bane. v. a. To afflict with a mortal disease : ap-
plied to sheep. See to Coathe.
To Barenhond'. ? v. n. (used chiefly in the third
To Banehond'. \ person singular) to signify inten-
tion ; to intimate.
These words are in very common use in
the West of England. It is curious to
24 A GLOSSARY.
note their gradation from Chaucer, whose ex-
pression is, Bcren hem on hond, or hare him
on hand ; implying always, it appears to me,
the same meaning as I have given to the
words above. There is, I think, no doubt,
that these expressions of Chaucer, which he
has used several times in his works, are
figurative ; when Chaucer tells us he bere7i
hem in hond, the literal meaning is, he carried
it in, or on, his hand so that it might be
readily seen. " To bear on hand, to affirm,
to relate." — Jamieson's Etymological Scots
Dictionary. But, whatever be the meaning
of these words in Chaucer, and at the pre-
sent time in Scotland, the above is the mean-
ing of them in the west of England.
Banes, s. pi. The banns of matrimony.
Ban'nin. s. That which is used for shutting out or
stopping.
Barrow-pig. s. A gelt pig.
Is. A
Baw'ker-stone. J scythes; a kind of sand-stone.
To Becall'. v. a. To censure ; to reprove ; to chide-
T, V \ s. A bee-hive.
Bee-uppen. J
Be'edy. s. A chick.
Beedy's-eyes. s. pi. Pansy, love-in-idleness.
Beer. s. See Ale.
Befor'n. prep. Before.
Baw'ker. 7 *. A stone used for whetting
To Begird
To Begrud'
iV ' >v. a. To grudge ; to envy.
AGLOSSARY. 25
Lord Byron has used the verb begrudge
in his notes to the 2nd canto of Childe
Harold.
Begor'z. \ inter j.
Begum'mers. j "^
It is not easy to define the meaning of
these words ; they indicate some determina-
tion of mind ; and are, most probably, oaths
of asseveration. The last appears to be a
corruption of by godmothers. Both are thrown
into discourse very frequently : Begummers,
I ont tell ; I cant do it, begorz.
Begrum'pled. part. Soured ; offended.
To Belg. V. n. To cry aloud ; to bellow.
Bell-flower, s. A daffodil.
To Belsh. V. a. To cut off dung, &c. from the
tails of sheep.
Beneapt. part. Left aground by the recess of the
spring tides.
To Benge. v. n. To remain long in drinting ; to
drink to excess.
Ben'net. s. Long coarse grass.
Ben'nety. adj. Abounding in bennets.
Ber'rin. s. A funeral procession.
To Beskum'mer. v. a. To foul with a dirty liquid;
to besmear.
To Bethink', v. a. To grudge.
Bettermost. adj. The best of the better ; not
quite amounting to the best.
c
26 AGLOSSARY.
Betwat'tled. part. In a distressing and confused
state of mind.
To Betvvit'. v. a. To upbraid ; to repeat a past
circumstance aggravatingly.
To Bib'ble. v. n. To drink often ; to tope.
Bib^bler. s. One who drinks often ; a toper.
Bil'lid. adj. Distracted ; mad.
Billy. ,9. A bundle of wheat straw.
Bi'meby. adv. By-and-by ; some time hence.
Bin. conj^ Because ; probably corrupted from, being.
Bin'nick. s. A small fish ; minnow ; Cyprinus
phloxitius.
Bird-battin. s. The catching of birds wdth a net
and lights by night. Fielding uses this ex-
pression.
Bird-battin-net. s. The net used in bird-battin.
Birch'en. adj. Made of birch ; relating to birch.
Bis'gee. s. (g hard), A rooting axe.
To Biv'er. v. n. To quiver ; to shake.
Black-pot. s. Black-pudding.
Black'ymoor, s. A negro.
Blackymoor's-beauty. s. Sweet scabious ; the
musk-flower.
BlanTvcr. s. A spark of fire.
Blans'cue. s. Misfortune ; unexpected accident.
Blciichy. adj. Brackish ; saltish : applied to water.
Blind-buck-and-Davv. a. Blind-man's buff. Blind-
buck and have ye, is no doubt the origin of
this appellation for a well-known amusement.
BUs'som. ad. Blithesome.
A G L O S S A R Y. 27
Blood-sucker, s. A leech.
Bloody-warrior, .v. The wall-flower.
Booiith. proji. Both. " Boo'lith d ye ;" both of you.
Bor'rid. adj. A sow is said to be horrid when she
wants the male.
Bote, jyaii. Bought.
Bow. s. A small arched bridge.
Boy's-love. .v. Southernwood; a species of mugwort ;
artemlsia abrolonum.
Brave, adj. Well ; recovering.
Bran. .v. A brand ; a stump of a tree, or other irre-
gular and large pice of wood, fit only for burn-
ing. Hence, doubtless, the origin of Bon/t^re,
a fire m.adc of brans. See the next article.
Bran-vier. .9. A fire made with brands. The
supposed origin of it, bon, good fire, and hence
usually spelled bon-fire, is evidently errone-
ous : it should be hranjire or brandjire.
Bran'dis. .9. A semicircular implement of iron,
made to be suspended over the fire, on which
various things may be prepared ; it is much
used for warming milk.
Brash. .9. Any sudden development ; a crash.
T» • in / > adj. Not coherent ; brittle.
Brim'mle. s. A bramble.
To Bring gwain. v. a. \_To bring going.~\ To spend ;
to accompany some distance on a journey.
To Brit. V. a. To indent ; to make an impression :
applied to solid bodies.
c 2
28 A GLOSSARY.
Brock, s. An irregular piece of peat dried for fuel ;
a piece of turf. See Turf.
Bruck^'le, 7 ^/r//. Not coherent; easily separable: ap-
Bruck'ly, 3 plied to solid bodies. See Brickle.
Bruckleness. s. The state of being bruckle.^
To Bud' die. v. To suffocate in mud.
To Bulge. V. a. To indent ; to make an irregular
impression on a solid body ; to bruise. It is
also used in a neuter sense.
Bulge, s. An indentation ; an irregular impression
made on some solid body ; a swelling out-
wards or depression inwards.
Bul'len, adj. Wanting the bull.
Bul'lins. *. J)!. Large black sloes ; a variety of the
wild plum.
Bun'gee. s. (g hard). Any thing thick and squat-
5"^*^ I s. Bolting cloth.
Bunting, 5)
Bunt. s. A bolting-mill.
To Bunt. V. a. To separate flour from the bran.
Bu/cot. A. A load.
Buss. s. / half-grown calf.
But. *. A conical and pecunar kind of basket
or trap used in large numbers for catching
salmon in the river Parrct. The term /;///,
would seem to be a generic one, the actual
meaning of which 1 do not know : it implies,
however, some containing vessel or utensil
See Bee-but. Bui, applied to beef, always
means huttock.
Butter-and-eggs. s. A variety of the daffodil.
Bwye. interj, Bye ! adieu. This, as well as gixxi-
AGLOSSARY. 29
bye and good-bwyc, is evidently corrupted
from God be with you ; God-be-wi' ye, equi-
valent to the French a Dieu, to God. Bwye,
and good-bwye, are, therefore, how vulgar
soever they may seem, more analogous than
bye and good-bye.
C.
Callyvan''. s. a pyramidal trap for catching birds.
Car'riter. s. Character.
Cat'terpillar. s. The cockchafer ; Scaraboeus me-
lolontha.
West of the Parret this insect is called wock-
web, oak-web, because it infests the oak, and
spins its web on it in great numbers.
Chaity. adj. Careful ; nice ; delicate.
To Cham. v. a. To chew.
Chamer. s. A chamber.
Change, s. A shift ; the garment worn by females
next the skin.
Chay'er. s. A chair ; chayer — Chaucer.
Chick-a-beedy. s. A chick.
Chim'ley. s. A chimney.
Chine, s. The prominence of the staves beyond the
head of a cask. This word is well known
to coopers throughout England, and ought
to be in our dictionaries.
To Chis'som. v. n. To bud; to shoot out.
Chis'som. s. A small shoot ; a budding out.
Chit'terlins. s. pi. The frills around the bosom of a
shirt.
'SO A G L S 8 A R y.
Choor^er, f s. A woman who goes out to do
Choor, s. A job; any dirty household work; a
troublesome job.
Choor''-woman, ^ any kind of odd and dirty work ;
hence the term char-woman in our polished
dialect ; but it ought to be choor-woman.
To Choory. v. To do any kind of dirty household
work.
Chub'by. adj. Full, swelling ; as chnhhy-faced.
Claps, s. A clasp.
To Claps. V. a. To clasp.
Clavy. s. A mantel-piece.
Clear-and-sheer. adv. Completely ; totally.
Cleve-pink. s. A species of carnation which grows
wild in the crannies of Cheddar-cliffs : a va-
riety, I believe, of the Dianthiis dcltoidcs ; it
has an elegant smell.
To Clim. 7 -X. r V ^ 1 1
-r- r^T > V. a. Vo chmb ; to clamber.
1 o Llunmer. 3
ClinT^ers. s. pi. Bricks or other earthy matter run
into irregular shapes by the agency of heat.
Clinker-bell. *. An icicle.
CHnt. V. a. To clench ; to finish ; to complete.
Cliver-and- Shiver, adv. Completely; totally.
Clit, ?;. n. To become imperfectly fermented : ap-
plied to bread.
Clit'ty. adj. Imperfectly fermented.
Clize. s. A place or drain for the discharge of water
regulated by a valve or door, which permits a
free egress, but no ingress to the water.
(loathe. V. a. To bane: applied to sheep.
A GLOSSARY. 31
Cob- wall. s. Mud- wall ; a wall made of clay mixed
with straw.
Cock-lawt. s. A garret ; cock-loft.
{& Originally, most probably, a place
where the fowls roosted.
Cock-squailing. s. A barbarous game, consisting in
tying a cock to a stake, and throwing a stick
at him from a given distance, so as to destroy
the bird. I fear that cock-squailing has
not wholly disappeared from our west country
sports.
Cock-and-Mwile. s. A jail.
Col'ley. s. A blackbird.
Comforts, s. pi. Sugared corianders, cinnamon,
&c.
Comical, adj. Odd; singular.
Contraption, s. Contrivance ; management.
To Count. V. n. To think ; to esteem.
Cow-baby. s. A coward ; a timid person.
To Crap. ? v. n. to snap ; to break with a
To Crappy, ^ sudden sound ; to crack.
Crap. s. A smart sudden sound.
Creem. s. Sudden shivering.
Creemy. adj. Affected with sudden shivering.
Crips, adj. Crisp.
Criss-cross-lain. s. The alphabet ; so called in con-
sequence of its being formerly preceded in the
horn-book by a -{-, which was, no doubt, devised
by some of the sons of the church to remind
us of the cross of Christ ; hence the term
32 A GLOSSARY.
Christ-Cross-line, ultimately came to mean
nothing more than the alphabet.
Crock, s. A bellied pot, either of iron or other
metal, for the purpose of boiling food.
Croom. s. A crumb ; a small bit.
Crowd-string, s. A fiddle-string.
Crowdy-kit. s. A small fiddle.
Crow'ner. s. A coroner.
To be Crowned, v. pass. To have an inquest held
over a dead body by direction of the coroner.
Crowst. s. Crust.
Crow^'sty. adj. Crusty, snappish, surly.
Crubbin 1 '^' ^^^^> particularly bread and cheese.
Cuckold, s. The plant burdock.
To Cull. V. n. To take hold round the neck with
the arms.
Cutty, adj. Small ; diminutive.
n ../' w, r "y- A wren.
Cutty-wreti. 3
D.
Dad'dick. s. Rotten wood.
1 )ad''dicky. adj. Rotten, like daddick.
Dame. s. This word is, of course, originally French,
and means, in that language, as we all know,
lady ; but in this dialect it means a mistress ;
an old woman : and is never used in the sense
AGLOSSARY. 33
of lady ; nor is it ever applied to persons in the
upper ranks of society, nor to the very lowest ;
when we say dame Hurman, or dame Bennet,
we mean the wife of some farmer ; a school-
mistress is also sometimes called dame ; it
is rarely, if ever, applied to a young woman.
Dap. V. n. To hop ; to rebound.
Dap. s. A hop ; a turn. To know the daps of a
person is, to know his disposition, his habits,
his peculiarities.
Dap'ster. s. A proficient.
To Daver. v. n. To fade ; to fall down ; to
droop.
Davison, s. A species of wild plum, superior to
the buUin.
Dawzin. s. The passing over land with a bent
hazel rod, held in a certain direction, to dis-
cover whether veins of metals are below, is
called JDawz'm, which is still occasionally
practised in the mining districts of Somerset-
shire. There is an impression among the
vulgar, that certain persons only have the
gift of the divining rod, as it has been some-
times called ; by the French, Baguette De-
vinatoire. Polished and intelligent society is
not, I believe, yet entirely free from this ap-
parent folly.
Des'perd. adj. [Corrupted from desperate.] Very,
extremely ; it is used in a good as well as a
bad sense : desperd good ; desperd bad.
Dewberry, s. A species of blackberry.
Dibs. s. pi. Money.
c 5
S4 A GLOSSARY.
Did'dlecome. adj. Half-mad ; sorely vexed.
Dird. s. Thread.
Dirsh. s. A thrush.
Dirten. adj. Made of dirt.
Dock. s. A crupper.
To DofF. V. a. To put oft".
To Don. V. a. To put on.
Donnins. s. pi. Dress ; clothes.
Dough-fig. .9. A fig ; so called^ most probably,
from its feeling like dough. Junius has dote-
^fig: I know not where he found it. See Fig.
To Dout. V. a. To extinguish ; to put out.
To Downarg. v. a. To contradict ; to contend
with.
Dowfit. s. Dust ; money ; Do?v?i iri' fha doirst !
Put down the money !
Draf'fit. s. []I suppose from draught-vat.]] A
vessel to hold pot-liquor and other refuse ali-
ment from the kitchen, for pigs.
Drang, s. A narrow path.
To Drash. \i. a. To thresh.
Dras'hel. s. The threshold ; a flail.
Dras'her. s. A thresher.
Drawt. .9. Throat.
To Drean. v. n. To drawl in reading or speaking.
Drean. s. A drawling in reading or speaking.
To Dring. v. n. To throng ; to press, as in a
crowd : to thrust.
A GLOSSARY. 35
Drin'get. s. A crowd ; a throng
To Dro. V. a. To throw.
Drode. part. Thrown.
To Drool. V. ?i. To drivel.
To Drow. < ' > To dry.
( V. a. ^ •'
03" The hay donl drotry at nil. See the
observations which precede this vocabulary.
Drowth. s. Dryness; thirst.
Drow'thy. adj. Dry ; thirsty.
Drove, s. A road leading to fields, and sometimes
from one village to another. The name is
doubtless derived from its being a way along
which cattle are driven. Ray uses the word
in his Catalogus Phmtarnin Anglice, &c. under
the article Chondrilla.
O^" This meaning is now, I observe, in
Todd's Johnson, the 5th of Drove, .v.
To Drub. \ ' > To throb : to beat.
(v. a. s^ '
Drubbin. s. A beating.
To Druck. v. a. To thrust down ; to cram , to
press.
Dub. 1
Dub'bed. > adj. Blunt ; not pointed ; squat.
Dub'by. 5
Dub'bin. s. Suet.
To Dud'der. v. a. To deafen with noise ; to render
the head confused.
Duds. s. pi. Dirty cloaths.
36 A GLOSSARY.
Dum'bledore. s. A humble-bee ; a stupid fellow.
Dunch. adj. Deaf.
03^ It seems singular that none of our
etymologists have noticed this word, the
most probable etymon of Dunce, as it
assureiy is. As a deaf person is very often,
apparently at least, stupid ; a stupid, intracta-
ble person is, therefore, called a Dunce : one
who is deaf and intractable. What now be-
comes of Duns Scotus, and all the rest of the
recondite observations bestowed upon Dunce ?
See Todd's Johnson.
Kf" I have no doubt that Dunch is Anglo-
Saxon, although I cannot find it in any of
our dictionaries, except Bailey's. ^But it
ought not to be forgotten, that many words
are floating about which have never yet been
arrested by a dictionary maker.
Durns, s. pi. A door-frame.
E.
Ear-wrig. s. Earwig.
US' This word ought to be spelled Ear-
wrig, as it is derived, doubtless, from wriggle.
See Wriggle.
El'men. adj. Of or belonging to elm ; made of
elm.
El'ver. *. A young eel.
Em'mers. s. pi. Embers.
Emmet-batch, s. Au ant-hill..
A* G L O S S A R Y. 37
To Empt, V. a. To empty.
En. pron. Him ; a zid en ; he saw him.
Er. proji. He.
03^ Used West of the Parret.
Eth. s. Earth.
To Eve. V. n. To become damp ; to absorb mois-
ture from the air.
Evet. s. A lizard.
Ex. s. An axle.
Fags! interj. Truly; indeed.
Fayer. s. and adj. Fair.
To Fell. V. a. To sew in a particular manner ; to
inseam.
03= This word is well known to the ladies,
I believe, all over the kingdom ; it ought to
be in our dictionaries.
Fes'ter. s. An inflammatory tumour.
Few. ? adj. More commonly pronounced veo.
Veo. \ Little ; as ?ifew broth.
Fig. s. A raisin,
Figged-pudding. .9. A pudding with raisins in it ;
plum-pudding.
Fildefare. s. A Fieldfare. '' Farewell fieldefare."
Chaucer. This expression is occasionally
heard. It means, I apprehend, that, as
fieldfares disappear at a particular season.
ike seasoji is over ; the bird isjiown.
38 A GLOSSARY.
Fil'try. s. Filth ; nastiness ; rubbish.
Fitch. } \ 1 ^ A j>, 1 .
F'tchet J •^' -^ pole-cat. As cross as ajitchet.
Fit ten. } \ c - ^
y , W. A lemt ; a pretence.
Flap-jack. s. A fried cake made of batter, apples,
&c. ; a fritter.
To Flick. V, a. To pull out suddenly with some
pointed instrument.
Flick-tooth-comb. s. A comb with coarse teeth
for combing the hair.
Flick, s. The membrane loaded with fat, which
the bellies of most animals have : a term used
chiefly by the butchers.
Flook. s. An animal found in the liver of sheep,
similar in shape to a flook or flounder.
