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PUBLIC  LIi::.Ai:^  I 


SALOPIA    ANTIQUA, 

OR 

AN  ENQUIRY  FROM  PERSONAL  SURVEY 

INTO   THK 

*  DRUIDICAL',  MILITARY,  AND  OTHER  EARLY  REMAINS 

IN 

S[IR()PSHIRE  AND  THE  NORTH  WELSH  BORDERS; 

WITH 

OBSERVATIONS  UPON  THE  NAMES  OF  PLACES, 

AND 

A    GLOSSARY    OF     WORDS 

USED  Iti  THE  COUNTY  OF  SALOP. 


Rev.  CHARLES  HENRY  HARTSHORNE,  M.A.  F.S.A. 
/ 


^ 


p n I s  I  E I)  A r   T H t:  c sirERi^i  rv  pres *»,  r.-i m rri n>,  n- 

LONDON: 
JOHN  W,  PARKER,  WEST  STRAND. 

M.D€X;C.lUul. 


TO  HIS  GRACE 

THE  DUKE  AND  EARL  OF  SUTHERLAND, 

BY  WHOSR  KINDNB8S 

THB  PRESENT  WORK  HAS  BEEN  SANCTIONED  AND  ENCOURAGED, 

IT  IS  WITH  MUCH  GRATITUDE 

INSCRIBED 

BY  HIS  OBEDIENT  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVANT, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


/    a:.        . 


CONTENTS. 


^ 


PAGE 

Intbodugtion        -----.  1 


UNCERTAIN    PERIOD. 

Abdon  Burf           -          -         -         -        *.         -  3 

Clee  Burf 21 

The  Titterstone 28 

Mitohefffi  Fold            -         -         .         ,         .  30 

The  Whetetones    ---..,  33 

Circle  near  Shelve       -          -          -          -          .  39 


BRITISH    PERIOD. 

Caractacus     -------42 

The  Supposed  Scene  of  Engagement  between  the 

two  Armies         -  -  -  -  .  49 


VI  CONTSNTf. 


PAOF 


The  Chain  of  Campa  erected  by  Osioriua  coiuiidered  65 
The  Line  of  Camps  constructed  by  Caractacus  ex- 
amined           -         -          -         -          .         -  70 

Old  Oswestry,  or  Hen  Dinas         .         -         .  77 

Caer  Caradoc         ------  81 

The  Ditches       ----..  83 

Castle  HiU 86 

Castle  Ring 87 

Bodbuiy  Ring 88 

The  Wrekin 89 

Tumuli 99 


ROMAN    PERIOD. 

Wroxeter 115 

Present  State  of  Wroxeter      -         -         -         -  129 

The  Devil's  Causeway  -         -  -         -  134 

Rushbury      - 149 

Nordy  Bank 151 

Norton  Camp         .-_---  I53 

CaUow  HiU 165 

Chesterton    -------  156 


ANGLO-SAXON    PERIOD. 

Wall 163 

The  Berth              .          .         -          .          -         -  172 

Ebury  Camp 177 

Pontesford  Hill 179 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

PAOK 

Offii'fi  Dyke 181 

Burf  Cafltle 210 

Cainham  Camp            .....  214' 

Hoar  Stones 216 

Quatford            ......  222 

Woolataaton 288 

Observations  on  the  Names  of  Places    -  237 

Places  in  Shropshire  mentioned  in  Domesday  Book  284 

A  Glossary  of  Words  used  in  Shropshire        -  293 

Topographical  Index 623 


^ 


DIIIBGTIONS    TO    THE    BINDER. 


TO    TACE    PAGE 

Sepulohral  Remams  on  Abdon  Burf  -         -       18 

The  Titteratone 24 

MitcheU'B  Fold 34 

View  in  Little  Wenlock       -         -         -  88 

Willow  Fann 94 

Britiflh  Weapons  -  -         -  -  96 

Roman  Wall,  Wroxeter   -         -         -         -  132 

Comparatiye  Scale  of  Dykes  -         -  180 


INTRODUCTION. 


EARS  having  elapsed  since  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  present  work  was  written, 
it  becomes  necessary  for  me  to  advert 
to  the  circumstance  by  way  of  ex- 
plaining a  seeming  incongruity  of  dates 
that  frequently  occurs  in  the  following 
pages.  During  this  interval  of  four  or  five  years,  nearly 
two  of  which  the  volume  has  been  in  the  press,  a  few 
additional  illustrations  of  the  earlier  portion  have  occured 
to  me,  and  they  will  not  unsuitably  find  their  place  in  a 
pre£ftce. 

As  applied  in  its  fullest  and  generally  received  mean- 
ing, objection  may  justly  be  urged  against  the  term 
^Druidical.*''  So  far  as  the  word  conveys  an  idea  of  the 
remains  with  which  it  is  associated  belonging  to  a  par- 
ticular age,  it  is  as  correct  as  any  other  that  could  be 
substituted,  and  as  it  has  been  restricted  to  this  sig- 
nification, I  have  retained  it.  At  the  same  time,  I  must 
confess  that  with  the  current  opinions  regarding  Druidical 
Remains,  and  with  the  theories  which  would  r^er  all 
existing  vestiges  of  this  epoch  to  sacrificial  and  religious 
rites,  I  have  but  little  sympathy  or  concurrence.  There 
are  undoubtedly  sufficient  reasons  for  believing  that  the 


11  INTRODUCTION. 

Dmidio  Priesthood  were  accustomed  to  immolate  human 
beings,  and  that  they  practised  savage  and  barbarous 
rites  that  humanity  shudders  to  describe.  We  are  as- 
sured of  this  by  Csesar,  whose  veracity  as  an  historian 
is  unimpeachable,  and  if  he  had  fiirther  informed  us  that 
those  kinds  of  monuments  still  existing,  some  of  which 
are  probably  anterior  to  the  time  he  wrote,  were  used  by 
the  Druids  as  ^  altars^  whereon  they  bound  their  victims, 
and  put  them  to  a  cruel  and  lingering  death,  we  should 
readily  give  credit  to  his  testunony.  But  on  this  matter 
he  is  silent,  and  we  are  left  to  seek  out  their  true  in- 
tention in  any  way  we  are  most  able.  The  tables  of 
stone  which  still  remain  known  to  us  under  the  name  of 
Cromlechs,  can  in  reality  be  regarded  as  nothing  else 
than  Sepulchres.  Some  excavations  that  have  recently 
been  conducted  have  set  their  intention  completely  out 
of  doubt,  and  arguments  that  would  strive  to  invest  them 
with  a  different  character,  must  rest  solely  upon  conjecture 
for  their  support.  In  addition  to  facts  alluded  to  in  their 
proper  place  in  the  following  pages,  many  others  of  a 
highly  interesting  kind  have  lately  been  communicated  to 
me  by  a  friend,  who  has  taken  considerable  pains  to 
investigate  this  class  of  monument  in  the  Channel  Islands 
where  they  abound,  and  his  observations  have  increased 
the  conviction,  that  the  object  of  all  existmg  Cromlechs 
was  simply  Sepulchral.  They  may  belong  to  various  times, 
and  there  may  be  great  difference  in  the  quality  of  the 
persons  who  are  interred  beneath  them,  but  there  cannot 
be  much  dispute,  one  would  think,  about  the  nature  or 
intention  of  the  monuments  themselves.  Reasoning  by 
mduction,  it  appears  more  than  probable  that  the  whole 


INTRODUCTION.  Ul 

serioB  of  ^  Druidical^  monuments  now  existing  thioughoat 
England  and  Wales,  Enclosures  of  stones,  stone  Valla 
(like  the  stupendous  ones  on  Abdon  Burf  and  the  ad- 
jacent Clee  Hills,)  and  Circles  of  upright  stones,  (like 
those  on  the  summit  of  Pen  Maen  Mawr)  are  all  of  the 
same  period,  and  certainly  erected  with  similar  intentions. 
The  larger  Circles  or  '  Temples  ^  as  they  would  conmionly 
be  designated,  such  as  Stone  Henge,  Avebury,  Mitchell's 
Fold,  &c.  might  have  been  used  for  devotional  purposes ; 
imagination  would  at  all  events  lead  us  to  indulge  in  such 
an  opinion,  as  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  great  fields 
of  burial  surrounding  these  remarkable  monuments,  should 
have  had  some  building  or  temple  that  was  used  for  re- 
ligious purposes,  contiguous  to  them.  It  is  not  unreason- 
able to  suppose  that  these  remains  were  originally  ap- 
propriated to  sacred  uses,  in  connexion  with  funeral  rites. 
It  is  known  however,  because  the  spade  which  is  an 
incontrovertible  discloser  of  the  secrets  of  the  chamel 
house  has  revealed  it,  that  they  were  at  all  events  used 
as  Cemeteries.  There  is  no  difficulty  whatever  in  proving 
that  all  of  the  foregoing  monuments  referred  to,  had  a 
Sepulchral  character,  but  that  their  intention  was  also 
devotional,  must  mainly  depend  upon  conjecture. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  useless  research  wasted, 
and  much  ingenuity  thrown  away,  in  endeavouring  to 
shew  that  the  Druids  left  a  number  of  monuments  behind 
ihem,  that  evinced  their  knowledge  of  science,  and 
especially  of  astronomy ;  we  read,  for  instance,  of  Druid- 
ical  Gnomons  and  Bock  Basons !  Rocking  Stones,  cradles 
for  baby  antiquaries,  are  adduced,  to  show  their  skill  in 
mechanics !   all  of  which  are  merely  natural  productions. 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

as  a  careful  examination  will  sufficiently  prove.  In  the 
same  way  we  find  their  burial  places  denoted  Bardic 
circles !  and  any  accidental  hole  or  mark  that  the  over- 
laying slab  of  a  Cromlech  has  received  through  a  series 
of  ages,  is  magnified  into  some  magical  perforation 
through  which  the  officiating  Priest  listened  to  the  cries 
of  the  dying  and  drew  from  them  his  auguries ;  or  if  the 
mark  be  on  the  surface  it  is  inmiediately  interpreted  to  be 
a  groove  or  channel  down  which  the  blood  of  the  sufferer 
flowed.  It  is  really  tedious  to  read  such  fanciful  opinions, 
and  painful  to  know  that  these  errors  are  still  upheld. 
A  little  toil  with  the  spade  will  readily  controvert  such 
views,  and  serve  I  think  to  shew  that  there  is  nothing 
now  existing  of  a  '  Druidical'  period,  but  what  resolves 
itself  into  a  remain  of  an  essentially  Sepulchral  kind. 

The  Channel  Islands,  as  a  group,  are  perhaps  richer 
and  more  interesting  in  ancient  stone  monuments  than  any 
other  space  of  ground  of  the  same  superficial  extent. 
Each  island  contains  many  specimens  of  these  rude 
structures,  or  as  they  are  termed  by  the  Islanders,  Pou- 
qudajfs;  a  term  manifestly  allusive  to  the  superstitious 
feeling  with  which  they  are  regarded  by  the  conunon 
people,  who  are  fearful  of  passing  them  after  nightfall, 
under  the  apprehension  that  they  are  the  abode  of  an 
evil  Spirit.  (Isl.  puH;  C.  Brit,  pwca^  mains  daemon. 
Isl.  Ug^  sepulchrum.  C.  Brit,  llech^  a  hiding-place.  S.  Goth. 
puke^  diabolus.  The  Pttg  and  Puck  of  Ben  Jonson  and 
Shakspeare,  and  the  Powke  of  the  Metrical  Romancers. 
See  Glossary,  p.  534.)  Several  of  the  Crondechs  in  these 
Islands  have  been  opened  by  Mr  Lukis,  and  from  a  com- 
munication that  he  has  been  kind  enough  to  make  to  me 


INTBODUGTION*  V 

on  the  subject,  I  am  enabled  to  lay  a  brief  account  of 
them  before  the  reader. 

The  first  that  was  opened  is  called  the  "Grand  Autel,'' 
or  "  L^  Autel  des  Vardes,^  and  stands  on  the  summit  of 
a  small  sandy  hill  on  Kancresse  common  in  the  Vale 
Parish,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  sea,  in  the  Island  of 
Guernsey.  It  consists  of  five  ponderous  Cap-stones  rest- 
ing on  supports  of  a  considerable  size.  The  whole  length 
of  the  interior  is  about  forty  feet,  and  the  breadth  about 
fourteen,  which  gradually  diminishes  towards  the  east  end. 
After  digging  through  drift-sand  to  the  depth  of  about 
five  feet,  the  labourers  came  to  a  stratum  of  burnt  human 
bones  and  coarse  unbaked  pottery.  All  the  bodies  ap- 
peared to  have  been  deposited  originally  with  some  degree 
of  order  and  care.  The  surface  of  the  natural  soil  was 
rudely  paved  with  fiat  beach  stones;  on  this  pavement 
was  a  stratum  of  rolled  pebbles,  on  which  were  placed  the 
human  ashes  and  pottery.  Above  the  burnt  bones  were 
flat  stones  similar  to  those  forming  the  pavement,  and 
over  these  a  thick  stratum  of  limpet  shells.  In  some 
cases  the  urns  when  nearly  perfect,  contained  the  bones; 
but  generally  the  fragment/^  of  urns  were  scattered  about, 
and  mixed  up  with  the  bones.  Mullers,  stone  amulets, 
clay  beads,  &c.  were  the  chief  articles  found.  The 
Cromlech  is  surrounded  by  a  Circle  of  stones.  The 
entrance  into  it  is  at  the  east  end,  which  is  much 
lower  than  the  west.  That  this  monument  was  a  place 
of  Sepulture,  is  sufficiently  evident  from  these  facts. 

The  next  Cromlech  opened  by  Mr  Lukis,  ia  called 
*'V  autel  du  Tus,''  or  "Dehus,''  or  "K  autel  du 
Grand   Sarazin,^'  near   Paradis,   about   two  miles  from 


n  nfTRODucnoN. 

the  *^  Grand  Autel,"^  and  within  view  of  it,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  same  island.  Here  too  we  may  diBcem,  in 
the  appelation,  ^^Dehiu,**  the  same  Baperstitiona  refeiv 
ence  as  is  observable  in  the  general  title  of  Pauqu^layi 
that  all  of  the  Cromlechs  have  obtained.  For  ^^Dehus^ 
or  **Tehus^  etymologically  signifies  a  daemon  or  vanish- 
ing spirit,  from  the  Celtic  and  Latin  DuritUj  which 
means  a  spectre.  (See  Glossary,  mider  Deugb.)  This 
Cromlech  is  irregularly  constructed,  and  appears  to  have 
had  additions  made  to  it  at  different  periods.  It  is 
remarkable  for  a  distinct  chamber  added  to  the  north 
side  of  the  entrance,  which  is  at  the  east  end.  The 
^ole  length  of  the  Cromlech  measures  about  thirty- 
eight  feet,  and  like  the  other  is  surrounded  by  a  Circle 
of  stones.  The  operation  of  digging  commenced  under 
the  large  western  CapHstone.  The  earth  was  found 
much  disturbed,  and  nothing  turned  up  to  reward  the 
labour,  but  on  working  eastward,  where  the  soil  had 
been  undisturbed  for  centuries,  the  results  were  differ- 
ent. As  in  the  *' Grand  AuteF  great  order  was  ob- 
servable in  the  disposition  of  the  bodies,  although  the 
strata  were  not  so  well  deflned.  Limpet  shells  were 
found,  however,  in  greater  abundance.  The  nature  and 
shape  of  the  urns  were  different  from  those  found  in  the 
'^  Grand  Autel,^  perhaps  indicating  another  age.  Other 
Cromlechs  and  Kistvaens  were  successively  opened,  and 
all  of  them,  more  or  less,  exhibited  proofs  of  having 
been  devoted  to  the  same  purposes. 

Li  the  year  1785,  a  verjr  interesting  monument 
was  discovered  on  Mont  de  la  Ville.  It  consisted  of 
a  single  pillar  and  a  Trilithon   in  alternate  succession 


unrBODuenoN.  vu 

enclosing  a  oiroular  space.  The  number  of  Trilithons 
was  six,  that  at  the  west  end  being  the  Uurgest.  At 
the  east  the  entrance  was  formed  like  a  Cromlech, 
having  four  large  Gap-stones.  Perhaps  there  is  not 
any  monument  existing  like  it.  There  are  several 
Circles  of  Trilithons  mentioned  by  Sjoborg  in  his 
valuable  work  on  Swedish  and  Norwegian  antiquities, 
which  resemble  it  in  this  particular,  though  they  are 
not  separated  by  pillars.  One  of  these  Circles  consists 
of  seven  Trilithons  placed  at  equal  intervals,  and  an- 
other of  ten,  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  a  pillar. 
When  the  stones  were  removed,  and  the  summit  of 
the  Mont  de  la  Ville  levelled,  burnt  human  bones, 
coarse  unbaked  pottery,  and  stone  celts  were  discovered, 
all  of  them  relics  shewing  that  the  area  had  be^i 
used  as  a  place  of  Sepulture. 

This  very  remarkable  monument  formerly  existed  in 
the  island  of  Jersey,  but  it  may  be  seen  now  at 
Henley  in  Oxfordshire,  where  it  remains  destined  per- 
haps to  point  out  to  posterity  the  Vandalism  and  false 
Uberality  that  once  benighted  the  islanders  of  Jersey. 
They  presented  it  to  General  Conway,  who  erected  it  in 
his  park.  The  taste  that  prompted  such  a  desecration, 
is  happily  now  unknown,  and  we  may  hope  that  many 
a  venerable  and  crumbling  vestige  of  antiquity  which  a 
few  years  back  was  misunderstood  and  neglected,  is  by 
the  present  generation  better  appreciated,  and  will  be 
better  preserved. 

A  Cromlech  in  the  parish  of  Auneville  was  explored 
by  the  owner  of  the  property  where  it  stands,  in  the 
summer  of   1839.     A  representation  of  it  is   givoa  in 


VIU  INTRODUCTION. 

the^  Arclueologia,  Vol.  xxviii.,  fix)in  which  it  appears 
to  conost  of  a  single  Capnstone,  measuring  about  fifteen 
feet  and  a  half  in  length,  and  thirteen  in  breadth.  It 
contained,  like  those  opened  by  Mr  Lukis,  in  Guernsey, 
burnt  human  bones,  coarse  rude  pottery,  and  stone 
celts:  and  the  entrance  also  was  at  the  east  end. 

Another  Cromlech  may  be  seen  on  a  promontory 
called  the  Couperon,  which  is  of  a  diiferent  kind  to 
those  existing  in  Jersey,  or  any  of  the  adjacent  islands. 
Tt  consists  of  five  Cap-stones  and  sixteen  supports; 
the  whole  length  of  the  interior  being  about  thirty 
feet  and  the  width  two  feet  and  a  half.  The  Crom- 
lech is  surrounded,  not  by  a  circle,  as  in  the  other 
cases,  but  by  a  parallelogram  of  stones;  the  only  in- 
istance  of  this  form  at  present  discovered  in  the  Channel 
Islands.     It  has  not  yet  been  opened. 

There  are  several  Cromlechs  in  the  island  of  Aldemey, 
some  of  which  were  opened  by  the  brother  of  Mr  Lukis 
in  the  year  1838,  and  found  to  contain  burnt  human 
bones  and  pottery. 

In  the  island  of  Herm  there  are  several  stone 
Circles,  lying  near  together,  and  composed  of  not  more 
than  twelve  stones.  In  the  centre  of  each  Circle  is  a 
stone  lying  prostrate,  which  may  formerly  have  stood 
erect.  Two  of  these  Circles  have  been  partially  opened 
by  miners  in  the  island,  and  were  found  to  contain 
burnt  himian  bones,  coarse  pottery,  and  celts. 

The  larger  Cromlechs  opened  by  Mr  Lukis,  contained 
bones  of  men,  women,  and  children,  and  he  inclines 
to  consider  them  as  appropriated  to  a  tribe  or  family. 
Burnt  bones  of  horses  and  oxen,  and  also  boars'*  tusks. 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

were  found  mixed  up  with  the  human  remains.  The 
general  character  of  the  pottery  was  of  a  ruder  kind 
than  that  figured  in  Sir  Richard  Hoare's  Ancient  Wilt- 
shire. The  clay  with  which  some  of  the  urns  wai^ 
formed,  was  extremely  coarse.  The  forms  were  various ; 
those  urns  composed  of  the  finer  clay  being  the  most 
elegant  in  shape.  They  appeared  to  have  been  sun- 
dried,  and  not  baked  by  fire,  although  some  were  par- 
tially blackened  and  coated  with  ashes,  as  if  they  had 
been  placed  with  bodies  on  the  funeral  pile.  A  few 
were  ornamented  near  the  rim,  the  zigzag  being  the 
most  prevalent  pattern.  The  scored  lines  forming  the 
ornament  appeared  to  have  been  made  with  a  pointed 
instrument,  like  those  found  near  Wiesbaden  (see  p.  107); 
and  as  pointed  bone  instruments  were  found  with  them, 
they  may  have  served  that  purpose. 

Excepting  in  one  instance  no  metal  was  discovered 
in  these  Cromlechs  of  the  Channel  Islands.  But  in 
that  one,  called  ^'  La  Roche  qui  Sonne,'*^  and  to  which 
more  than  ordinary  superstition  is  attached  by  the 
country  people,  a  small  brass  ring  like  a  spring  bracelet 
was  found.  Of  this  Cromlech,  which  is  said  to  havo 
been  the  largest  in  the  island  of  Ouemsey,  only  one 
smaU  Cap-stone,  resting  on  two  supports,  now  remains. 
The  pottery  which  it  contained  was  of  a  finer  description 
than  that  discovered  in  the  other  Cromlechs. 

From  the  fimeral  remains  of  this  early  period,  to 
which  it  would  be  hazardous  to  assign  any  date,  I 
come  to  the  next  division  of  the  volume,  or  that  called 
the  British  period.  The  age  which  may  be  assigned  to 
the   Military  Remains  here  described,   varies  from   the 


Z  IlfTRODUCnON. 

invasioii  of  the  oountry  by  the  Romaiui  in  the  year 
55^  B.C.  to  their  final  subjugation  of  it  under  Agrioola 
in  the  year  79>  a.d.  Thna  this  portion  oomprises  an 
attempt  to  elucidate  the  art  of  castrametation  and  the 
prinoiples  of  defence  which  the  Britona  adopted  during 
this  interval  of  nearly  a  hundred  and  forty  years,  the 
time  they  were  struggling  to  maintein  their  independ- 
ance.  Several  of  these  works  lie  in  secluded  districts, 
they  are  positions  taken  up  on  mountunous  and  nearly 
inaccessible  places,  and  as  they  are  described  fix>m  per- 
sonal examination  for  the  first  time,  the  investigaticm 
may  perhaps  contribute  in  some  degree  to  a  more  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  means  of  resistance,  and  of  the 
strategetical  skill  of  the  Britons  than  we  have  hitherto 
possessed.  However  much  I  may  have  been  mistaken 
in  the  conclusions  that  have  been  drawn  on  this  sub- 
ject, the  reader  will,  I  trust,  find  no  cause  to  censure 
my  observations,  when  they  are  confined  to  an  account 
of  these  respective  strongholds  as  they  actually  exist. 
With  the  Ordnance  Surveys  of  the  districts  in  which 
they  lie,  with  a  sketch  book,  a  compass,  and  a  mea- 
suring tape,  I  have  successively  inspected  nearly  every 
camp  in  Shropshire  and  the  Welsh  Borders,  and  from 
subsequently  comparing  them  with  each  other,  and  pur- 
suing an  analogical  examination  of  the  whole,  I  have 
been  induced  to  fix  their  formation  during  the  epochs 
under  which  they  are  ranged.  It  was  this  plan  of  per- 
sonal examination  which  led  to  the  first  discovery  of 
the  extraordinary  remains  on  the  sunmiit  of  the  Glee 
Hills,  and  to  the  subsequent  disclosure  that  they  were 
of  a  Sepulchral   character.     For  when   we  have  to  en- 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

quire  into  the  nature  of  antiquitiee  that  lie  out  of  the 
reach  of  history  and  records,  it  can  only  be  by  means 
of  induction  that  we  shall  obtain  the  least  insist  into 
their  intention.  Etymology  may  occasionally  impart  a 
slight  ray  of  light  to  dispel  the  obscurity  that  over- 
shadows them.  This  is  valuable,  in  union  with  infer- 
ences drawn  from  analogy  and  actual  surveys,  but  not 
of  much  use  without  them.  When  the  names  of  things 
and  places  are  critically  investigated,  and  when  tra- 
dition is  placed  by  the  side  of  subjects  enveloped  in 
darkness,  a  spark  may  perchance  be  struck  out  that 
will  tend  to  illumine  a  path  of  uncertainty :  but  if  we 
add  to  it  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the  object  itself,  a  dili- 
gent comparison  of  it  with  things  that  bear  some  re- 
semblance, if  we  measure  them  carefully,  and  analyse 
them  by  scale,  their  real  conformity  will  become  ap- 
parent, and  though  after  all  we  may  still  be  unable  to 
affix  the  theta  of  exact  date,  yet  we  may  doubtlessly 
classify  them  with  some  approximation  to  correctness. 
It  can  however  only  be  from  obtMuing  a  greater  num- 
ber of  Personal  Surveys,  from  possessing  more  results 
of  individual  toil,  that  we  shall  be  enabled  to  arrange, 
I  may  almost  say,  under  their  proper  years,  the  Earth- 
works and  Ante-Norman  Fortresses  of  Great  Britain. 
Nor  is  it  a  vain  hope,  that  leads  us  to  expect  that 
accurate  planning  of  the  remaining  works  and  an  in- 
spection of  the  suiTOunding  districts  may  effect  it. 

I  have  examined  nearly  all  of  the  Camps  in  War- 
wickshire and  the  north  of  Gloucestershire,  but  they 
appear  to  have  had  little,  if  indeed  any  connexion,  with 
the   great    chain   constructed   during   the   campugn   of 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

Ostorius.  Those  I  have  investigated  lie  on  the  summit 
of  the  Cotswold,  which  are  a  broken  range  of  Hills 
dividing  the  borders  of  Woroestershire,  Warwickshire, 
and  Gloucesteishire,  into  a  series  of  vallies.  All  of 
these  fortified  positions  are  placed  on  the  projecting  or 
most  prominent  point  of  the  respective  heights,  and  in 
just  such  positions  as  are  most  favorable  to  repel  as- 
sailants, as  well  as  to  command  a  view  of  the  curving 
hills  on  which  they  are  erected.  This  independant  line 
of  fortresses  may  be  said  to  commence  with  Meon 
Hill  in  the  north,  six  miles  south  of  Stratford  upon 
Avon,  and  to  terminate  with  Kimsbury  Castle,  near 
Painswick.  If  the  eminences  on  which  they  stand  were 
one  long  undivided  range,  they  would  form  a  succession 
of  Camps  extending  twenty-five  miles  in  a  straight  line ; 
but  the  hills  gradually  grow  lower  at  the  northern  and 
southern  ends,  till  they  entirely  merge  into  the  plains. 
If  the  bearing  of  these  different  heights  was  produced,, 
they  would  become,  to  a  certain  degree,  parallel  with 
each  other.  For  simplification,  I  class  them  according 
to  the  respective  ranges  on  which  they  are  found. 

At  the  northern  extremity  is  a  camp  on  Meon  Hill, 
an  important  detached  post  at  the  end  of  the  Cotswold 
Hills.  It  is  separated  by  a  plain  from  the  Broadway 
Hills,  and  seven  miles  from  Farmcombe,  a  large  irregular 
camp  near  Saintbury,  and  the  first  on  that  range. 
South-east,  at  Seven  Wells  Farm,  in  Camp  Field,  are 
slight  vestiges  of  two  small  quadrangular  works  recently 
pointed  out  to  me  by  their  proprietor  Sir  Thomas 
Phillipps,  Bart.  I  believe  these  had  no  connexion  with 
the  works  already  and  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  but 


INTRODUCTION.  XIU 

that  they  were  of  a  later  time,  and  oonstructed  when 
the  Icknieid  Street  was  formed,  which  runs  close  by 
them,  bearing  here  the  name  of  the  Saltway.  Between 
Weston  Subedge  and  Church  Honey-bourn,  the  same 
road  is  called  Buckle  Street;  from  hence  to  Alcester, 
the  Icknieid  Street;  thence  northwards  to  Studley,  the 
Hayden  Way,  and  then  the  Icknieid  Way  as  far  as 
King^s  Norton:  between  Birmingham  and  Lichfield  it 
bears  the  name  of  the  Icknieid  Street  again.  In  the 
south  it  joins  the  Fosse  at  Bourton  on  the  water,  or 
Stow  in  the  Wold.  To  resume,  however,  the  subject 
of  the  Gamps  on  this  first  line.  South  of  Farmcombe, 
on  Shenborough  or  Shunborough  Hill  near  Stanton,  is 
a  large  semi-elliptical  camp  with  double  yalla  (un- 
noticed in  the  Ordnance  Survey,  No.  xliv.).  A  little 
more  to  the  south,  above  Hayles  wood,  is  a  small 
outpost,  forming  the  last  upon  this  line  of  entrenchments. 

An  isolated  eminence,  so  important  as  Bredon  Hill, 
was  of  course  converted  into  a  strong  hold.  There  are 
two  large  concentric  valla  at  the  north  end  like  those 
at  Shenborough  and  on  Qeeve  Cloud.  It  is  highly  im- 
probable that  the  Romans  should  have  formed  the  first, 
and  not  less  so  that  they  should  have  constructed  the 
others. 

On  Oxenton  Hill,  south  of  Bredon,  and  separated 
from  it  by  the  vale  of  Evesham,  is  the  first  fortress  of 
the  second  line  of  camps.  It  is  an  important  one,  being 
the  key  to  the  fertile  valley  just  mentioned,  and  also  to 
that  of  Dumbleton,  more  to  the  east.  It  is  in  immediate 
connexion  with  Dixton  Hill,  Nottingham  Hill,  and  Cleeve 
Cloud.    The  works  on  the  four  hills  constitute  the  second 


XIV  INTBODUOnON. 

aeries,  and  they  are  placed  on  a  lofty  barrier  that  is 
diBtinot  from  the  Broadway  Chain  or  former  one.  They 
have  all  double  valla,  and  in  form  are  Bemi-elliptical. 
On  Cleeve  Cloud  there  are  also  three  or  four  circular 
epaulements  on  the  ride  and  summit  of  the  hill,  which 
present  some  anomaUes  deserving  attention. 

The  camps  in  the  third  series  commence  at  Leck- 
hampton  Hill,  and  include  one  on  its  summit,  one  on 
Crickley  Hill ;  that  of  Eimsbury  Castle,  where  it  is  stated 
Roman  coins  have  been  found,  and  a  small  but  very 
strong  outpost  on  Ring  Hill  near  Harefield,  on  the  ex- 
treme south  west  angle  of  this  extenrive  line.  The 
country  then  becomes  more  varied  in  its  aspect,  and  no 
intervening  position  occurs  for  nearly  ten  miles  southward, 
when  the  great  Roman  encampment  of  Uley  Bury  forms 
the  first  link  of  that  chain  of  fortresses  which  for  reasons 
given  in  the  following  pages  are  attributable  to  the  cam- 
paign of  Ostorius. 

The  entire  absence  of  rectilinear  vallation  in  the 
three  former  lines  of  fortresses,  and  their  wanting  also 
that  circularity  of  outline  which  marked  some  of  the 
fortifications  constructed  under  the  later  dominion  of  the 
Romans,  lead  me  to  think  that  none  of  the  Military 
Works  in  either  of  these  ranges  can  be  safely  considered 
to  have  been  constructed  by  the  Romans.  Nor  does  it 
appear  probable  that  the  Metatores  who  laid  out  the 
right-lined  encampments  in  the  south  should  so  uni- 
formly have  departed  from  this  custom  in  all  the 
fortifications  in  the  north. 

As  the  spade  has  been  shewn  to  be  a  faithful  inter- 
preter of  the  hidden  meaning  of  Cromlechs  and  stone 


INTBODVCnON.  XV 

CiieleB,  it  has  likewise  been  found  equally  valuable  in 
proving  the  exact  oonfonnity  that  the  foundations  of 
Roman  buildings  in  Great  Britain  bear  towards  each 
other.  If  it  were  more  diligently  used  in  examining 
eariy  ecdesiastical  architecture,  the  same  valuable  results 
would  no  doubt  reward  the  enquirer  for  his  trouble. 
It  has  been  observed,  for  instance,  that  the  substructure 
of  Roman  buildings  in  this  country  is  universally  the 
same,  wherever  they  are.  The  foundation  of  the  city 
waUs  of  London,  and  these  of  several  Stationary  Camps 
or  Fortresses,  such  as  Richborough,  &c.,  shew  that  the 
first  operation  was  to  dig  a  trench  the  intended  width 
of  the  wall,  about  e^hteen  inches  or  two  feet  deep ;  this 
was  filled  with  dry  sand,  or  gravel,  or  loose  stones ;  the 
first  course  of  stone  was  laid  on  this  mass  dry  also ;  but 
above,  the  work  went  on  in  regular  courses  of  masonry  with 
mortar  as  usual.  At  a  distance  of  about  two  feet,  the 
thickness  of  the  wall  was  diminished  two  or  three  inches 
by  a  course  being  bevelled  or  chamfered  thus 
and  then  canned  up  verticaUy.     The  earth  was 

raised  several  feet  at  the  back  of  the  wall,  on     f^ ' 

the  inside,  higher  than  the  external  level,  as  I*— 
Vegetius  describes.  And  as  the  Romans  never  departed 
from  fixed  principles  of  construction  in  their  buildings, 
they  as  scrupulously  adhered  to  them  in  the  formation 
of  their  Roads.  An  attention  to  these  simple  facts  may 
do  much  towards  ascertaining  the  precise  age  to  which 
buildings  belong  where  Roman  tile  are  used. 

Having  mentioned  this  much  about  the  nature  of 
Roman  foundations,  I  will  briefly  describe  those  that 
are  Norman,  as  observable  in  the  very  interestiog  Oiurch 


XYI  INTBODUCTION. 

of  Barrow  in  Shropehire.  Here  the  foundation  is  of 
three  stages  or  steps,  one  receding  about  six  inches 
behind  the  other,  thus  [_  from  the  upper- 
most of  which  the  wall        .- rises      vertically. 

An  examination  of  the  I  early  English  por- 
tion of  Cooknoe  Church  in  Northamptonshire  has  also 
shewn  me  that  the  foundations  of  that  age  were  nuide 
with  rough,  unhewn  materials,  set  together  in  dry  work, 
for  a  height  of  five  feet,  when,  from  the  top  of  an  earth 
table  of  hewn  stone  that  was  slightly  bevelled  inwards, 
the  walls  rose  vertically  like  the  others. 

After  the  earlier  portion  of  the  present  volume  was 
printed,  some  Roman  coins  were  found  on  the  Wild 
Moors  near  Kynnersley,  the  estate  of  his  Grace  the 
Duke  and  Earl  of  Sutherland,  by  whose  kindness  the 
knowledge  of  their  discovery  was  communicated  to  me, 
but  too  late  to  find  an  insertion  in  its  appropriate  place ; 
I  therefore  allude  to  it  here.  Should  any  thing  of  a 
Roman  character  be  discovered  hereafter  in  the  same 
locality,  it  may  tend  to  shew  that  the  circumvallation 
of  Wall  has  connexion  with  an  earlier  period  than  that 
to  which  I  have  already  assigned  it.  The  coins  in 
question  belong  to  the  lower  empire,  and  are  of  that 
kind  80  commonly  found  in  Great  Britain.  They  be- 
long to  the  reign  of  Constantino.  Some  of  them  have 
on  the  reverse  two  soldiers  with  standards,  and  the  su- 
perscription of  "Gloria  Exercitvs.'^  Others  belonging 
to  the  same  reign,  have  on  the  reverse  a  figure  of 
Victory  with  a  shield  and  standard;  on  the  exergue 
T.  R.  B. :  and  a  third  kind  bear  on  the  reverse  a  wolf 
and  representation  of  Romulus  and  Remus. 


INTRODircnOlf.  XVll 

In  the  same  manner  the  exiBtence  of  Oray  Ditch 
and  St  AnBOBMOHin  Dtchk  became  known  to  me,  after 
that  diviaicm-  of  the  Volnme  was  printed,  in  which  nn 
account  of  them  woidd  most  properly  have  appeared. 
The  former,  like  the  rest  that  I  have  examined,  seems 
most  likely  to  have  been  a  boundary  line.  It  begins  at 
RebelUoii  KnoU  near  Bradwell  in  Westmoreland,  and  is 
out  through  by  the  Roman  road  that  goes  from  Lan- 
c^bBter  through  Eorkby  Stephen  to  Brough,  a  little  be- 
fore it  reaches  the  latter  jdace.  Its  course  is  north 
west,  jmd  it  is  cnly  distinguishable  iiom  the  foot  of 
Mioklow  Hin  near  BdentfM  to  BebelHon  Ejioll,  a  dis- 
tance of  something  more  than  half  a  mile.  There  are 
no  decided  remains  of  a  Fosse,  though  appearances  of 
one  are  perceptible  on  the  north  side. 

The  vicinity  of  Brough  abounds  with  vestiges  of 
Ronum  occupation,  and  well  deserves  careful  exaauna*' 
tien^  both  far  the  camp  in  its  vknmty,  on  Mam  Tor, 
the  vaHaticn  round  Casdeton  and  that  at  Brough  itself, 
as  well  as  with  reference  to  the  present  state  of  a  bisnoh 
of  ibe  Wattling  Street  that  leads  over  Stidmnoor  Forest 
by  Maiden  Oastte,  from  Bowes  to  Broo^  and  thence 
tkr  Brougham  Castle;  Doci!ob*s  Gatb  also  seems  to  be 
a  Roman  Road,  whichr  goes  deviously  over  OIossop  Moor, 
beginning  new  Huvst  MiH,  where  it  leaves  a  CM 
Havbomr  s  noile  to  the  south  West,  and  another  Cold 
Haibonr  iiwo  miles  in  the  same  direction,  imd  then 
runs  for  ten  or  twelve  mSes  to  Brough.  Batham  Oats 
likewise,  which  traverses  Tidswell  Moor  to  Brough, 
appears  to  be  a  Roman  thoroa^are. 

But  lest  any  evidence  should  be  wanting  to  shew  that 


a 


XVUl  INTRODUCTION. 

Dykei  were  intended  for  division  and  not  for  defensiYe 
lines,  the  fact  of  St  Adboroug^es  Dyche  forming  the 
boundary  of  WoroeBtershire  and  OIouoesterBhire,  is  ex- 
pressly to  the  point.  St  Adborough  or  Edbniga  was  the 
Tutelary  Sabt  of  the  Abbey  of  Pershore,  and  in  a  decree 
relating  to  Broadway  in  WoroeBtershire,  temp.  Henry  VI. 
we  find  this  Dyke  alluded  to  as  an  ancient  boundary  in 
these  words.  '*  Et  jaoent  super  Gotteswold,  ex  parte 
oooidentali  cujusdam  antiqui  fossi,  sive  fossati,  Yocati 
Sktnt  Adbobouohbs  Dtchb,  alias  Msrb  dtchx.'*^  The 
passage  is  repeated  in  the  same  decree,  and  sufficiently 
indicates  by  the  alias  of  Meredyohe  (see  p.  221.  following) 
that  it  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  a  boundary  ditch.  The 
Dyke  itself  lies  about  a  mile  east  of  Middle  Hill  on  Seven 
Welb  farm,  it  is  much  depressed,  and  partially  hidden 
by  a  wall  being  built  nearly  all  along  its  crest.  The 
length  varies  from  a  quarter  to.  half  a  mile.  I  am  in- 
debted to  Sir  Thomas  Phillipps  for  making  me  aware 
of  its  existence,  and  pointing  out  the  exact  course  it 
takes. 

With  the  Anglo  Saxon  Period  the  first  part  of  the 
volume  terminates.  Whether  my  researches  will  here- 
after be  carried  lower  than  the  Domesday  Survey  is  at 
present  uncertain.  What  has  been  attempted  may  be 
said  to  embrace  the  History  of  Shropshire  to  ihe  time 
of  the  Conquest.  Ample  materials  have  been  collected 
by  Mr  Lloyd,  which  are  a  good  foundation  to  work  upon 
for  a  Manorial  History  of  the  County,  and  these,  if 
they  were  published  by  themselves,  would  be  a  most 
valuable  contribution  to  our  national  topography. 

The  Olobsabial  part  of  the  volume  was  the  root  from 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

which  the  rest  of  it  spning.  In  arranging  this  portion 
for  the  press,  I  laboured  under  difficulties  that  have 
probably  been  experienced  by  others  who  have  under- 
taken a  similar  work.  It  was  doubtful  what  words  ought 
to  be  excluded,  and  what  ought  to  be  admitted.  Some 
were  current  among  us  that  were  used  with  the  same 
application  in  other  counties;  and  hence  the  objection 
immediately  occurred  that  they  were  not  entitled  to  in- 
sertion. Where  the  same  word  had  different  meanings 
under  the  same  sound,  this  argument  did  not  apply,  but 
when  a  word  for  instance  was  used  by  us  in  a  sense  like 
to  that  which  it  possessed  among  the  Brigantes  and  Iceni, 
it  was  difficult  to  decide  whether  it  ought  to  find  a  place 
among  the  rest.  I  thought,  however,  that  if  Salopians 
had  not  as  much  right  to  call  it  theirs,  as  the  inhabitants 
of  Graven  or  Norfolk,  that  at  all  events,  one  use  of  a 
Plrovincial  Olossary  was  to  shew  to  what  distance  words 
had  been  carried  from  the  North  of  Europe,  and  under 
what  modifications  they  still  existed.  For  we  should 
bear  in  mind  that  these  etymolo^cal  affinities  are  some- 
thing like  Erratic  Blocks  in  geology,  they  serve  to  shew 
how  far  the  tide  of  northern  languages  hem  flowed. 

It  is  not  the  least  remarkable  feature  in  the  Dialect 
of  Shropshire,  that  it  should  have  borrowed  scarcely  any 
words  directly  from  the  contiguous  territory  of  Wales, 
and  I  think  this  fact  may  serve  to  prove  that  the 
English  language  as  spoken  by  Salopians  in  an  agricul- 
tural district  is  marked  by  extreme  accuracy  and  purity. 
Wales  seems  to  have  presented  an  insurmountable  bar^ 
rier.  Totally  dissimilar  in  all  its  form  of  speech,  and 
in  its  terminations,   the  Welsh  has  never  incorporated 


zx  iirraoDucnoN. 

itaelf  In  the  leaet  degree  with  our  provincwKiniui.  Even 
in  that  part  of  the  county  roond  Osweetry,  where  an 
intarooiuae  with  the  Principality  is  greateat,  and  there 
ia  no  natural  line  of  demaroation  to  out  off  the  admix- 
ture of  the  two  languages,  they  have  in  no  way  merged 
into  or  corrupted  each  other.  There  ia  nothing  like  a 
Cambro-Britiflh  patoia,  or  an  Angb-Welah  idiom  ob- 
aervable.  The  Engliah  here  is  quite  as  free  from 
Welsh  expressions  as  it  ia  in  the  centre  of  the  king- 
dom. There  is  however  very  perceptible  a  Welsh  ac- 
cent, and  this  strongly  characterises  the  spee^  of  the 
whole  of  that  part  of  the  county  which'  touches  on 
Montgomeryshire,  Flintshire,  and  Denbighshire.  It  is 
perhaps  rather  the  peculiarity  of  the  natives  of  Wales 
than  of  those  whose  progenitors  have  been  fixed  in 
Shropshire.  This  accent  is  perceptible  from  Chirk  and 
fUlesmere  in  the  north,  to  Melveriy  and  Montford 
Bridge.  The  Severn  probably  checked  its*  further  dif- 
fusion. 

The  English  spoken  in  the  great  valley,  aa  it  may  be 
called,  that  extends  from  Shrewsbury  to  C3un,  bounded 
on  the  east  by  Lyth  Hill,  Pcmsert  Hill,  and  the  Stiper* 
stones,  and  on  the  west  by  Montgomeryshire,  ia  marked 
by  a  sharpness  of  pronunciation  so  very  decided,  that 
a  second  dialect,  or  Bishop^s  Castle  dialect,  may  with* 
out  hesitation  be  assigned  to  this  district 

The  high  recitative  with  which  the  natives  of  the 
Church  Stretton  valley  terminate  their  sentences,  fixes 
a  third  dialect  in  that  division  of  Shropshire,  which 
commencing  also  at  Shrewsbury,  and  terminating  at 
Ludlow,   is  bounded  by  the  before-mentioned    hills  on 


INTBODUCnOH.  XXI 

the  wert,   andi   Gondover^  the  Lawtey,    CSaer  Caradoo, 
and  Norton  Camp  on  the  east. 

A  fourth  differenoe  is  observ^le  in  Corre  Dale :  com- 
menoing  at  Wenlook,  and  gradaaOy  merging  into  the  last 
before  it  reaches  Ludlow.  The  three  Clee  Hills  on  the 
south-east,  and  the  extensive  limestone  range  of  Wenlock 
Edge,  form  its  boundaries.  The  early  words  used  in 
this  department,  and  the  distinct  enunciation  of  all  their 
vowels,  so  that  each  letter  has  its  proper  sound,  lead  me 
to  consider  this  as  the  Attic  of  the  Shropshire  dialect. 

In  the  valley  from  Ludlow  to  Bridgenorth,  bounded 
by  the  Clee  Burfs  to  the  north,  and  the  Titterstone  to 
the  south,  a  thick  and  drawling  method  of  speaking 
prevails,  and  continues  until  it  finally  degenerates  into 
the  suppressed  articulation  that  is  apparent  in  Wor- 
cestershire. 

A  sixth  dialect  exists,  quite  diswimilar  to  all  of  the 
foregoing,  which  belongs  to  the  mining  district  round 
Broseley  and  Wellington.  This  is  very  copious  and 
variable;  each  parish  nearly  has  its  peculiar  intonation; 
the  cadences  of  Madeley  Wood  differ  fit>m  those  at 
Jackfield,  and  the  notes  of  a  Dawley  Collier  are  readily 
distinguishable  from  those  of  a  forgeman  at  Lilleshall. 

To  these  remarks  it  may  be  added,  that  there  are 
not  any  words  introduced  in  the  present  Glossary,  which 
the  Author  has  not  heard  used  in  the  senses  in  which 
they  are  explained. 

In  justice  to  Ins  own  feelings,  as  well  as  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  services  whilst  the  volume  has  been  in  the 
Press,  he  cannot  finally  dismiss  it,  without  cordially  thank- 
ing his  friends  Lieutenant  Colonel  Colby,  of  the  Ord- 


ZXU  INTBODUOnON. 


nanoe  Map  Office,  Sib  Samukl  Mctbiok,  of  Ooodrioh 
Court,  Albebt  Wat,  Esq.,  Sib  Thomam  Phillippb,  Babt., 
and  Sib  Hbztbt  Dbtdbn,  Babt.,  for  their  prompt  and 
kind  aisistanoe  whenever  he  required  it. 


^ncettam  ^^oti. 


^ 


\y  '5^ 


BOON  BURF  m  the  most  elevated 
of  those  throe  ShropaWre  mountairiB 
which  are  usually  termed  the  Bro^*n 
Cleb  HiLiJii,  or  the  Cler  Hills, 
They  are  respectively  called  Ardon 
BuBF,  or  THE  Barf;  the  Clee  Burp, 
and  the  Tittekstone*  The  present 
one  derives  it«  distinguishing  appel- 
lative of  ARr>opf,  from  having  that 
little  village  at  its  foot^  It  ib  dif- 
ficult to  say  how  the  name  of  Evnp 

*  H  was  one  of  the  stations  of  the  grand  tri- 
gonometrical survey,  and  proved  by  General  Mudgo 
to  be  IBOfi  feet  above  the  level  of  the  »ea  at  lo^ 
water     Pat^rson's  Roads,  edit.  1836.  p.  GdQ. 