Flush, adj. Fledged ; able to fly : applied to
young birds.
Foo'ter. s. {¥v.foutrc~] A scurvy fellow ; a term
of contempt.
For'rel. s The cover of a book.
Forweend'. adj. Humoursome ; difiicult to please :
applied to children.
French-nut. s. A walnut.
To Frump, v. a. To trump up.
To Fur. V. a. To throw.
Fur'cum. s. The bottom ; the whole.
A G L O S S A R Y. 39
G.
Gale. s. An old bull castrated.
Gal'Hbagger. s. [[From galli/ and hegga?'] A bug-
bear.
To Gal'ly. v, a. To frighten.
Gallant'ing. 7 part. Wandering about in gaiety
Galligant'ing. ^ and enjoyment : applied chiefly
to associations of the sexes.
Gam'bril. s. A crooked piece of wood used by
butchers to spread, and by which to suspend
the carcase.
Gan'ny-cock. s. A turkey-cock,
Ganny-cock's Snob. s. The long membranous ap-
pendage at the beak, by which the cock turkey
is distinguished.
Gare. s. The iron work for wheels, waggons, &c.
is called ire-gare ; accoutrements.
Gate-shord. s. A gate- way .; a place for a gate.
Gat'fer. s. An old man,
Gaw'cum. s. A simpleton ; a gawkey.
To Gee. v. n, [[g soft") To agree ; to go on well
together.
To Gee. v. a. [[g hard; part, and past tense ^ii/. J
To give.
To G'auf. V. 71. To go off.
To G' auver. v. n. To go over.
To G' in. V. n. To go in.
To G' on, V. n. To go on.
40 AGLOSSARY.
To G' out. V. n. To go out.
To G' under, v- n. To go under.
To G' up. V. n. To go up.
Gib'bol. s. Qg soft] The sprout of an onion of
the second year.
Gig'leting. adj. Wanton ; trifling ; applied to the
female sex.
GilawTer. s. A term applied to all the kinds of flowers
termed stocks ; and also to a few others : as a
Whitsujitide gilawfer, a species of Lyclmulea.
Gim'mace. s. A hinge.
Gim'maces. s. pi. When a criminal is gibbeted,
or hung in irons or chains, he is said to be
hung in Gimmaccs, most probably because
the apparatus swings about as if on hinges.
Ginnin. s. Beginning.
To Glare, v. a. To glaze earthenware.
Glare, s. The glaze of earthenware.
G'lore. adv. In plenty.
03= This word, without the apostrophe,
Glorc, is to be found in Todd's Johnson, and
there defined fat. The true meaning is,
I doubt not, as above : fat g lore, is Jot in
plenty.
«3Gold. s. The shrub called sweet-wiUow or wild
myrtle ; jSlyrica gale.
This plant grows only in peat soils ; it is
abundant in the bog<z:)Mnoors of Somersetshire ;
it has a powerful and fragrant smell.
Gold-cup. s. A species of crow-foot, or ranunculus.
AGLOSSARY. 41
growing plentifully in pastures; ranun-
culus pratensis.
To Goo. V. n. [_Gwain, going; gwon, gone.^ To go.
Goo'ner. interj. Goodnow !
Good'-Hussey. s. A thread-case.
Graint'ed. adj. Fixed in the grain ; difficult to be
removed; dirty.
GramTer. s. Grandfather.
Gram'mer. 5.- Grandmother.
Grib'ble. s. A young apple-tree raised from seed.
To Gripe, v. a. To cut into gripes. See Gripe.
Gripe, s. A small drain, or ditch, about a foot
deep, and six or eight inches wide.
03" This word is in Todd's Johnson, but
erroneously spelled g)ip'
Griping-line. s. A line to direct the spade in cut-
ting gripes.
Groaning, s. Parturition ; the time at which a
woman is in labour.
Ground, s. A field.
Gro'zens.s.pl. The green minute round-leaved plants
growing upon the surface of water in ditches ;
duck's-meat ; the Lens palustris of Ray.
Gruff, s, A mine.
Gruffer. ) »
r^ /.'£ >^. A miner.
Grut ner. j
To Gud'dle. v. n. To drink much and greedily.
Gud'dler. s. A greedy drinker ; one who is fond
of liquor.
To Gulch. V. n. To swallow greedily.
42 A GLOSSARY.
Gulch, s. A sudden swallowing.
Gump'tion. s. Contrivance ; common sense.
Gum'py. adj. Abounding in protuberances.
Gurds. s. pi. Eructations.
(& By Fits and gurds.
Guss. s. A girth.
To Guss. V. a. To girth.
H.
Hack. s. The place whereon bricks newly made
are arranged to dry.
To Hain. v. a. To exclude cattle from a field in
order that the grass may grow, so that it may
be mowed.
Hal'lantide. s. All Saints' day.
Ham. s. A pasture generally rich, and also un-
sheltered.
0^ The term is never applied but to level
land.
Hame. sing. ) s. Two moveable pieces of wood or
Hames. pi. \ iron fastened upon the collar, with
suitable appendages for attaching a horse to
the shafts.
53=* Called sometimes a pair of hames.
Handy, adv. Near, adjoining.
Hangc. s. The heart, liver, lungs, &c. of a pig,
calf, or sheep.
Hang'kicher. s. Handkerchief.
Hangles. s. pi. A pair of hanglcs is the iron crook.
A GLOSSARY. 43
&c. composed of teeth, and suspended over the
fire, to be moved up and down at pleasure for
the purpose of cookery, &c.
To Happer. v. n. To crackle ; to make repeated
smart noises.
To Haps. V. a. To hasp.
Haps. s. A hasp.
Hard. adj. Full grown. Hard people, adults.
Harm. s. Any contagious or epidemic disease not
distinguished by a specific name.
Har'ras. s. Harvest.
Hart. s. A haft ; a handle. ^
{XJ" Applied to such instruments as knives,
awls, &c.
Hathe. s. To be in a hathe, is to be set thick and
close like the pustules of the small-pox or
other eruptive disease ; to be matted closely
together.
To Have. v. n. To behave.
Hay-maidens, s. pi. Ground ivy.
Hay'ty-tayty. Interj. What's here !
In Hay'digees. ^g. soft] adv. To be in high spirits;
to be frolicsome.
Hea'ram-skearam. adj. Wild; romantic.
To Heel. v. a. To hide; to cover. Chaucer,
" hele." Hence, no doubt, the origin of our
common verb, to heal, to cure, as applied to
wounds ; to cover over.
Heeler, s. One who hides or covers. Hence the
very common expression. The heeler is as bad
44 A GLOSSARY.
as the stealer ; that is, the receiver is as bad
as the thief.
Heft. s. Weight.
To Hell. V. a. To pour. To hell in, to pour in ;
to hell out, to pour out.
Hel'lier. s. A person who lays on the tiles of a
roof; a tiler.
{j^ This is rather a Devonshire word.
Helm, s. Wheat straw prepared for thatching.
To Hen, v. a. To throw.
To Hent, v. n. To wither ; to become slightly
dry.
Hereawa, } ^^^ Hereabout.
Hereaway, ^
Herence, adv. From this place ; hence.
Hereright, adv. Directly ; in this place.
Het, j)ron. It. Het ont, it will not.
To Het, V. a. To hit, to strike ; part, het and
hut.
To Hick. V. n. To hop on one leg.
Hick. s. A hop on one leg.
Hick-step and jump. Hop-step-and-jump.
A well known exercise.
To Hike off. v. n. To go away ; to go off.
03= Used generally in a bad sense.
Hine. adj. Posterior ; relating to the back part.
03= Used only in composition, as, a hiuc
quarter.
To Hire tell. v. n. To hear tell ; to learn by re-
port ; to be told.
A GLOSSARY. 45
Hip'pety-hoppety. adv. In a limping and hob-
bling manner.
To Him. V. n. \Jnrnd, pret. and part.] To run.
To Hitch. V. n. To become entangled or hooked
together ; to hitch up, to hang up or be sus-
pended. See the next word.
To Hitch up. V. a. To suspend or attach slightly,
or temporarily.
05^ These verbs have given considerable
trouble to our etymologists and lexicogra-
phers. Dr. Johnson evidently did not know
their meaning. To hitch, v. n. implies, as
in the first meaning in Todd's Johnson as
above, to become entangled or hooked toge-
ther : thus brambles hitch in ladies' clothes.
To hitch up, is to hang up or be suspended.
In the following lines.
Whoe'er offends at some unlucky time.
Slides into verse, or hitches in a rhyme.
Sacred to ridicule his whole life long,
And the sad burthen of some merry song.
Papers Sat.
Had Pope placed the preposition up after
hitch, the sense would have been immediatelv
obvious, it implying that whoever offends the
poet, slides into verse, or hitches up in a
rhyme ; i. e. a rhyme being the most con-
spicuous place in the verse, he is there hung
up, exposed topublic view, sacred to ridicule, &c.
To hitch up, is also used in the West of
England as an active verb : thus, you hitch
up your horse at the gate, while you call on
your friend ; you hitch up your hat on a peg
in the hall.
46 A GLOSSARY.
In all these meanings of to hitch, and to
hitch up, slight attachment is implied, and,
for this reason, the word is not synonymous
with to hang, or to hang up. It is true, Mr.
Pope's use of the word implies permanence ;
but this is a Uccniia podica.
Tlie following will exemplify the active
meaning of this verb :
Sir Stmt, for so the witling- throng
Oft called him when at school.
And hitch' (I him up in many a song
To sport and ridicule.
To Ho for, > w a. To provide for ; to take care
To Haw vor, \ of; to desire; to wish for.
Hob'blers. s. pi. Men employed in towing vessels
by a rope on the land.
Hod. s. A sheath or covering ; perhaps from hood.
Hog. s. A sheep one year old.
To Hote. V. a. To wound with horns ; to gore.
Hod'raedod. adj. Short; squat.
Hollar, adj. Hollow.
To Hollar, v. a. To halloo.
Hollar, s. A halloo.
Hollardy. .9. A hoUiday.
Hollardy-day. s. Holy-rood day ; the third of
May.
Hollabeloo'. s. A noise ; confusion ; riot.
Hol'men. adj. Made of holm.
Holt, itilnj. Hold ; stop. HoU-a-hlow, give
over fighting.
Ho'mescreech. s. A bird which builds chiefly in
A GLOSSARY. 47
appletrces ; I believe it is the Turdus evisci-
vorus, or missel.
Honey-suck, } rr-i Ji.-
TT 11 \ s. 1 he woodbine.
Honey-suckle, ^
Honey-suckle, s. Red clover.
Hoo'say. See Whosay.
Hoop. s. A bullfinch.
Hor'nen. adj. Made of horn.
Hornen-book. s. Homlook.
Horse-stinger, s. The dragon-fly.
Houzen. s. pi. Houses.
Huck'muck. s. A strainer placed before the fau-
cet in the mashing- tub.
Hud. s. A hull, or husk.
Huf. s. A hoof.
Huf-cap. s. A plant, or rather weed, found in
fields, and with difficulty eradicated.
I regret that I cannot identify this plant
with any known botanical name. The fol-
lowing lines will be found in the Satires of
Bishop Hall :
Graced wiih huf-cap terms and thunderjnj^ threats.
That his poor hearers' hair quite upright sets.
Book I. Sat. iii.
Some editor of Hall has endeavoured to ex-
plain the term huff-cap by hlustering, swag-
gering, I think it simply means difficult.
Hug. s. The itch. See Shab.
0^ Commonly, but not always, applied to
brutes.
48 A GLOSSARY.
Hug-water, s. Water to cure the hug. See Shab*
To Hul'der. v. a. To hide ; conceal.
Hul'ly. s. A peculiarly shaped long wicker trap
used for catching eels.
To Hulve. V. a. To turn over; to turn upside
down.
Hum'drum. s. A small low three-wheeled cart,
drawn usually by one horse ; used occasion-
ally in agriculture.
05= From the peculiarity of its construc-
tion, it makes a kind of humming noise when
it is drawn along ; hence, I presume, the
origin of the adjective humdrum. Those
who have once seen and heard this vehicle in
motion, will have a better conception of the
term humdrum than any words can convey.
Hunt-the-slipper, s, A well-known play.
I.
I. adv. Yes; /, /, yes, yes: most probably a
corrupt pronunciation of ay.
Inin. s. Onion.
Ire. .9. Iron.
Ire-ffare. s. See Gare.
Isc. i)ron. I. Sec Utchy.
A GLOSSARY. 49
jACK-in-the-Lanthorn D s. The meteor usually
and > called a Will with the
Joan-in-the-Wad. 3 fVisiJ.
05" The existence of this phenomenon has
been often doubted; the late Dr. Darwin
disbelieved in its reality altogether. Al-
though conversant with marshy and boggy
districts of the kingdom, I have never seen
it. Its actual existence is, I think, very
questionable ; although there is decidedly
nothing improbable in it. Dr. Ure, in his
Chemical Dictionary, article Ig?iis Fatuus,
seems, however, to admit its existence ; and
attributes it to the extrication of phosphorus
from rotten leaves and other vegetable mat-
ter.
Jaunders. s. The jaundice.
To Jee. V. ?u To go on well together ; see To
Gee.
Jitch. 7 J- c 1-
Jitchy.l''*-^"*-
Jod. s. The letter J.
Jorum, s. A large jug, bowl, &c. full of some
thing to be eaten or drank.
To Jot. V. a. To disturb in \\Titing ; to strike
the elbow.
D
50 A G L O S S A R Y.
K.
Keck'er. s. The windpipe ; the trachea.
To Kecve. v. a. To put the wort in a keeve for
some time to ferment.
Keeve. s. A large tub or vessel used in bremng.
A mashing-tub is sometimes called a keeve.
Kef 'fel. s. A bad and worn out horse.
To Kern. i'. w. To turn from blossom to fruit :
when the fruit of any tree or plant has be-
come visible after the blossoming, it is said to
be kerned. The process of arriving at this
state is called kerning.
Kex. > *. The dry stalks of some plants, such as
Kexy. \ Cows-parsley and Hemlock, are called
Kexies. As dry as a kcxy is a common
simile.
Kill. s. A kiln.
Kil'ter. s. Money.
KinglDOW, or rather, a-kingbow. adv. Kimbo.
03" Chaucer has this word kenebow, which
is, perhaps, the true one — a kenebow, imply-
ing a bow with a keen or sharp angle.
*' He set his hand iu kenebow.^'
Chavcer, Second Merchant's Tale.
If this be not the origin of the phrase,
another probable one may be mentioned, and
the present sound of it in the West coun-
tenances it. To place the arms a-Kingbow,
may be to place them in a consequential man-
ner of commanding, like a king.
AGLOSSARY. 51
Klr'cher. s. The midrifF; the diaphragm.
Kit. s. A tribe ; a collection ; a gang.
Kit'tle. ? A 1 /• 1
ir.^^1 1 W. A smock irock.
Kittle-smock. ^
Knot'tlins. s. pi. The guts of a pig or calf pre-
pared for food by being tied in knots and
afterwards boiled.
L.
Lade-pail. s. A small pail, with a long handle,
used for the purjjose of filling other vessels.
Ladeshrides. s. pi. The sides of the waggon
which project over the w^heels. See Shride.
Ladies-smock, s. A species of bindweed ; Convol-
vulus septum. See Withy-wine.
Lady-cow. s. A lady-bird; the insect Coccinella
Septempunctata.
Lady's-hole. s. A game at cards.
Lai'ter. s. The thing laid ; the w^liole quantity of
eggs which a hen lays successively.
03= She has laid out her latter.
Lam'iger. adj. Lame ; crippled ; laid up.
Larks-leers, s. pi. Arable land not in use ; such
is much frequented by larks ; any land which
is poor and bare of grass.
Lart. 7 s. The floor : never applied to a stone
Lawt. ( floor, but only to wooden floors ; and those
also which are up stairs.
D 2
62 A G L S S A R V.
Las-charg'eablc ! intcrj. Be quiet ! The lasi
chargeable : that is, he who last strikes or
speaks in contention is most blameable.
Lat'itat. s. A noise ; a scolding.
Lat'tin. s. Iron plates covered with tin.
Lattin. adj. Made of lattin ; as u lattin saucepan,
a lattin teakettle, &c. &c.
Laugh-and-lie-down. s. A common game at cards.
To lave. V. a. To throw water from one place to
another.
To Le'at. v. n. To leak.
Le'at. s. A leak ; a place where water is occasion-
ally let out.
Leathern-mouse, s. A bat.
Leer. adj. Empty.
Leer. s. The flank.
Leers, s. j)L Leas ; rarely used : but I think it
always means stubble land, or land similar to
stubble land.
Lent. .V, Loan ; the use of any thing borrowed.
Lew. adj. Sheltered ; defended from storms, or
wind.
Lew. 7 s. Shelter ; defence from storms or
Lewth. j wind.
Lib'et. s. A piece ; a tatter.
Lid'deri. s. A story ; a song.
Lie-lip. s. A square wooden vessel having hole ;
in its bottom, to contain wood-ashes for the
purpose of making lie.
A GLOSSARY. 63
Lights, s. pi. The lungs.
l.ighting-stock. s. A horse-block; a grailuatcil
place of wood or stone, made to ascend and
descend from a horse.
LIm'bers. \ s. pi. The shafts of a waggon, cart,
Lim'mers. j Sec.
Linch. s. A ledge ; a rectangular projection ;
whence the term linch-pin (a pin with a linch),
which Johnson has, but not linch.
03^ The derivations of this word, linch-pin
bv our etvmoloy-ists, it will be seen, are now
inadmissible.
'J'o Line. v. n. To lean ; to incline towards or
afjainst something.
Lin'iiy. s. An open shed, attached to barns, out-
houses, &c.
Lip. \ J. A Generic term for several contain-
Lip'pen. / ing vessels, as bee-lippen, lie-lip, need-
lip, ike. which see.
Lip'ary. adj. Wet, rainy. Applied to the seasons :
a liparif time.
To Lir'rop. v. a. To beat.
{& This is said to be a corruption of the
sea term, lee-rope.
Lissom, adj. Lithe; pliant.
{& Contracted, perhaps, from lightsome.
To Lob. V. n. To hang down ; to droop.
Lock. s. A small quantity ; as a lock of hay, a
lock of straw.