Thomas  MyttoR  Em^  of  Shipton  Hall,  hav- 
ing heard  that  a  view  of  the  sea  was  obtained 
from  the  summit  in  fine  weather  by  the  eugineere 
who  conducted  the  Ordnance  survey  has  endea- 
voured on  several  occasions  to  test  the  accuracy 
of  the  information,  but  hitherto  owing  to  the 
haxineas  of  the  weather,  without  aueeesa.  When 
we  made  our  last  astient  together  we  again  tried 
to  discover  the  ocean  by  means  of  a  very  power- 
ful gla^,  but  the  sky  waa  not  sufliciently  dear 
to  enable  us  to  see  it.  Whoever  wishes  to  catch 
a  ghmpse  of  it  must  look  in  the  direction  of  the 
Meroey.    It  will  be  found  by  those  aoqaunted 


or  Barf,  as  the  lower  orders  cadi  it,  originated.     I  am 

inclined  to  think  that  it  was  acquired  in  consequence  of 

the  vast  wall  of  stones  which  surrounds  its  summit ;   in 

the  same  way  as  the  Glee  Burf  takes  its  title,  from  the 

C.  Brit.  Buarth^  an  enclosure^    Bar^  in  C.  Brit.  Ir.  (Tom. 

and  Gael,  signifies  a  summit,  or  the  top,  but  the  former 

derivation  seems  the  better,  as  applying  more  closely  to 

the  extraordinary  remains   which  are  found  upon  this 

eminence.    On  the  same  principle  the  remains  on  Stape- 

ley  Hilly  hereafter  mentioned,  are  called  Mitchell'^b  Fold. 

They  are  of  such  remote  antiquity,   so  extensive,   and 

possessing  such  a  high  degree  of  interest,   that  it   is 

surprising  they  should  hitherto  have  escaped  the  attention 

of  the  topographer  and  antiquarian. 

The  sununit  of  Abdon  Burf  is  encircled  by  a  Vallum 

ot.M  stone,  as  Basalt  is  termed  by  the  Salopians,  from 

the  C.  Brit.  Oael.  Arm.  My  niger',  which  encloses  from 

twenty  to  thirty  acres.     This  Vallum  is  sixty-five  feet 

wide  at  its  base  on  the  South  East  side,  and  is  beyond 

all  dispute  an  artificial  construction,  inasmuch  as  there  is 

not  a  stone  visible  larger  than  a  man  would  be  able  to 

lift.     Across  its  crest  it  is  eight  feet  wide,  and  twelve 

with  the  nature  of  the  intenrenine  country,  that  this  is  the  inost 
likely  quarter  to  find  it  For  the  It  elsh  mountains  to  the  left  would 
render  it  impossible  for  any  one  to  see  it  on  the  Welsh  coast  The 
GlouoesterBhire  Hills  would  impede  a  view  of  the  Bristol  ChanneL 
But  no  land  of  any  consideraUe  eminence  obstructs  the  view  on 
the  Chediire  side.  And  according  to  the  evidence  of  an  intelligent 
old  man  who  had  assisted  the  engineers  employed  to  make  the  sur- 
vey, it  was  in  this  quarter  that  the  sea  was  observed.  He  described 
to  us  that  in  the  direction  of  Lirerpool,  he  saw  Uie  ships  sailing  back- 
wards and  forwards  veiy  distinctly. 

>  There  are  two  fortresses  of  the  Amdo-Saxon  period  one  near 
BoichurtA,  the  other  just  on  the  outside  of  Shropshire  near  Mere  call- 
ed the  Bbbth,  haply  in  allusion  to  their  being  endoeed.  An  emi- 
nence two  miles  South  of  Stourport  is  called  the  Bubf.  Bubva 
Bawk^  a  laige  encampment  close  to  JTntff,  co.  Radn.  Bibth  HiU^ 
east  of  Gadbubt  Banks  in  Gloucestershuie. 

'  The  derivation  of  this  word  may  be  considered  sound  although 
Mr  Muichison  tells  me  that  du  stone  is  not  invariably  black,  as  a 
loUto  basalt  exists  near  Cleobury  Mortimer  We  call  it  du  stone  all 
over  this  range  of  Shropshire  because  it  is  a  blade  stone. 


feet  high  above  the  interior  level  of  the  hill.  In  some 
parte  externally  it  faUs  as  much  as  fifty  feet,  and  ex- 
cepting where  a  modem  entrance  has  been  made,  and 
made  too,  with  considerable  trouble,  it  is  even  now  a 
barrier  arduous  to  surmount.  The  enclosed  area  is  of 
an  oval  form,  measuring  from  North  to  South  one  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  seventeen  feet,  and  at  the  widest 
point  from  East  to  West  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet. 
A  modem  wall  has  been  built  along  part  of  the  North 
East  side,  as  a  boundary  of  property,  and  a  few  pits  have 
been  sunk  at  different  times  within  the  great  enclosure 
for  the  sake  of  getting  coal. 

At  the  North  West  point  a  Carnedd  rises  eight  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  hill,  standing  upon  a  base  that  is 
sixty  feet  in  diameter.  There  is  an  appearance  of  a 
Carnedd  on  the  East  side  where  a  road  terminates  that 
crosses  the  enclosure.  But  as  the  Vallum  was  here  at 
least  the  thickness  of  sixty  feet  at  its  base,  probably  the 
stones  have  been  removed  for  the  purposes  of  making  the 
present  road,  and  whether  it  was  originally  a  Carnedd  or 
not,  it  is  now  difiBcult  to  ascertain.  The  appearance  is 
evidently  unnatural,  but  from  what  causes  we  can  only 
say  from  conjecture :  there  are  marks  of  another  Carnedd 
below  the  Vallum  on  the  same  side.  The  whole  of  the 
surface  of  the  South  end  of  Abdon  Burf  is  covered  with 
blocks  of  basalt,  generally  of  a  small  size  near  the  road, 
with  one  exception  which  will  be  alluded  to  hereafter,  but 
as  we  get  neurer  to  the  Southem  edge  of  the  Vallum  they 
are  more  ponderous,  and  lie  scattered  in  greater  disorder 
and  confusion.  These  things  cannot  be  accounted  for  satis- 
factorily by  G^olo^sts,  although  the  same  marks  are 
visible  upon  the  two  other  Clee  Hills;  it  is  manifest 
that  all  these  enclosures  are  artificial,  and  that  however 
much  volcanic  agency  was  exerted  at  a  remote  time,  it 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  appearance  of  the 
Vallum   around  each,   nor  with  the  Circles  which  are 


oontftined  in  their  area.  Perfa^M,  it  is  needless  to  say 
tiiiis  much,  but  the  idea  has  been  suggested  by  the  bo* 
lief  that  some  people  knowing  the  geological  features  of 
the  hills,  without  haying  seen  the  remarkable  monuments 
existing  upon  their  surface,  would  refer  them  at  once  to 
natural  causes,  and  would  conclude  that  the  art  and  labor 
of  man  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  collocation. 

The  earliest  account  we  possess  of  the  religious  rites 
of  the  ancient  Britons  states  that  their  worship  was 
*^  Dbuidical.^  Every  thing  we  positively  know  about 
their  ceremonies  is  derived  from  Caesar^  and  from  his 
description  we  gather  that  the  art  and  learning  of  the 
Druids  all  the  world  over  had  its  origin  in  this  country. 
In  his  time  those  who  wished  to  attain  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  Druidical  discipline,  and  learning  in  general,  tra- 
velled hither  to  acquire  it.  The  Druids  expounded  refi- 
gion,  and  ordered  all  the  ceremonies  of  public  and  pri- 
vate sacrifices.  They  were  entrusted  with  the  education 
of  youth;  they  decided  all  controversies  and  disputes. 
They  punished  the  guilty;  rewarded  the  virtuous,  and 
excommunicated  from  a  share  in  the  rites  of  religion,  even 
princes,  or  nobles  who  disobeyed  their  mandates.  It  is  said 
that  they  learned  many  verses,  and  continued  their  studies 
for  twenty  years.  As  their  chief  doctrine,  they  taught 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  They  instructed  youth  in 
the  motions  of  the  stars  and  heavenly  bodies,  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  earth,  the  nature  of  the  world,  and  the 
dignity  and  power  of  the  gods.  In  speaking  of  Gaul, 
Caesar  further  says,  that  they  assembled  at  a  particular 
spot  at  a  certain  period  of  the  year,  and  sat  there  in 
a  Muyred  place^  and  all  people  who  had  suits  or  contro- 
versies resorted  thither  to  have  them  decided.  Such  is 
the  account  which  Caesar  has  transmitted  to  us  of  the 
Druids.  We  learn  from  it  that  they  were  idolaters; 
and  there  is  every  reason  for  believing  that  their  objects 
'  De  Bello  Gallico.  lib.  vi.  c.  13—23. 


of  worahip,  were  identioal  with  thofle  of  the  followera  of 
Baal.  Like  them  they  were  addicted  to  the  study  of 
the  heaveoB,  and  in  the  aame  way  they  offered  up  human 
victims  to  JBaaly  JBdy  JBehtSy  BMnm^  Apollo  or  the  &m. 
After  the  Romans  had  conquered  Britain  they  erected 
several  altars  to  Baal^  whidi  have  at  di£Rarent  times  been 
'discovered.  The  connexion  of  Druidism  with  the  name 
of  BtMol  is  well  known  in  the  lines  of  Ausonius,  himself 
a  Druid,  who  writes 

Ta  BaiocaaoB  Sdm  Dmidom  satns 

Si  fiiina  non  mUit  fidem 
Beleni  saciatiim  duds  e  templo  genus. 

Druidism  and  idolatry  are  in  fact  one  and  the  same 
thing,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  summary. 

Hn  in  Welsh  is  an  epithet  which  is  appUed  to'  the 
deity  ftom  its  power  of  pervading  all  things^  Thus 
Ha  Oadam  is  the  same  as  ApoUo,  the  Sun^  or  B€Mi» 
In  the  sacred  writings  Hb  or  the  Hebrew  article  Hua, 
as.  Lowth  says  on  Jerem.  xiv.  22.  is  often  equivalent 
to  the  true  and  eternal  Ood';  the  to  Airo  of  Plato' 
when  he  speaks  of  the  first  being,  the  Self-existent 
Being:  the  airi^  ot  the  Septuagint,  In  mythology 
Hu  and  Baal  are  one  and  the  same.  They  are  identi- 
cal with  Osmu,  or  the  governor  of  the  esffth^.  Osiris 
was  a  symbol  of  the  sun^  CsBsar  says  the  Oauls 
worshipped  Apollo.  The  Gauls  were  followers  of  the 
Druidic  rites  according  to  the  same  authoi*.  Upon  scnne 
of  the  coins  of  Cunobelin,  Apollo,  or  Belus  is  represented 
playing  a  lyre.  According  to  Hesychius  the  Cretans 
called  Apollo  the  Sun^  or  'AjSeXm.  Hence  Ausonius  in 
his  address  to  Phofbicius  one  of  the  teachers  at  Bom> 

deaux  says 

Non  xetioebOy  senem 
Nomine  PJuebicium: 
'  Davies  Celt  Researches,  p.  164.  Owen's  Welsh  Diet  under  ^u. 

>  Paikhunt's  Heb.  Lex.  p.  155,  6. 

>  Higgins  Gelt  Ihnids,  p.  180. 

I  Histoire  du  Ciel,  t  i.  p.  174.  lb.  p.  67. 
^  Pnfiendorf  Religio  Gentium  Aicttia,  p.  21. 


Oai  Beleni  aditauB 

Nil  opis  inde  tulit. 

8ed  tamen,  at  pladtum, 

Stiipe  flatus  Drwddtm 

Gentifl  Annoricn 

Bardigale  Cathednim 

Nati  opera  obtinoit. 

Commemor.  VtoL  fiordigal.  X. 
HsuooABALua,  or  as  it  IB  more  oommonly  found  in 
inscriptiona,  Alaoabalub  was  a  deity  recogniaed  as  the 
Sun.  Sou  Alaoabalo  Juuua  Balbillus  Aquila,  as  an 
ancient  monument  preaerves  the  name^  In  Hebrew  thia 
is  Ahgd  Baal^  or  Deus  BatunduSy  the  Orbicular  God, 
for  Aiffol,  means  round.  (Hence  the  A.  Saxon  utceoffUL 
and  HiMOh^  a  wheeh^  naiL,  &o.')  And  what  does  Herodian 
say!  that  his  image  was  a  $kme  of  immense  magnitude, 
with  a  circular  base,  terminating  in  a  cone.  Surely  these 
things  su£Sciently  prove  the  intimate  connexion  of  Druid- 
ism  with  the  worship  of  Baal  or  the  Sun,  and  will  serve 
to  explain  the  frequent  recurrence  of  Cibclbs  where  we 
find  vestiges  of  a  nature  that  can  be  referred  to  a  period 
before  Christianity  was  introduced  into  Great  Britain. 

In  the  remains  upon  Abdon  Burf  numerous  indica- 
tions are  discernible  of  the  foregoing  nature.  And  first 
of  all  let  us  examine  the  Htuatwn. 

It  was  the  practice  of  the  Druids  to  choose  for  their 
places  of  worship,  woods,  which  stood  upon  the  tops  of  hills, 
and  mountains,  as  more  becoming  the  dignity  and  sublime 
offices  of  their  devotions,  and  being  nearer  as  they  sup- 
posed, to  the  habitation  of  their  Gods.  Thus  we  find 
that  the  devotions  and  sacrifices  of  Balaam  among  the 
Moabites,  the  idolatrous  rites  of  the  Canaanites,  and  of 
the  ancient  Gentiles  in  general,  were  performed  in  Hiffi 
Places.  In  Scripture  the  High  Places  are  perpetually 
mentioned  as  devotional,  at  least  when  they  are  not  so 

'  Selden  de  Dis  Syriis,  p.  146.  149. 

'  ParkhniBt^  Heb.  Lex.  p.  513,  514.  No  fewer  than  nine  uucrip- 
tions  in  honour  c^  Belatucader  have  been  found  in  Britain.  ArchsBoL 
y.  X.  p.  118.  Belatacader  has  been  generally  thought  identical  with 
Mars.    (See  Baxter's  Gloas.  sub  Yoce.) 


in  ooQflequenoe  of  the  true  Odd  being  worahipped  there, 
tliey  are  spoken  of  aa  spots  chosen  for  the  observance  <^ 
profane  and  idolatrous  practices.  In  the  former  instance 
we  read  of  Abram  building  an  altar  to  the  Lord  on  a 
mounkdn^  east  of  Bethel^:  of  Moses  commanding  the 
people  to  set  up  stones  on  Mount  Ebal,  when  they  had 
passed  over  Jordan* :  of  God  appearing  to  Solomon  when 
he  sacrificed  at  Oibeon*:.  nay  even  of  Christ  himself  as- 
cending a  mountain  to  pray^ :  which  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  ProMUchaj  like  that  mentioned  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament under  the  designation  of  a  High  Place.  For 
these  High  Places  are  not  always  condemned,  but  then 
only,  when  they  were  made  use  of  for  idolatrous  wor- 
ship, or  in  a  perverse  way,  by  erecting  altars  on  them, 
in  opposition  to  that  whidi  was  in  the  place  which  Qod 
had  chosen.  Thus  it  has  been  supposed  that  that  was 
a  Proseucha  in  which  Joshua  set  up  a  pillar  under  an 
oak  in  Sechem^.  Again,  High  Places  were  the  scene 
of  gross  superstition  and  idolatry,  as  we  gather  from  the 
heavy  denunciations  uttered  against  the  wandering  Israel- 
ites if  they  frequented  them.  They  were  commanded 
to  destroy  every  vestige  of  the  kind :  **  Ye  shall  utterly 
destroy  all  the  plaeet  wherein  the  nations  which  ye  shall 
possess  served  their  Gods,  upon  the  hiffh  motmiaina  and 
up<m  the  iiibi  uid  under  every  preen  tree :  ye  shall  over- 
throw their  altars,  and  break  their  piUar$y  and  bum  their 
gro^Dee  with  fire'.^  When  Solomon  built  an  High  Place 
for  Ghemosh,  who  is  conjectured  by  some  to  be  Saturn, 
"he  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord;^  and  we  find  it 
enjoined  upon  the  faithful  after  the  building  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  not  to  ^^  sacrifice  upon  the  tope  of  the 

*  Genesis  xiL  8.        '  Dent  xxviL  4.  *      '1  Kings  iiL  4. 
«  Luke  vL  12.  '  Josh.  zzIy.  26.        '  Dent  xiL  23. 

•  Higgiiu  in  quoCtnc  thif  chapter  ooptei  Bariaie  in  infcrring  that  the  name  of 
QOgei  waa  derived  ftom  the  Hebrew  pi  a  roundish  heap  of  itonei.  and  that  the  twelve 
•tones  here  mentioned  were  disposed  in  a  drcolar  fimn.    (8ae  Celtie  Drulda.  ^  VO.  A.) 


rtooes  here  mentioned  were  disposed  in  a  drcolar  fimn.    (8ae  Celtie  Druids,  ik  233 

" •--    '-^     -— --  -^  -"•  *-  '-    «»«M»  of  the  parishes  of  Kman, 

,.       , , 1  beginning  with  Xil  are  tradition 

bting  to  the  Dvui<fa.    (See  PWkhurst,  Hdmw  Lexieon,  p.  IM.  edit  1811.    Boriaie  Aniiq. 


Hsnee^  sap  he,  comes  the  oomnoMnd  ica  in  the  names  of  the  parishes  of  JCfl 
■        aUofthoae  places  beginning  with  Kil  ai 


itenny,  KQpakrkks  in  almost  all  of  thoee  places  b^ginninf  with  Kii  are  traditions  re- 

btmg  to  tlieDvuids. """  ^  -^  ^Jl  ,  .^.•!^-^  15..   ..^  ,«,     «_. 

of  ComwaU,  p.  19S.) 


10 

mottntainfl,  nor  to  bum  inoeiiM  upon  the  AtZIr,  under 
oaks  and  poplan  and  elms^^  Sudi  paMigeB  m  these 
sufficiently  indioate  the  prevalence  and  antiquity  of  erect* 
ing  stones,  and  piOarsj  and  aUars  on  high  places. 

The  next  feature  in  the  remains  upon  Abdon  Bnrf^ 
which  favors  the  opinion  of  their  being  devoted  to  Ido- 
latious  or  Druidical  purposes,  is  the  extensive  Basaltic 
VaUvm  eurrounding  its  summit. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Druids  to  enclose  their  sa* 
cred  places,  sometimes  with  a  fence  of  pallisades,  and 
sometimes  with  a  mound  of  earth,  or  stones  to  keep  off 
the  proiane,  and  to  prevent  all  irreverent  intrusion  upon 
their  mysteries.  Hermoldus  in  his  Chronicon  de  Rebus 
Slaviae,  says  that  the  Sclavonians  prevented  all  access  to 
their  groves  and  fountains,  which  they  considered  would 
become  desecrated  by  the  entrance  of  Christians:  that 
they  worshipped  oaks  which  they  surrounded  by  a  fence  of 
wicker  work^  Tacitus  in  the  Gbrmania  relates  that  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  early  Oermans  to  consider  their 
woods  and  groves  as  sacred ;  that  those  spots  were  conse- 
crated to  pious  uses,  and  the  holy  recess  took  the  name 
of  the  divinity  who  filled  the  place,  which  sanctuary  was 
never  permitted  to  be  seen  but  with  reverence  and  awe'^ 
Agreeable  to  this  was  the  practice  of  the  earlier  inhabit- 
ants of  BritaiOf  who,  according  to  the  same  historian,  used 
similar  customs  with  the  Germans*.     They  both  worship* 

1  Hoeea  iy.  13. 

'  Hennoldi  et  Arnold!  Chronica  SLavorom,  in  quibiu  res  SLayisD^ 
fere  a  tempore  Curoli  Magni,  usque  ad  Ottonem  iy.  aeu  ad  annum 
Chiisii  1219  exponuntur.  Lubec».  1669,  4to.  As  quoted  by  Borlase 
from  the  Variorum  notes  to  Tadt  de  Morib.  Germ. 

'  Lucoe  et  nemoia  oonsecnint,  Deorumque  nonunibus  appellant 
secietum  illud,  quod  sola  reyerentia  yident.   Uermania,  c.  ix. 

*  Angli  et  Varini  et  Eudoses  et*  Suardones,  et  Nuithones  flumi- 
nibus  aut  sy lyis  muniuntur ;  nee  quicquam  notabili  in  singulis,  nisi 
quod  in  commune  Hertham,  id  est,  Terram  matrem,  colunt,  eamque 
interyenire  rebus  hominum,  inyehi  populis,  arbitrantur.  Est  in 
insula  Ocean!  Castum  nemus,  dicatumque  in  eo  yehiculum,  veste 
contectum :  attingere,  uni  sacerdote  oonoessum.    lb.  c  xl. 


11 

ped  the  Goddew  Hertha.  A  saored  grove  on  the  khod 
of  Rugen  was  dedicated  to  her.  There  stood  her  sacred 
chariot  covered  with  a  vestment,  which  was  only  allowed 
to  be  touched  by  the  priest;  and  when  the  ceremony 
of  her  worship  was  over,  the  chariot  with  the  sacred 
mantle,  and  if  we  may  believe  report,  the  goddess  her- 
self, were  purified  in  a  sacred  lake.  In  this  act  of 
ablution  certain  slaves  officiated,  and  instantly  perished 
in  the  wator.  Hence  the  terrors  of  superstition  became 
more  widely  difflised;  a  religious  horror  seized  every 
mind,  and  ail  were  content  to  venerate  the  awful  mys- 
tery, which  no  man  could  see  and  live'.  Similar  en* 
closures  are  observable  upon  Oraig  y  dina$  and  Ocutett 
DinoB  CarHn  in  MerianeMkire* ;  upon  Pen  Maeu 
Manor*;  at  Kam  Bre,  in  OamwiU;  at  the  Arbehws 
in  Derbyshire*,  and  also  at  Trer  Drytt  in  Angle$ea. 
Rowlands  states  that  Trer  Dryw  is  surrounded  by  an 
immense  agger  of  earth  and  stones,  evidently  brought 
from  other  places,  there  not  being  any  indication  of 
their  being  taken  from  the  spot.  It  has  only  a  single 
entrance,  and  has  been  supposed  to  have  been  the  grand 
consistory  of  the  Druidical  administration^.  The  fences 
at  Ka/m  Bre^  clearly  show  that  the  work  was  not 
originally  designed  for  military  purposes,  because  they 
are  low;  they  must  therefore  have  been  intended  to 
separate  the  sacred  groves  from  violation,  to  prohibit 
not  only  cattle,  but  strangers,  and  all  persons  profane, 
on  all  other  but  holy  days,  and  on  holy  purposes,  from 
entering  the  consecrated  ground.  There  is  also  a  mound 
of  the  same  kind  round  the  stone  cirdes  at  Abury.  The 
like    caution  was    observed,    though    for   much    better 

'  Servi  miniBtRUit ;  qnos  statim  idem  lacus  haurit.  Arcaniu  hinc 
terror  .Banctaque  ignorantia,  quid  dt  illud,  quod  tantom  peritmi 
vident.    lb. 

>  Pennant's  Wales,  v.  iL  p.  121. 

*  Archeol.  v.  iiL  p.  360.  «  lb.  v.  viL  p.  131. 

^  Rowland's  Mona  Antiqua,  p.  92. 

'  Borlaae,  Antiq.  of  Cornwall,  p.  117. 


12 

reaBCMifl,  at  Mount  Sinai.  *^  Thou  ahalt  set  bounds  unto 
the  people  round  about,  saying,  Take  heed  unto  your* 
sehree,  that  ye  go  not  up  into  the  mount,  or  touch  the 
border  of  it ;  whosoever  toueheth  the  mount  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death.  Set  bounds  unto  the  mount  and 
sanctify  it^^  Lucan,  in  the  following  lines,  testifies  to 
the  reverential  and  devout  manner  with  which  the  Druids 
regarded  thdr  places  of  worship.  They  kept  their  woods 
inviolate, 

LncuB  erat  loqgo  nunquam  violatiu  ab  flsvo. 
And  having  glanced  at  the  horrid  rites  which  were  cele- 
brated in  those  silent  and  gloomy  recesses  where  the  light 
of  heaven  could  with  difficulty  penetrate,  he  finishes  his 
fine  description  by  saying, 

Non  iUum  cnlta  populi  propiore  fi^eqnentant, 
Sed  oesBere  deis.  FbanaL  liL  400. 