Lockyzee ! intcrj. Look, behold ! Look you, see I
To Long. V. n. To belong.
54 A G L O S S A R Y.
Long'ful. adj. Long in regard to time.
Lug. s. A heavy pole ; a pole, a long rod.
C^* I incline to think this is the original
of log.
Lug-lain. s. Full measure; the measure by the
lug or pole.
Lump'er. v. n. To lumber ; to move heavily ; to
stumble.
M.
Mace. s. pi. Acorns.
Mallard, s. A male duck.
To Manche. \ v. a. To chew. Probably from
To Munche j manger, French.
To Mang. v. a. To mix.
Mang- bangle, adj. Mixed in a wild and confused
manner.
Mawk'in. s. A cloth, usually wetted and attached
to a pole, to sweep clean a baker's oven. See
Slomaking.
May-be. / adv. Perhaps ; for which one of these
Ma-be. ^ words is almost invariably used ; it is, of
course, similar to the French peut-etre, in both
cases it and il being respectively understood.
May-game.! \ r r i •
xM'^ W. A irolic : a whmi.
Ma-game. 3
To Meech. v. n. To play truant ; to absent from
school.
Meech^er. s. A truant ; one who absents himself
improperly.
A G L S S A R Y. 5^
To Mell. V. a. To meddle ; to touch. I'll neither
mell nor make : that is, I will have nothing
to do with it. / out mell o't, I will not
touch it.
" Of eche mattir thei woUin mell."
Chaucer's Plowman's Tale.
Mesh. s. Moss; a species of lichen which grows
plentifully on apple trees.
T M ** iv. a. To serve cattle with hay.
Messin. s. The act of serving cattle with hay.
Mid. V. aux. Might, may.
To MifF. V. a. To give a slight offence ; to dis-
please.
Miff. s. A slight offence ; displeasure.
Mig. s. I know not what mig is, but as sweet as
mig is a common simile ; I suspect, however,
that mig means 7nead, the liquor so called
made from honey.
Milt. s. The spleen.
Mi'lemas. s. Michaelmas.
Min. A low word, implying contempt, addressed
to the person to whom we speak, instead of
Sir. I'll do it, min.
Mix'en. s. A dunghill.
Miz'maze. s. Confusion.
Mom'macks. s. pi. Pieces ; fragments.
Mom'met. ") '^. A scarecrow ; something dressed
Mom'mick. y up in clothes to personate a human
being.
Moor-coot. s. A moor-hen.
56
A glossary:
To Moot. V. a. To root up.
Moot. s. A stump, or root of a tree.
To More. v. n. To root ; to become fixed By-
rooting.
More. A'. A root.
Mought. V. aux. Might.
Mouse-snap. s. A mouse-trap.
Mug'gets. s. pi. The intestines of a calf or sheep.
03=" Derived, most probably, from 7naw
and guts.
To Mult. V. To melt.
N.
Nani i?iterjec. Used in reply, in conversation or
address, the same as Sir, in polite company,
when you do not understand.
Nant. s. Aunt.
Nap. s, A small rising ; a hillock.
Nation, adv. Very, extremely : as nation good ;
nation bad.
Nawl. s. An awl.
Nawl. .9. The navel.
Nawl-cut. s. A piece cut out at the navel : a term
used by butchers.
Nestle Tripe, s. The weakest and poorest bird in
the nest ; applied, also, to the last-born, and
usually the weakest child of a family ; any
young, weak, and puny child, or bird.
Niver-the-near. adv. To no purpose ; uselessly.
A G L O S S A R Y. 57
Njew-qut-and-jerkin. .v. A game at cards ; in ^^
more refined dialect new -coat and Jerkin.
Nif. conj. If.
Nill. s. A needle.
Nist. } XT- ^
Nuost. \ '""''■ ^'^^'' "'"'•
Nona'tion. adj. Difficult to be understood; not
intelligent ; incoherent, wild.
Nora'tion. .9. Rumour ; clamour.
Norn. pron. Neither. Norn dm, neither of them.'
Nor'thering. adj. Wild, incoherent, foolish.
Nort. s. Nothing, (tf" West of the Parret.
Not-sheep. s. A sheep without horns.
Not. s. The place where flowers are planted is
usually called the Jiower not^ or rather, per-
haps, knot ; a flower bed.
Nottlins. s. pi. See Knottlins.
Num'met. s. A short meal between breakfast and
dinner ; nunchion.
Nuncle. s. An uncle.
To Nuncle. v. a. To cheat.
Nuth'er. adv. Neither.
O.
Odments. *. pi. Odd things, offals.
Office, s. The eaves of a house.
Old-qut-and-jerkin. s. A game at cards _; in a
D 5
58 A GLOSSARY.
more refined dialect, old-coat-aftd-Jerkin :
called also Jive cards.
To Onlight. V. n. To alight ; to get off a horse.
Ont. Will not. This expression is used in al-
most all the persons, as / out, he ont, we ont,
they, or tha ont ; I will not, he will not, h^.
Ool. V. aux. Will.
Ope. s. An opening — the distance between bodies
arranged in order.
Orn. 'pron. Either. Orn o'm, either of them.
Ort. s. Any thing. 03= West of the Parret.
Oten, adv. Often.
Oum. ji^oji. Ours.
To Overget. v. a. To overtake.
To Overlook, t;. a. To bewitch.
Overlookt. part. Bewitched.
A '^crlit C ^^'^* Opposite; fronting.
Overs, s. pi. The perpendicular edge, usually co-
vered with grass, on the sides of salt-water
rivers, is called overs.
Parfit. adj. Perfect.
Parfitly. adv. Perfectly.
Par'rick. s. A paddock.
To Payze. v. a. To force, or raise up, with a lever.
A G L S S A R Y. 59
To Peach, v. a. To inform against ; to impeach.
Peel. s. A pillow, or bolster.
To Peer. v. n. To appear.
Pen'nin. s. The inclosed place where oxen and
other animals are fed and watered ; any tem-
porary place erected to contain cattle.
Pigs-Hales, s. pi. Plaws ; the seed of the white
thorn.
Pigs-looze. s. A pigsty.
_,.,,' w. A baby's woollen clout.
Pilcher. ^ ■'
Pill-coal. V, A kind of peat, dug most commonly
out of rivers : peat obtained at a great depth,
beneath a stratum of clay.
Pil'ler. s. A pillow.
Pilm. s. Dust ; or rather fine dust, which readily
floats in air.
Pink. s. A chaffinch.
Pip. s. A seed : applied to those seeds which have
the shape of apple seed, cucumber seed. Sec. ;
never to round, or minute seeds.
To Pitch. V. a. To lay unhewn and unshaped
stones together, so as to make a road or way.
S3r To Pitch, in the West of England, is
not synonymous with to pave. To pave,
means to lay flat, square, and hewn stones or
bricks down, for a floor or other pavement or
footway. A paved way is always smooth and
even : a pitck'd way always rough and irre-
gular. Hence the distinguishing terms of
Pitching and Paving.
Pit'is. adj. Piteous ; exciting compassion.
60 AGLOSSARY.
Pit'hole. s. The grave.
To Pix. \ V. a. To pick up apples after the main
To Pixy. / crop is taken in ; to glean, applied to
an orchard only-
Pix'y. s. A sort of fairy ; an imaginary being.
Pix'y-led. part. Led astray by pixies.
Pla'zen. s. pi. Places.
To Plim. V. n. To swell ; to increase in bulk.
Plough, s. The cattle or horses used for plough-
ing ; also a waggon and horses, or waggon
and oxen.
Pock'fredden. adj. Marked in the face with small pox.
To Pog. V. n. and v. a. To thrust with the fist ;
to push.
Pog. s. A thrust with the fist ; a push ; an ob-
tuse blow.
Poh ! interj. An expression of contempt.
03=* Todd's Johnson has not this word, but
surely it ought to be there ; it is not merely
a provincialism.
To Pom'ster i'. n. To tamper with, particularly
in curing diseases ; to quack.
Pont'ed. pari. Bruised with indentation.
03' I think there is also the verb to pout,
but I have no recollection of its application.
Any person whose skin or body generally is
puffed up by disease, and subject to occasional
pitting by pressure, is said to be ponted ; but
the primary meaning is applied to fruit, as, a
ponted apple : in both meanings incipient de-
cay is implied.
Pook. s. The belly ; the stomach ; a veil.
A G L O S S A R Y. 61
Popple, s. A pebble : that is, a stone worn smooth,
and more or less round, by the action of the
waves of the sea.
Pottle- bellied, adj. Potbellied.
To Pooiit. 7 V. a. To push through any confined
To Pote. 3 opening, or hole.
Pooiit-hole. 1 *. A small hole through which any
Pote-hole. S thing is pushed with a stick ; a con-
fined place.
Pooaty. adj. Confined, close, crammed.
To Pray. v. a. To drive all the cattle into one
herd in a moor ; to prai/ the moor, to search
for lost cattle.
Pud. s. The hand ; the fist.
Pulk. ? s. A small, shallow-place, containing
Pulker. ^ water.
Pull- reed. s. [[Pool reed.] A long reed growing in
ditches and pools, used for ceiling instead of laths.
Pul'try. s. Poultry.
Pum'ple. adj. Applied only, as far as I know, in
the compound word pu7uple-voot, a club-foot.
Put. s. A two-wheeled cart used in husbandry',
and so constructed as to be turned up at the
axle to discharge the load.
Pux'ie. s. A place on which you cannot tread with-
out danger of sinking into it : applied most
commonly to places m roads or fields where
springs break out.
Pwint. s. Point.
Pwine-end. ) The sharp-pointed end of a house,
Pwinin-end. f where the wall rises perpendicularly
from the foundation.
62 A GLOSSARY.
Py'er. s. A wooden guide, or rail to hold by, in
passing over a narrow wooden bridge.
Q.
QuARE. adj. Queer ; odd.
Quar'rel. s. [^Quarje. French.] A square of win-
dow glass.
To Quar. v. a. To raise stones from a quarry.
Quar. s. A quarry.
Quar-man. s. A man who works in a quarry.
Quine. s. Coin, money.
To Quine. v. a. To coin.
Quine. s. A corner.
R.
To Rake up. v. a. To cover ; to bury.
Rames. s. pi. The dead stalks of potatoes, cu-
cumbers, and such plants ; a skeleton.
Rams-claws, s. pi. The plant called gold cups ;
ranu7ic2ihis pi'atensis.
Ram'shackle. adj. Loose ; disjointed.
Ram'ping. part. Distracted, obstreperous : ramp-
ing mad, outrageously mad.
R 'd^' V "** ^^ nierry-making ; riotous li\'ing.
Range, s. A Sieve.
To Rangle. v. n. To twine, or move in an irre-
gular or sinuous manner. Eangling plants,
A GLOSSARY. 63
arc plants which entwine round other plants,
as the woodbine, hops, &c.
Ran'gle. s. A sinuous winding.
Ras'ty. adj. Rancid; gross; obscene.
Raught. part. Reached.
To Rawn. v- a. To devour greedily.
Raw'ny. adj. Having little flesh : a thin person,
whose bones are conspicuous, is said to be
rawny.
To Ray. v. a. To dress.
To Read. v. a. To strip the fat from the intes-
tines ; to read the inward.
Read'ship. s. Confidence, trust, truth.
To Ream. v. a. To widen ; to open.
Rea'mer. s. An instrument used to make a hole
larger.
Re'balling. .v. The catching of eels with earth-
worms attached to a ball of lead, suspended
by a string from a pole.
Reed. s. Wheat straw prepared for thatching.
Reen. 7 * j ■
p, . > .y. A water-course; an open dram.
To Reeve, v . a. To rivel ; to draw into wrinkles.
Remlet. s. A remnant.
Rev'el. s. A wake.
To Rig. V. n. To climb about ; to get up and
down a thing in wantonness or sport.
^& Hence the origin of the substantive rig,
as used in John Gilpi?i, by Cowper :
•' He litttle dreamt of running such a rig-."
To Rig. V. a. To dress.
64 A GLOSSARY.
03" Hence, I suspect, the origin of the
rigging of a vessel.
Rip. s. A vulgar, old, unchaste woman.
C5" Hence, most probably, the origin of
Demirep,
Robin- Riddick. s. A redbreast.
Rode. s. To go to rode, means, late at night or
early in the morning, to go out to shoot wild
fowl which pass over head on the wing.
To Rose. V. n. To drop out from the pod, or other
seed vessel, when the seeds are over-ripe.
Round-dock. s. The common mallow ; malva s^l-
vestris.
OS^' Called round-dock from the roundfiess
of its leaves. Chaucer has the following
expression, which has a good deal puzzled
the glossarists :
** But canst thou playiu raket to and fro,
'^Nettle inDocke out, now this, now that, Pandare?"
TroiLus and Cressida, Book IV.
The round-dock leaves are used at this day
as a remedy, or supposed remedy or charm, for
the sting of a nettle, by being rubbed on the
stung part ; and the rubbing is accompanied,
by the more superstitious, with the following
words —
In dock, out nettle.
Nettle have a stinsi-d me.
That is. Go in dock, go out nettle. Now, to
play Nettle in Dock out, is to make use of
sucli expedients as shall drive away or remove
some previous evil, similar to that of driving
AGLOSSARY. 65
out the venom of the nettle by the juice or
charm of the dock.
Roz'im. s. A quaint saying ; a low proverb.
Rud'derish. adj. Hasty, rude, without care.
Ruf. s. A roof.
Run/pus. s. A great noise.
S^ This word ought to be in Todd's
Johnson.
Rungs, s. pi The round steps of a ladder.
The sound of S is very often converted into the
sound of Z. Thus many of the following wordsj
Sand-tot, Sar, Seed-lip, S'dker, Sim, &c. are
often pronounced Za?id-iot, Zar, Zeedd-lip, Zilker,
Zim, Sic.
Sand-tot. s. A sandhill.
To Sar. v. a. To serve — To earn ; as^, / can sar
but zixpence a day.
Sar'rant. s. A servant.
Scad, s, A short shower.
Schol'ard. s. A scholar.
To Scot' tie. V, a. To cut into pieces in a wasteful
manner.
Scrawf. s. Refuse.
Scrawv'lin. adj. Poor and mean, like scrawf.
Screed, s. A shred.
To Scrunch, i'. a. and v. w. I know not any sy-
nonym in our language for this word. The
66 A GLOSSARY.
act of crushing and bringing closer together
is implied, accompanied also with some kind
of noise. A person may be said to scrunch
an apple or a biscuit, if in eating it he made
a noise ; so a pig in eating acorns. Agreeably
to this, Mr. Southey has used the word, in
Thalaba :
" No sound but the wild, wild wind,
** And the snow crunching under his feet."
And, again, in the Anthology, vol. 2, p. 240
** Grunting as they crunched the mast.'*
But he spells it without the s.
Scud. s. A scab.
Sea-Bottle, s. Many of the species of the sea-
wrack, or fuciis, are called sea-bottles, in
consequence of the stalks having round or
oval vesicles or pods in them ; the pod itself.
Sea-Crow. s. A cormorant.
Seed-lip. s. A vessel of a particular construction^
in which the sower carries the seed.
Sel' times, adv. Not often ; seldom.
Shab. s. The itch ; the hug.
03= Applied to brutes only.
Shab-water. s. A water generally prepared with
tobacco, and sometimes with the addition of
some mercurial, to cure the shab.
Shabby, adj. Affected with the shab. Hence the
origin of the common word shabby, mean,
paltry.
Shackle, s. A twisted band.
Shal'der. s. A kind of broad flat rush, growing in
ditches.
A G L O S S A R Y. QJ
Sharp, s. A shaft of a waggon, &c.
Shatt'n. Shalt not.
Sheer, s. A sheath.
Shil'lith. s, A shilling's worth.
Shine, s. Every shine dm, is, every one of them,
Shord. s. A sherd ; a gap in a hedge. A stop-
shord, a stop-gap.
Shower, adj. Sure.
To Shride. ) v. a. To cut off wood from the sides
To Shroud. \ of trees ; to cut off wood from trees
generally.
Shride. ? s. Wood cut off from trees which are
Shroud. \ growing. Shride also sometimes means
a pole so cut ; hence the term ladeshrides —
Shrides placed for holding the load. See
Ladeshrides.
To Shug. V, a. To shrug ; to scratch ; to rub
against.
Shut' tie. adj» Slippery, sliding: applied only to
solid bodies.
03= From this word is most probably de-
rived the shuttle s. of the weaver.
Sig. s. Urine.
Sil'ker. s. A court-card.
To Sim. V. n. To seem, to appear. This verb is
used with almost all the persons, instead of,
it seems to me, &c. as, / sim, you sim, for it
seems to me, &c.
Sim-like-it. interj. Ironically, for very improbable.
Sine. conj. [^Probably from seeing or sccn.^ Since,
because.
68 A GLOSSARY.
Single-guss. s. The plant orchis.
Single-stick, s. A game, to the discredit of the
West, still too well known ; sometimes called
backsword.
To Skag. To give an accidental blow, so as to
tear either the cloaths or the flesh ; to wound
slightly.
Skag. s. An accidental blow, particularly of the
heel of the shoe, so as to tear either the cloaths
or the flesh ; any slight wound or rent.
To Skeer. v. a. To mow lightly over : applied to
pastures which have been summer-eaten,
never to meadows. In a neuter sense, to
move along quickly, and slightly touching.
Hence, from its mode of flight,
Skeer-devil. s. The black martm, or Swift.
Skeer'ings. s. pi. Hay made from pasture land.
Skenf'in. adj. When cattle, although well fed,
do not become fat, they are called skentin.
Skenter. s. An animal which will not fatten.
To Skew. } rr •,
rr. OT • / > V. a. 1 skewer.
1 o Skiv er. ^
Skiflf-handed. adj. Left-handed, awkward.
^, . ,"^ t ^' P^' '^^^ P^'^y called nine-pins.
Skim'merton. s. To ride Skimmerton, is an exhi-
bition of riding by two persons on a horse,
back to back ; or of several persons in a cart,
having s/iimmcr.s' and ladles, with whicli they
carry on a sort of warfare or gambols, de-
signed to ridicule someone who, unfortunately,
possesses an unfaithful wife. Tliis maif-game,
A GLOSSARY. 69
as it is called, is played upon some other occa-
sion besides tlie one here mentioned : it occurs,
however, at the present time, very rarely,
and will soon, I apprehend, be quite obsolete.