Thus  it  seems  that  the  stream  of  all  authorities,  to 
which  we  can  refer  concerning  this  people,  runs  clearly  in 
stating  that  their  rites  were  performed  with  mysterious 
solemnity.  It  is  in  exact  conformity  with  their  customs, 
and  with  vestiges  of  hill  worship  still  remaining  in  part, 
that  the  High  Place  on  Abdon  Burf  should  be  screened 
from  observation  and  access  by  a  mound  of  stone,  which 
would  serve  at  the  same  time  to  enclose  and  protect 
their  sacred  temples  and  seats  of  judgement. 

The  next  characteristic  feature  of  Abdon  Burf  having 
been  the  scite  of  Druidic  worship  is  the  interned  appear* 
anee  of  itt  endomre. 

Upon  entering  it  we  immediately  observe  several  Gib- 
CLEs  of  stones:  some  of  these  stand  two  or  three  feet 
above  the  present  surface.  They  are  of  three  kinds,  are 
ranged  from  North  to  South  in  eight  parallel  rows, 
and  are  found  in  a  higher  or  lower  degree  of  perfec- 
tion. The  CiBCLEs  most  frequent  are  those  composed  of 
angle  stones.  Of  this  kind  there  are  still  discernible 
*  Exod.  xix.12. 


13 

about  twenty,  which  again  may  be,  Moondly,  subdivi- 
ded into  single  stone  circles  having  concentric  ones  of 
the  same  kind,  and  sometimes  having  more  than  one 
concentric  circle.  None  of  these  stones  lie  more  than 
a  foot  below  the  present  sur&ce,  neither  are  they  gene- 
rally fixed  and  imbedded  very  firmly  in  the  soil,  for 
a  slight  blow  with  our  workmen^s  mattocks  stirred  them, 
and  we  turned  them  over  by  an  easy  degree  of  leverage. 
The  third  class  of  circles  are  composed  of  stones  thrown 
together  in  double  ridges.  Of  this  kind  were  nearly  one 
half  of  the  number.  Yet  here  again  was  observable  a 
difference  in  another  respect,  as  they  wanted  the  con- 
centric circles  which  the  single  stone  circles  contained. 
The  average  width  of  the  whole  of  these  circles  is  30  feet. 
Occasionally  they  are  connected  with  eadi  other  by  a  row 
of  single  stones,  sometimes  they  touch,  and  in  one  or 
two  instances  cut  each  other.  For  further  insight  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  accompanying  plan  which  may 
serve  to  make  this  description  more  intelligible. 

These  vestiges  of  a  remote  age  greatly  resemble  the 
works  which  Borlase  describes  as  existing  upon  Karn 
Bbb  hill  in  the  parish  of  lUogan^  OamwaU^  with  this 
difference,  however,  that  the  circles  upon  the  Burf,  are 
much  more  numerous,  and  there  is,  moreover,  every  reason 
for  thinking  that  those  were  at  no  time  so  extensive  as 
these  in  Shropshire.  The  remains  at  Kabn  Bbe  are  sur- 
rounded, as  these  are,  by  a  mound  of  stones,  and  as 
they  are  similar  to  the  instances  ahready  quoted  as  exist- 
ing in  MerumeAshire^  Oamarwm$hirBy  Anglesea  and  Der- 
byskirsy  no  doubt  can  exist  but  that  the  original  in- 
tention of  each,  whatever  that  might  have  been,  was 
precisely  the  same. 

There  are  Forty  Four  Girglbs  now  apparent^  on  the 

*  An  old  man  who  has  lived  dose  to  the  Burf  all  his  life  in- 
formed me  that  these  circles  were  nothing  like  so  perfect  now  as 
he  recollected  them  to  have  been. 


14 


North  side  of  the  road  which  traverses  Abdon  Burf. 
These  are  not  equally  entire;  but  the  radius  of  most 
of  them  is  discernible.  One  cannot  help  thinking  whilst 
viewing  such  conformity,  that  they  must  all  belong  to 
the  same  period.  Such  an  uniform  arrangement  is  evi- 
dently intentional,  and  we  know  from  other  examples 
yet  existing,  that  this  methodical  disposition  was  usual. 
Thus  in  the  hundred  of  Penrith^  Cornwall  there  are  four 
circles  which  have  an  equal  number  of  stones,  nineteen, 
in  each :  and  in  the  majority  of  instances  of  stone  mo- 
numents in  the  same  county,  Borlase  says  there  is  a 
surprising  similarity. 

When  we  endeavour  to  seek  out  the  object  of  these 
singular  monuments,  we  enter  upon  an  investigation  full 
of  difficulty.  There  is  in  truth  little  beyond  hypothesis 
from  which  conclusions  may  be  drawn.  The  generaUy 
received  opinion  is  that  all  Circular  Monuments  were 
originaOy  intended  for  devotional  purposes.  The  circular 
form  was  best  adapted  of  any  for  the  bystanders  to  see 
and  hear,  and  if  need  were,  to  participate  in  parts  of  the 
sacrificial  rites.  This  figure  accords  best  with  the  magical 
practices  to  which  the  Druids  are  supposed  to  have  been 
addicted;  and,  moreover,  as  there  was  always  a  Symbol 
of  the  Deities  which  the  heathens  worshipped,  expressive 
in  some  degree  of  their  attributes,  such  a  symbol  would 
naturally  be  seen  in  their  temples.  Thus  that  of  Vesta 
was  the  earth ;  and  for  the  same  reason  the  temple  of  the 
Ooddess  Hbrtha  who  was  worshipped  by  the  Druids, 
would  take  the  like  form,  the  two  Goddesses  being  iden- 
tical.' A  Circle^  which  would  also  be  a  figure  of  the  Sun, 
being  a  symbol  extremely  simple,  would  also  more  easily 
represent  the  power  and  universal  influence  which  per- 
vades all  space.     So  among  the  Egyptians,  we  see  this 

*  VestSD  Heriha  Gennanonun  eo  convenit,  (jaod  Term  putatur 
esse  et  tunitam  coronam  gerit.  Puiendorf,  Religio  Gentium  Arcana, 
p.  318. 


16 

figure,  or  a  serpent  oontinually  used^  It  is  not  impro- 
bable, though  in  the  absence  of  direct  evidence,  it  must 
be  very  uncertain,  whether  Serpent-worship  constituted 
part  of  the  Druidical  ceremonial.  If,  however,  it  did, 
their  temples  would  assume  a  Serpentine,  or  Circular  form. 
Setting  aside  this,  which  it  must  be  confessed  is  a  specu- 
lation more  fanciful  than  substantial,  it  may  be  inferred 
from  the  preceding  facts,  that  circular  monuments  are 
divisible  into  two  kinds.  The  first  of  these  consists  of 
large  upright  stones,  which  are  several  feet  above  the 
surface.  Of  this  kind  are  the  monuments  at  Stone 
Hbnge;  Aburt;  the  Rowlwright;  the  Hurlers;  Stanton 
Drew;  Long  Meg  and  her  Daughters;  Mitchell's  Fold, 
&c.  There  is  every  reason  to  consider  this  kind  d&- 
vaHonal.  The  second,  which  is  usually  found  with  the 
first,  though  sometimes  distinct  from  it,  I  consider  to  be 
wholly  sepulchral. 

This  has  been  proved  on  several  occasions  in  Ireland 
when  these  circles  have  been  opened.  At  KiUmiUe, 
near  Dtrnffonnon^  Ireland,  within  a  circle  of  stones  on 
the  top  of  the  hill,  were  found  Urns'.  Borlase  quotes 
Wright^s  Louthiana  which  gives  an  account  of  Urns 
being  found  in  the  interior  of  similar  circles  in  the 
county  of  Tyrone. '  In  a  recent  volume  of  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy'  is  an  account  of  a  very 
remarkable  collection  of  stone  circles  and  cairns  situ- 
ated in  the  townland  of  Oarrowmore^  in  the  parish  of 
KUmcboowen^  and  about  two  miles  bom  the  town  of 
8Ugo.  They  are  of  the  class  popularly  called  Druidical 
temples,  and  have,  in  every  instance,  one  or  more  Crom- 
lechs or  Kistvaen  within  them.  In  some  instances  the 
circle  consists  of  a  single  range  of  stones,  in  others  of 
two  concentric  ranges,  and  in  a  few  instances  of  three 

*  Histoire  du  Ciel  ou  Ton  recherche  rorigine  de  I'ldolatrie^ 
t  L  p.  63. 

*  Philoe.  Trans.  1713,  p.  264. 

'  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  1838,  p.  140,  2. 


16 

saoh  ranges;  and  nearly  the  whole  are  clustered  toge- 
ther in  an  irregularly  circular  manner,  around  a  great 
eaim  or  conical  heap  of  stones,  which  forms  the  centre 
of  the  group.  The  circles  vary  much  in  diameter, 
number  and  height  of  stones,  and  other  particulars; 
and  the  Cromlechs  also  are  of  various  forms  and  sizes. 
Many  of  these  monuments  are  greatly  dilapidated ;  but 
there  are  still  existing  vestiges  of  about  sixty  circles 
with  Cromlechs,  and  as  it  is  known  that  a  vast  number 
has  been  totally  destroyed  by  the  peasantry,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  collection  could  not  have  been 
originally  much  less  than  double  that  number.  They 
are  all  formed  of  granite  boulders,  except  the  covering 
stone  and  another  of  the  Cromlechs  in  the  great  cairn, 
which  are  of  lime  stone. 

In  all  the  circles,  which  have  been  wholly  or  in  part 
destroyed,  human  bones,  earthem  urns,  &c.  have  been 
invariably  found,  and  one  circular  enclosure,  outside  the 
group,  and  of  far  greater  extent  than  any  of  the  others, 
but  evidently  of  cotemporaneous  construction,  is  filled 
with  bones  of  men  and  animals. 

Mr  Petrie,  who  describes  them  states,  that  this  is  the 
largest  collection  of  monuments  of  the  kind  in  the  British 
islands,  and  probably  with  the  exception  of  those  at  Car- 
nach  in  Brittany,  the  most  remarkable  in  the  world. 

From  the  design  observable  in  their  arrangement, 
and  uniformity  of  construction,  he  considers  them  all  of 
cotemporaneous  age;  and  from  the  human  remains 
found  in  all  of  them,  he  concludes  that  they  are  wholly 
of  sepulchral  origin,  and  erected  as  monuments  to  men 
of  various  degrees  of  rank  slain  in  battle,  the  great 
central  cairn  being  the  sepulchre  of  the  chief,  and  the 
great  enclosure  outside  the  group,  the  burial  place  of 
the  inferior  class.  Such  monuments,  he  observes,  are 
found  on  all  the  battle  fields  recorded  in  Irish  history, 
as  the  scenes  of  contest   between  the  Belgian  or  Fir- 


17 

wig  and  the  Tuatha  de  Danann  colonies,  and  he  con- 
siders these  monuments  to  be  the  tombs  of  the  Belgians, 
who,  after  their  defeat  in  the  battle  of  the  Southern 
Moy-Turey,  had  retreated  to  Cuil-Jorra,  and  were 
there  again  defeated,  and  their  king,  Eochy,  slain  in 
crossing  the  strand  of  BaUysadare  Bay,  on  whi<di  a  cairn, 
rising  above  high  water,  still  marks  the  spot  on  which 
he  fell. 

As  monuments  of  this  class  are  found  not  only  in 
most  countries  of  Europe,  but  also  in  the  East,  Mr 
Petrie  thinks  their  investigation  will  form  an  important 
accessary  to  the  history  of  the  Indo  European  race,  and 
also  that  such  an  investigation  will  probably  destroy  the 
popular  theories  of  their  having  been  temples  and  altars 
of  the  Druids. 

And  I  am  still  further  led  to  consider  these  circles 
of  stones  as  sepulchred  from  the  fact  of  their  existing  in 
Sweden,  where  they  are  accompanied  witii  proofs  of 
jthis  nature  that  can  leave  no  doubt  upon  the  mind  of 
the  most  sceptical.  A  glance  even  at  the  plates  in  that 
extremely  curious  book  of  Sjoborg^s  on  Northern  Anti- 
quities^ will  shew  that  such  monuments  could  scarcely 
have  had  any  other  intention.  We  see  here  a  collec- 
tion of  every  variety  of  them,  the  chief  part,  <$ircular. 
Sometimes,  however,  there  is  a  square  enclosure  of  up- 
right stones  with  a  conical  barrow  in  the  centre,  which 
has  its  base  surrounded  with  upright  stones;  midway  be- 
tween this  and  the  summit,  the  circumference  is  marked 
with  a  second  ring  of  upright  stones;  close  at  the  sum- 
mit, a  third  belt  of  upright  stones  encircles  it;  and  the 
<»rest  of  the  barrow  is  capped  by  a  cromlech.  Another 
variety,  haa  a  circle  of  upright  stones  round  the  base  of  a 
Carnedd*    A  third  variety,  has  a  circular  belt  of  upright 

*  Samlingar  For  Nordens  FoTnalakare^  innehallande  Inskrifter, 
Agorer^  Rniner,  Verktyg,  Ho«ar  och  Stensattningar  i  Sverige  och 
Norrige.  af  N.  H.  Sgoboig.  2  vol.  4to.  with  43  plates^  Stockholm^  1822. 


18 

Btonea  round  a  oonical  barrow  widdi  k  mirmoimted  bj 
a  fdngle  long  upri^t  stone.  A  fourth  yariety,  oonsiita 
of  a  ample  eirole  of  upright  itoneB,  having  two  oppo- 
site each  other  much  taller  than  the  rest.  A  fifth  va- 
riety, consists  of  a  oirole  of  not  more  than  ten  stones, 
placed  merely  on  the  sorfaee,  sometunes  they  have  a 
small  avenue  of  af^roadi  to  them  of  four  stones  on 
each  side.  A  sixth  variety,  is  a  hurge  circle  chiefly 
formed  of  Stones  placed  loosdy  on  the  surface,  every 
sixth  being  larger  and  let  deeper  into  the  ground,  whilst 
those  two  North  and  South  are  much  loftier  than  the 
rest.  A  seventh  variety,  is  triangular,  with  a  hig^  stone 
at  each  comeES  and  another  in  the  centre.  An  eighth 
variety,  is  square.  And  a  ninth,  triangular,  having  the 
three  sides  curving  inward,  but  without  any  upri^t 
stones  at  the  an^es.  These  monuments  are  met  with 
under  every  circumstance  fiivorable  to  sepulture.  They 
are  frequently  surrounded  by  Valla  and  enclosures; 
and  are  seen  contiguous  to,  and  even  forming  part 
of.  Tumuli. 

Upon  examining  the  Southern  end  of  Abdon  Burf 
the  surface  is  found  to  be  partially  covered  with  large 
blocks  of  Basalt,  which  would  be  ascribable  to  natural 
causes,  did  we  not  observe  among  the  coniusion,  traces 
of  three  or  four  circles  like  those  on  the  other  side  of 
the  road.  The  first  object  of  importance  that  meets 
the  eye,  is  a  huge  block  of  d&  stone,  measuring  six  feet 
four  inches  long,  four  feet  six  inches  across,  and  three 
feet  hi^.  From  its  great  size  the  men  who  ^'  work  on 
the  hill""  call  it  the  Bmf  Triekiing.  It  is  not  impro- 
baUe.  that  this  word  is  derived  from  the  S.  Ooth.  dryg^ 
or  tryg^  ingens,  gravis.  (Verel.  in  Indie.)  driugr,  plus 
quam  potuit:  that  is,  a  mass  so  ponderous  that  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  it  could  be  moved.  In  any  other 
locality,  or  unaccompanied  by  the  appearances  already 
adverted  to,  it  would  not  be  considered  remarkable,  un- 


o 

p 


5 


19 


lett  it  were  for  its  magnitude.  But  finding  it  here,  iSuicy 
immediately  leads  us  to  think  that  it  wiui  plaicM  in  its 
present  situation  for  some  object  or  other.  The  most 
likely  use  for  it  was  the  top  stone  of  a  ercmiledi:  yet 
to  shew  how  perfectly  valueless  are  mere  oonjeetutes^  I 
will  state  that  this  has  been  entirely  disproved  by  my 
own  operations.  The  first  time  I  saw  the  stocfe  in 
question,  I  felt  disposed  to  think  it  formed  part  of  a 
cromlech;  I  conceived  it  might  be  such,  though  I  was 
not  so  wedded  to  my  imagination  as  to  pronounce  that 
it  itctually  belonged  to  that  dass.  The  labor  of  a  couple 
of  workmen  for  an  hour  or  two  last  autumn,  tmdec^ved 
tne,  and  have  left  us  still  to  seek  out  what  wAs  its 
real  use,  if  it  ever  luld  any.  Fo^  having  Uftdetmined 
the  stone,  they  came  upon  such  a  foundation  as  dearly 
shewed  that  it  could  at  no  time  have  been  supported 
by  upright  stones  at  its  angles,  as  such  seputdbral  monu- 
ments usuaUy  are. 

The  whole  of  the  South  Western  side  cf  the  Idtt 
presents  marks  of  disorder  and  destruction:  the  stones 
which  are  much  larger  here,  than  at  the  other  end, 
seem  to  have  tumbled  down,  rather  than  to  lie  scat- 
tered by  the  influence  of  natural  causes,  while  there  n  a 
certain  degree  of  order  visible  amid  the  confusion.  At 
the  extreme  point,  in  a  slight  hollow,  an  unhewn  stone 
lies  prostrate  which  bears  the  name  of  the  Oiintr^s  Shaft. 
It  is  ei^t  feet  ten  incAies  long,  two  feet  four  inches 
square  at  the  base,  gradually  diminishing  to  one  foot 
eight  inches.  As  has  been  already  remarked,  the  whole 
of  the  Southern  end  of  the  hill  has  it«  surface  much 
disturbed.  Two  or  three  Gibcles  may  be  distinctly  traced, 
but  besides  them,  every  thing  is  overthrown  ind  disar- 
ranged. Yet  amid  the  catastrophe,  it  is  not  I  think 
assuming  too  much,  if  we  express  our  conviction  thai 
this  unhewn  stone,  or  M(im  hir  was  formerly  placed  up- 
right, and  that  it  served  an  intention  similar  to  the 


i 


20 


one  at  Cwm  Buehan^  a  onail  village  lying  betwixt  Bar^ 
mwti  and  HarUehj  cloee  by  the  road  side;  or  like  those 
seen  ^ured  by  Boilafle^  and  Coxe%  ai9  existing  in  Ciom- 
fPoUy  and  Monmouthshire.  The  purpose  of  these  it  is 
imagined  was  devoticmal.  Jacob  at  Bethel,'  Joshua  at 
Gilgal;*  and  the  Israelites^  beyond  Jordan,  raised  one  on 
the  banks  of  that  river,  as  a  testimony  that  they  had 
constituted  but  one  nation  with  their  brethren  on  the 
other  side.  Rough  and  unformed  stones  were  considered 
more  pure,  and  fit  for  sacred  uses  than  those  which  were 
hewn.  Moses  directed  an  altar  to  be  nused  to  the 
Lord,  of  rouffh  stones ;  not  of  h&wn  stones,  which  he  de- 
clared to  be  polluted.  Stome  pillars  were  also  erected 
to  mark  the  place  ot  peculiar  sanctity  and  honor  *4  thus 
Abimelech  was  made  kiog  by  the  plain  of  the  pillar 
that  was  in  Sechem^.  Adonijah  by  the  stone  of  Zohe- 
leth^.  Jehoash  was  ^^  crowned  king  standing  by  a  pil-* 
lar,  as  the  manner  was^':  and  Josiah  '^  stood  by  a 
pillar^  when  he  was  making  a  solemn  covenant  with 
Ood.  Again,  pillara  of  stone  were  set  up  as  memoriab 
of  the  dead.  Jacob  erected  one  as  a  monument  upon 
the  gnMre  of  RadiaeP^;  and  Absdom  in  his  life  time 
took  and  reared  up  for  himself  a  piUoTy  for  he  said,  I 
have  no  son  to  keep  my  name  in  remembrance;  and 
he  called  the  pillar  after  his  own  name ;  and  it  is  called 
unto  this  day,  Absolom^s  Place  ^^ 

That  the  Monouthes  which  now  remain  were  con- 
nected with  objects  partly  devotional,  and  partly  ^epulr 
ehraleeeum  the  most  probable  conjecture.  The  evidence 
fomished  by  classical  writers  tends  to  establish  such  aa 

'Antiq.  of  Cornwall,  p.  164.  'ToiirinMoiimontb8hire>v.u.p.323. 

•  Genttds,  xxxL  46.  «  Josh.  iv.  5— 7.  '  lb.  xxiL  10. 

*£xod.xz.25.  Dent,  xxvii.  5.  Josh.  viii.  31,  32.  which  com- 
maud  waa  not  given  by  Moses  to  Noah  as  Mr  Moore  in  his  Histoiy  of 
Ireland  intimates,  p.  38,  bat  to  the  children  of  Israel 

^Jo8h.zziv.26.  M.  Kings  1.9. 

Ml.  Kings  xL  14.    Ib.zzin.3.  '^^  Genesis,  xxxv.  20. 

>'II,8i^xviiLia 


21: 


opinion,  whilst  the  reeearcheB  thai  have  been  made  in 
Cornwall  and  Ireland  upon  the  spots  where  thejr  stanid, 
give  additional  weight  to  the  assumption. 


The  neighbouring  mountain  known  under  tiie  name 
of  the  dtt  IStttf  bears  most  evident  signs  of  having 
been  appropriated  to  the  same  purposes  as  Abdon  Bdbf, 
and  the  TrrrEiurroNB.  They  are  all  surrounded  with  a 
Vallum  of  stones,  though  in  the  cases  of  the  Tittbbstonk 
and  the  Clea  Burf,  the  mound  is  not  by  any  means  so 
high,  or  formidable,  nor  are  the  circles  so  numerous,  and 
distinct.  The  Vallum  runs  tolerably  cleariy  round  the 
North  side  of  the  Clee  Burf,.  though  it  is  much  do- 
pressed,  and  there  may  still  be  discerned  two,  or  more 
circles  in  the  enclosure,  although  coal  pits  have  greatly 
defaced  its  original  character.  The  works  upon  these 
Uiree  eminences  are  without  doubt  ascribable  to  the 
same  period,  and  I  believe  the  like  causes  gave  them 
existence.  They  must  be  considered  entirely  dewtionai 
and  sepulchral  in  their  object. 

It  is  probable  that  tiiese  places,  at  a  very  remote 
period,  were  of  considerable  fame,  and  forming  as  they 
do,  the  highest,  and  the  first  elevations  that  occur  in 


82 

jounieyiiig  from  th6  Easteift  dde  of  the  kingdom  tq  the 
West,  they  mariced  the  distriet  with  a  character  of  pe- 
culiar sanctity.  Sooh  vast  monuments  of  Hill  wonhip 
must  naturally  have  tended  to  invest  the  region  in  whidi 
they  are  with  a  peculiar  degree  <tf  religious  celebrity. 
And  if  there  be  any  value  in  Etymology,  as  a  subsi- 
diary proof,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  inhabitants  of 
this  part  of  Enghmd  were  in  consequence  called  G>s- 
NAvii,  or  dwellers  in  the  Soared  coftntryy  from  the  Phca- 
nidan,  cor  a  district,  and  naam  holy,  pronounced  Oomav ; 
the  country  belonging  to  the  Priesthood,  the  holy  or 
consecrated  country.  In  the  same  manner  as  the  people 
who  occupied  the  North  and  West  <^  Cornwall^  were 
called  Cabnabo^  and  the  inhabitants  of  Caithness*  Cob- 
NAvii,  from  the  circumstance  of  these  counties  being  the 
seat  of  Druidic  worship. 