See Skimmington, in Todd's Johnson.
Skiver, s. A skewer.
To Skram. v. a. To benumb with cold.
Skrara. adj. Awkward ; stiff, as if benumbed.
•' With hondis ^\ for skram yd."
Chaucer, Second Merchant's Tale.
Skram-handed. adj. Having the fingers or joints
of the hand in such a state that it can with
difficulty be used ; an imperfect hand.
To Skrent. v. a. [[An irregular verb.] To bum,
to scorch.
Part. Skrent. Scorched.
Skum'mer. s. A foulness made with a dirty liquid,
or with soft dirt.
To Skum'mer. v. a. To foul with a dirty liquid,
or to daub with soft dirt.
Slait. s. An accustomed run for sheep ; hence the
place to which a person is accustomed, is
called slait.
To Slait. V. a. To accustom.
To 31iiit. V. a. To make quick-lime in a fit state
for use, by throwing water on it ; to slack.
To Slat. V. a. To split ; to crack ; to cleave.
To Sleeze. v. n. To separate ; to come apart : ap-
plied to cloth, when the warp and woof rea-
dily separate from each other.
Sleezy. adj. Disposed to sleeze ; badly woven.
Slen. adj. Slope.
70 AGLOSSARY.
Slipper-slopper. adj. Having shoes or slippers
down at the heel ; loose.
To Slitter, v. n. To slide.
To Slock. V. a. To obtain clandestinely.
To Slock'ster. v. a. To waste.
Slom'aking. adj. Untidy ; slatternly : applied to
females.
03' This word is, probably, derived from
slow and mawkin.
Slop per. adj. Loose; not fixed: applied only to
solid bodies.
To Slot'ter. v. n. To dirty ; to spill.
Slot'tering. adj. Filthy, wasteful.
Slot'ter. s. Any liquid thrown about, or acci-
dentally spilled on a table, or the ground.
Slug'gardy-guise. s. The habit of a sluggard.
Sluggardy-iriiise ;
Loth to go to hedy
And loth to rise.
Wyat says — '' Arise, for shame ; do away
your shiggardif."
Sluck'-a-bed. 1
Sluck'-a-tricc. > .?. A slug-a-bed ; a sluggard.
Slock'-a-trice. j
Smash, s. A blow or fall, by which any thing is
broken. All to smash, all to pieces.
Smecch. s. Fine dust raised in the air.
To Smoor. v. a. To smooth ; to pat.
Snags, s. ShvaM ^oc?,: primus spinosa.
^"^^- I s. A tooth,
ibnajrn. S
A GLOSSARY. 71
Snaggle-tooth, s. A tooth growing irregularly.
Snarl, s. A tangle ; a quarrel.
0^ There is also the verb to .marl, to en-
tangle ; but as this verb is in Todd's John-
son, it is not necessary to be further noticed
here.
Snead. s. The crooked handle of a mowing sc\^the.
Snock. s. A knock ; a smart blow.
Snowl. s. The head.
Soce. s. pi. Vocative case. Friends ! Companions !
This word is, most probably, derived from
the Latin socius. It is in very frequent use.
To Soss. V. a. To throw a liquid from one vessel
to another.
Sour-dock. s. Sorrel : rumex acctosa.
Souse .5. pi. Sousen. The ear. Pigs soiisenf'pigs ears.
Spar. s. The pointed sticks, doubled and twisted
in the middle, and used for fixing the thatch
of a roof, are called spars: they are commonly
made of split willow rods.
Spar'kid adj. Speckled.
Spar'ticles. s. pi. Spectacles : glasses to assist the
sight.
Spill, s. A stalk ; particularly that which is long and
straight. To run to spill, is to run to seed ;
it sometimes also means to be unproductive.
Spill, s. Sec WORRA.
To Spit, I', a. To dig with a spade ; to cut up
with a spitter. See the next word.
Spitter. s. A small tool with a long handle, used
for cutting up weeds, thistles, &c.
72 A GLOSSARY.
To Spit'tle. V. a. To move the earth lightly with
a spade or spitter.
Spif'tle. adj. Spiteful ; disposed to spit in anger.
To Spring, v. a. To moisten ; to sprinkle.
To Spry, v, ?i. To become chapped by cold.
Spry, adj. Nimble ; active.
To Squail. v. a. To fling a stick at a cock, or other
bird. See Cock-Squailing.
To Squot. V. a. To bruise ; to compress, v. 7i. To
squat.
Squot. s. A bruise, by some blow or compression ;
a squeeze.
Stake-Hang. s. Sometimes called only a hang. A
kind of circular hedge made of stakes, forced
into the sea-shore, and standing about 6 feet
above it, for the purjiose of catching salmon,
and other fish.
Stang. s. A long pole.
Stay'ers. s. jyl. Stairs.
Steiin. s. A large jar made of stone ware.
Steanin. s. A ford made with stones at the bottom
of a river.
Steeple, s. Invariably means a spire.
Steert. s. A point.
Stem. s. A long round shaft, used as a handle for
various tools.
Stickle, adj. Steep, applied to hills ; rapid, ap-
plied to water : a stickle path, is a steep path ;
a stickle stream, a rapid stream.
Stickler, s. A person who presides at backsword
or singlestick, to regulate the game ; an um-
pire : a person who settles disputes.
AGLOSSARY. 73
Stitch, s. Ten sheaves of corn set up on end in the
field after it is cut ; a shock of corn.
To Stive. V. a. To keep close and warm.
To Stiv'er. v. n. To stand up in a wild manner
like hair ; to tremble.
Stodge, s. Any very thick liquid mixture.
Stonen. > adj. Made of stone ; consisting of
Stwonen. \ stone.
Stom'achy. adj. Obstinate, proud ; haughty.
Stook. s. A sort of stile beneath which water is
discharged.
Stout, s. A gnat.
Strad. s. A piece of leather tied round the leg
to defend it from thorns, &c. A pair of
strads, is two such pieces of leather.
Stritch. A strickle: a piece of wood used for
striking off the overplus from a corn measure.
To Stroute. v. n. To strut.
Strouter. s. Any thing which projects ; a strutter.
To Stud. V. n. To study.
Su'ent. adj. Even, smooth, plain.
Su'ently. adv. Evenly, smoothly, plainly.
To Suish. V. a. To soil ; to dirty.
Sulsh. s. A spot ; a stain.
Sum. s.A question in arithmetic.
Sum'min. s. Arithmetic.
To Sum'my. v.n. To work by arithmetical rules.
Summer- voy. s. The yellow freckles in the face
13
74 AGLOSSARY.
To Suf fy. ) V. n. To inspire deeply and quickly.
To Zuffy. \ Such an action occurs more particu-
larly upon immersing the body in cold water.
To Swan'kum. v. n. To walk to and fro in an idle
and careless manner.
To Swell. ? rp. n
T 7 11 V ^' ^' ^^ swallow.
To Sweetort. v. a. To court ; to woo.
Sweetortin. s. Courtship.
T.
Tack. s. A shelf.
Tac'ker. s. The waxed thread used by shoe-
makers.
Ta'ety. s. A potatoe.
Taf 'fety. adj. Dainty, nice : used chiefly in regard
to food.
Tal'let. s. The upper room next the roof; used
chiefly of out-houses, as a hay-tallef.
To Tang. v. a. To tie.
Tap and Cannel. s. A spigot and faucet.
Tay'ty. s. A hayty-tayty. See the Additions, Sec.
which precede the Observations on the Dia-
lects, art. Hayty-tayty.
Tees' ty-tosty. s. The blossoms of cowslips collected
together, tied in a globular form, and used to
toss to and fro for an amusement called tcesty-
loslij. It is sometimes called simply a tosty.
AGLOSSARY. 75
Tee'ry. adj. Faint, weak.
Tem'tious. adj. Tempting ; inviting.
Tha. pro7i. They.
Than. adv. Then.
Thauf. conj. Though, although.
Theeazam. } r^i
rr., .. > proji. Ihese.
1 heeazamy. ^
The'rence. adv. From that place.
Thereawu. ? 7 rp, •, ,
rr.! ? adv. 1 hereabout.
1 hereaway. ^
Therevor-i-sayt ! interj. That is my argument !
Therefore I say it !
Thic. pron. That. Thilk, Chaucer.
Tho. adv. Then.
Thornen. adj. Made of thorn ; having the quality
or nature of thorn.
Thorough, prep. Through.
Thread the Needle. ) . ,
Dird the Needle, j ""• ^ P^^^*
Tiff. .9. A small draught of liquor.
To Tile.' V. a. To set a thing in such a situation
that it may easily fall.
Til'ty. adj. Testy, soon offended.
Tim'mer. s. Timber; wood,
Tim'mern. adj. Wooden ; as a timmern bowl ; a
wooden bowl.
Tim'mersom. adj. Fearful ; needlessly uneasy.
To Tine. v. a. To shut, to close ; as, t'uie the door ;
shut the door. To inclose; to tine in the
E 2
7S A GLOSSARY.
7noor, is to divide it into several allotments
To light, to kindle ; as, to ti?ie the candle, is
to light the candle.
0^ QuARLES uses this verb :
" What is my soul the better to be tin'd
"With holy fire?"
Emblem XII.
To Tip. V. a. To turn or raise on one side.
Tip. s. A draught of liquor. Hence the word
tipple, because the cup must be tipped \_see
the verb preceding] when you drink.
To Tite. V. a. To weigh.
Tite, s. Weight. The tite of a pin, the weight
of a pin.
Todo'. s. A bustle ; confusion.
To Toll. V. a. To entice ; to allure.
Toor. s. The toe.
Tosty. s. See Teesty-tosty.
Tote. s. The whole. This word is commonly used for
intensity, as the whol tote, from totus, Latin.
To Tot''tle. V. n. To walk in a tottering manner,
like a child.
Touse. s. A blow on some part of the head.
Towards, prep, is, in Somersetshire, invariably
pronounced as a dissyllable, with the accent
on the last : to-ward^s. Our polite pronun-
ciation, tordz, is clearly a corruption.
Tower, s. A square elevated building, usually
placed at the west end of the church.
Tramp, s. A walk; a journey.
AGLOSSARY. 11
03= To Tramp, v. n. and Trampcr. s.
will be found in Todd's Johnson, where also
this word ought to be.
To Trapes, v. w. To go to and fro in the dirt.
Trapes, s. A slattern.
Trub'agully. s. A short, dirty, ragged fellow, ac-
customed to perform the most menial offices.
To Truckle, v. a. and ?'. n. To roll.
Truckle, s. A globular or circular piece of wood
or iron, placed under another body, in order to
move it readily from place to place. A Truckle-
bed, is a small bed placed upon truckles, so
that it may be readily moved about.
{tr" These, I have no doubt, are the pri-
mary, as they are now the common meanings
in the West, of To truckle, v. Truckle, s. and
Truckle-hed.
Tun. s. A chimney.
Tun'negar. s. A funnel.
Turf. s. pi. Turves. Peat cut into pieces and
dried for fuel.
Turn-string, s. A string made of twisted gut,
much used in spinning. See Worra.
To Tus'sle. V. n. To struggle with ; to contend.
Tut. s. A hassock.
Tut- work. s. Work done by the piece or contract ;
not work by the day.
Tuth'er. pron. The other.
Tuth'erara. } rr., ^i
Tuth'enny. \ ^"^'*' ^^^ '^^-^^^'-
78 A GLOSSARY.
Tut'ty. s. A flower ; a nosegay.
To Twick. V. a. To twist or jerk suddenly.
Twick. s. A sudden twist or jerk.
Twi'ly. adj. Restless ; wearisome.
Twi'ripe. adj. Imperfectly ripe.
U.
Unk'et. adj. Dreary, dismal, lonely.
To Unray'. v. a. To undress.
To Untang'. v. a. To untie.
To Up. V. n. To arise.
Up'pin- stock, s. A horse-block. See Lighting-
stock.
Upsi'des. adv. On an equal or superior footing.
To he upsides with a person, is to do some-
thing which shall be equivalent to, or of
greater importance or value than what has
been done by such person to us.
Utcli'y. pro7i. I. This word is not used in the
Western or Eastern, but only in the Southern
parts of the County of Somerset. It is, ma-
nifestly, a corrupt pronunciation of Ich, or
Iche, pronounced as two syllables, the Anglo-
Saxon word for I. What shall utchxj do ?
What shall I do.
I think Chaucer sometimes uses iche as a
dissyllable ; vide his Poems passim. Ch'ain,
is I am, that is, ich am ; ch'ill, is I will, ich
will. See Shakespeare's King Lear, Act. W
A GLOSSARY. 79
Scene VI. What isveryremarkablcj and which
confirms me greatly in the opinion which I
here state, upon examining the first folio
edition of Shakespeare, at the London Insti-
tution, I find that ck is printed, in one in-
stance, with a mark of elision before it
thus, 'chj a proof that the i in iche was some-
times dropped in a common and rapid pro-
nunciation. In short, this mark of elision
ought always so to have been printed, which
would, most probably, have prevented the
conjectures which have been ha^rardcd upon
the origin of the meaning of such words as
chid, chill, and cham. It is singular enough
that Shakespeare has the ch for iche I, and
Ise for I, within the distance of a few lines
in the passage above alluded to, in King
Lear. But, perhaps, not more singular than
that in Somersetshire may, at the present time,
be heard for the pronoun I, Utchy, or iche,
and Ise. In the Western parts of Somerset-
shire, as well as in Devonshire, Ise is now
used very generally for I. ' The Germans of
the present day pronounce, I understand,
their ich sometimes as it is pronounced in the
West Ise, which is the sound we give to
frozen water, ice. See Miss Ham's letter,
towards the conclusion of this work.
80 A GLOSSARY.
Vage. ^ s. a voyage ; but more commonly applied
Vaze. 5 to the distance employed to increase the in-
tensity of motion or action from a given point.
To Vang. v. a. To receive ; to earn.
Vare. s. A species of weasel.
To Vare. v. n. To bring forth young : applied to
pigs and some other animals.
Var'mint. s. A vermin.
Vaught. part. Fetched.
Vur vaughty
And dear a-bought.
{i. e.) Far-fetched, and dear bought.
Vawth. s. A bank of dung or earth prepared for
manure.
To Vay. v. n. To succeed ; to turn out well ; to
go. This word is, most probably, derived
from the French verb aller, to go.
33= It dojit vay ; i. e. it does not go on well.
To Vaze. v. n. To move about a room, or a house,
so as to agitate the air.
Veel'vare. s. A fieldfare.
Veel. s. A field ; corn land uninclosed.
Veil. s. The salted stomach of a calf used for
making cheese ; a membrane.
Veo. adj. Few, little.
Ver'di. } r\ - •
Ver'dit. \ '' ^P^"^^"-
To Ves'sy. v. n. When two or more persons read
verses alternately, they are said to vcssij.
A GLOSSARY. 81
Ves'ter. s. A pin or wire to point out the letters
to children learning to read ; a fescue.
Vier. s. Fire. Some of our old writers make this
word two syllables : " Fy-er,"
Vin'ned. adj. Mouldy; humoursome; affected.
Vitious. adj. Spiteful ; revengeful.
Vitten. s. See Fitten.
Vit'ty, adv. Properly, aptly.
Vlare. v. n. To bum wildlv : to flare.
Vleer. s. A flea.
Vloth'er. s. Incoherent talk ; nonsense.
Voc'ating. pai't. Going about from place to place
in an idle manner. From voco, Latin. The
verb to vacate, to go about from place to place
in an idle manner, is also occasionally used.
To Volly. V. a. To follow.
Vol'lier. s. Something which follows ; a follower.
Vooiith. adv. Forth ; out. To goo voodth, is to
go out.
To Vooase. v. a. To force.
Vor'n. p7'on. For him.
Voreright. adj. Blunt; candidly rude.
Vouse. adj. Strong, nervous, forward.
To Vug. V. a. To strike with the elbow.
Vug. s. A thrust or blow with the elbow.
Vur. adv. Far.
Vur'der. adv. Farther.
Vur'dest. adv. Farthest.
Vur'vooiith. adv. Far-forth.
E 5
82 A GLOSSARY.
W.
To ♦Wal'lup. V, a. To beat.
To Wam'mel. ? v. n. To move to and fro in an
To Wamble. \ irregular and awkward manner ;
to move out of a regular course or motion.
C^* Applied chiefly to mechanical operations.
War. interj. Beware ! take care ! War-whing !
Take care of yourself.
War. V. This is used for the preterite of the verb
to he, in almost all the persons, as / war, he
war, we war, &c.
To Ward. v. n. To wade.
To Wamt. ) rp
T W -i >v. a. io warrant.
Wash-dish. s. The bird called Wagtail.
To Way-zalt. v. n. QTo weigh salt.]] To play at
the game of wayzaltin. See the next article.
Way-zaltin. s. A game, or exercise, in which two
persons stand back to back, with their arms in-
terlaced, and lift each other up alternately.
Weepy, adj. Abounding with springs ; moist.
Well-apaid. adj. Appeased ; satisfied.
Well-at-ease > .. ^ j^^^^j^
Well-at-eased. ^ ^ ^' ^
Wetshod. adj. Wet in the feet.
Wev'et. s. A spider's web.
To Whack, v. a. To beat with violence.
WTiack. s. A loud blow.
Whatsomiver. pron. WTiatsoever*
A GLOSSARY. 83
To Whec'ker. v. n. To laugh in a low vulgar
manner ; to neigh.
Where, adv. Whether.
Wherewi'. s. Property, estate; money.
Whipper-snapper, adj. Active, nimble, sharp.
Whipswhile. s. A short time ; the time between
the strokes of a whip.
Whister-twister. s. A smart blow on the side of
the head.
To Whiv'er. v. n. To hover.
Whiz^bird. s. A term of reproach.
To Whop. V. a. To strike with heavy blows.
Whop. s. A heavy blow.
Who'say, or Hoosay. s. A wandering report ; an
observation of no weight.
Whot. adj. Hot.
Wid'ver. s. A widower.
Willy, s. A term applied to baskets of various sizes,
but generally to those holding about a bushel.
So called from their being made commonly of
willow : somecimes called also willy-hasket.
To Wim. V. a. To winnow.
Wim-sheet. > *. A sheet upon which com is
Wimmin-sheet. \ winnowed.