*  And  these  hills  seem  fonneriy  to  have  traditionally  been  con- 
sidered sacied:  lor  Leland  nn  "  Cle  Hills  be  holy  in  Shropshire. 
Tende  Riyer  dividethe  them  nom  some  |>art  of  Worcestershire^  but 
from  Shropshire  by  the  more  parte  of  the  Ripe. 

No  great  plenty  of  wood  in  Cle  Hills,  yet  ther  is  snffident 
Bmshe  Wood.  Plenty  of  Cole  Yerth  Stone  nether  exceeding  good 
for  Lyme,  whereof  there  they  make  mnche  and  serve  the  centre 
abont  Cle  Hills  com  within  a  3  mod  myles  of  Lndlow.  The 
Village  of  ClebTri  standytiie  in  the  Kootes  by  Est  of  Cie  Hills  7 
myles  from  La(fiow  in  the  way  to  Beandelev.  There  was  a  castle 
in  Qeberie  nighe  the  cfanrche  by  North.  The  Plots  is  yet  cawled 
The  Castell  Dike.    There  be  no  Market  Townee  in  Cle  HUls. 

The  Highest  Parte  of  Cle  Hills  is  cawlyd  Tyderstone.  In  it 
is  a  fiiyre  playne  grene,  and  a  fountayne  in  it  There  is  another 
Hill  a  8  miles  distant  from  it  canlyd  The  Browne  Cle.  There  is 
a  Chaoe  for  Deare.  There  is  another  cawUyd  Caderton's  Clee, 
and  ther  be  many  Hethe  Cokks  and  a  Broket  coolyd  Mille  Brokoet 
sprin^the  in  it^  and  aftar  goithe  into  a  Broket  called  Rhe,  and 
Rhe  mto  Tende  by  neth  Tende  Bridse.  There  be  some  Bio  Shoppe 
to  make  Yren  npon  the  Ripes  or  Bankes  of  M^lbroke,  comynj^  out 
of  Cadeiton  Cls  or  Casset  Wood."    Leland's  Itineraiy^  vol.  liii.  foL 

sab. 

'  See  the  description  of  a  Dmidic  temple  in  the  paridi  of  Far, 
comity  of  Caithness,  in  Appendix  to  the  first  volume  of  Pennant's 
Tour  in  Scotland,  p.  347. 


Cl^e  trttuttftone* 


fiiLGrr  wandering  over  this  mountain  in 
the  Autumn  of  1837  in  search  of  Dru- 
idical  remains,  my  attention  was  drawn 
to  the  remarkable  position  and  shape 
of'  one  of  the  numerous  large  stones 
\vhich  lie  confusedly  scattered  on  the 
North  Western  side  of  its  surface. 
Upon  looking  more  careiully  at  the  stone  in  question, 
suspicions  gradually  arose  that  one  of  so  singular  a  oon- 
figuration  must  belong  to  the  order  of  such  as  are  usu- 
ally known  under  the  title  of  Rocking  Stones,  and  im- 
pressed with  the  idea,  I  almost  unconsciously  endeavoured 
to  shake  it.  Having,  however,  given  it  a  closer  inspec- 
tion, I  found  that  to  do  this,  would,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances be  impossible,  for  several  huge  masses  of 
rock  had  by  time  become  so  closely  wedged  in  betwixt 
its  base,  and  the  surrounding  blocks,  that  until  they 
were  removed,  all  such  efforts  would  be  ineffectual.  In 
an  over  anxiety  to  start  early  in  the  morning  to  visit 
this  elevated  spot,  I  had  unfortunately  left  behind,  the 
necessary  accompaniments  to  a  field  antiquary,  tape  and 
sketch  book,  so  that  I  was  prevented  from  dcnng  any 
thing  more  than  merely  inserting  these  conjectures 
among  my  memoranda.  As  I  slowly  descended  from  the 
summit,  fancy  constantly  represented  to  me  the  plausi- 
bility of  the  conjecture,  and  in  the  direct  ratio  to  my 
faicreasing  distance  from  the  object  of  speculation,  the  con- 
viction grew  stronger  that  it  really  must  be  a  Rogkinq 


24 

Stons.  But  the  period  had  airived  when  it  was  neoea- 
flary  for  me  to  leave  this  part  of  the  country,  and  with 
feeUngs  in  which  regret  and  pleasure  were  curiously 
mingled  together,  I  was  compelled  to  cast  a  lingering 
look  only,  upon  the  peak  where  so  unexpected  an  object 
of  interest  had  presented  itself. 

The  idea  of  a  Rocking  Stonb  hitherto  unknown  was 
continually  uppermost,  but  I  knew  it  would  be  in  Tain 
to  seek  for  any  account  that  would  tend  to  confirm 
these  views,  as  all  our  eariy  remains  in  Shropshire  have 
singularly  escaped  the  attention  of  antiquarian  enquirers. 
It  was  only  from  looking  at  the  subject  in  connexion 
witii  its  etymolo^cal  bearing,  that  I  could  hope  to  ad- 
duce any  confirmation  of  my  views.  Upon  my  return 
home  I  found,  €t  at  least  I  fancied  I  found,  in  the  first 
volume  consulted,  a  proof  that  the  supposition  might  be 
sustained.  For  it  appeared  that  the  TnTERsroNB  itself 
had  derived  its  name  from  the  Islandic  titra  which  sig- 
nifies to  tremble^  and  there  was  no  longer  any  room 
left  for  doubting  that  this  stone,  or  at  least  some  other 
upon  the  same  eminence,  had  been  the  means  of  dis- 
tinginshing  the  mountain  itself*.  At  all  events  it  had 
such  speciousnefis  in  the  interpretation,  that  I  at  once 
determined  to  revisit  the  spot  at  the  earliest  opportu* 
nity,  and  place  in  its  original  position  the  TiTTBBsroinB 
properly  so  called. 

Another  season  advanced,  and  I  hastened  to  fulfil 
the  resolution.  By  the  kindness  of  a  gentleman  who  re- 
sided at  no  great  distance  from  the  base  of  the  mountsun, 
I  was  supplied  with  some  strong  labourers,  who  having 
furnished  themselves  with  mattocks,  crow  bars  and  shovels, 
were  willing  under  my  directions  to  restore  the  TrrTE»- 
STONE  to  its  original  balance. 

1  Hence  the  words  titter  to  shake  with  laughter,  and  ioUer.  Oa 
Strinet  Moor  three  mfles  from  Brat^eU  in  DerbyMre  ia  a  rocking 
atone  called  the  Tottering  Stone. 


r^-\ 

fp^ 

PUBLIC  1 


ik»T' 


25 

We  made  &  cheerfol  ascent;  and  the  oonversation 
held  inth  my  ample  companions,  tended  in  more  than 
one  instance  to  enrich  the  glossarial  part  of  the  pre- 
sent Tohune.  Passing  along  the  top  of  Hoab  Edge, 
(Salopic^  dictum  Whar  Idge)  I  cast  a  hnrried  look 
at  the  four  remarkable  Carnedds  that  dignify  its  sum- 
mit. '  The  columnar  form  which  the  rocks  assume 
(Ml  the  Western  side  were  not  left  unobserved.  Look- 
ing, then,  in  vain,  for  the  ancient  Mere  Stone  on  the 
borders  of  Wilmore  Pod^  and  finally  clambering  over 
the  rugged  and  irregular  barrier  encircling  the  crest 
of  the  mountain,  we  found  ourselves  before  the  ob- 
ject of  my — theory.  But  how  disheartening  a  thing 
is  it,  to  stare  reality  in  the  face,  after  the  ima^nation 
has  been  left  to  itself,   and  conjured  up  its  facts  and 

shapes! 

**  Nature  wants  stuff 
To  vie  strange  forms  with  fimcy" 

I  straightway  thought  with  the  poet,  and  I  went  so  far, 
as  to  doubt  aftar  all,  whether  this  cotdd  be  a  Tremblino 
Stone.  Such  misgivings  it  must  be  confessed  were  un- 
worthy of  the  occasion,  and  can  only  be  accounted  for 
now,  by  the  belief  that  they  were  brought  on  through 
the  first  fatigue  of  the  ascent,  aided  by  the  fear  lest  suc- 
eef»  should  not  ultimately  crown  the  expedition.  For 
having  surveyed  the  stone  a  few  minutes,  and  laid  out 
the  plan  of  operations  which  was  to  be  carried  on,  taking 
care,  too,  to  secure  the  stone,  lest  in  our  zeal  to  shake, 
it  should  be  overthrown,  and  rolled  down  the  craggy 
sides  of  the  mountain:  having  adopted  these  precautions, 
the  labor  commenced  of  breaking  away  aH  those  frag- 
ments which  had  from  time  to  time  become  detached 
from  the  surrounding  columns  of  D^  Stone,  and  destroyed 
its  powers  of  motion. 

After  two  hours  hard  toil  these  exertions  were  re- 
paid, by   having  the  satisfaction  <tf  making  this  huge 


26 

HUMS  which  mettBures  seven  feet  six  by  five  feet  nine, 
easily  rook,  by  the  slightest  imposition  of  the  hand. 

It  will  be  seen  {rom  the  accompanying  representar 
tion  that  there  is  but  little  space  betwixt  the  adjacent 
boulders  and  the  TrmsRsroNB,  (for  by  this  title  must  the 
trembling  stone  be  called  hereafter),  but  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  TrnvRsroNB  rocks  in  a  difliarent  direc- 
tion, not  between  them,  for  there  is  no  room  for  it, 
but  from  East  to  West.  As  I  had  been  informed  be- 
tween my  two  visits,  that  there  existed  a  traditionary 
account  of  a  farmer  Bocking  Stone  on:  this  eminence, 
which  was  overthrown  by  the  wilfulness  of  some  wretched 
idlers,  I  was  induced  to  turn  the  Tittsbstone  round  from 
its  bahincing  centre,  and  make  its  side  rest  against  the 
point  nearest  to  it, 

Ne  cuiquam  glebam,  saxomve  impune  movere 
UUi  sit  lidtum. 

This,  though  unavoidably  disturbing  for  a  time  its  powers 
of  equipoise  and  oscillation,  is  however,  the  means  of 
preserving  it  for  the  inspection  of  the  curious  hereafter. 
A  very  gentle  degree  of  leverage,  bearing  round  to  the 
South,  will  again  restore  it  to  a  proper  position  and  per^ 
feet  state  of  equilibrium;  at  present  it  is  immoveable. 

Having  narrated,  perhaps  rather  too  circumstantially, 
my  impressions  regarding  the  Titterotonb,  it  remains  for 
me  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  my  readers  of  any  erro- 
neous notions  they  may  have  upon  the  subject  of  Bock- 
ma  Stones  in  general.  They  have  been  caUed  artificial^ 
and  fabled  to  have  been  placed  in  their  state  of  equi- 
poise by  incredible  skill  and  labor.  But  of  all  the  fal- 
lacies which  dreaming  antiquaries  have  echoed  from  age 
to  age  to  mislead  their  followers  this  is  among  the 
greatest.  They  have  been  called  Druidical  Monummte. 
The  Druidic  Priesthood  might  possibly  have  made  use 
of  them  to  deceive  in  some  way  or  other  the  vulgar, 
just  as  the  celebrated  Gygonian   Stone   mentioned  by 


87 

FtoHeaxj  Hepheetion^  vtbb  employed,  mhUk  might  have 
been  stirred  by  the  stalk  of  an  Aaphodel  yet  not  re- 
moved  by  any  fbiee  vdiatever  from  its  position,  bat 
that  they  ever  pbMed  them  as  they  now  stand,  is  in  the 
highest  d^iree  improbable.  That  they  made  them  sab- 
servient  to  paiposes  of  imposition,  as  a  means  of  oheat- 
ing  the  volgar,  is  more  than  likely;  the  aotoal  position 
of  the  Stones  themselves  I  believe  to  be  purely  fuihirtjd. 
And  this  will  readily  appear  when  we  examine  with 
earefolness  the  geologioal  strootore  of  the  Titterstone 
and  the  surroonding  blocks. 

The  Hill  which  has  taken  its  name  from  this  adven- 
titious dreomstance  is  a  formation  of  Basalt,  and  in 
Basalt  perhaps  more  than  in  any  other  rook,  there  is 
a  disposition  to  disintegrate  from  exposure  to  the  ef- 
fects of  atmosidbere.  There  is  round  the  North  Western 
side  of  this  hill,  and  also  along  the  greater  length  <^ 
the  Boar  Bdg4^  a  series  of  fine  columnar  Bocks,  having 
their  Prisms  unusually  large.  Ths  Oiant^s  Cuair,  for 
instance,  has  its  pillars  fifteen,  or  sixteen  feet  high, 
and  intervening  lengths  of  four,  five,  and  six  feet  be- 
tween the  joints.  As  the  extremities  of  these  were  more 
exposed  to  the  action  of  the  air,  they  graduaOy  be- 
came loosened  at  the  joints,  so  that  in  time  they  were 
eaten  away  by  the  influence  of  atmospheric  agency,  and 
either  rested  for  their  support  on  a  very  small  point, 
or  became  detached  from  the  parent  column  altogether. 
It  is  thus  that  the  TrrrxBsroNB  Mountain  first  took  its 
name.  Nature  placed  the  stone  in  its  state  of  equilib- 
rium, and  the  art  and  craft  of  a  designing  Priesthood, 
made  use  of  its  singular  position  to  further  their  designs. 
Or  as  is  the  case  with  the  TirrBBsroNS  itself,  one  of  the 
nodules  through  disintegration  became  detached  from  the 

I  lib.  iiL  c  3.  Stakeley  says  (Stoneheage  Restored^  p.  50)  ''It 
Seems  this  word  Gf^gomus  is  purely  Celtic,  for  Gwingog  eapn&es 
moiUans,  the  rockiiig  stone;  and  dvyon  is  what  the  boys  with  ns 
eall  a  gig,  or  little  top."    Owmi's  Welsh  Diet  has  gtohig  a  motian. 


2S 

pillar,  and  aooidentaDy  fallifl^  upon  one  of  its  angles,  it 
was  immediately  endowed  with  the  power  of  rocking^ 
and  afterwards  became  of  suffieient  oelebrity  to  giye 
name  to  the  eminence  on  which  it  stands. 

The  sommit  <^  the  TrrnsBOTONB  is  encircled  by  aa 
agger  of  loose  stones  heaped  up  artificially  like  those 
upon  the  other  two  Clee^  HiUt.  The  enclosure  here  is 
by  far  the  largest  of  the  three,  but  the  Vallum  is 
inferior  to  that  round  Abdon  Burf  in  height,  as  well 
as  breadth.  It  measures  from  North  to  South  five 
hundred  and  sixty  yards,  and  from  East  to  West  ra- 
ther more  than  double  the  distance,  about  half  a  mile. 
Where  it  is  most  perfect,  which  is  on  the  South  West 
side,  the  internal  height  of  the  vallum  is  not  more  than 
six  feet,  and  the  external  fifteen.  At  the  East  North 
East  it  is  much  depressed  for  the  distance  of  a  hun- 
dred paces.  It  then  disappears  for  a  diort  distance. 
When  we  again  come  to  it,  it  is  still  lowered,  but 
twenty  feet  across  it.  The  original  entrance  is  twenty 
feet  wide,  and  lies  on  the  South  South  East  side  of 
the  hiU. 

The  object  of  the  works  upon  these  three  eminences 
was  the  same;  for  though  there  are  but  few  indications 
of  GiBCLES  upon  the  present  spot,  yet  what  actually  exists 
gives  sufficient  evidence  to  lead  us  to  this  conclusion. 
I  do  not  see  any  reason  against  supposing  that  these 
remains,  and  all  similar  ones,  such  as  enclosures  upon 
mountains  where  Carnes,  and  Cibglbb,  and  Cromlechs  are 
found,  had  a  twofold  intention.  They  were  partly  de- 
voted to  rdigums^  and  partly  to  sepulchral  uses.  If  we 
look  at  the  present  condition  of  our  places  of  worship, 
we  observe  both  these  objects  united,  and  a  temple  used 
for  sacred  purposes  is  generally  accompanied  by  a  i^t 
consecrated  for  the  sepulture  of  the  worshippers.  The 
same  custom  in  all  probability  prevailed  at  the  remotest 
period,  and  though  we  have  no  proofs  that  all  these  re^ 


29 

mams  were  alike  devoted  to  relig^oiis  ends,  yet  both 
Cbomlbchs  and  Cabnss  whenever  thoroughly  examined, 
have  indicated  a  funereal  occupation.  To  what  precnae 
object  the  Cibclbs  were  destined,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
All  that  we  can  positively  tell  about  them  is,  that  they 
abound  wherever  we  meet  with  the  two  other  kinds  of 
monuments,  so  that  let  their  purpose  have  been  what  it 
mi^t  the  three  cannot  be  separated.  It  seems  most 
natural  to  think  that  these  Cibclbb  had  either  a  religious 
or  a  sepulchral  application,  or  both  united.  Within  the 
enclosure  under  notice  there  is  additional  illustration 
afforded  to  strengthen  such  an  hypothesis.  We  see  for 
instance,  a  large  Cabnb  at  the  South  Ea^  point,  and 
another  still  larger  and  higher  at  the  West,  whilst  we  re- 
cognise the  broken  circumferences  of  three  or  four  Cibcles, 
c(Mupofled  of  smgle  stones,  and  nearly  forty  feet  in  di* 
9meter,  in  thdr  immediate  contiguity.  There  is  also  a 
singiilar  mound  two  yards  high  and  fifty  in  breadth, 
nearly  upon  the  loftiest  part  of  the  hill.  It  is  not  unlike 
Oaer  Br  An  Cattle  in  Sanered^  figured  in  Borlase^s  Natural 
History  of  Ciomwall,  p.  S46,  though  without  the  inter- 
nal circle  of  stones.  Originally  there  must  have  been 
a  vast  many  other  objects  <tf  the  same  nature  upon  the 
TiTTSBSTOifE,  which  are  now  covered,  and  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  in  the  course  <^  a  few  years  even  aU  these 
ramains  will  be  effiMsed  by  an  accumulation  of  tuif . 


J^ 


finimtivf^  .c^m* 


IxMBDiATKLT  At  the  South  Eastern  foot 
of  Oamdon  (a  lofty  mountain  on  the 
borders  of  Shropshire)  are  three  re« 
markable  monuments  at  no  great  dm- 
tance  asunder,  whose  erection  must 
be  ascribed  to  the  most  remote  an* 
tiquity.  Two  of  these  are  in  our  own 
county,  the  slight  remains  of  the  third,  are  a  few  paces 
out  of  it,  and  consequently  stand  in  MotitgtmeryMre. 
In  the  relative  position  of  these  monuments  to  each  other 
there  is  something  very  singular,  and  it  would  lead  an 
imaginative  person  to  consider  ihem  Draoontic 

If  we  take  the  remains  near  the  Mairsh  Pod  first, 
which  have  erroneously  obtained  the  designation  of  Hoar 
Stones^  but  which  for  the  sake  of  correctness  I  shall  dic^ 
continue,  and  term  the  Mabsh  Pool  CmcLB,  if  we  begin 
here,  at  the  North  West,  and  go  over  Btapehy  Hilly 
through  MrrcHinx^s  Fold,  and  thence  descend  to  the 
Whbtstonbs  which  lie  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  be- 
fore mentioned,  we  shall  have  proceeded  in  a  curved 
or  sinuous  line  for  the  distance  of  two  miles.  In  our 
course  we  have  the  three  monuments  in  question;  at 
one  extremity  a  Cibcle  consisting  of  thirty  two  upright 
stones  ranged  round  its  circumference;  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity, the  mutilated  fragments  called  the  Whbtbtonbs, 
and  upon  the  intervening  elevated  ground,  the  larger 
works  of  Mitchell^s  Fold  which  are  rather  more  than 
midway  along  the  curve.     Now  in  this  there  is  a  de- 


81 

gree  of  roBemblance  to  what  exists  at  Stanton  Drew, 
and  Aburt.  At  the  latter  place,  in  fact,  the  curva- 
ture of  the  avenue  of  approach  to  the  great  temples 
is  precisely  similar,  whilst  the  two  circles  there,  are 
surrounded,  as  this  is,  with  a  tallum  of  earth,  having 
its  /owe  within.  It  is  true  that  here  we  no  longer  see 
the  stones  on  each  side  forming  an  avenue  of  commu* 
nication  with  ths  Body  of  the  SerperU^  or  tiie  tlvo  temples 
upon  the  high  ground,  but  knowing  tiie  tendency  of 
stones  to  become  obliterated  by  moss,  to  sink  into  the 
soil,  or  then*  chances  of  destruction  from  the  wicked 
spirit  which  has  always  prevailed  among  ignorant  culti- 
vators of  the  land,  who  look  upon  them  with  no  higher 
feelings  than  utility  would  inspire,  and  who  recklessly 
make  them  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  building  some 
miserable  dwelling,  we  shall  not  be  at  a  loss  in  account^ 
ing  for  their  deficiency. 

Whether  this  was  ever  when  in  its  most  complete 
state  an  Ophite  hierogrcm^  must  continue  unknown  to 
ourselves  and  succeeding  ages.  That  it  was  designed 
with  a  religious  intention,  wiU  not  admit  of  a  doubt: 
though  the  precise  nature  of  the  solemnities,  and  the 
objects  of  adoration  the  worshippers  had  before  them 
toust  still  remain  veiled  in  perpetu^  darkness.  We  know 
that  the  hierogram  of  the  Sun  was  a  Oirde ;  the  temples 
of  the  Sun  were  Circular .  The  Arkites  adored  the  per- 
sonified ark  of  Noah ;  their  temples  were  built  in  the 
form  of  a  Ship.  The  Ophites  adored  a  Serpent  deity ; 
their  temples  flssnlned  the  form  of  a  Serpeni.  And  to 
come  more  home  to  our  own  times  and  feelings,  the 
Christian  retains  a  renmant  of  the  same  idea  when  he 
builds  his  Churches  in  the  form  of  a  Cbobs  ;  the  Oroa 
being  at  once  the  symbol  of  his  creed,  and  the  hiero- 
gram of  his  God\ 

*  OlMervBtions  on  Dmcontia^  by  the  Rev.  John  Bsthont  Deane, 
AichsoL  YoL  xxY.  ^  191. 


32 

That  the  monumeDtB  upon  Stapdey  HiU  were  devoted 
to  SerpmU  worskip  is  an  idea  that  iniut  rest  purely  f^9o» 
co9^eeture.  And  after  the  most  diligent  sifting,  and  care* 
fid  consideration  of  this  question,  we  are  in  possession 
of  little  beyond  it  to  offer.  To  a  certain  degree  these 
remains  are  conformable  to  those  temples  which  Stukeley 
a  century  ago,  and  Mr  Deane  at  the  present  day,  have 
with  much  erudition  and  ipgenuity  pronounced  to  be  of 
a  Drcuxmtian  nature.  Yet,  admitting  them  to  be  of 
this  kind,  we  are  still  unable  to  fill  up  the  Serpent^s 
form  entirely.  We  have  only  remaining  its  Heady  the 
Whetstones;  its  Tuil^  the  Mabsh  Pool  Cmcus;  and 
a  portion  of  its  Body^  Mitchbll^s  Fold,  to  supply  the 
hierogram.  The  VertebrcBj  or  Avenue  is  wanting.  K 
with  such  a  deficiency,  the  enquirer  can  recognise  Dra- 
oHH^iA,  he  vrill  be  well  repaid  for  a  visit  to  the  dreary 
and  impressive  region  where  these  mysterious  objects  are 
scattered.  Indulging  the  reflections  of  so  pleasant  a 
theory,  he  will  tread  with  lighter  steps  the  treacherouE 
surface,  and  be  enabled  to  bear  the  want  of  more  sub- 
stantial nourishment  than  that  which  ^'  chewing  the  cud 
of  sweet  or  bitter  fancies^^  supplies.  Should  he,  while 
seeking  for  these  highly  interesting  memorials,  see  a  suf- 
fici^it  degree  of  plausibility  in  this  hypothesis  to  enlist 
credulity  iu  its  favour, 

(Tuxpe  nee  est  tali  eredulitaie  capi) 
it  will  tend  materially  to  lessen  the  distance  of  a  long 
and  tedious  journey,  and  beguile  his  wanderii^  over  a 
district  that  is  imusually  wild  and  desolate;  while  the 
novel  and  pleasing  impressions,  which  such  scenery  and 
thoughts  stamp  upon  the  imagination,  vnll  requite  him 
for  the  enduranoe  of  toil  and  hunger. 