Wimmin-dust. s. Chaff.
Win^dor. s. A window.
With'er. pron. Other.
With'erguess. adj. Different.
With'y-wine. s. The plant bindweed : convolvulus.
With'erwise. adv. Otherwise.
84 AGLOSSARY-
Wock. s. Oak.
Wocks. s.pl. The cards called c/?^^*; most probably
from having the shape of an oak leaf: oaks.
Wont. s. A Mole.
Wont-heave, s. A mole-hill.
Wont-snap. s. A mole-trap.
Wont-wriggle, s. The sinuous path made by moles
under ground.
Wood-quist. s. A wood-pigeon.
Wor'ra. s. A small round moveable nut or pinion,
with grooves in it, and having a hole in its
centre, through which the end of a round stick
or sjnll may be thrust. The spill and ivorra
are attached to the common spinning-wheel,
which, with those and the tuni-stri/ig, fonn
the apparatus for spinning wool. Sec.
To Wride. v. n. To spread abroad ; to expand.
Wriggle, s. Any narrow, sinuous hole.
Wrine. s. A mark occasioned by wringing clotli,
or by folding it in an irregular manner.
Wring, s. A Press. A cyde?'-?vrhig, a cyder-press.
To Wrumple. v. a. To discompose : to rumple.
Wrumple. s. A rumple.
Y.
Yal. .9. Ale.
Yarhouse. s. An ale-house.
Yarm. s. Arm.
Yarth. s. Earth.
Yel. s. An eel.
AGLOSSARY. 85
Yel-spear. s. An instrument for catching eels.
Yes. s. An earthworm.
Yokes. *. /;/. Hiccups.
Yourn. j^^'on. Yours.
Z.
See the observations which precede the letter S,
relative to the change of that letter to Z.
Zat. adj. Soft.
Za'tenfare. adj. Softish : applied to the intellects.
To Zam. v. a. To heat for sometime over the fire,
but not to boil.
Zam'zod. ) adj. Any thing heated for a long
Zam'zodden. \ time in a low heat so as to be in part
spoiled, is said to be zamzodden.
03= Conjecture, in etymology, may be al-
ways busy. It is not improbable that this
word is a compound of semi, Latin, half;
and to seethe, to boil : so that Zamzodden
will then mean, literally, half-boiled,
Zand. s. Sand.
Zandy. adj. Sandy.
Zand- tot. s. A sand-hill.
To Zee. v. a. pret. and part. Zid. To see.
Zeead. s. Seed.
Zeeiid-Up. See Seed-lip. •
Zel. pro?i. Self.
Zen'vy. s. Wild mustard.
03= It is often very difficult to trace cor-
rupted and contracted words to their sources.
86 A G L S S A R V.
This word has, by some etymologist, been sup-
posed a derivation from sainfo'm ; but sain-
foin is not mustard. The true etymology
will be seen at once in seneve, French, from
s'mapi, Latin, contracted and corrupted to
Zejivy, Somersetian.
Zillier. s. See Silker.
Zog. s. Soft, boggy land ; moist land.
Zog'gy. adj. Boggy; wet.
To Zound. 7 T"
T. r/ /J >v.7i. lo swoon.
To Zoun dy.J
To Zuf fy. V. n. See To Suffy.
Zug'gers ! inter j. This is a word, like others of
the same class, the precise meaning of which
it is not easy to define. I confess,that I can-
not define it with any satisfaction to myself.
I dare say it is a composition of two, or more
words, greatly corrupted in pronunciation.
Zull. s. The instrument used for ploughing land ;
a plough.
Zunz. adv. Since.
Zum'met. pron. Somewhat ; something.
To Zwail. V. n. To move about with the arms
extended, and up and down.
To Zwang. i'. a. and i'. ?i. To swing; to move to
and fro.
Zwang. s. A swing.
ToZwcll. v.a. Toswell;toswallow. -SceToSwELL.
Zwod'der. s. A drowsy and stupid state of body
or mind.
OS' Derived, most probably, from sudor,
Latin, a sweat.
&<Dism@j^
AND
OTHER PIECES,
EXEMPLIFYING THE
DIALECT
OF THE
CDunti) of Somerset.
Sj" Notwithstanding the Author has endeavoured,
in the Observations on the Dialects of the West,
and in The Glossary, to obviate the difficulties
under which strangers to the dialect of Somer-
setshire may, very possibly, labour i?i the perusal
of the following Poems, it may be, perhaps,
useful here to remind the reader, that many mere
inversions of sound, and differences in pronun-
ciation, are not noted in the Glossary. That it
did not appear necessary to explain such words
as wine, wind ; wordle, world ; za, say ; qut,
coat ; bwile, boil / boss, horse ; hirches, riches ;
andmajiy of hers, which it is jwesumed the context,
the Observations, or the Glossary, will sufficient li/
explaiji. The Author, therefore, trusts, that by
a careful attention to these, the reader will soon
become au fiiit at the interpretation of these JVesi"
country Liddens.
GOOD BWYE TA THEE COT,
If 1 could bid thee, pleasant shade, farewell
Without a sigh, amidst whose circling bowers
My stripling prime was pass'd, and happiest hours ;
Dead were I to the sympathies that swell
The human breast.
Bowles.)
GOOD BWYE TA THEE COT
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! whaur tha das o' my
childhood
Glaw'd bright as tha zun in a mornin o' ma ;
When tha dumbledores hummin, craup out o' tha
cob-wall.
An, shakin ther whings, tha vleed vooath an
awa.*
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! — on thy drashel, a-ma-be*
I niver naw moor sholl my voot again zet ;
Tha jessamy awver thy poorch zweetly bloomin,
Whauriver I goo, I sholl niver vorget.
* This fact, in natural history, is well known to those
acquainted with mud-walls and mud-wall houses. The
humble-bee, lombylius majw^ or dumblcdore^ as it is here
called, makes holes very commonly in these walls, in
which it deposits a kind of farina : but it never, in such
holes, as far as I have observed, deposits honey ; in this
hee will be found, nevertheless, on dissection, a consi-
derable portion of that delicious sweet.
92 P O E M S.
Tha rawzes, tha lillies, that blaw in tha borders —
The gilawfers, too, that I us'd ta behawld —
Tha trees, \vi' tha honeyzucks ranglin all awver,
I always sholl think o' nif I shood be awld.
Tha tutties that oten 1 pick'd on a zunday.
And stickt in my qut — tha war thawted za
fine ;
Aw how sholl I tell o'm — vor all pirty maidens
When I pass'd 'em look'd back — ther smill rawze
on tha wine.
Good bwye ta thee Ash ! which my Father bc-
forne me,
A planted, wi' pleasure, tha da I war born ;
Za, oolt thou drap a tear when I cease to behawld
thee,
An wander awa droo tha wordle vorlorn.
Good bwye ta thee Tree ! an thy cawld shade in
zummer ;
Thy apples, aw who ool be lotted ta shake ?
When tha wine, mangst thy bgughs sifes at Mile-
mas in sorrow,
Za oolt thou sife for me, or one wild wish
awake ?
GOOD BWYE TA THEE COT. 93
Good bwye ye dim Elves ! who, on whings made
o' leather.
Still roun my poorch whiver an whiver at
night ;
Aw ma naw hord-horted, unveelin disturber,
Destray your snug nests, an your pla by moon-
light.
Good bwye ta thee Bower ! — ta thy moss an thy
ivy —
To thaflowers thatarounthee all blossomin graw;
' When I'm gwon, oolt thou grieve ? — bit 'tis
foolish to ax it;
What is ther that's shower in this wordle belaw ?
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! whaur my mother za
thoughtvul.
As zumtimes she war droo er care vor us all,
Er lessins wi' kindness, wi* tenderness gid us ;
An ax'd us, war she dead, what ood us bevall.
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! whaur tha nightingale's
music.
In tha midnight o' Ma-time, rawze loud on the
ear;
Whaur tha colley awak'd, vn tha zun, an a zingin
A went, wi' tha dirsh, in a voice vull and clear.
94 P O E M S.
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! I must goo ta tha city,
Whaur, I'm tawld, that tha smawk makes it
dork at noon da ;
Bit nif it is true, I'm afeard that I always
And iver shoU thenk on tha cot thatch'd \vi'
stra.
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! there is One that rains
awver.
An watches tha wordle, wi' wisdom di\'ine ;
Than why shood I mang, wi' tha many, my
ma-bes ;
Bin there's readship in Him, an to liim I resign.
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! shood I niver behauld thee
Again ; still I thank thee vor all that is past !
Thy friendly ruf shulter'd — while mother watch'd
awver,
An haw'd vor my comfort vrom vust unto last.
Good bwye ta thee Cot ! vor the time ma be longful
Beforn I on thy drashel again zet my eye ;
Thy tutties ool blossom, an daver an blossom
Again and again — zaw good bwye, an good
bwye !
FANNY FEAR.
The melancholy incident related in the following
story, actually occurred a few years ago at Shapwick.
FANNY FEAR.
Good Gennel-vawk ! an if you please
To lissen to my stony,
A ma-be 'tis a jitch a one,
Ool make ye zummet zorry.
'Tis not a hoozay tale of grief,
A put vvi' ort together,
That where you cry, or where you laugh.
Da matter not a veather ;
Bit 'tis a tale vor sartin true,
Wi' readship be it spawken ;
I knaw it all, begummers ! well.
By tale, eese, an by tawken.
p
98 POEMS.
Tha maid's right name war Fanny Fear,
A tidy body lookin ;
An she cood bre\\% and she cood bake.
An dumplins bwile, and skimmer cake ;
An all the like o' cookin.
Upon a Zunday aternoon,
Befome the door a stanin,
To zee er chubby cheaks za bird,
An whitist lillies roun 'em spird,
A dam as rawze her han in,
Ood do your hort good ; and er eyes.
Dork, vull, an bright, an sporklin ;
Tha country lads could not goo by.
Bit look tha must — she iver shy,
Ood blish — tlia timid lorklin !
Her dame war to her desperd kind ;
She knaw'd er well dezarvin :
She gid her good advice an claws.
At which she niver toss'd er naws,
As zum ool, thawf pon starvin.
F A N N Y F E A R. 99
She oten yarly upp'd to goo
A milkin o' tha dairy ;
Tha meads ring'd loudly wi' er zong ;
Aw how she birsh'd the grass along.
As lissom as a vairy !
She war as happy as a prince ;
Naw princess moor o' pleasure
When well-at-eased cood iver veel ;
She ly'd her head upon her peel.
An vound athin a treasure.
There war a dessent comly youth,
Who took'd to her a likin ;
An when a don!d iz zunday claws,
You'd thenk en zummet, I suppaws,
A look'd zo desperd strikin.
Hiz vace war like a zummer da.
When all tha birds be zinjrin :
Smiles an good nature dimpliu stood,
An moor besides, an all za good,
Much pleasant promise bringin.
F 2
100 POEMS.
Now Jan war sawber, and afeard
Nif he in haste shood morry.
That he mid long repent thereof;
An zo a thawt 'twar best not, tbawf
To sta mid make en zorry.
Jan oten pass'd the happy door.
There Fanny stood a scrubbin ;
An Fanny hired hiz pleasant voice,
An thawt — " An if she had er choice !"
An veel'd athin a drubbin.
Bit Jan did'n hulder long iz thawts ;
Vor thorough iv'ry cranny,
Him'd of iz hort tha warm bird tide ;
An a cood na moor iz veelins bide.
Bit tell 'em must to Fanny.
To Fanny, than, one Whitsun eve,
A tawld er how a lov'd er ;
Naw dove, a zed, to er cood be
Moor faith vul than to her ood he ;
His hort had long appruv'd er.
FANNY FEAR. 101
Wi' timorous blishin,, Fanny zed,
'^ A maid mist not believe ye ;
" Vor men ool tell ther lovin tale,
"^ And awver seely maids prevail —
'' Bit I dwont like ta grieve ye :
" Vor nif za be you now za true —
" That you've vor I a fancy :
'' ( Aw Jan ! I dwont veel desperd well,
" An what's tha caze, I cannot tell,)
'' You'll za na moor to Nancy."
Twar zaw begin'd their zweetortin ;
Booath still liv'd in their places :
Zometimes tha met bezides tha stile ;
Wi' pleasant look an tender smile
Gaz'd in each withers faces.
In spreng-time oten on tha nap
Ood Jan and Fanny linger ;
An when \var vooas'd to za " good bwye,"
Ood meet again, wi' draps in eye.
While haup ood pwint er vinger.
]02 POEMS.
Zo pass'd tha das — tha moons awa.
An haup still whiver'd nigh ;
Nif Fanny's dreams high pleasures vill,
Of her Jan's thawts the lidden still.
An oten too the zigh.
Bit still Jan had not got wherewi'
To venter eet to morry ;
Alas-a-da ! when poor vawk love,
How much restraint how many pruv ;
How zick zum an how zorry.
Aw you who live in houzen grate.
An wherewi' much possessin.
You knaw not, ma-be, care not you.
What pangs jitch tender horts pursue,
How grate nor how distressin.
Jan sar'd a varmer vour long years,
An now iz haups da brighten :
A gennelman of high degree
Choos'd en iz liunsman vor to be ;
His Fanny's hort da lighten !
FANNYFEAR. I<>3
'^ Now, Fan," zed he, '' nif I da live,
" Nex zummer thee bist mine ;
" Sir John col gee me wauges good,
" Ama-be too zum vier ood !" —
His Fan's dork eyes did shine.
" To haw vor thee, my Fan," a cried,
" I iver sholl delight ;
" Thawf I be poor, 'tool be my pride
" To ha my Fan vor a buxom bride —
" My lidden da an night."
A took er gently in \z orms
An kiss'd er za zweetly too ;
His Fan, vor jay, not a word cood speak.
Bit a big roun tear rawl'd down er cheak.
It zimm'd as thawf er hort ood break-
She cood hordly thenk it true.
To zee our hunsman goo abroad.
His houns behind en volly ;
His tossel'd cap — his whip's smort smack,
His hoss a prancin wi' tha crack.
His whissle, horn, an holler, back !
Ood cure all malancholy.
104 POEMS.
It happ'd on a dork an wintry night,
Tha stormy wine a blawin ;
Tha houns made a naise an a dismal yell ;
Jitch as zum vawk zk da death vaurteUj
Tha cattle loud war lawin.
Tha hunsman wakid an down a went ;
A thawt ta keep 'em quiet ;
A niver stopped izzel ta dress.
Bit a went in iz shirt vor readiness ;
A voun a dirdful riot.
Bit all thic night a did not come back ;
All night tha dogs did raur ;
In tha momin tha look'd on tha kannel stwons
An zeed 'em cover'd wi' gaur an bwons.
The vlesh all vrom 'em a taur.
His head war left — the head o' Jan
Who lov'd hiz Fanny za well ;
An a bizzy gossip, as gossips be
Who've work o' ther awn bit vrom it vlee.
To Fanny went ta tell.
FANNY FEAR. 105
She hirn'd, she vleed ta meet tha man
Who corr'd er dear Jan's head :
An when she zeed en all blood an gaur.
She drapp'd down speechless jist avaiir.
As thauf she had bin dead.
Poor Fanny com'd ta erzel again.
Bit her senses left her vor iver !
An all she zed, by da or night —
Vor sleep it left her eye-lids quite —
War, " why did he goo in tha cawld ta shiver? —
Niver, O Jan ! sholl I zee thee, niver. !"*
(C
* See a letter by Edward Band, on this subject, in
the prose pieces.
F o
JERRY NUTTY ;
OR
THE MAN OF MORK,
JERRY NUTTY ;
OR
THE MAN OF MORK.
AwA wi' all yer tales o' grief,
An dismal storry writin ;
A ma-be zumthin I ma zing
Ool be as much delightin.
Zumtime agoo, bevaur tha moors
War tin'd in, lived at Mork
One Jerry Nutty — spry a war ;
A upp'd avaur tha lork.
Iz vather in a little cot
Liv'd, auver-right tha moor,
An thaw a kipt a vlock o' geese,
A war a thoughted poor.
110 POEMS.
A niver teach'd tha cris-cross-lain
Ta any of his bways.
An Jerry, mangst the rest o'm, did
Not much appruv his ways.
Vor Jerry zumtimes went ta church
Ta hire tha Pason preach.
An thawt what pity that ta read
Izzel a cood'n teach.
Vor than, a zunday atemoon,
Tha Bible, or good book
Would be companion vit vor'm all
Who choos'd therein ta look.
Bit Jerry than tha naise o geese
Bit little moor could hire ;
An daly goose-aggs ta pick up
Droo-out tha moor did tire.
A oten look'd upon tha hills
An stickle mountains roun.
An wish'd izzel upon ther taps ;
What zights a ood be boun !
JERRYNUTTY. Ill
Bit what did mooiist \z fancy strick
War Glassenberry Torr :
A always zeed it when tha zun
Gleam'd wi' tha momin stor.
O' Well's grate church a oten hired,
\z fancy war awake ;
An zaw a thawt that zoon a ood
A journey to it make.
An Glassenberry's Torr, an Thorn
The hawly blowth of which
A hired vrom one and tother too ;
Tha like war niver jitch !
Bit moor o' this I need not za,
Vor off went Jerry Nutty,
In hiz right hon a wakin stick.
An in hiz qut a tutty.
Now, lock-y-zee ! in whimly dress
Trudg'd chearful Jerry on ;
Bit on tha moor not vur a went —
A made a zudden ston.
112 POEMS.
Which wa ta goo a cood not thenk,
Vor there war many a wa ;
A put upright iz walking stick ;
A vaird ta tha zon o' da.
Ta tha suthard than iz wa a took
Athert tha turfy moors.
An zoon o' blissom Cuzziton,*
A pass'd tha cottage doors.
Tha maidens o' tha cottages.
Not us'd strange vawk to zee,
Com'd vooiith and stood avaur tha door ;
Jer wonder'd what cood be.
Zum smil'd, zum whecker'd, zum f/m blish'd.
" Od dang it !" Jerry zed,
" What do tha thenk that I be like ?"
An nodded to 'm iz head,
" Wliich is tha wa to Glassenberry ?
" I've hired tha hawly thorn
" War zet there by zum hawly hons
" Zoon ater Christ war bom ;
* Cossington.
JERRY iN UTTY. 113
" An I've a mine ta zee it too,
"An o' tha blowth ta take."
" An how can you, a seely man,
" Jitch seely journey make ?
" What ! dwont ye knaw that now about
" It is the midst o' June ?
" Tha hawly thorn at Kirsmas blaws —
" You be zix months too zoon.
" Goo whim again, yea gawky ! goo !"
Zaw zed a damsel vair
As dewy momin late in Ma ;
An Jerry wide did stare.
" Lord Miss !" zed he, " I niver thawt
" O' Kirsmas ! — while I've shoes,
" To goo back now I be zet out,
"Is what I sholl not choose.
" I'll zee the Torr an hawly thorn,
" An Glassenberry too ;
" An, nif you'U put me in tha wa,
'* rU gee grate thanks ta you."
114 POEMS.
" Goo droo thic veel an up thic lane,
" An take tha lift hon path,
" Than droo Miss Grossman's backzid strait,
" Ool bring ye up ta Wrath.
" Now mine, whaur you da turn again
" At varmer Veal's long yacker,
" Clooase whaur Jan Lide, tha cobler, lives,
" Who makes tha best o' tacker ;
" You mist turn short behine tha house
" An goo right droo tha shord,
" An than you'll pass a zummer lodge,
" A builded by tha lord.
" Tha turnpick than is jist belaw,
" An Cock-hill strait avaur ye."
Za Jerry doff'd his hat an bow'd,
An thank'd er vor er storry.
Bit moor o' this I need not za,
Vor off went Jerry Nutty ;
In hiz right hon a wakin stick,
An in hiz qut a tutty.
JERRYNUTTY. 116
Bit I vorgot to za that Jer
A zatchel wi' en took
To hauld zum bird an cheese ta ate ; —
Iz drink war o' tha brook.
Za when a got upon Cock-hill
Upon a linch a zawt ;
The zun had climmer'd up tha sky ;
A voun it very hot.
An, as iz stomick war za good,
A made a horty meal _;
An werry war wi' wakin zaw,
A sleepid zoon did veel.
That blessed power o' bamy sleep.
Which auver ivery sense
Da wi' wild whiverin whings extend
A happy influence ;
Now auver Jerry Nutty drovv'd
Er lissom mantle wide ;
An down a drapp'd in zweetest zleep,
Iz zatchel by iz zide.
116 POEMS.
Not all tha naisy stouts could wake
En vrom iz happy zleep,
Nor emmets thick, nor vlies that buz,
An on iz hons da creep.
Naw dreams a had ; or nif a had
Mooast pleasant dreams war tha :
O' geese an goose-aggs, ducks an jitch ;
Or Mally, vur awa.
Zum gennelmen war dreavin by
In a gilded cawch za ga ;
Tha zeed en lyin down asleep ;
Tha bid tha cawchman sta.
Tha ball'd, tha hoop'd— a niver wak'd ;
Naw houzen there war handy ;
Zed one o'm, '' Nif you like, my bways,
" We'll ha a little randy !"
(C
((
Jist put en zatly in tha cawch
" An dreav en ta Bcjwater ;
An as we all can't g'in wi'n here,
•'I'll come myzel zoon ater."
J ERR Y N UTT Y. Ii7
Twar done at once : vor nom o'm car'd
A stra vor wine or weather ;
Than gently rawl'd tha cawch along.
As zat as any veather.
Bit Jerry snaur'd za loud tha naise
Tha gennelmen did gaily ;
Tha'd haf a mind ta turn en out :
A war dreamin o' his Mally !
It war the morkit da as rawl'd
Tha cawch athin Bej water ;
Tha drauv up ta tha Crown-Inn door.
Ther Ma- game man com'd ater.
*' Here Maester Water ! Lock-y-zee !
" A-ma-be you mid thenk
" Thic mon a snaurin in tha cawch
" Is auvcrcome wi' drenk.
" Bit 'tis not jitchy theng we knaw ;
" A is a cunjerin mon,
" Vor on Cock-hill we vound en ly'd
" Iz stick stiff in hiz hon.
118 POEMS.
" Iz vace war cover'd thick wi' vlies
" An bloody stouts a plenty ;
" Nif he'd a pumple voot bezide,
" An a brumstick vor'n to zit ascride,
" O' wizards a mid be thawt tha pride,
" Amangst a kit o' twenty."
" Lord zur ! an why d'ye bring en here
" Ta gaily all tha people ?
" Why zuggers ! nif we frunt en than,
" He'll auver-dro tha steeple.
" I bag ye, zur, ta take en vooiith ;
" There ! how iz teeth da chatter ;
'' Lord zur ! vor Christ — look there again !
" A'U witchify Bejwater !"
Tha gennelmen stood by an smiled
To zee tha busslc risin :
Vor zoon, droo-out tha morldt, wide
Tha news war gwon saprisin.
An round about tha cawch tha dring'd—
Tha countr)mian and townsman ;
An young an awld_, an man an maid —
Wi' now an tan, an here an there,
Amang tha crowd to gape an stare,
A doctor an a gownsman.
J ERR Y N U TT Y. 119
Jitch naise an bother wakid zoon
Poor hormless Jerry Nutty.
A look'd astunn'd ; — a cood'n speak !
An daver'd war iz tutty.
A niver in hiz life avaur
Ad bin athin Bej water ;
A thawt, an if a war alive.
That zummet war tha matter.
Tha houzen cling'd together zaw !
Tha gennelmen an ladies !
Tha blacksmith's, brazier's hammers too !
An smauk whauriver trade is.
Bit how a com'd athin a cawch
A war amaz'd at thenkin ;
A thawt, vor sartin, a must be
A auvercome wi' drenkin.
Tha ax'd en nif a'd please to g'out
An ta tha yalhouse g'in ;
Bit tha zo clooase about en dring'd
A cood'n goo athin.
120 P O E M S.
Ta g'under 'em or g'auver 'em
A try'd bootith grate and small ;
Bit g'under, g'auver, g'in, or g'out,
A cood'n than at all.
" Lord bless ye ! gennel-vawk !" zed he,
" I*m come to Glassenberry
" To zee tha Torr an Hawly Thorn ;
What makes ye look za merry ?''
((
" Why mister wizard ! dwont ye knaw,
" Theiise town is call'd Bejwater !"
Cried out a whipper-snapper man :
Tha all bust out in laughter.
" I be'n't a wizard, zur !" a zed ;
"Bit I'm a little titch'd;*
" Or, witherwise, you mid well thenk
I'm, zure anow, bcwitch'd !"
tt
Thaw Jerry war, vor all tha wordle,
Like very zcl o' quiet,
A veel'd iz blood ta bwile athin
At j itchy zort o' riot ;
* Touched.
J E R R Y N U T T Y. 121
Za out ajump'd amangst 'em all!
A made a desperd bussle ;
Zum hirn'd aw a — zum made a ston ;
Wi' zum a had a tussle.
Iz stick now sar'd 'em justice good ;
It war a tough groun ash ;
Upon ther heads a pla'd awa.
An round about did drash.
Tha belg'd, tha raur'd, tha scamper'd all,
A zoon voun rum ta stoory ;
A thaw^t a'd be reveng'd at once,
Athout a judge or jury.
An, thaw a brawk naw-body's bwons,
A gid zum bloody nawzes ;
Tha pirty maids war fainty too ;
Hirn'd ^Tom ther cheaks tha rawzes.
Thinks he, me gennelmen ! when nex
I goo to Glassenberry,
Yea shant ha jitch a rig wi' I,
Nor at my cost be merry.
6
122 P O E M S.
Zaw, haviii olear'd izzel a wa.
Right wliim went Jerry Nutty ;
A flourished roun \z wakin stick ;
AnvlengM awa \z tutty.
TEDDY BAND.
The short and simple annals of the poor.
Gray.
g2
TEDDY BAND.
Miss Hanson to Miss Mortimer.
Ashcot, July 21st.
My Dear Jane ;
I returned from the Valley of Rocks a
few days since, and would have done myself the
pleasure of paying you a visit instead of sending
this; but some engagements will prevent me that
gratification for ten days, or a fortnight, at least.
You will want to know how I have been engaged ;
it is impossible for me to tell you now. Suffice it
to say, that I have been abundantly gratified. I
am quite out of conceit with this part of Somer-
setshire since my return ! But begone ye moun-
tains ! thou sea ! ye cataracts ! I am on tip-toe
to learn how you are ; and, may I venture to say,
how Mr. Cloyne is — does he continue his atten-
tions? — I sincerely hope so, and that you, my dear
Jane, are where I wish you to be — on the high
road to happiness !
126 POEMS.
As I cannot come myself, and as I have not
time to write a long letter, will you do me the
favour to amuse yourself and your friends with
the inclosed epistle ? It is certainly an original —
written in the dialect of the County. You will
easily understand it^ and I do not doubt the
"moril " too.
Edward Band, or as he is more commonly called
here, Teddy Band, is a poor, but honest and in-
dustrious cottager — perhaps one of those flowers
which is doomed
** To blush unseen.
And waste its sweetness on the desart air ;**
But I am, nevertheless, sometimes disposed to
think that
" If ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise."
My dear Jane,
Aflectionately your*s,
Maria Hanson.
Teddy Band to Miss Hanson.
Mam,
I da tlienk you'll smile at thecazam
here veo lains that I write ta you, bin I be nuw
scholard: vor vatlier coud'n avoord ta put I ta
TEDDY U A N D. 127
school. Bit nif you'll vorgee me vor my bauldniss,
a-ma-be, I mid not be afeard ta zk zummet ta you
that you, mam, yourzel mid like ta hire. Bit how
be I ta knaw that ? I knaw that you be a good
horted Lady, an da like ta zee poor vavvk well-at-
eased an happy. You axt I tother da ta zing a
zong : now I dwont much like zum o' tha zongs
that I hired thic night at squire Reeves's when
we made an end o' Ha-corrin : vor, zim ta I, there
war naw moril to 'em. I like zongs wi' a moril to
'em. Tha nawtes, to be shower, war zat anow,
bit, vor all that, I war lookin vor tha moril, mam.
Zo, when I cum'd whim, I tawld our Pall, that
you axt I ta zing ; an I war zorry aterward that I
did'n, bin you be always zo desperd good ta poor
vawk. Bit I thawt, a-ma-be, you mid be angry
wi' my country liddcn. Why Teddy, zed Pall,
dwont ye zend Miss Hanson thic zong wliich you
made yerzel ; I thenk iher is a moril in thic. An
zo, mam, nif you please, I a zent tha zong. I
haup you'll vorgee me.
Mara, your humble sarvant,
Teddy Band
128 POEMS.
Z O N G.
I HAVE a cot o' Cob-wall
Roun which tha ivy clims ;
My Pally at tha night-vaU
Er crappin vier trims.
A comin vrom tha plow-veel
I zee tha blankers rise,
Wi* blue smauk cloudy curlin.
An whivering up tha skies.
When tha winter wines be crousty.
An snaws dreav vast along,
I hurry whim — tha door tine.
An cheer er wi' a zong.
When spreng, adresst in tutties.
Calls all tha birds abroad ;
An wrans an robin-riddicks.
Tell all the cares o' God,
T E D D Y B A N D. 129
I zit bezides my cot-door
Ater my work is done.
While Pally, bizzy knittin,
Looks at tha zettin zim.
When zummertime is passin.
An harras das be vine,
I drenk tha sporklin cyder,
An wish naw wither wine.
How zweet tha smill o' clawver.
How zweet tha smill o' ha ;
How zweet is haulsom labour.
Bit zweeter Pali than tha.
An who dye thenk I envy,
Tha nawbles o' tha land ?
Tha can't be moor than happy,
An Ihat is Teddy Band.
G 5
130 POEM S.
Mister Ginnins ;
I a reel thic ballet o' yourn called Fanny
Fear, an, zim ta I, there's naw moril to it. Nif
zaw be you da thenk zo well o't, I'll gee one.
I dwont want to frunt any ov tha gennelmen o'
tha country, bit I always a thawt it desperd odd,
that dogs should be keept in a kannel, an keept a
hungered too, zaw that tha mid be moor eager to
hunt thic poor little theng called a hare. I dwon
naw, bit I da thenk, nif I war a gennclman, that
I'd vine better spoort than huntin ; bezides, zim ta
I 'tis desperd wicked to hunt animals vor one's
spoort. Now, jitch a horrid blanscue as what hap-
pened at Shapick, niver could a bin but vor tha
hungry houns. I haup tliat gennelmen ool thenk
o't oten ; an when tha da hire tha yell o' tha
houns tha'll not vorgit Fanny Fear ; a-ma-be tha
mid be zummet tha wiser an better vor't ; I'm
shower jitch a storry desarves ta be renumbered.
This is the moril.
I am, sur, your sarvant,
Teddy Band.
THE CHURCHWARDEN.
THE CHURCHWARDEN.
Upon a time, naw matter whaur,
Jitch plazen there be many a scaur
In Zummerzet*s girt gorden ;
( I've hir'd 'twar handy ta tha zea,
Not vur vrom whaur tha zantots be)
There liv'd a young churchwarden.
A zim'd delighted when put in,
An zaw a thawt a ood bearin
Ta do hiz office duly ;
Bit zum o'm, girt vawk in ther wa —
Tha Por'ish o'ten called, — a girt bell- sheep
Or two that lead tha rest an quiet keep —
Put vooiith ther hons \z coose ta sta.
Which made en quite unruly.
134 POEMS.
A went, of coose, ta Visitation
Ta be sworn in ; — an than 'twar nation
Hord that a man his power should doubt, —
An moor — ta try ta turn en out !
" Naw, Naw !" exclaim'd our young church-
warden,
" I dwon't care vor ye all a copper varden !'
Tha church war durty. — Wevcts here
Hang'd danglin vrom tha ruf ; an there
Tha plaisterin shaw'd a crazy wall ;
Tha altar-piece war dim and dowsty too,
That Peter's maricle tha scase cood view.
Tha Ten Commandments nawbody cood rade ;*
Tha Lord's Prayer ad nuthin in't bit " Brade ;"t
Nor had tha Creed
A lain or letter parfit, grate or small.
'Twar time vor zum one ta renew 'em all.
I've tawld o' wevets — zum o'm odd enow ;
Tha look'd tha colour of a dork dun cow.
An like a skin war stratched across tlia comers ;
* Read. t BreaO.
THE CHURCHWARDEN. 135
Tha knitters o* tha porish tak'd o knittin
Stockins wi' 'em !— Bit aw, how unbevittin
All tak like this !— aw fie, tha wicked
scorners !
Ta work went tha Churchwarden; wevets tummel'd
Down by tha bushel, an tha pride o' dowst war
hummel'd.
Tha walls once moor look'd bright.
Tha Painter, fags, a war a Plummer
An Glazier too,
Put vooath his powers,
( His workin made naw little scummer ! )
In zentences, in flourishes, and flowers.
Tha chancel, church and all look'd new.
An war well suited to avoord delight.
Tha Ten Commandments glitter'd Avi' tha vornish ;
Compleatnow, tha Lord's Prayer, what coodtornish.
As vor tha Creed 'twar made bran-new
Vrom tap ta bottom ; I tell ye true !
Tha altar-piece wi' Peter war now naw^ libel
Upon tha church.
136 POEMS.
Which booiith athin an^ tower and all, athout
Look'd like a well-dress'd maid in pride about ;
ITia walls rejaic'd wi' texts took vrom tha Bible*
Bit, vor all that, tha left en in tha lurch :
I bag your pardon,
I mean, of all tha expense tha ood'n pa a varden.
Jitch zweepin, birshin, paintin, scrubbin ;
Tha tuts ad niver jitch a drubbin ;
Jitch white-washin an jitch brought gwain
A power of money. — Tha Painter's bill
Made of itzel a pirty pill,
Ta zwell which all o'm tried in vain !
Ther stomicks turn'd, ther drawts war noTvy ;*
Jitch gilded pills tha cood'n corry.
An when our young churchwarden ax'd 'em why,
Tha laugh'd at en, an zed, ther drawts war dry.
Tha keeper o' tha church war wrong ;
(Churchwarden still tha burden o' my zong)
A should at vust
A call'd a Vestry : vor 'tis hord ta trust
♦ Narrow.
THE CHURCHWARDEN. 137
To Porish generosity ; an zaw
A voun it : I dwon' kiiavv
Whaur or who war his advisers.
Zum zed a Layer gid en bad advice ;
A-ma-be zaw ; jitch vawk ben't always nice.
Layers o' advice be seltimes misers
Nif there's wherewi' ta pa ;
Or, witherwise, good-bwye ta Layers an tha La.
A Vestry than at last war cried —
A Vestry's power let noane deride —
When tha church war auver tha clork bal'd out,
Am eese ! aw eesc I aw eese !
All wonder'd what cood be about.
An stratch'd ther necks like a vlock o* geese ;
Why — ta make a Rate
Vor tha church's late
Repairaiion.
A grate noration,
A nation naise tha nawtice made,
About tha cost ta be defray'd
Vor tha church's repaircition.
138 P O E M S.
Tha Vestry met, all naise an bother ;
One ood'n wait ta hire tha tuther.
When tha war tir'd o' jitch a gabble,
Ta bal na moor not one war yable,
A man, a little zatenfare.
Got up hiz verdi ta declare.
Now Soce, zed he, why we be gwain
Ta iheet in Vestry here in vain.
Let's come ta zum determination,
An not tak all in jitch a fashion.
Let's zee tha 'counts. A snatch'd tha book
Vrom tha Churchwarden in't ta look.
Tha book ?var chain d cloolise to his wrist ;
A gid en slily jitch a twist !
That the young Churchwarden loud raur'd out,
" You'll break my yarm ! — what be about ?**
Tha man a little zatenfare.
An all tha Vestrv wide did stare !
Bit Soce, zed he again, I niver zeed
Money brought gwain zaw bad. What need
War ther tha altar-piece ta titch ?
What good war puintin, vornishin, an jitch }
THE CHURCHWARDEN. 139
What good war't vor'n ta mend
Tha Ten Commandments ? — Why did he
Mell o' tha Lord's Prayer ? Lockyzee !
Ther war naw need
To mell or make wi' thic awld Creed.
I'm zorry vor'n; eese zorry as a friend;
Bit can't conzent our wherewi' zaw ta spend.
Tha all, wi' one accoord.
At tha little zatenfare's word.