It  is  the  Soui  that  sees;  the  outward  eyes 
Present  the  object,  but  the  Mind  descries! 


fCfif  Wi^mumtf^ 


OB  Whbtbtonbs,  or  head  of  this  pre^ 
8umed  Ophital  Templb  (for  I  need 
scarcely  say  that  I  can  only  regard 
such  ilieories  in  the  light  of  agree- 
able fancies),  lie  at  the  foot  of  Oort^ 
don^  upon  the  Shropshire  side.  Thc^y 
are  so  close  upon  the  borders  of  this 
county  as  almost  to  be  in  it.  These  three  stones  were 
formerly  placed  upright  though  they  now  lean,  owing  to 
the  soft  and  boggy  nature  of  the  soil.  They  stand 
equidistant  and  assume  a  circular  position.  Originally 
they  evidently  formed  part  of  a  circle^  for  they  stand 
too  far  apart  to  have  ever  been  supporters  of  a  Oram- 
Uohy  even  if  their  actual  bearing  with  regard  to  each 
otiier  did  not  forbid  the  supposition.  The  highest  of 
these  is  four  feet  above  the  surface ;  one  foot  six  inches 
in  thickness,  and  three  feet  In  width.  Vulgar  tradition 
has  given  them  their  present  title,  though  without  any 
apparent  reason,  for  as  they  are  all  of  basalt,  they  would 
be  ill  adapted  to  the  use  the  common  acceptation  of 
their  name  implies.  Can  this  title  refer  to  any  thing 
sacrificial?  and  be  derived  from  the  G.  Brit,  gwasd  «a^fi, 
or  blood-stone  f  It  is  all  supposition,  and  the  utmost 
insight  we  can  obtain  is  slight  and  insignificant.  Our 
facts  are  so  few,  that  we  are  compelled  to  draw  upon 
the  imagination,  which  though  it  be  the  most  capti- 
vating, is  in  proportion  the  most  unsafe  antiquarian  guide. 
Let  us  see,  however,  how  far  etymology  will  serve  us  in 


34 


throwing  light  upon  the  objects  of  our  enquiry,  that  is, 
upon  these  and  such  as  are  in  their  immediate  vicinity. 

Stapeley  Hill  seems  properly  to  derive  its  name 
from  the  Islandic  Siapi^  Scopulus  prominens.  In  low 
Latin  Siaplus  means  a  tomb ;  the  Salique  law  uses  the 
word  thus,  ^'  Si  quis  aristatonem,  id  est,  Staplum  supra 
hominem  mortuum  coapulaverit  f^  this  definition  points 
to  something  tepulchral:  and  thus  we  have  StapUton^ 
in  Salop^  where  a  large  Tumulus  was  opened  a  few 
years  ago.  Another  signification  would  raider  it  a 
spot  where  merchandize  is  pitched,  a  public  place;  in 
the  Ripuarian  laws,  ordinances  governing  the  inhabit- 
ants on  the  shores  of  the  Rhine  ten  centuries  ago  at 
least,  Sta/d  denotes  a  citadel  or  royal  seat;  with  what 
stringency  these  derivations  bear  upon  the  existing  re- 
mains, the  reader  must  judge.  As  for  Mftchell'^s  Fold, 
two  surmises  may  be  offered.  The  first  would  dissolve 
the  word  into  the  A.  Sax.  middel-fold  quasi  Mitchell 
fold,  or  the  fold  lying  betwixt  the  Whetotones  and 
Mabsh  Pool  Cibcle;  the  other  would  connect  it  with 
the  C.  Brit,  mid^  an  enclosure.  Comdon,  in  C.  Brit, 
simply  signifies  a  dark  projection;  in  Celt,  it  signifies 
the  crowned  mountain,  from  Com  a  crown,  and  don  a 
mountain,  or  Com  from  Corny  a  heap  of  stones,  and  Bon^ 
on  high:  alluding  to  the  six  Cabnedds  on  its  summit. 
The  name  of  Dysgwylfa  underneath '  it,  denotes  a  look- 
out place.  Such  is  the  feeble  light  which  etymology 
throws  upon  the  different  objects  around.  With  what 
insuperable  difficulties  then  is  the  subject  beset.  Let  us 
turn  from  these  vain  and  unsatisfactory  speculations  and 
describe  what  we  can  really  see  in  another  quarter. 


*? 


^ 

^ 

^ 
'"t^ 
^ 
H 


35 

At  the  present  day  Mitchbll^s  Fold  oonsiistB  of 
fomteeB  stones;  ten  of  which  are  more  or  less  upright, 
and  fonr  of  them  lying  flat.  They  are  disposed  at  rm- 
equal  distances  in  an  irregular  circle,  which  is  ninety 
feet  from  North  to  South  and  eighty-five  from  East 
to  West.  When  the  brief  description  of  it  was  writ- 
ten, that  is  found  in  the  Addenda  to  CamdefCs  Briton^ 
ma',  none  of  these  stones  were  prostrate.  One  at  the 
Eastern  point  only  is  mentioned  as  inclining:  since 
that  period  it  has  fallen.  Though  there  be  two  or 
three  accidental  omissions  of  distance  between  some  of 
the  stones,  the  following  measures  may  be  received  on 
the  whole  as  conveying  an  adequate  notion  of  their 
relative  position.  If  we  allow  three  feet  for  the  average 
width  of  each  stone  at  its  base,  and  place  them  acord- 
ing  to  the  intervening  distance  between  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth,  five  feet  apart,  it  will  make  the  complete  circle 
consist  of  thirty  stones.  There  was  formerly  an  entrance 
on  the  Eastern  side,  where  the  stone  of  greatest  altitude 
now  remains'.     The  adjacent  one  on  the  Western  side, 

1  This  acooimt  is  as  follows.  "  The  greatest  diameter  is  ninety- 
one  feet  and  a  half,  the  shorter  eighty-six  feet  and  a  half."  (These 
measures  must  hare  heen  taken  from  exterior  to  exterior.  Mine 
which  were  careftilly  taken  with  a  hundred  foot  tape,  with  the 
aid  of  an  assistant,  rary  a  little  from  these  dimensions.)  "There 
Bie  fourteen  stones  remaining,  and  the  yacandes  require  thirteen 
or  fourteen  more,  a  is  six  feet  hieh;  o  is  as  high  hut  leana 
These  two  stones  ore  six  feet  distant.'^  (These  refer  to  the  eighth 
and  ninth  stone  in  my  plan.^  "The  next  in  size  is  i":  (this 
is  the  fourth  stone  in  my  plan);  "from  whence  is  a  pmpect 
westward  hetween  two  sloping  hflls  to  the  cultivated  part  of  the 
Long  mountains,  which  prospect  would  have  heen  lost  m  any  other 
situation  of  the  drde."  "  «r  is  a  stone  eiffhtv  yaxds  distant."  (See  this 
marked  in  the  plan  of  the  second  cirde.;  This  way  is  high  land 
of  Com  AUen  Foreet."  Camden's  Britan.  p.  634.  Unfortunately  tbs 
editor  does  not  say  when  or  from  whom  he  received  this  communi- 
cation.  The  legend  oa  the  spot  was  the  same  then  as  it  is  at  present. 

'In  a  letter  from  Barnes  Dncarel,  Esq.  to  his  hrother,  dated 
SbmoBbwjf,  May  11, 1752,  and  published  in  Nichols's  Literary  Anec- 
dotevl  md  the  finit  mention  of  these  antiquities.  He  says,  ''One 
Mr  Whitfield,  an  eminent  Surgeon,  and  a  good  scholar,  who  is  a 
man  of  good  fortune  in  this  town,  has  told  me  that  he  had  given 
a  friend  of  his  a  rough  draft  that  he  himself  took  of  Me^^lejfi 

S-2 


i 


now  flat,  was  leaning  when  Gough  received  his  account 
of  it,  but  when  Mr  DucarePs  informant  saw  it,  the  two 
served  as  sides  to  a  Portal  of  Entrance,  and  even  had 
one  lying  across  the  top.  These  losses,  and  most  likely 
more  important  ones  unrecorded,  have  happened  to 
MrrcHELL^s  Fold  within  the  last  eightynsix  years,  when 
the  spot  was  first  described.  The  decay  seems  to  have 
been  gradual,  and  we  are  happily  spared  the  pain  of 
noticing  that  it  has  sufiered  through  ignorant  and  wilfiil 
despoilers.  A  Vattum  originally  enclosed  the  whole,  evi- 
dent marks  of  which  may  be  seen  on  the  North  West- 
em  side. 

If  we  conmience  on  the  Western  side  of  the  circle 
the  existing  portions  of  it  appear  as  follow : 

No.  1  is  three  feet  high  and  four  wide:  distant  from 
2nd  twenty-one  feet. 
2  is  five  feet  high :  distant  from  3rd  forty  feet. 
8  is  leaning,  but  still  three  feet  above  surface, 
and  ten  feet  from  4th. 

4  is  flat. 

5  is  flat. 

6  is  four  feet  above  surface. 

7  is  much  depressed:  nine  feet  from  8th. 

8  is  five   feet  ten  inches  high,  formed  Northern 

Fold  above  two  yean  ago.  As  he  came  home  one  night,  he  fell 
in  amongst  the  stones  by  chance,  and  thinking  it  a  Druid  temple, 
letuzned  there  the  next  day  to  view  it,  when  be  was  confirmed  in 
his  opinion;  and  took  the  above  draft,  which  he  gave  to  a  friend 
to  do  out  neatly.  He  has  promised  me  a  copy  of  it,  if  his  friend, 
who  is  a  Lawyer,  has  not  thrown  it  away.  I  told  you  in  a  former 
letter  that  Kynaston  and  I  are  to  take  a  ride  to  see  it  when  he  has 
a  little  leisore,  as  we  must  lie  out  when  we  go."  Ltteraiy  Anec- 
dotes, voL  iv.  p.  621. 

Again,  in  June  the  8th  of  the  same  year,  he  says  '*  We  shall 
go  to  Medgley'i  Fold  shortly.  Whitfield  says,  your  upright  is  pretty 
true.  What  you  call  a  Portal  he  calls  a  Tribunal,  says  there  was 
a  stone  across  your  two  Portals,  like  those  of  Stone  Henge,  and  that 
the  stone  at  eighty  yards  distance  was  the  altar.  Some  of  the 
little  stones  on  the  East  are  almost  overgrown  with  moss  and 
giaoa."    lb.  p.  623. 


37 

Bide  of  Portal,  10  fouraided,  meaflures  two 
feet  two  incheB  on  two  sides,  eight  inches, 
and  one  foot  seven  inches  on  other  two  sides. 
It  is  six  feet  from  9th. 
No.  9  was  other  side  of  Portal :  is  prostrate :  is  thirty 
feet  £rom  10th. 

10  IS  two  feet  above  surface:   is  thirty-four  feet 

from  11th. 

11  is  two  feet  above  surface :  is  five  feet  from  12th. 

12  is  one  foot  high. 

13  is  large  and  prostrate:  there  are  marks  of  one 

having  stood  between  the  13th  and  14th  stone: 
from  13th  stone  to  14th  is  twelve  feet. 

14  is  two  feet  above  ground,  and  fifteen  feet  from 

the.  first  stone. 

There  is  a  Second  Cibcle  a. little  elevated,  and  hav- 
kig  its  centre  highest,  about  seventy  paces  to  the  South 
South  East,  of  the  great  one.  This  measures  seventy- 
two  feet  from  North  to  ScMitib,  and.  haa  seven  stones 
that,  vary  from  two.  feet  to.  one  foot  in  hei^t^  and 
are  four  feet  asunder,  which  distances  make  it  to  con- 
tain thirty  stones  like  the  other.  On  the  Eastern  verge 
of  this  circle  is-  a  very  large  stone  two  feet  above  the 
surface.  Thi»  must  be  that  figured  in  the  Addenda 
to  Camden,  I  imagine.  Faint  indications  appear  of 
a  Thibd  Cibcle  to  the  North  East  of  this,  but  the 
marks  are  so  slight  that  nothing  satisfactory  can  be 
made  out. 

The  whole  of  this  ground  is  traversed  in  several 
places  by  mounds^  which  have  every  appearance  of  being 
sonstructed  at  a  remote  period,  and  seem  to  be  coeval 
with  these  remains.  One  Vallum,  for  instance,  runs  for 
halt  a  mile  from  North  West  to  South  East;  it  is  four 
feet  high,  and  has  a  ditch  upon  each  ride  of  it.  Were 
there  no  other  reasons  for  ascribing  these  monuments 
to  a  period  of  the  highest  antiquity  and  connecting  them 


38 

with  services  of  a  reli^ous  character,  this  simple  fact 
would  of  itself  tend  to  shew  that  these  stones  were 
erected  for  a  sacred  purpose.  Thus  we  find  at  Aybbubt 
the  fo996  is  within  the  VaUwn.  And  I  was  informed 
by  the  late  Sir  Richard  Hoare  that  from  observations 
he  had  made  upon  several  British  works  in  WiUshire^  ike 
fone  within  the  Vattum  invariably  dietinffuiehed  a  reUgiaue 
teori  from  one  tiuxt  woe  military.  At  the  Arbowr  Laum 
in  Derbythire,  the  fosse  is  within  the  Vallum'. 

A  curious  tradition  has  prevailed  for  nearly  a  century, 
and  we  know  not  how  much  earlier,  respecting  MrrcH- 
BLL^B  Fold.  It  is  fabled  that  in  this  enclosure  ^^the 
Giant  used  to  milk  his  cow,  who  is  represented  as  being 
unusually  productive,  giving  as  much  as  was  demanded, 
until  at  length  an  old  crone  tried  to  milk  her  in  a 
riddle,  when  indignant  at  the  attempt,  she  ceased  to  yield 
her  usual  supply,  and  wandered,  as  the  story  goes,  into 
WarwuAshire^  where  her  subsequent  life  and  actions 
are  identified  as  those  of  the  Dun  Cow.'^ 

^  V.  Pegge  on  the  Arbour  Lows,  ArchsDoI.  voL  viL  p.  147. 


^ 


Circle  near  £|ieltir« 


It  may  consider  the  Cibglk  near  Shdve 
as  the  Northern  approach  to  the  more 
important  remains  on  Stapdey  Hill. 
It  lies  in  a  bop  about  half  a  mile  to 
the  North  West  of  the  new  turn- 
pike road  leading  from  Mintterley 
to  Bishop's  Castle.  The  nearest  place 
to  this  dreary  spot  that  bears  a  name  is  the  Marsh 
Pod,  The  stones  of  this  Cibcle  are  so  low  that  it  is 
difficult  to  see  them  until  you  approach  within  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  place  where  they  are  situated.  They 
have  obtained  a  wrong  title  in  tiie  Ordnance  Survey, 
(No.  Lx.)  being  called  Hoar  Stonb,  which  is  a  rem- 
nant of  early  ages  totally  different.  When  I  saw  them 
in  the  year  1838  there  were  thirty-two  single  stones 
remaining,  which  averaged  from  one  foot  to  two  in 
height  above  the  ground,  were  placed  five  asunder,  and 
disposed  in  circular  order,  round  a  ring  measuring  from 
East  to  West  seventy-three  feet,  from  North  to  South 
seventy-five.  Nearly  in  the  centre  stood  a  stone  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  surrounding  ones,  being  seven 
feet  in  circumference  and  four  feet  high.  Originally  the 
drcle  contained  at  least  four  more  stones ;  the  intelli- 
gent old  farmer  upon  whose  land  they  are,  whilst  as- 
sisting me  to  measure,  supposed  the  circle  when  perfect 
to  have  consisted  of  forty  stones.  I  could  not,  however, 
bring  them  up  to  more  than  thirty-six  ^     Beginning  due 

^  *  If  there  were  forty  stones  at  first,  the  number  will  oorres^nd 
with  the  number  in  the  circle  near  Keswick,  and  the  second  circle 


A 


40 

North,  we  find  the  finrt  five  gtonee  equidistant.  Be- 
tween the  fifth  stone  and  the  seventh  a  blank  oocurs  of 
twelve  feet.  This  will  allow  room  for  the  seventh  stone. 
In  like  manner  the  nitUky  Ji/iemth,  and  tkirtietk  are 
deficient.  All  of  these  stones  are  not  exactly  of  the 
same  size.  The  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  twentieth,  twenty- 
first,  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  are  larger  than  the 
rest,  being  four  feet  across  thehr  base,  and  two  feet 
above  the  surface.  The  Northern  stone.  No.  1,  is  a 
foot  high,  the  others  with  the  foregoing  exceptions,  vary 
fix>m  this  height  above  the  seil,  to  a  few  inches. 

at  Stone  Henge,  Stokeley,  Wood  and  Waltire  make  the  inner  pa- 
rabola of  Stme  Henge  to  oonaiat  of  nineteen  stones.  Four  drdes 
in  the  Hundred  of  Penmth,  ComwaU,  contain  also  nineteen  stones 
each:  to  mark  as  has  been  imagmed  the  two  principal  divisioDS  of 
the  year^  the  twelve  months,  and  seven  days.  (See  mrlase,  p.  191. 
Higgins'  Cdtic  Druids,  p.  240.) 


Ikitts^  $ertoti. 


V^5^' 


orarattattttf. 


IB  a  fact,  pretty  generally  under- 
stood, that  the  whole  of  that  part  of 
Enghmd,  bordering  upon  the  Princi- 
pality, was  the  chief  seat  of  conflict 
between  the  Britons  and  the  Romans  : 
though  it  is  not  so  universally  known 
that  the  most  prominent  eminences 
throughout  this  district  were  fortified.  There  were  fre- 
quent hostilities  between  the  Welsh  and  the  Anglo  Sax- 
ons, but  their  defensive  works  are  usually  small,  mere 
epaulements  of  a  circular  form,  single  ditched;  they  are 
chiefly  known  under  the  name  of  Rings,  whilst  on  the 
other  hand,  those  belonging  to  an  earUer  period  are  in- 
variably adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  eminence,  usuaUy 
isolated,  or  detached,  upon  which  they  are  found.  By 
far  the  greater  number  of  these  are  referable  to  a  much 
earlier  period  than  the  foregoing,  and  must  be  assigned 
to  the  Roman  era.  A  great  similarity  prevails  between 
all  of  them.  The  most  striking  feature  is  the  double 
agger  of  stones  surrounding  the  area  of  the  camp.  This 
system  grew  out  of  circumstances.  The  places  where  we 
meet  with  such  a  kind  of  fortress  are  chiefly  on  rocky 
or  stony  heights,  where  the  materials  for  its  construc- 
tion were  at  hand.  The  Romans,  on  the  contrary,  whose 
troops  were  better  disciplined  than  those  of  the  people 
they  invaded,  kept  in  the  valleys  as  much  as  possible; 
they  naturally  preferred  the  plain  from  a  fear  of  being 
entangled  in  the  mountains.     There  was  there  an  absence 


48 

of  the  material  which  the  Britons  rendered  available  for 
the  purposes  of  shelter  and  protection  on  the  heij^ 
above:  and  consequently,  while  tiiey  formed  rampires  of 
stcHiesy  the  Romans  in  turn  built  tibeiis  of  earth.  This 
is  particnlariy  shewn  in  the  entrenchments  at  N(»dy 
Bank  ;  Norton  Camp  ;  Brandon  Gamp,  &c.,  &c.  And 
the  reverse  is  to  be  seen  on  the  Wrekin;  the  two 
Cabb  Cabadoob;  the  DrrcHNs;  Tonglbt  Hill;  Bubbough 
Hill;  Hbn  Dinas,  8sc.,  &c. 

By  far  the  larger  number  of  these  fortifications  are 
to  be  found  on  those  sides  of  Shropshire^  and  Hereford-^ 
shirs^  which  trench  upon  Wales;  and  this  fact  serves 
to  confirm  the  account  left  us  by  the  most  impartial  of 
Roman  Historians,  that  his  countrymen  in  the  Conquest 
of  Oreat  Britain,  met  with  the  greatest  resistance  in 
this  quarter.  » 

The  transactions  of  the  period  have  attracted  the 
notice  of  several  writers,  so  that  it  would  be  but  mere 
repetition  to  pass  them  in  review  again.  The  subject 
has  excited  the  attention  of  Antiquaries  and  Poets, 
and  recced  almost  every  degree  of  illustration,  re* 
condite  and  fanciful,  of  which  it  is  capable,  and  there- 
fore I  shall  not  enter  into  a  detailed  account  of  this 
portion  of  British  History.  As  bearing  upon  Shropshire 
particularly,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  notice  that  nearly  a 
century  after  Jtdius  Ceesar  first  landed  on  the  English 
Coast,  Aulus  Plautius  and  Vespasian  were  occupied  in 
reducing  the  country  south  of  the  Thames^  for  althon^ 
CsBsar  nominally  conquered  Britain,  he,  in  reality,  left  it 
only  with  the  reputation  of  having  first  shewn  it  to  his 
countrymen.  These  two  generals  were  employed  seven  years 
in  bringing  this  district  into  subjection.  And  they  had  no 
sooner  succeeded,  than  during  a  temporary  absence  the 
adjacent  tribes  overran  the  newly  conquered  country. 

When  Ootobiits  Scapula,  their  successor,  was  ap- 
pointed PropraBtor  he  found  things  in  great  disorder. 


i 


44 

The  unsubdued  tribes  had  made  war  on  those  in  alii- 
anoe  with  Rome,  not  supposing  that  the  new  general 
would  oome  out  against  them  at  the  very  moment  of 
his  arrival,  at  the  beginning  of  winter,  and  mih  a  body 
of  troops  to  whioh  he  was  but  reoently  appointed.  Such, 
however,  was  the  case:  for  he  displayed  the. greatest 
promptitude  and  decision,  marching  at  once  with  such 
an  army  as  he  had,  cutting  to  pieces  all  those  who 
opposed  him,  pursuing  the  fugitives,  and  effectually  pre- 
venting their  reassembling.  Suspicious  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  was  acting,  he  was  unwilling  to  trust 
to  a  dangerous  and  uncertain  peace;  and  feeling  con-, 
vinced  that  whilst  this  would  allow  rest  to  the  enemy, 
and  enable  them  to  recruit  their  forces,  he  should  be 
less  able  to  contend  with  them  afterwards,  he  prepared 
to  disarm  the  nations  whom  there  was  reason  to  dis^ 
trust,  and  to  draw  round  them  a.  line  of  Camps  betwe^ 
the  Avon  and  the.  Severn. 

Those  nations  who  fluctuated  betwe^i  war  and  peace 
were  immediately  awed  by  his  defeating  the  Iceni.  He 
next  turned  his  airms  against  the  Canoi,  whose  terri- 
tories be  completely  ravaged.  This  brought  his  army 
dose  upon  the  sea;  but  before  he  could  pursue  his  wm^ 
quests  Southwards  he  was  recalled  by  a  revolt  among 
the  Bbioantbs.  After  the  slaughter  of  a  few  who  had 
taken  up  arms  against  the  Roman  power,  this  tribe  pu- 
sillanimously  submitted  to  servitude.  But  neither  severity 
or  conciliation  had  any  efifect  upon  the  Silukes,  a  war- 
like race,  who  dwelt  in  the  South  Western  district  of 
the  Principality,  against  whom  his  next  operations  were 
directed.  This  tribe,  exasperated  at  the  threat  of  Clau- 
dius that  he  would  utterly  exterminate  them,  as  he  had 
already  done  the  Sicambri,  fought  with  a  degree  of 
bravery  and  determination  that  checked  for  a  length- 
ened period  the  progress  of  the  Roman  arms.  Besides 
trusting  to  their  peculiar  ferocity,  they  reposed  great  con^ 


45 

fidence  in  the  valour  of  Caradoo,  or  Caragtacub,  their 
chief.  Prudently  aviuling  himself  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  countiy  so  as  to  make  up  by  this  means  the  undis- 
ciplined state  of  his  troops,  he  transferred  the  war  in- 
to the  country  of  the  Ordovicbs,  where  being  joined  by 
those  who  mistrusted  the  Roman  alliance,  he  at  once 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis^     He  posted  himself  upon 

>  As  the  paaaage  in  Tacitus  that  refers  to  these  events  is  of  import- 
ance^  I  shall  place  it  before  the  reader.  He  will  immediately  see  that 
I  have  not  attempted  a  literal  translatiofn,  my  object  haring  been  to 
confine  myself  as  much  as  possible  to  a  use  of  the  facts  which  it 
embodies. 