Agreed, that, not one varden.
By Rate,
Should be collected vor tha late
Repairation
Of tha church by tha young Churchwarden.
THE FISHERMAN
AND
THE PLAYERS.
Now who is ther that han't a hir'd
O' one young Tom Came ?
A Fisherman of Huntspill,
An a well-knawn name.
A knaw'd much moor o' fishin
Than many vawk bezides ;
An a knaw'd much moor than mooiist about
Tha zea and all tha tides.
A knaw'd well how ta make buts^,
An bullies too an jitch,
An up an down tha river whaur
Tha best place vor ta pitch.
IFISHERMAN AND THE PLAYERS. 141
A knaw'd all about tlia stake-hangs
Tha zalmon vor ta catch, —
Tha pitchin an tha dippin net, —
Tha Slime an tha Mud-Batch.*
* Two islands well known in the River Parret, near
its mouth.
Several words will be found in this Poem which re-
quire explanation ; I have not placed them in the
Glosnanj^ because they seem too local and technical to
deserve a place there : they shall be here explained.
To Pitch. V. n. To fish with a boat and a pitchin-net
in a proper position across the current so that the fish
may be caught.
Pitchin-net. s. A large triangular net attached to two
poles, and used with a boat for the purpose, chiefly, of
catching salmon. — The fishing boats in the Parret, it
ought, perhaps, to be here remarked, arejlat-bottomcd,
in length about seventeen feet, about four feet and a
half wide, and pointed at both ends : they are easily
managed by one person, and are rarely, if ever, known
to overturn.
Dippin-net. s. A small net somewhat semicircular, and
attached to two round sticks for sides, and a long pole
for a handle. It is used for the purpose of dipping salmon
and some other fish, as the shad, out of the water.
Gad. s. A long pole, having an iron point to it, so
that it may be easily thrust into the ground. Two gads
are used for each boat. Their uses are to keep the boat
steady across the current, in order that the net may be
in a proper position.
142 POEMS.
A handled too iz gads well
His paddle and iz oor ;*
A war always bawld an fearless—
A, when upon tha Goor.f
O' heerins, sprats, an porpuses —
O' all fish a cood tell ;
Wlio bit he amangst tha Fishermen—
A always bear'd tha bell.
Tommy Came ad hired o' Players,
Bit niver zeed 'em pla ;
Tha war actin at Bejw^ter ;
There a went wd' Sally Da.
When tha curtain first draw'd up, than
Sapriz'd war Tommy Came ;
A'd haf a mine ta hirn awa.
Bit stapp'd vor very shame.
* Oar.
•f The Gore, dangerous sands so calle<l, situated
at the mouth of the lliver I'arret, in the Bristol
Channel.
FISHERIVIAN AND THE PLAYERS 143
Thu vList act bein auvcr
Tha zeconil jist begun.
Tommy Came still woiider'd grately,
Ta him it war naw fun.
Zaw ater lookin on zumtime,
Ta understond did strive ;
There now, zed he, I'll gee my woth*
That thd he all alive !
* Oath.
MR. GUY.
[The incident on which this story is founded, occurred
in the early part of the last century ; hence the allu-
sion to making a will before making a journey to the
:nt'tropolis.]
MR. GUY.
Mr. Guy war a gennelman
O* Huntspill, well knawn
As a grazier, a hirch one,
Wi' Ions o' hiz awn.
A oten went ta Lunnun
Hiz cattle vor ta zill ;
All tha bosses that a rawd
Niver minded badge or hill.
A war afeard o* naw one ;
A niver made hiz will,
Like wither vawk, avaur a went
Hiz cattle vor la ziil.
H 2
148 POEMS.
One time a'd bin ta Lunnuii
An zavvld iz cattle well ;
A brought awa a power o' gawld.
As I've a hired tell.
As late at night a rawd along
All droo a unket ood,
A ooman rawze vrom off tha groun
A n right avaur en stood :
She look'd za pitis Mr. Guy
At once hiz boss's pace
Stapt short, a wonderin how, at night.
She com'd in jitch a place.
A little trunk war in her hon ;
She zira'd vur gwon wi' chile-
She ax'd en nif a'd take er up
An cor er a veo mile.
Mr. Guy, a man o' vceJin
Vor a ooman in distress,
Tlian took er up behind en ;
A cood'n do na less.
M R. G U V. My
A corr'd er trunk avaur en.
An bv liiz belt o' leather
A bid cr liawlcl vast ; on tha rawd,
Athout much tak, together.
Not vur tha went avaur she gid
A whissle loud an long ;
Which Mr. Guy thawt very strange ;
Er voice too zim'd za strong !
She'd lost er dog, she zed ; an than
Another whissle blaw'd,
That stortled Mr. Guy ; — a stapt
Hiz hoss upon tha rawd.
(}oo on, zed she ; bit Mr. Guy
Zum rig beginn'd ta fear :
Vor voices rawze upon tha wine.
An zim'd a comin near.
Again tha rawd along ; again
She whissled. Mr. Guy
Wiiipt out hiz knife an cut tha belt.
Than push'd er off! — Vor why ?
160 POEMS.
Tha ooman he took up behine,
Begummers, war a man !
Tha rubbers zaw ad lad ther plots
Our grazier to trepan.
I shoU not stap ta tell what zed
Tha man in ooman's clawze ;
Bit he, an all o'm jist behine^,
War what you mid suppawze.
Tha cust, tha swaur, tha dreaten'd too.
An ater Mr. Guy
Tha gallop'd all ; 'twar niver-tha-near :
Hiz boss along did vly.
Auver downs, droo dales, aw a a went,
'Twar da-light now amawst,
Till at an inn a stapt, at last,
Ta thenk what he'd a lost.
A lost ? — why, notliin — but hiz belt ! —
A zummet moor ad gain'd :
Thic little trunk a corr'd awa —
It gawld g'lorc contain'd !
MR. GUY.
Nif Mr. Guy war hirch avaur,
A now war hircher still :
Tha plunder o' tha highwameu
Hiz coffers went ta vill.
In safety Mr. Guy rawd whim ;
A oten tavvld tha storry.
Ta meet wi' jitch a rig myzel
I shood'n, soce, be zorry.
151
THE ROOKERY.
ir :>
The Rook, corvus frugilegus, is a bird of consi-
derable intelligence, and is, besides, extremely
useful in destroying large quantities of worms
and larvae of destructive insects. It will, it is
true, if not watched, pick out, after they are
dibbled, both pease and beans from the holes
with a precision truly astonishing ; a very mo-
derate degree of care is, however, sufficient to
prevent this evil, which is greatly overbalanced
by the positive good which it effects in the de-
struction of insects.
It is a remarkable fact, and not, perhaps, generally
known, that this bird rarely roosts at the
rookery, except for a few months during the
period of incubation, and rearing its young.
In the winter season it more commonly takes
flights of no ordinary length, to roost on the
trees of some remote and sequestered wood.
The Elm is its favourite, on which it usually
builds ; but such is its attachment to locality,
that since the incident alluded to in the follow-
ing Poem took place, the Rooks have, many of
them, built in^r trees at a little distance from
their former habitation. The habits of the
Rook are well worthy the attention of all who
delight in the study of Natural History.
THE ROOKERY.
. My zong is o' tha Rookery,
Not jitch as I a zeed
On stunted trees \vi' leaves a veo,
A very veo indeed.
In thic girt place tha Lunnuyi call ; —
Tha Tower an tha Pork
Ha booath a got a Rookery,
A 1 thaw tha han't a Lork.
I zeng not o* jitch Rookeries,
♦ Jitch plazen, pump or banners ;
Bit town-berd Rooks, vor all that, ha,
I wamt ye, curious manners.
156 POEMS.
My zong is o' a Rookery
My Father's cot bezide,
Avaur, years ater, I war born
'Twar long tha porish pride.
Tha elms look'd up like giants tall
Ther branchy yarms aspread ;
An green plumes wavin wi' tha wine,
Made ga each lofty head.
Ta dra tha pectur out — ther war
At distance, zid between
Tha treeSj, a thatch'd Form-house, an geese
A cacklin on tha green.
A river, too, clooase by tha trees.
Its stickle coose on slid,
Whaur yels an trout an wither fish
Mid otentimes be zid.
Tha rooks voun this a pleasant place—
A whim ther young ta rear ;
An I a 6 ten pleas'd a bin
Ta watch 'em droo tha vear.
THE ROOKERY. 15;
'Tis on tha da o' Valentine
Or there or thereabout,
Tha rooks da vust bejrin ta build,
An cawin, make a rout.
Bit aw ! when May 's a come, ta zee
Ther young tha gunners shut
V^or SPOORT, an bin, as zum da za,
(Naw readship in't I put)
That iiif thn did'n shut tha rooks
Tha 'd zoon desert tha trees f
Wise vawk ! Thic reason vor ther ppoorj-
Gee tha raid nif tha please !
Still zeng I o' tha Rookery.
Vor years it war tha pride
Of all place, bit 'twar ta I
A zumthin moor bezide.
I hired tha Rooks avaur I upp'd ;
I hired 'em di'oo tha da ;
I hired ther young while gittin flush
An ginnin jist ta ca.
,
158 POEMS.
I hired 'em when my mother gid
Er lessins kind ta I,
In jitch a wa when I war young,
That I war fit ta cry,
I hired 'em at tha cottage door.
When mornin, in tha spreng,
Wak'd vooath in youth an beauty too.
An birds beginn'd ta zeng.
I hired 'em in tha winter-time
When, roustin vur awa,
Tha visited tha Rookery
A whiverin by da.
My childhood, youth, and manood too.
My Father's cot recall
Thic Rookery. Bit I mist now
Tell what it did bevall.
'Twar Ma-time — heavy wi' tha nests
W^ar laden all tha trees ;
An to an fraw, wi' creekin loud,
Tha sway'd ta iv'ry breeze.
T H E R O O K E R Y. 159
One night tha wine — a thundrin wine,
Jitch as war hired o' niver,
Blaw'd two o' thic girt giant trees
Flat down into tha river.
Nests, aggs, an young uns, all awa
War zweept into tha water ;
An zaw war spwiled tha Rookery
Vor iver and iver ater.
I visited my Father's cot :
Tha Rooks war all a gwon ;
Whaur stood tha trees in lofty pride
I zid there norra one.
My Father's cot war desolate ;
An all look'd wild, vorlorn ;
Tha Ash war stunted that war zet
Tha da that I war bom.
My Father, Mother, Rooks, all gwon ?
My Charlotte an my Lizzy ! —
Tha gorden wi' tha tutties too ! —
Jitch thawts why be za bizzy I
160
P O E M S.
Behfiwkl tha \va o' lumian then-^s !
Rooks, lofty trees, an Friends —
A kill'd, taur up, like leaves ilrap ofl'!-
Zaw feaver'd bcin ends.
TOM G O O L,
AND
LUCK IN THA BAG.
TOM G O O L,
AND
LUCK IN THA BAG.
" Luck, Luck in tha Bag ! Good Luck !
" Put in an try yer for tin ;
^' Come, try yer luck in tha Lucky Bag !
" You'll git a prize vor sarlin."
Mooast plazen ha ther customs
Ther manners an ther men ;
We too a got our customs.
Our manners and our men.
He who a bin ta Huntspill Fayer
Or Highbridge — Pawlet Revel —
Or Burtle Sassions, whaur tha pla,
Zumtimes tha very devil.
164 POEMS.
Mist mine once a man well
That war a call'd Tom Gool ;
Zum tliawt en mazed, while withers thawt
En moor a knave than fool.
At all tha fayers an revels too
Tom Gool war shower ta be,
A takin vlother vast awa, —
A hoopin who bit he.
Vor'all that a had a zoort o* wit
That zet tha vawk a laughin ;
An mooast o* that, when he tha yal
Ad at tha fayer bin quaffin.
A corr'd a kit o' pedlar's waur,
I..ikc awld Joannah Martin ;*
An nif you han't a hired o' her.
You zumtime sholl vor sartin.
* This I^ady, who was for many years known in
Somersetshire as an itinerant dealer in carlhenware,
rags, &c. and occasionally afortunc-tcllcr, died u few years
since at Iluntspill, where she had resided for the greater
TOM GOO L. 165
*' Luck, Luck in tlia Bag !" Tom, cried
" Put in an try yer fortin ;
" Come try yer luck in tlia lucky bag ;
*' You'll git a prize vor sartin.
part of a century. She was extremely illiterate, so
much so, as not to be able to write, and, I think, could
scarcely read. She lived for some years in a house be-
lon<^ing to my father, and while a boy, I was very often
her gratuitous amanuensis, in writing letters for her to
her children. She possessed, however, considerable
shrewdness, energy, and perseverance, and amassed
property to the amount of several hundred pounds. She
had three husbands ; the name of the first was, I be-
lieve, Goal or Gould, a relation of Thomas Goal, the sub-
ject of the above Poem ; the name of the second was
Martin, of the third Pain ; but as the last lived a short
time only after having married her, she always conti-
nued to be called Joannah Martin.
Joa7ina7i was first brought into public notice by the
Rev. Mr. Wauxer, in his JValks through the Western
Counties^ published in 1800, in which work will be found
a lively and interesting description of her, and with
which I have reason to know that Joannah was not a
little pleased ; but she often said that she should wish
me to write her life, as I was, of course, more inti-
mately acquainted w ilh it than any casual inquirer could
possibly be. An additional notice of Joannah appears
in the Monthly Magazine, for Nov. 1816, page 310. This
notice was written by myself; I allude to it in order to
166 P O E M S.
^' All prizes, norra blank,
" Norra blank, all prizes !
*' A waiter — knife — or scissis sheer —
" A splat o' pins — put in my dear ! —
" Whitechapel nills all sizes.
" Luck, Luck in tha Bag ! — only a penny vor
a venter — you mid git, a-ma-be, a girt prize — a
Rawman waiter ! — I can avoord it as cheap as
thic that stawl it — I a bote it ta trust, an niver
intend to pa vor't. Luck, Luck in tha bag ! all
prizes, norra blank !
observe, that I believe I have somewhere, among my
papers, the original song, of which she was the authoress*
and which I copied from her dictation many years ago,
the only copy, I presume, in existence; I regret
that I cannot now lay my hand upon it : it contains, of
course, much of the Somersetshire idiom. I have more
than once heard her sing this song, which was sa-
tirical, and related to the conduct of a female, one of
her neighbours, who had, without the least apparent
necessity, become a thief.
Such was JoANNAH Martin, a woman who, had she
been more fortunately and favourably thrown — had she
moved in a sphere where her original talents and en-
ergies could have been improved by education, her
name might have been added to the list of distinguished
female worthies of our country.
TOM GOO L. 167
" Luck, Luck in tha Bag ! Good Luck !
" Put in an try yer fortin ;
" Come, try yer luck in tha lucky bag !
" You'll git a prize vor sartin.
*' Come, niver mine tha single-sticks,
" Tha whoppin or tha stickler ;
" You dwon't want now a brawken head,
" Nor jitchy zoort o' tickler !
" Now Lady ! yer prize is — * a Snuff-Box,'
" A treble-japann'd Pont}'pool !
" You'll shower come again ta ray Luck in tha
bag,
" Or niver trust me — Tommy Gool.
" Luck, Luck in tha bag ! Good Luck !
" Put in an try yer fortin ;
^' Come, try yer luck in tha lucky bag !
" You'll git a prize vor sartin !**
MARY RAMSEY'S CRUTCH.
1 ZKNG o' Mary Ramsey's Crutch !
*' Thic little theng !" — Why 'tis'n much
It's true, bit still I like ta touch
'1 ha cap o' Mary Ramsey's Crutch.
She zed, vvheniver she shood die,
Er little crutch she'd gee ta I.
Did Mary love me ? eese a b'leeve.
She died — a veo vor her did grieve, —
An but a veo — vor Mary awld,
Outliv'd er friends, or voun 'em cawld.
Thic crutch I had — I ha it still.
An port vvi't wont — nor niver will.
O' her I lorn'd tha cris-cross-lain ;
I haup that 'tvvord'n quite in vain!
'Twar her who teach'd me vust ta read
Jitch little words as beef an bread;
An I da thenk 'twar her that, ater,
I.om'd I ta read tha single zater.
iMARY RAMSEY'S CRUTCH. 169
Poor Mary oten used ta tell
O' das a past that pleas'd er well ;
An mangst tha rest war zum o' jay.
When I look'd up a little bway.
She zed I war a good one too.
An lorn'd my book athout tha rue*
Poor Mary's gwon ! — a longful time
Zunz now ! — er little scholard's prime
A-ma-be's past. — It must be zaw ; —
There's nothin stable here belaw !
O' Mary — all left is — er crutch !
An thaw a gift, an 'tword'n much
'Tis ttue, still I da like ta touch
Tha cap o' Mary Ramsey's Crutch !
That I lov'd Mary, this ool tell.
I'll za. na moor — zaw, fore well !t
* This Lady, when her scholars neglected their duty,
or behaved ill, rubbed their fingers with the leaves
rue 1
t Fare ye well.
HANNAH VERRIOR.
Tha za I'm mazed, — my Husband's dead.
My chile, (hush ! hush ! Lord love er face ! )
Tha pit-hawl had at Milemas, when
Tha put me in theaze pooat-hawl place.
Tha za I'm mazed. — I veel — I thenk —
I tak — I ate, an oten drenk. —
Tha thenk, a-ma-be, zumtimes, veel —
An gee me stra vor bed an peel !
Tha za I'm maz'd. — Hush ! Babby, dear !
Tha shan't come to er ! — nivcr fear !
Tha za thy Father's dead ! — Naw, naw !
A'U niver die while I'm belaw.
Tha za I'm mazed. — WTiy dwont ye speak ?
Fie James ! — or else my hort ool break ! —
James is not dead ! nor Babby ! — naw I
Tha'll niver die while I'm belaw !
REMEMBRANCE.
An shall I drap tha Reed — an shall I,
Athout one nawte about my Sally ?
Althaw we Pawets all be zingers,
We like, wi' enk, ta dye our vingers
Bit mooiist we like in vess ta pruv
That we remimber thauze we love.
Sim-like-it than, that I should iver
Vorgit my Sally. — Niver, niver !
Vor, while I've wander'd in tha West —
At raornin tide — at evenin rest —
On Quantock's hills — in Mendip's vales —
On Parret's banks — in zight o' Wales —
In thic awld mansion whaur tha ball
Once vrighten'd Lady Drake an all ; —
WTien wi' tha Ladies o' thic dell
Wliaur witches spird ther 'ticin spell — *
♦ Combe Sydenham, the residence of my Frienfl,
George Notley, Esq. The history of the Magic Ball,
I 2
172 POEMS.
Amangst tha rocks on Watchet shaur
When did tha wine an waters raur —
as it has been called, is now pretty generally known,
and therefore need not be here repeated. I take the
present opportunity of laying before the reader a few
improtnptti lines, which I presented to Mif!s Not ley
and her friend, on the morning of my departure from
that romantic spot — Combe Sydenham, January the
9th, 1825.
Ladies ! Time, that fell destroyer.
Bids me say, at once, farewell —
Yet, believe me, 'tis most painful —
More than pen or tongue can tell.
Will you, when I'm gone and distant,
Think of me who sojourn'd here ?
Yes — I know you will, ye Fair Ones !
Nay — I do not ask a tear.
Pleas'd by you to be remember'd ;
rieas'd if, when I'm far way,
You shall smile and think of one who
Pass'd here one delightful day.
I can ne'er, no, ne'er forget you —
Moments pass'd, ye Fair ! with you,
: Leave a wavv flood of Ijrifjhtness
On the soul — Adieu ! adieu !
REMEMBRANCE. 173
In Banwell's cave — on Loxton hill —
x\t Clifton ga — at Rickford rill —
In Compton ood — in Hartree coom —
At Crispin's cot wi' little room ; —
At Upton — LansQown's lofty brow —
At Bath, whaur pleasure flants enow ;
At Trowbridge, whaur by Friendship's heed,
I blaw'd again my silent Reed,
An there enjay'd, wi' quiet, rest,
Jitch recollections o' tha West ;
Whauriver stapp'd my voot along
I thawt o' Her. — Here ends my zong.
MARY PUDDY.
Tha tales o' grate an nawble vawk
Let wither pawets study ;
I love tha storries o' tha poor ;
ril zeng o' Mary Puddy.
A right good-natur d honnless theng,
Ta work — ta please — er study ;
Bit stni one failin she'd a got,
Ta hide which cood'n, Mary Puddy.
Poor Mary had a little chile*
Ta zuckle, warm en all er study.
Tha porish zed that 'twar a shame
Ta ha a love-chile — Mary Puddy.
* Child.
MARY PU D D Y. 176
Still Mary nuss'd* an keept en warm —
Er babby wi' iz cheaks zaw ruddy ;
Till zumtime aterward she had
Another chile — Fie Mary Puddy !
Ta thenk wi* bastards zaw ta vill
Tha polish ! — Now war all tha study
Amangst tha porish vawk, ta cure
Tha wicked, wicked, Mary Puddy.
Befom tha Justice tha her brought —
Tha mother wi' er chile zaw ruddy.
Bit tell tha father she ood not :
Vor nav7 relief ax'd Mary Puddy.
'Twar than tha la'd er down tha la —
That tell she must, or i^e mid study
Er lessin better in a jail.
Ta jail tha took poor Mary Puddy.
Bit vTom er took cr babby, eese,
O' zix weeks avvld, wi' cheaks zaw ruddy ;
She niver zeed iz vace na moor —
Alas-a-da, vor Mary Puddy !
* Nurst
176 POExMS.
'Tvvar la, a-ma-be ; — bit nif 'twar,
Jitcb la I ood'n wish ta study ;
Nor ood I be thic mortal man
That vrom er babe taur Mary Puddy.
She work'd in jail — she keept er milk
Ta zuckle still er babe zaw ruddy
When she shood once come vooath again ; —
Bit, ah ! deceiv'd war Mary Puddy.
Vor jist avaur er time war out.
She vall'd zick — lost er cheaks zaw ruddy—
And oten vor er babby call'd —
" My babby !— babby \" — Mary Puddy.
Tha did'n breng er babby ! — naw ! —
Er zickness spwil'd her cheaks once ruddy ;
An, wi' a feaver scorch'd at last,
She died, she did, poor Mary Puddy !
Er babby pin'd — a oten cried —
Tha chile which once had cheaks all ruddy,
Vor tha tetty* cried — a rames a died —
A did — the chile o' Mary Puddy !
* Teat.
A DEDICATION.
Thenk not, bin 1 ood be tha fashion,
That I, ZiR, write theaze Dedication ;
I write, I haup I dwon't offend.
Bin I be proud ta call You Friend.
I here ston vooiith, alooiin, unbidden
Ta 'muse you wi' my country lidden ; —
Wi' remlets o' tha Saxon tongue
That to our Gramfers did belong.
Vor all it is a little thing,
Receave it— Friendship's offering —
Ta pruv, if pruf I need renew.
That I esteem not lightly You.
i5
THE FAREWEL.
A LONGFUL time zunz this I vust begun !
One little tootin moor and I a done.
" One little tootin moor ! — Enough,
" Vor once, we've had o' jitchy stuff;
" Thy Kdden to a done 'tis time !
" Jitch words war niver zeed in rhyme !"
Vorgee me vor'm. — Goo little Reed !
Afom tha vinvk an vor me plead :
Thy wild nawtes, ma-be, tha ool hire
Zooner than zater vrom a li/re.
Za that, thy ma'estefs pleas'd ta blaw 'em,
An haups in time tha'll come ta knar» 'em ;
An nif zarv be ihall please ta hear
A'll gee zum moor another year.
I've nothin else jist now ta tell :
Goo, little Reed, an than forwel !
FARMER BENNET AN JAN LIDE,
A DIALOGUE.
Farmer Bennet. — Jan ! why dwon't ye right
my shoes ?
Jan Lide. — Bin, maester 'tis zaw cawld, 1 can't
work wi' tha tacter at all ; I've a brawk it ten
times I'm shower ta da — da vreaze za hord. Why
Hester hanged out a kittle-smock ta drowy, an in
dree minits a war a vraur as stiff as a pawker ; an
I can't avoord ta keep a good vier — I wish I cood
— I'd zoon right your shoes an withers too — I'd
zoon yarn* zum money, I warnt ye. Can't ye
vine zum work vor me, maester, theaze hord
times — I'll do any theng ta sar a penny. — I can
drash — I can cleave brans — I can make spars —I
can thatchy — I can shear ditch, an I can gripy
too, bit da vreaze za hord. I can wimmy — I can
messy or milky nif ther be need o't. I ood'n mine
dreavin plough or any theng.
* Earn.
180 DIALOGUES.
Farmer Benjiet. — I've a got nothin vor ye ta
do^ Jan ; bit Mister Boord banehond ta I jist now
that tha war gwain ta wimmy, un that tha
wanted ziimbody ta help 'em.
Jan Lide. — Aw, I'm glad o't. I'll him auver
an zee where I can't help 'em ; bit I han't a bin
athin tha drashel o' Maester Boord's door vor a
longful time, bin I thawt that missis did'n use
Hester well ; but I d won't bear malice, an zaw
I'll goo.
Fanner Bennet. — What did Missis Boord za or
do ta Hester, than }
Jan Lide. — Why, Hester, a-ma-be, war zum-
met ta blame too : vor she war one o'm, d'ye zee,
that rawd Skimmerton — thic ma-game that
frunted zum o' tha gennel-vawk. Tha zed 'twar
time to a done wi' jitch litter, or jitch stutf, or 1
dwon knaw what tha call'd it ; bit tha war a
frunted wi' Hester about it ; an I zed nif tha war
a frunted wi' Hester, tha mid be a frunted wi' I.
This zet missis's back up, an Hester han't a bin u
choorin there zunz. Bit 'tis niver-the-near ta
bear malice ; and zaw I'll goo auver an zee which
wa tha wine da blaw.
THOMAS CAME
AN
YOUNG MAESTER JIMMY.
Thomas Came. — Aw, Maester Jimmv ! zaw
you be a come whim* vrom school. I thawt we
shood niver zee na moor. We've a mist ye iver
zunz thic time, when we war at zea-wall, an cut
aup tha girt porpus wi' za many zalmon in hiz
belly — zum o'm look'd vit ta eat as thaw tha war
a b wiled, did'n tha ? —
Jimmy. — Aw eese, Thomas ; I da mine tha
porpus ; an I da mine tha udder, an tha milk o'n,
too. I be a come whim, Thomas, an I dwon't
thenk I shall goo ta school again theaze zummer. I
shall be out amangst ye. I'll goo wi' ta mawy,
an ta ha-makin, an ta reapy — I'll come ater, an
zet up tha stitches vor ye, Thomas. An if I da
* Home.
182 DIALOGUES.
sta till Milemas, I'll goo ta Matthews fayer wi'.
Thomas, ave ye had any zenvy theaze year ? — I
zeed a gir'd'l* o't amangst tha wheat as I ravvd
along. Ave you bin down in ham, Thomas, o' late —
is thic groun, tha ten yacres, haind vor mawin ?
Thomas Came. — Aw, Maester Jimmy ! I da
love ta hire you tak — da zim zaw naatal. We a
had zum zenvy — an tha ten yacres be a haind —
a'll be maw'd in a veo das — you'll come an ha-
maky, on't ye? — eese, I knaw you ool — an I da
knaw whool goo a ha-makin wi', too — ah, she's a
zweet maid — I dwon't wonder at ye at all,
Maester Jimmy — Lord bless ye, an love ye
booath.
Jimmy. — Thomas, you a liv'd a long time wi*
Father, an I dwon't like ta chide ye, bit nif you
da tak o' Miss Cox in thic fashion, I knaw she
on't like it, naw moor sholl I. Miss Cox, Thomas,
Miss Cox ool, a-ma-be, goo a ha-makin wi' I, as
she a done avaur now ; bit Sally, Miss Cox,
Thomas, I wish you'd za naw moor about er. —
There now, Thomas, dwon't ye zee — wliy shcc's
by tha gate-shord ! I haup she han't a bird what
we a biu a takiu about. — Be tha this&les skcex'd iu
♦ Greutdwal.
DIALOGUES. 183
tha twenty yacres, Thomas ?— aw, tha be. Well,
I sholl be glad when tha ten yacres be a mawed
an when we da make an end o' ha-corrin, I'll
dance wi' Sally Cox.
Thomas Came. — There, Maester Jimmy !
'tword'n I that tak*d o' Sally Cox !
MARY RAMSEY.
A MONOLOG UE,
To er Scholar (Is.
CoMMETHER* Billy Chubb, an breng tha hornen
book. Gee me tha vester in tha windor, you
Pal Came ! — what! be a sleepid — I'll wake ye.
Now, Billy, there's a good bway ! Ston still
there, an mine what I da za to ye, an whaur I
da pwint. — Now ; — cris-cross,t girt a, little a —
b — c — d. — That's right Billy; you'll zoon lorn
tha cris-cross-lain — you'll zoon auvergit Bobby
Jiffry — you'll zoon be a scholard. — A's a pirty
chubby bway — Lord love'n !
Now, Pal Came ! you come an vessy wi' yer
zister. — There ! tha forrcls o' tha book be a brawk ;
why dwon't ye take moor care o'm ? — Now, read ;
* Come hither.
t The cm, in this compound, and in cris-cro.ts-lain,
IS very often, indeed most commonly, pronounced Kiri
A MONOLOG U E. 185
— Het Came ! why d'ye drean zaw ? — hum, hum,
hum ; — you da make a naisc like a spinnin turn,
or a dumbledore — all in one lidden — hum, huui,
hum. — You'll niver lorn ta read well thic fashion.
— Here, Pal, read theiize vesses vor yer zister.
There now, Het, you mine how^ yer zister da read,
not hum, hum, hum. — Eese you ool, ool ye ? —
I tell ye, you must, or I'll rub zum rue auver
yer hons : — what d'ye thenk o't ? — There, be
gwon you Hei, an dwon't ye come anuost yer
zister ta vessy wi' er till you a got yer lessin moor
parfit, or I'll gee* zummet you on't ax me vor.
Pally, you tell yer Gramfer Palmer that I da za
Hetty Came shood lorn ta knitty ; an a shood buy
zum knittin nills and wusterd vor er ; an a shood
git er zum nills and dird, vor er ta lorn ta
zawy too.
Now Miss Whitin, tha dunces be a gwon, let
I hire how pirty you can read — I always zed that
Pason Tuttle's srandater ood lorn er book well. —
* ni gee ye zummet. I will give you something or
somewhat. There is a strong disposition to omit the
pronoun after such words as gee and wi'. Thus, it is
very common, indeed, to say Pll goo u'i\ for I'll go
with you : this originates, I apprehend, from the great
similarity of the vowel sounds in wi', gcc and ye.
]S6 A MONOLOGUE.
Now, Miss, what ha ye a got there ?— Valc-niine
an Orwn.—A pirty storry, hit I he afeard there's
naw moril to it. — What he iill tha tuthermy books
you a got by yer goodhussey there in tha basket ?
Gee's-zee-'em,* nif you please, Miss Pol/i/. — Tha
Zeven Champions — Goodif Two Shoes— Pawems
nor Infajit minds. — Thciizaray here be by vur
tha best.— There is a moril ta mooast o'm ; an
tha be pirty bezides. — Now, Miss, please ta read
thic — Tha Notorious Glutton. Pal Cojne !
turn tha glass ! dwont ye zee tha zond is all
himd out ; — you'll sta in. school tha longer vor't
nif you dwon't mine it. — Now, all o' ye be quiet
ta hire Miss Whitin read. — There now, what d'ye
za ta jitch radin as that ? — There, d'ye hire, Het
Came! she dwon't drean — huin, hum, hum. — I
shood like ta hire er vessy wi' zum o' ye ; bit your
bad radin ood spwile her good.
Out o' Books !
All the children goo vooalh.
I
♦ Let me sec thcnu This is a singular cxpressiou, auU
i» thue to be analy^Q*! ; Qw ua to se^ titan.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
I HAVE alluded, in the Preface, to a late ex-
cursion which I made in the West. That excur-
sion has, I am happy to say, contributed not a
little to renew and enlarge my acquaintance with
some of the dialects of my native county — Somer-
setshire. It has also procured for me an introduc-
tion to Miss Ham, a lady, whose poetical talents
are of no mean order. I cannot, perhaps, better
close this work, than by presenting to the reader
Miss Ham's observations, in a letter to me, on
these dialects.
The lines, of which I desired a copy, con^aln
an exemplification of the use of utchy or ichcy
used contractedly \j,ee Utchy in the Glossarii~\
by the inhabitants of the South of Somersetshire,
one of the strong holds, as I conceive, of the
Auglo-Ss^on dialect.
188 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
In our polished dialect, the lines quoted by-
Miss Ham, may be thus rendered —
Bread and cheese I have had.
What I had I have eaten,
More I would [have eaten if] I had [had] it.
If the contractions be supplied they will stand
thus : —
Bread and cheese iche have a had
That iche had ichc have a eat
More ic/ie would iche had it.
Clifton, Jan. 30, 1825.
Sir ;
I have certainly great pleasure in com-
plying with your request, although I fear that
any communication it is in my power to make,
will be of little use to you in your curious work on
the West Country dialect. The lines you desire
to have are these :
Bread and cheese 'c' have a had,
That 'c' had 'c' have a eat.
More 'ch wou'd 'c' had it.
Sounds which, from association no doubt, carry
with them to my ear the idea of great vulgarity ;
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 189
but which might have a very different effect on that
of an unprejudiced hearer^, when dignified by an
Anglo-Saxon pedigree. The Scotch dialect, now
become quite classical with us, might, perhaps,
labour under the same disadvantage amongst those
who hear it spoken by the vulgar only.
Although I am a native of Somersetshire, 1
have resided very little in that county since my
childhood, and, in my occasional visits since, have
had little intercourse with the abo?'igines. I re-
collect, however, two or three words, which you
might not, perhaps, have met with. One of them
of which I have traditionary knowledge, being, I
believe, now quite obsolete. Pitisanqiiint was
used in reply to an inquiry after the health of a
person, and was, I understand, equivalent to
pretty well, or so so. The word Lamiger, which
signifies an invalid, I have no doubt you have met
w^ith. When any one forbodes bad weather, or any
disaster, it is very common to say DouH ye kousenee.
Here you have the verbal termination, which you
remarked was so common in the West, and which
I cannot help thinking might have been originally
used as a sort of diminutive, and that to milkee,
signified to milk a little.
As my knowledge of these few words is merely
oral, I cannot answer for the orthography ; I have
V90 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
endeavoured to go as near to the sound as possible,
and I only wish it were in my power to make
some communication more worth vour attention.
As it is, I have only my best wishes to offer for
the success of your truly original work.
I am, Sir, your most obedient,
Elizabeth Ham.
1 have only one or two remarks to add to
those of Miss Ham in the preceding letter.
It wiU be seen, by reference to the exemplifi-
cations of the dialect, that occasional pleonasm will
be found in it, as weU as, very often, extraordinary
contraction. I have a do7ic, I have a had, are
examples of the first ; and Hn'ord'riy gup, g under,
banehond, &c. [see Banehond, in the Glossary~\
are examples of the last. Pitisanquint appears to
me to be simply a contracted and corrupted mode of
expressing Piteous and quaint. [Sec Pitis in the
Glos.Kari/.~]
Don't ye houscnee is, Do not stay in your
houses. But the implied meaning is, be active ;
do your best to provide for the bad weather whicli
portends. In Somersetshire, most of the colloquial
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 191
and idiomatic expressions have more or less rela-
tion to agriculture, agricultural occupations, or
to the most common concerns of life, hence such
expressions have, in process of time, become
figurative. Thus, don't yc housenee, would be
readily applied to rouse a person to activity, in
order that he may prevent or obviate any approach-
ing or portending evil.
I am still of opinion ; indeed I may say, I am
quite sure, that the verbal terminations, scwy,
hiitiy, &c. have no relation to diminuiion in the
district East of the Parret.
Upon the whole, it is evident that considerable
care and circumspection are necessary in com-
mitting to paper the signs of the sounds of a lan-
guage, of which we have no accredited examples,
nor established criterion. In making collections for
this work, I have not failed to bear this constantly
in mind.
THE END.
T. C. Han.«ard, Pater-noster-row- Fred's.
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW
AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS
WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVERDUE.
.-r
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