At  in  Britannia  P.  Ostorimn  propnetorem  tutbids  res  excepeie, 
effosis  in  agnim  sodomm  hostibus,  eo  violentins,  quod  novum  ducem 
exercitu  ignoto,  et  ccepta  hieme^  iturum  obviam  non  rebantur.  lUe 
gnarus  primis  eventibus  metnm  aut  fiduciam  gigni,  citas  oohortes 
rapit:  et  cesis  qui  restitenmt^  diagectos  consectatus,  ne  nusus  cou- 
globarentur,  infensaque  et  Infida  pax  non  dud  non  militi  requiem 
permitteret;  detrahere  anna  snspectis^  dnctos^ue  castris  Antonam  et 
Sabiinam  fluvios  cohibere  i>arat.  Qnod  pximi  Iceni  abnuere,  valida 
sensy  nee  prceliis  contnai^  quia  societatem  nostram  volentes  aocesserant, 
bisque  auctoribus  cireumjectiB  nationes  locum  puj^nts  delegere  septum 
agresti  aggere  et  aditu  angusto^  ne  pervius  equiti  foret  £a  muni- 
menta  dux  Romanus,  quamquam  sine  robore  legionum  sodales  copiaa 
dnoebaty  peirumi)ere  aggreditur,  et  distributis  cohortibus,  tnrmas 
quoque,  peditnm  ad  munia  aocmgit  Tunc  dato  signo  perfringnnt 
aggerem,  suisque  daustris  impeditos  turbant.  At^ue  iUi  consdentia 
rebellionis^  et  obseptis  effugiis,  multa  et  claira  facmora  feoere.  Qua 
pugna  filius  legati  M.  Ost<mus  servati  dvis  decus  meruit.  Ceterum 
dade  loenorum  oompositi  qui  beHum  inter  et  pacem  dubitabant :  et 
ductus  in  Cangos  exerdtus.  Vastati  agri^  prsedae  passim  actse ;  non 
ausis  adem  hostibus,  vd  a  ex  occulto  carpere  agmen  tentaient,  pu- 
nito  dolo.  Jamque  ventnm  baud  procul  mari^  <|uod  Hibemiam  in- 
sulam  aspectat;  cum  orte  apud  Bngantes  discordise  retraxere  ducem, 
destinationis  certum,  ne  nova  moliretur,  nisi  prioribus  firmatis.  Et 
•Brigantes  quid^n,  pauds  qui  arma  oceptabant  interfectis,  in  reliquos 
•data  veniay  residere.  Sihirum  gois  benlum  exerceret,  castrisque  le- 
siouTun  premenda  foret.  Id  quopromptius  veniret,  colonia  Cama- 
fodunum  valida  vetenmorum  maau  dedudtur  in  agroB  captives,  sub- 
sidium  adversus  lebelles,  et  imbuendis  sociis  ad  omda  legum.  Itum 
inde  in  Siluras,  super  propriam  ferodam,  Caractad  virions  oonfisos: 
quern  muHa  ambigna,  multa  piospera  extnlerantyUt  ceteros  Britan- 
norum  imperatores  pnemineret.  tsed  tum  astu  locorum  f rande  prior, 
vi  mjlitum  inferior,  transfert  helium  in  Ordovicas,  additisque  qui 
paoem  nostram  metuebant,  novissimum  casum  experitur;  sumpto  ad 
proelium  loco,  ut  aditus,  abscessu^,  cuncta  nobis  importuna,  et  suis 
•m  melius  essent.  Tunc  montibus  azduis,  et  si  qua  clementer  acoedi 
poteranii  in  modum  valli  saaai  prsestruit:  et  pnefluebat  amnis  vado 


46 


ft  0pot,  to  which  the  approach,  and  from  which  the  re- 
treat were  as  advantageous  to  himself,  as  unfavourable 
to  the  enemy.  The  more  accessible  parts  of  the  emi- 
nence were  surrounded  with  a  rampart  of  stones,  and  at 
the  base  flowed  a  river  with  a  shifting  ford.  The  lead- 
ers went  round  to  animate  and  encourage  their  troops 
before  the  onset,  diminishing  their  fears,  magnifying 
their  hopes,  and  using  such  incitements  as  the  occasion 
prompted.  Caractacus  himself  passed  rapidly  from  one 
to  another  along  the  ranks  stationed  upon  the  works, 
ur^g  them  to  remember  that  the  actions  of  that  day 
would  be  to  them  either  the  conmiencement  of  recovered 
liberty,  or  of  eternal  servitude.  He  recalled  to  them 
the  names  of  their  forefathers  who  had  expelled  the 
Dictator  Caesar,  and  by  whose  valour  their  own  lives 
had  been  preserved  from  the  axe  imd  from  tribute,  and 
their  wives  and  children  from  pollution.  This  speech  of 
the  British  Chieftain  was   answered  by  an  universal  ac- 

iDoerto^  catervaqne  m^orom  pro  mmuineiitiB  oonstiteniit.  Ad  hoc 
gentium  ductoree  ciicumiie,  hortari^  finnare  aminos,  minaendo  metn, 
aooendenda  spe,  aliisque  belli  indtamentis.  jE^umyero  Canctacus  hnc 
illuc  Yolitans,  iilum  diem,  iUam  aciem  tutabatur  out  redperaniee  Kber- 
tatU,  out  iervUtUU  mtema  initiumfore:  vocabatque  nominA  majorum, 
^i  dktatorem  dBsarem  pepuHueni :  quorum  virtute  aaeui  a  aecurihui 
€t  tribuUg,  intemeraia  oonjugum  et  Hberarum  corpora  retmereni.  Hcc 
ati^ue  talis  dicenti,  adstiepere  vulgua;  gentili  quiaque  leligione  ob- 
atnngi,  mm  teHs,  turn  fmlneribus  cesntros,  Obstapeiedt  ea^  alacritaa 
dnoem  Romanum :  simul  objectus  amms,  additum  yallnm,  imininen- 
tia  juga,  nihil  nisi  atrox  et  propngnatoribus  frequens,  tenebat.  8ed 
miles  prcelium  poaoere,  cuncta  virtute  expugnahUia  damitaie,  pne- 
fecdque  ac  triboni  paiia  differentes,  ardorem  exerdtus  incendebant. 
Turn  Ostorios,  dicumspectis  quae  impenetnbilia,  qnteque  pervia, 
dudt  infensos,  amnemque  hand  difficulter  evadit.  Ubi  ventum  ad 
aggerem,  dum  missilibns  oertabatuTy  pins  vnlnerom  in  nos,  et  plerc- 
que  cedes  oriebantor.  Posteaqoam  facta  testndine,  ludes  et  infoimes 
saxomm  oompages  distracte,  paique  oominus  ades,  deoedeie  Barbari 
in  jnga  montium.  Sed  eo  quoque  irrupeie  ferentarius  gravisque 
miles:  illi  telis  aasnltantes;  hi  oonferto  gradn,  tnrbatis  contra  Bri- 
tannorum  ordinibns,  i^ud  quoe  nulla  loricarum  galeammve  teg- 
mina:  et  si  auxiliaribus  resisterent,  ^ladiis  ac  pilis  legionariorum ; 
d  hue  verterent,  spathis  et  hastis  anziliomm  sternebantur:  dara  ea 
victoria  fiiit,  oaptaque  uxoze  et  filia  Caractad,  fraties  quoque  in 
deditionem  accept!.    Tadt  Ann.  xii.  30—6. 


47 

chunation  from  the  aoldieiy,  who  bound  themaelveB  by 
the  most  golemn  forms  of  their  religion  never  to  yield 
to  woundfi  or  weapons.  Such  determined  alacrity  struck 
the  Roman  general  with  astonishment;  whilst  the  river 
before  him,  with  the  rampart  and  the  heights  above 
bristled  with  warriors,  presented  a  fearful  scene  to  en- 
counter. His  troops  became  impatient  for  the  assault, 
crying  out  that  ^^  every  thing  may  be  overcome  by 
valour,'"  whilst  the  prefects  and  tribimes  uttering  the 
same  sentiments  increased  the  enthusiasm  of  the  ranks. 

Ostorius  having  reconnoitered  the  ground  to  ascer- 
tain which  parts  were  inaccessible,  and  which  pervious, 
led  on  his  troops,  and  without  difficulty  forded  the  river. 
When  they  reached  the  rampart,  and  only  threw  their 
darts  at  a  distance,  the  Romans  had  great  disadvantage, 
but  after  they  had  dosed  their  ranks,  and  placed  their 
shields  over  their  heads  so  as  to  protect  them  whilst 
scaling  the  rough  agger  of  stones,  tearing  down  the 
rampart,  and  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  the  enemy,  they 
obliged  them  to  seek  for  safety  by  flying  to  the  tops  of 
the  adjoining  mountains.  The  light  and  heavy  armed 
soldiers  pursued  them  thither,  the  former  attacking  them 
with  their  spears,  the  latter  in  a  body,  till  at  last  the 
Britons,  without  armour  or  helmets  to  protect  them, 
were  thrown  into  disorder.  If  they  resisted  the  auxili- 
aries, they  were  cut  to  pieces  by  tiie  swords  and  spears 
of  the  legionaries;  and  if  they  turned  against  them,  they 
were  hewn  down  by  the  broadswords  or  pierced  by  the 
javelins  of  the  auxiliaries.  The  wife  and  daughter  of 
Caractacus  were  captured,  but  the  valiant  chief  himself, 
who  had  so  long  been  a  terror  to  the  Romans,  escaped 
to  the  Brigantes,  hoping  to  find  protection  under  their 
queen,  Gartismandua.  This  wretched  woman,  however, 
immediately  put  him  in  fetters  and  basely  delivered  him 
up  to  their  mutual  enemy.  We  are  told  that  the  same 
magnanimity    that    signalised    him    in    prosperity,    was 


48 

equally  oonspieaoufl  in  hk  misfortunes,  shewing  that  a 
truly  great  man  knows  both  how  to  resist  and  to  sub- 
mit. His  subsequent  fate,  and  undaunted  oondnet  when 
brought  i)efore  his  conquerors  in  the  capitol,  are  events 
identified  not  merely  with  the  history  of  Great  Britain, 
but  associated  with  every  feeling  which  is  noUe  and 
exalted  in  human  nature.  His  name  is  transmitted  to 
posterity  without  a  cAain;  and  the  greenest  wreath  of 
gloiy  that  can  encircle  the  brows  of  any  Patriot,  will 
seem  but  withered  in  the  eyes  of  an  impartial  enquirer 
when  he  contrasts  it  with  that  bestowed  by  histoiy 
upon  Cabactacds. 


-M 


THE  SUPPOSED  SCENE  OF  ENGAGEMENT  BETWEEN 
THE  TWO  ARMIES. 


■vi-i'\\.  places  have  been  mentioned  by 
janitors  as   the  scene  of  Caractacus^ 
final  defeat :  but  some  of  them,  from 
not  having  seen  the  spot  they  fix  upon, 
mid  others  from  being  led  away  by  a 
rianie,  have,   I  think,  perpetuated   a 
yiir^take  concerning  its  true  position. 
Before  presenting  the  reader  with  my  own  views,  I  shall 
endeavour  to  weigh  fairly  those  of  preceding  writers,  by 
which  means  he   will  better  be   able  to  form  a  correct 
judgement  of  what  has  been  advanced.     Camden  \  who 
had  never   seen   Cabr  Caradog,   a  strongly   entrenched 
fort  betwixt   Knighton  and  Clun^  draws  his  information 
from   Humiry  Lhuyd,   a  learned   antiquary   and  Welsh 
scholar  of  his  own  time,  who  had  visited  it.     The  latter 
writer  narrates  in  what  he  modestly  entitles  a  Fragment 
of  a  little  Commentary  descriptive  of  Britain^,  that  whilst 
he  was  travelling  in  the  retinue  of  his  patron,  the  Earl 
of  Arundel,  on  the  borders  of  Shropshire,  where  he  had 
ext^isive  possessions,  he  came  upon  a  place  strongly  for- 
tified by  nature  and  art;  it  was  situated  upon  the  table 

*  It  b  reported  in  the  Principality  that  Camden  never  penetrated 
further  into  North  Wales  than  CoTtoen,  where  being  taken  for  a  spv, 
he  was  so  insulted  by  the  Welsh,  that  it  put  a  stop  to  his  travels. 
Yorkt^s  Royal  Tribes  of  Waleg,  p.  102. 

'  Gommentarioli  Britannicae  descriptionis  Fragmentum.  Auotore 
Humfredo  Lhuyd^  Denhyghiense,  Camhro  Britanno.  12nio.  Colonise 
Agripmnse  1572,  p.  28.  This  valuahlc  little  work  seems  to  have  been 
publisned  after  ^e  author  s  decease. 


60 


laad  of  ft  lofty  mountain,  and  surrounded  with  a  triple 
yallum  and  very  deep  ditches :  there  were  three  corres- 
ponding gates  of  entrance  placed  obliquely  towards  each 
other,  precipices  on  three,  and  rivers  on  two  sides;  it 
was  bounded  on  the  left  by  the  Clun,  on  the  right  by 
the  TemSj  and  accessible  only  on  one  part.  The  in- 
habitants informed  him  that  the  place  was  called  Gabr 
Cabadog,  that  is,  the  Citt  of  Garadoc,  and  that  for- 
merly great  battles  had  been  fought  there  against  a 
certain  king  named  Caractacus,  who  at  last  was  con* 
quered  and  taken  by  his  enemies.  When,  therefore, 
continues  my  author,  I  behold  this  place  on  the  borders 
of  the  Silures  and  Ordovices,  for  it  is  scarcely  two  miles 
distant  from  the  castle  of  Clun^  and  moreover  find  it 
agreeing  most  exactly  with  the  description  of  Tacitus^ 
I  am  bold  enough  to  affirm  that  nothing  is  wanting  %i 
complete  the  proof  that  this  must  be  the  identical  spot 
where  Ostorius  contaided  with  Caractacus,  and  defeated 
him. 

There  is  so  much  appearance  of  probability  in  this 
account,  that  any  one  who  had  never  seen  the  locality, 
would  naturally  believe  this  must  be  the  very  spot. 
Added  to  which,  there  seems  an  undesigned  plausibOity 
in  the  tradition  itself,  deserving  notice,  inasmuch  as  it 
existed  at  a  period  when  knowledge  derived  from  the 
dead  languages  was  far  less  widely  spread  than  it  is  at 
the  present  day:  printing  had  scarcely  been  invented  a 
century  before  Lhuyd  published  his  book,  and  in  the 
wild  and  remote  district  where  he  gathered  his  informa- 
tion, the  peasantry  must  have  learned  the  story  tra- 
ditionally. It  was  a  point  of  history  upon  which  it 
cannot  be  supposed  men  had  then  been  taught  to  spe- 
culate. A  certain  degree  of  credibility  may  be  attached 
to  this  legend,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  it  ought 
to  have  some  weight  in  influencing  the  conclusions  that 
are  drawn.     For  the  fact  of  there  being  camps  at  two 


51 

otb^r  plaoes  that  bear  the  sasw  name  does  not  tend  to 
difiprove  the  pretenaons  of  the  one  before  us,  unless  it 
cin  be  shewn  that  mmilar  traditions  existed  there  at 
the  same  early  period  \  That  it  was  a  British  entrenob- 
ment,  and  one  t>f  those  oeou{Hed  by  the  braye  defender 
of  his  country,  thare  is  not  the  sli j^test  reason  for  doubt- 
ing. Whether  its  claims,  however,  are  as  prominent  as 
they  have  be^i  represented  will  appear  upon  investi- 
gating  the  aotoal  topography.  And,  when  we  trayd 
through  the  wild  and  picturesque  scenery  with  whidi 
this  part  of  the  country  is  divenrified,  we  cannot  help 
expressing  our  surprise  that  the  learned  Csnfarian  should 
have  committed  00  many  errars.  For  so  striking  a  dis- 
crepancy exists  between  the  real  and  the  recorded  state 
of  the  situaticm,  that  we  are  driven  lo  conclude  either 
timt  Tacitus  has  exaggerated  the  importance  of  the 
river  he  speaks  of  as  presenting  a  formidable  obstnio- 
tion  to  the  Roman  forces,  confounding  it  perhaps  with 
the  Severn^  fourteen  miles  distant,  or  else  that  our  author 
has  not  seen  the  precise  place  the  historian  mentions. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
account  of  what  Lhuyd  actually  saw  is  not  strictly  cor- 
rect. The  disftance  from  Caeb  Casadoc  to  Cflun  is  double 
that  at  which  he  sd^s  it,  and  there  are  two,  not  three 
gates  of  entrance  into  the  irregularly  oval  area  of  the 
camp.  Die  ascent  to  it  can  scarce^  be  deemed  pre- 
cipitous, because  by  the  absence  of  craggy  rocks  and 
rolling  stones,  it  partakes  more  of  the  character  of  an 
extremely  elevated  down,  than  of  such  a  nigged  and 
inaccessible  eminence  as  that  described.  It  is  certainly 
a  veiy  fine  and  commanding  position,  standing  as  a  cen- 
tre of  communieation  for  all  these  BoBnsR  FoBTRBfiSBs; 
and  though  pent  in  among  mountains,  yet  it  raises 
its  fortified  head  lar  above  the  nei^bouring  summits. 

^  Caer  Caradoc,  near  Churt^  StreUon,  and  Caer  Caradoe  near  Set* 
Me,  HerefifrdMn,  {Craddot^)  m  the  Oidnaaoe  Siinr^. 


52 

The  Eastern  side  of  the  camp  ia  that  moat  difficult 
of  approach,  and  accordingly  on  this  aide  less  labour 
has  been  employed  to  make  it  defensible.  From  the 
North  and  North  Western  sides  three  different  fosses 
and  valla  die  away  to  the  others.  The  entrances  were  at 
the  North  Eastern  and  Western  sides.  The  Clun  men- 
tioned by  Lhuyd,  is  a  small  brook  three  miles  distant 
firom  the  base  of  the  momitain,  too  far  off,  and  too 
insignificant  to  attract  notice ;  whilst  the  Teme  which 
runs  through  Knighton  ai^  nearly  the  same  distance  is 
aIso  too  inconsiderable  a  stream  to  present  the  least 
obstruction  to  an  invading  army. 

Thus  then  the  case  stands  with  regard  to  Caer  Ca- 
RADoc.  We  see  in  it  an  undisputed  example  of  British 
castrametation.  Unquestionably  it  bears  the  name  of  the 
British  chief,  and  is  associated  traditionally  with  his  ex- 
ploits. But  beyond  this  there  is  no  further  evidence  to 
support  its  pretensions.  The  absence  of  the  river  at  its 
base  seems  to  me  quite  decisive  that  it  is  not  a  spot 
which  can  be  at  all  reconciled  with  the  Latin  historian'^s 
account  of  the  scene  of  engagement. 

Aubrey,  I  believe,  was  the  first  individual  who  spoke 
of  CoKWALL*  Knoll  m  connexion  with  the  campaign  of 
Ostorius.  Bishop  Gibson  must  have  derived  his  know- 
ledge of  the  place  either  from  Aubrey's  Monumenta 
Britannica,  or  from  Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Shropshire 
in  1663^.  It  is  first  alluded  to  by  these  writers,  though 
they  all  so  strangely  confound  it  with  Caer  Caradoc, 
that  it  is  rather  doubtfid  whether  any  of  them  could  have 
seen  either  of  the  places.  At  all  events,  what  they  state, 
and  the  whole  that  can  be  gathered  from  the  latest  edition 
of  Camden,  do  not  put  the  subject  in  any  new  or  valu- 
able light. 

'  There  is  a  CaanoaU  Weod  in  WUUhire.  The  present  name  is 
derived  I  conceive  from  the  C.  Brit,  ytgod,  sylva,  and  gwUy  vallum. 
(See  Remarks  under  Cockshut.) 

'  Camden  Britannia,  edit  Gongh,  vol.  iii.  p.  13. 


53 

General  Roy  had  compiled  the  greater  portion  of  his 
elaborate  work  on  the  Military.  Antiquities  of  the  Bomans 
in  Great  Britain,  before  he  heard  of  the  existence  of 
these  two  hill  fortresses.  It  is^  to  be  regretted  he  did  not 
penetrate  further  into  the  country  when  he  visited  it  in 
the  summer  of  1772,  for  being  dissatisfied  with  the 
claims  of  both  of  these  positions,  his  knowledge  of  mili- 
tary tactics,  and  his  scholarlike  attainments  would  haye 
enabled  him  to  decide  where  the  true  one  lay.  He  con- 
sidered that  Caer  Caradoc  in-  no  respect  suited  the  relation 
of  the  Roman  Historian^  and  thai  OoxwaU  Knott  only  cor^ 
responded  with  it  in  some  points^.  In  the  autumn  of  1837  I 
visited  them  both,  and  the  result  of  my  investigation  tends 
to  the  same  conclusion.  They  are  both  British  works  of 
defence,  but  beyond  this  circumstance,  their  claims  are 
highly  problematical. 

CoxwALL  Knoll  is  not  in  itself  so  commanding  and 
important  a  position  as  the  Britons  usually  chose;  nei- 
ther is  it  marked  by  the  acclivities  and  precipitous 
descents  with  which  they  are  generaUy  chiuracterised. 
It  is  an  oblong  eminence,  containing  about  twenty  acres, 
of  no  very  great  altitude  above  the  surrounding  plain, 
girt  by  double  mounds  and  ditches,  which,  according  to 
constant  custom,  foHow  tiie  natural  outline  and  fall  of 
the  hill.  However,  there  is  one  peculiarity  that  makes 
this  work  remarkable,  and  totally  unlike  any  other  ex- 
ample of  castrametation  in  the  whole  chain  of  these 
BoRI^R  FoBTs'. 

'  Roy,  p.  171. 

'  The  same  festuxe  is  observable,  in  the  lam  encampment  of 
Hamiltoh  Hill,  which  is  not  much  unlike  tne  present  one  in 
shape,  though  vety  considerahly  larger,  being  in  fact  the  most  ex- 
tenaiye  specimen  of  castrametation  in  Engknd.  It  lies  a  little 
more  than  six  miles  South  of  Shaftesbury.  It  is  surrounded  by 
ihe  ditches  and  is  betwixt  ^ye  and  six  furlonffs  from  North  to 
South.  Hod  Hill  is  about  a  mile  finom  the  former,  the  whole 
camp  is  defended  by  three  ditches,  having  the  highest  point,  which 
is  quadrilateral,  enclosed  by  four  other  valla.  They  are  two  very 
Baagnificent  and  remarkable  examples  of  early  fortincation. 


54 

Here  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  remark,  that  the 
eommon  prinoiple  of  htying  out  eutrenchmentB  waa  ex- 
tremdy  aimple.  A  utuation  having  been  fixed  upon, 
most  commonly  very  elevated,  insulated,  and  naturally 
advantageous  to  its  possessors,  the  ground  was  then  en- 
circled with  double  fosses  and  valla.  These  were  inva* 
riably  adapted  to  the  precise  nature  of  the  situation, 
and  as  often  dispensed  with,  as  the  locality  oflered  any 
defence  in  itself.  Yet  here,  we  find  a  sort  of  double 
camp,  as  though  one  part  had  grown  out  of  the  other. 
Thus  the  East  end  is  of  an  inregular  semicircular  form, 
partly  in  consequence  of  the  devious  outline  of  the  hill 
on  its  Eastern  and  Northern  sides  r  the  West  end,  or 
larger  part,  is  a  well  proporticxied  ellipse,  separated  from 
the  other  by  a  fosse  of  great  depth,  which  seems  like 
a  natural  ravine.  It  serves  now  as  a  boundary  line  be- 
twixt Herrfordahire  and  8hropakir«.  The  summit  of  the 
eminence  having  been  planted  for  several  years,  it  has 
become  difficult  to  trace  the  works  with  satisfaction  and 
accuracy.  As  far  as  I  could  make  them  out,  double 
ditches  went  from  the  Southern  to  the  Northern  side  of 
the  first  mentioned  division;  whilst  its  Western  side  had 
the  natural  fall  to  which  allusion  has  aliready  been  made. 
The  second  division  had  a  double  ditch  on  the  South- 
em,  and  a  treble  ditch  oa  ihe  Northern  side.  A  pur- 
ling rivulet  which  precedes  the  traveller  with  its  music, 
and  continually  sparkles  before  his  eyes,  as  he  passes 
down  the  narrow  and  secluded  valley  underneath  the 
Western  base  ef  the  Gaer,  runs  three  quarters  of  a 
mile  from  the  foot  of  Coxwall  Knoll;  but  it  is  here 
a  mere  brook  undeserving  of  notice.  The  Teme^  which 
flows  nearly  the  like  distance  under  the  opposite  banks, 
is  little  larger;  it  is>  in  fact,,  so  shallow  and  inconsider- 
able a  stream,  that,  unless  iii  times  of  flood,  it  could 
never  have  presented  the  least  barrier  to  marching  troops. 
It  hurries  over  a  gravelly  or  stony  bottom,  in  which  there 


55 


•re  not  a  dozen  plaoee  to  be  found  in  the  oourae  of  » 
mile,  below  the  overluuiging  encampment,  where  it  would 
be  impracticable  to  ford,  whilst  these  places  are  merely 
holes  worn  into  the  bed  of  the  river  by  the  action  at 
some  extraordinary  rush  of  water. 

We  will  now  examine  the  military  advantages  of 
the  fort.  And  as  respects  these  little  more  need  be  said: 
for  it  has  afaready  heea  proved  by  two  writers,  who 
have  had  practical  experience  in  the  science  of  war,  to 
possess  but  few^  Tacitus  expressly  states  that  the  po- 
sition occupied  by  the  Britons  was  every  way  favorable 
to  them,  and  disadvantageous  to  the  Romans^  The 
spot  under  notice  will,  therefore,  hardly  suit  his  de- 
scription, being  perfectly  insulated,  which  would  render 
it  impracticable  for  the  Britons  to  secure  a  retreat. 
And  had  they  been  surrounded  here  by  victorious  Ro- 
mans, as  is  suggested  by  one  of  the  foregoing  authori- 
ties, they  could  not  have  escaped  into  the  mountams. 
Yet  we  know  they  did  so;  for  although  their  valiant 
chief  was  subsequently  betrayed  through  the  treachery 
of  a  depraved  woman  who  ruled  over  the  Brigantes,  his 
iubjects  prosecuted  the  war  for  a  considerable  time  after^ 
wards. 

On  the  other  hand,  Coxwall  Knoll  is  but  three 
miles  from  Bbandon  Camp,  which  is  evidently  a  work 
of  Roman  construction.  If  it  were  built  at  the  same 
period,  it  is  not  improbable  that  Ostorius  having  pene- 
trated thus  far  into  the  territory  of  the  Silures  would 
entrench  himself  in  this  latter  position,  from  whence  he 
could  best  watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy,  and  press 
as  closely  as  possible  upon  their  rear.  Allowing  this  to 
have  its  iuU  weight  in  the  argument,  it  only  proves  that 
the  one  is  a  Roman  and  the  other  a  British  work,  which 

^  General  Roy  and  Mr  MarchiBcm. 

'  Smnpto  ad  prcslium  looo,  ut  aditus  abmxutu,  cnncta  nobit 
impoTtana,  et  suis  in  melius  esBent 


56 


no  one  who  has  ever  examined  thefle*  two  kinds  of  for- 
tifications will  be  disposed  to  deny. 

There  is  a  circumstance,  however,  of  a  difierent  kind, 
not  undeserving  attention,  which  serves  to  shew  that  the 
capip  of  CoxwALL  Knoll  had  suffiared  from  assault  at 
sometime.  An  intelligent  farmer,  ^o  cultivated  land  a 
few  years  ago  neariy  adjoining  the  place,  shewed  to  a 
friend  of  the  author's  several  round  stones  that  had  been 
found  in  the  ditches  of  the  encampment.  They  were 
quite  of  a  difibrent  geological  character  to  any  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  therefore  decisive  as  to  the  point 
that  the  attacking  party  brought  them  with  them,  and 
did  not  find  them  on  the  spot.  Some  of  them  are  stated 
to  have  had  a  groove  ropnd  them,  as  if  they  had  been 
thrown  from  a  mangonel  or  balista,  but  these  my  in- 
formant did  not  actually  see^  It  does  not  appear  to 
me  that  this  fact  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  reconcile  the 
topographical  difference  existing  between  the  situation  of 
the  Camp,  and  the  narrative  of  Tacitus.  And  so  long 
as  this  discrepancy  continues  we  must  seek  further,  and 
Qx  the  engagement  at  another  place'. 

Accordingly,  when  Mr  Murchison  was  gathering  firom 
the  geology  of  this  district  those  new  and  valuable  facts^ 
with  which  he  has  since  enlightened  the  scientific  worid, 
his  attention  became  naturally  drawn  to  the  subject,  and 
he  immediately  perceived  the  unsuitableness  of  Coxwall 
Knoll  for  Garactacus  to  fix  upon  it  as  his  chief  position. 
He  thence  argues,  that  if  the  battle  were  fought  on 
the  North  bank  of  the   Teme^  as  has  hitherto  been  re- 

1  I  feel  a  pleasure  in  again  recordinff  here  a  sense  of  mv  obliga- 
tions to  the  Rev.  John  Rocke^  who  fumiuied  me  with  these  racts. 

'  The  Rev.  Thomas  Dimcumb,.  in  his  Histoiy  of  Her^fbrdMr^ 
persists  in  advocating  the  claims  of  CoxwaU  KnoU,  although  so  much 
argument  had  been  brought  against  it  by  General  Roy.  C^uld  this  be 
because  part  of  it  lay  in  the  county  he  was  describing  ?  See  p.  12 — ^16. 

'  These  are  embodied  in  a  vety  magnificent  work  in  two  quarto 
volumes,  under  the  title  of  ''The  Silurian  Svstem/'  that  are  an  eur 
during  monument  of  his  perseverance  and  talent 


57 

puted,  it  may  have  commenced  at  Hollowat  Rocks, 
two  miles  below  Knighton  in  BadnarsAire^  from  which 
place  the  Britons  were  ultimately  driven  to  Gabr  Gara- 
Doc,  where  their  leader  was  captured.  The  opinion  of 
a  gentleman  who  is  better  acquainted  with  the  whole  of 
this  region  than  any  one  living,  in  consequence  of  having 
personally  examined  it  from  one  extremity  to  the  other, 
must  be  deserving  of  great  attention. 

Yet  it  may  be  remarked,  that  if  the  Teme  at  Cox- 
wall  Knoll  was  not  thought  of  sufficient  importance  to 
attract  the  historian'^s  notice,  it  would  present  still  fewer 
claims  two  miles  higher  up,  where  five  tributary  streams 
that  flow  into  it  in  the  intervening  distance  have  not  joined 
their  waters,  and  consequently,  it  must  there  be  a  much 
liiallower  brook.  Nor  does  it  seem,  in  my  judgement, 
very  probable  that  the  Romans  would  choose  just  such 
a  place  as  this  to  make  their  attack.  They  would  hardly 
fix  themselves  under  precipitous  rocks,  (upon  which  by 
die  way  there  are  no  vestiges  of  fortification)  when  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  higher  up  the  current,  where  Stow 
MiU  at  present  stands,  they  would  have  to  contend 
against  fewer  difficulties,  by  marching  their  troops  up  a 
valley.  A  second  objection,  applying  in  an  equal  degree 
to  idl  of  the  foregoing  positions,  may  be  urged  against 
the  Cfeography. 

We  are,  it  is  true,  in  very  great  uncertainty  about 
the  exact  divisions  of  territory  at  this  early  period. 
There  are  but  few  places  that  can  be  positivdy  identi- 
fied throughout  the  country  with  the  Itineraries,  and  it 
is  quite  impossible  to  define  the  precise  limits  of  the 
various  tribes  of  the  CoRNAvn,  Silurbb  and  Ordovioeb 
with  accuracy.  All  we  really  know  is,  that  Deva  and 
Urioconium  are  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  as  the  chief  cities 
of  the  CoRNAvii,  the  former  of  which  is  Chegter^  the 
latter  Wroxeter.  The  kingdom  of  Siluria  is  supposed 
by  Cellarius  to  have  contained  within  it  the  whole  West- 


58 


em  angle  of  8<mih  WoIm^  Btreiohiiig  from  the  Iritk  Bea 
to  the  S&wm^.  It  was  again  subdivided  betwixt  the 
SiLUBBs  and  the  Dembtjb,  or  inhabitants  of  Oiiermarihen' 
$kire  and  Pembroke.  The  cities  of  the  former  are  said, 
on  the  rather  doubtful  authority  of  Richard  of  Ciren- 
cester, to  have  been  Arioonidm,  (JZom,  according  to 
Fosbrooke,  or  Herrferd^  Camden)  ;  Magna  {Kencheeter) ; 
IscA  SiLOBUM  (Ccierleon);  Gobannium  {Aberganenny);  and 
Vbnta  Silubum  {Ca0rwen£)y  their  capital.  To  these  have 
been  added  by  Antoninus,  Burrium  (Usk);  and  Bovium 
(Bewrion).  Ptolemy  mentions  Bvlljrvm.  {CaeieU  Curt  Lie- 
ehrhyd)^  near  BuiUh.  The  same  writer  places  Branoo^ 
NiuM,  or  the  Bravonium  and  Bravinium  of  Antoninus 
among  the  Cornavii,  and  as  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
this  being  Brandon  Camp,  because  it  exactly  agrees  with 
the  alledged  distances  in  the  Itinerary,  it  would  bring 
the  seat  of  war  among  the  Cobnavii,  and  remove  it  al- 
together, both  from  the  Silures  and  the  Ordoviges. 

The  utmost  insight  obtainable  into  the  Boman  Oeo- 
graphy  of  this  period,  that  shall  be  at  the  same  time 
devoid  of  speculation,  is  that  Siluria  comprises  ihe 
district  where  Bose^  Kencheeter^  Abergavenny^  Caerwent^ 
Caerleon^  and  Builth,  are  situated,  and  that  it  extended 
6x>m  these  places  to  Cardigan  and  St  Bride's  Bay'\  The 
Eastern  boundary  of  the  province  is  solely  conjectural, 
only  what  the  fancy  of  any  writer  chooses  to  imagine. 
We  have  not  the  least  intimation  in  the  authorities  of 
the  period  what  constituted  the  line  of  demarcation  be- 
tween the  Silures  and  the  Cornavu,  we  know  not  whether 
it  was  fluvial  or  mountainous.  The  former  idea  is  per- 
haps the  more  preferable,  for  this  reason,  that  although 
the  Teme  be  but  an  insignificant  river,  especially  above 
Ludlow^  yet  the  forenamed  places  all  respectively  lie  on 

*  Cellarii  Notitiae  Orbis  antique :  edit.  Schwartz^  4to>  1773.  torn.  i. 
p.  341,  2,  3. 

'  PUnii  Nat.  HiBt.  lib.  It.  c.  16. 


59 

tbe  Wesiem  side  of  it.  If  the  Wj/e  be  fixed  on,  JTm- 
eketter  will  not  be  oomprehMded  within  the  oountry  where 
Raohmrd  of  Cirencester  places  it.  Let  the  question  of 
these  boundAries  be  settled  how  it  may,  it  will  still  be 
difficult  to  prove  that  Ck>xwAix  E^NOixor  Casr  Caradoc, 
1ms  among  the  Ordovigbb,  and  consequently  neither  of  these 
spots  can  be  reconciled  with  the  historian's  narrative. 

Under  the  assumption  tiien,  that  none  of  the  aigu- 
meats  adduced  by  preceding  writers  bear  with  sufficient 
force  upon  the  account  left  us  by  Tacitus,  and  that  not 
any  of  his  commentators  on  this  transaction  have  brou^t 
the  Roman  Oeneral  far  enough  into  the  country  to  reach 
the  Ordovigbs,  we  must  press  onwards  to  the  North, 
under  a  hope  of  finding  the  true  site  of  the  battle 
there,  premising,  however,  that  the  Britons  had  been 
driven  from  the  district  we  are  now  leaving.  And  that 
it  had  been  debated  as  it  were  inch  by  inch,  and  most 
severely  contested,  iluiy  be  inferred  from  the  numerous 
camps  and  tumuli  whidi  still  mark  its  surface  through- 
out. We  follow  these  brave  warriors  6x>m  height  to 
height,  and  see  them  no  sooner  expelled  from  one  strong- 
hold than  defending  another;  we  behold  them  retreating, 
disorganised,  disabled;  with  wounds  still  fresh  and  bleed- 
ing from  recent  combat,  yet  bearing  in  their  bosoms  a 
devoted  love  of  country  which  neither  disasters  or  defeats 
could  subdue.  The  fortune  of  war  is  adverse;  the  place 
of  action  is  changed,  but  the  same  courage  continues  to 
animate  the  besieged. 

But  where  must  the  scene  then  of  this  celebrated 
action  be  fixed!  The  question  is  a  difficult  one  to 
settle,  and  whoever  attempts  its  solution  must  exercise 
caution.  After  three  different  visits  into  the  oountry 
already  mentioned,  I  felt  convinced,  for  the  reasons 
already  given,  that  the  pretensions  of  these  camps  could 
not  be  maintained,  and  deeming  it  with  General  Roy,  not 
improbable  that  the  true  locality  might  be  found  above 


60 

the  banks  of  the  Sewm^  I  examined  them  at  the  close 
of  last  autmnn  with  this  object  speciaUy  in  view. 

The  fortifications  which  then  appeared  to  be  most 
entitled  to  attention  were  those  on  the  Breidden.  The 
Severn  rolls  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  North 
Western  base  of  this  magnificent  range  of  hills,  and 
upon  three  of  them  vestiges  of  fortifications  may  be 
still  distinctly  traced.  The  one  upon  which  Rodney*8 
Pillar  is  erected  is  nearest  to  the  river;  this  is  ^e 
loftiest,  and  the  works  upon  it  are  also  the  strongest^ 
There  are  entrenchments  upon  two  others,  Cefyn  y 
Gastell,  and  Bauslet  Hill,  which  will  demand  notice 
as  being  connected  with  these,  but  their  description 
shall  be  deferred  to  a  later  paragraph. 

My  journey  hither  from  Oswestry  lay  through  a 
country  replete  with  memorials  of  its  early  history.  The 
first  place  that  attracted  notice  was  the  picturesquely 
situated  little  village  (^  Lkmymynech^  which  has  been 
supposed  to  signify  the  Village  of  Miner8\  to  which  ap- 
pellation it  has  not  perhaps  forfeited  its  claims  since  the 
days  of  the  Romans.  As  the  traveller  journeys  akmg 
this  beautiful  part  of  the  Welsh  Borders  he  will  be 
much  struck  with  the  bold  escarpment  of  Limestone 
rock  overhanging  the  little  hamlet  below  him,  diversi- 
fied as  it  is  by  neat  white  dwellings,  and  with  the  rich- 
ness of  the  empurpled  plain  that  stretches  towards  the 
BREmDEN  on  his  left.  It  is  in  truth  a  countiy  singu- 
larly lovely,  possessing  every  feature  that  can  constitute 

*  The  Ooo,  or  Cave  at  Uanymynechy  was  a  mine  worked  by  the 
Romans.  About  1755^  a  few  minens  in  search  of  copper  ore^  found 
several  skeletons  within  it.  There  were  culinary  utensils^  and  a 
number  of  Roman  coins,  Antoninus,  Faustina,  and  others,  discovered 
near  them.  One  e^eleton  had  a  bracelet  of  glass  beads  like  those 
Druidical  rings  called  ghin  neider,  the  ova  anguinum  of  Pliny,  around 
his  left  wrist,  and  a  battle  axe  by  his  side.  Fifteen  years  after  this 
first  discovery  some  other  miners  found  several  human  bones,  and  a 
golden  bracelet.    Camb.  Rea.  vol.  i.  p.  265  and  271. 

Two  iron  pickaxes  of  the  Roman  workman  have  also  been  found 
here,  which  are  now  in  ^e  Free  School  Library,  Skrembwry, 


61 


a  magnifioent  landscape.  It  is  no  wonder  if  soldiero 
hitherto  accustomed  to  the  more  tame  and  monotonous 
scenery  of  the  country  lying  betwixt  the  Avon  and  the 
Severn,  should  have  felt  inspired  with  fresh  hopes  of 
conquest  when  this  glorious  view  broke  upon  their  sight. 
Whether,  however,  they  first  beheld  it  as  invaders  or 
conquerors  we  will  now  proceed  to  enquire. 

On  the  South  Eastern  side  of  the  Brbidden  there 
are  two  walls  of  stone  heaped  up  after  the  fashion  which 
has  BO  often  been  described.  They  are  ^^  dry  work^^  and 
evidently  artificial.  Similar  indications  appeared  on  the 
South  Western  end  of  the  summit,  but  as  it  has  been 
planted  for  some  time,  it  was  impossible  to  follow  them 
with  certainty.  Below  these  two  works,  which  are  visi- 
ble for  seventy  yards  firom  North  to  South,  the  attention 
is  drawn  to  a  sudden  fall  of  the  hill,  which  though  in 
great  measure  natural,  has  been  augmented  in  some  de- 
gree by  manual  labor.  It  presents  a  steep  face  about 
thirty  feet  high,  tiU  it  terminates  at  the  South  West- 
em  end,  a  space  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  yards,  or 
thereabouts.  The  whole  of  the  Northern  side  of  this 
eminence  is  nearly  perpendicular,  which  will  sufficiently 
explain  why.  no  lines  of  circumvallation  ar^  to  be  seen 
in  that  quarter. 

Having  made  a  sHght  descent  from  the  height  just 
mentioned,  we  come  upon  a  bold  conical  eminence,  nearly 
turfed  over,  that  bears,  I  believe,  the  name  of  the 
Nkw  Pieces,  on  the  North  Western  side  of  which,  are 
remains  of  two  irregularly  shaped  enclosures.  The  up- 
per one  is  nearly  quadrilateral,  having  its  sides  a  hun- 
dred and  ten  paces  long:  the  lower  one  is  a  small 
s^nioircular  work  shewing  indications  like  the  preceding 
one  of  stone  aggera,  which  go  round  its  South  Eastern 
base.  Each  of  these  works  is  constructed  with  stones  piled 
up  after  the  British  method.  Faint  indications  of  past 
occupancy  are  distinguishable  also  in  several  other  places. 


62 

Before  reaohing  the  next  positioii)  we  have  to  make  a 
considerable  descent,  and  then  agam  to  climb  up  the  steep 
sides  of  an  eminence  nearly  as  lofty  as  the  finst,  when 
we  gain  the  enclosure  upon  the  top  of  Cefn  y  CAnvLL. 
This  is  a  stronghold  adapted  to  the  shape  of  tiie  hill; 
it  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  paces  wide  in  the  centre,  where 
three  large  stones  protrude  themselves  throu^  the  sur- 
face, and  about  two  hundred  Icmg.  The  gorges  are  at 
the  North  Elastem  and  South  Western  ends.  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  single  vallum  whose  interior  slope  at  the 
parts  where  it  is  most  perfect,  does  not  exceed  six  feet 

The  remaining  post  is  on  the  sunmiit  of  Baubley  Hill, 
a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  North  East  of  Cefn  y  Caotbll. 
This  yet  continues  in  a  very  perfect  state.  The  Eastern  side 
is  BO  precipitous,  that  there  is  no  need  of  artificial  means 
to  strengthen  it.  Its  shape  resembles  the  longer  half  of 
an  ellipse,  and  measures  only  twenty-five  paces  across  it, 
its  length  not  being  double  that  distance.  The  opposite 
or  Western  side  has  two  concentric  ditches  as  it  were, 
which  have  a  counterscarp  of  about  ten  feet  each. 

I  have  been  thus  minute  in  describing  these  several 
places  that  the  reader  may  be  enabled  to  form  some  idea 
of  their  relative  size  and  importance.  With  the  exception 
of  the  works  at  the  New  Pieces  which  lie  immediately 
under  the  crest  of  the  Brbiddbn,  the  two  others  are  so 
far  removed  that  they  cannot  be  considered  as  forming 
a  portion  of  the  whole.  Bausley  Hill  lies  almost  two 
miles  from  the  rest;  it  is  wholly  unconnected  with  them, 
and  like  Cefn  y  Castell  must  be  assigned  to  a  different 
period'.  The  two  fortresses  whose  claims  we  have  to 
deal  with  are  the  BiiEmDBN  and  the  New  Pibcbb. 

In  assuming  that  the  BREmoEN  is  the  precise  lo- 

>  In  the  Elegy  of  Lomarchus  on  Cadwallon,  king  of  the  Britons, 
the  Doet  sam  that  his  anny  encamped  on  Havren  or  the  Severn,  'and 
on  the  farther  side  of  Dygen,  which  perhaps  means  one  of  these  po- 
sitions  on  the  Breidderu  (See  Pugh's  TranslatioB  of  Uywarc  Hen. 
p.  113.)  ^  ^ 


63 

eality  of  the  retreating  olueftaiii''8  last  strugjg^e,  an  objeo- 
tion  at  once  presents  itself  which  is  difficult  to  answer.  If 
it  can  be  removed,  then  this  historical  question  may  be 
set  for  ever  at  rest.  The  uncertainty,  nay,  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  accurately  defining  boundary  lines  of  Ro- 
man geography  has  already  been  alluded  to.  How  is 
it  posttble  for  us  to  tell  exactly  where  the  Silurbs  were 
divided  from  the  Cobnavii,  or  where  each  of  these  in 
turn  were  separated  from  the  Ordoviceb.  We  only  know 
for  certain,  that  some  cities  which  have  been  mentioned 
belonged  to  the  two  former,  and  that  SsGONnuM,  Go- 
Noviuif,  Varis,  and  Mbdiolanum  belonged  to  the  latter. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Dee  constituted  their  boundary 
in  one  part,  and  the  Northern  source  of  the  Sewm  in 
another,  but  even  then,  a  vast  extent  of  country  is  left 
open  to  be  claimed  by  further  conjecture.  Deva  and 
Urioconium  were  cities  of  the  CoRNAvn ;  and  following 
the  same  species  of  induction  as  that  just  laid  down, 
it  would  seem  most  likely  that  the  whole  extent  of 
Champagne  country  from  the  Severn  and  the  foot  of 
the  Welsh  Borders  up  to  Ckeeter  in  the  North,  belonged 
to  the  CoRNAvii.  Now  we  know  that  after  Ostorius  had 
subjugated  the  Silurbs  he  went  against  the  Ordovicbs, 
if,  therefore,  he  had  to  cross  the  Severn  under  the 
Brbiddkn,  this  would  have  brought  him  into  the  country 
of  the  CoRNAvii,  whilst,  if  he  had  been  among  the  Si- 
lurbs or  Ordovicbs,  as  Tacitus  infers  that  he  was,  the 
river,  according  to  our  present  knowledge  of  geography, 
would  have  been  on  the  wrong  side  of  him  to  afford 
any  obstruction  in  his  attack  on  the  Britons. 

There  is  still  another  place,  hitherto  unnoticed,  that 
presents  very  well  founded  claims  to  take  pre-eminence 
of  all  the  foregoing.  It  lies  immediately  above  the 
Western  banks  of  die  Severn  near  Llandinam  in  JbTofBl- 
gamerj/Mre.  Several  circumstances  concur  in  leading 
me  to  think  that  after  all,  this  place  which   is  called 


64 


CBin  Carnbdd  may  be  the  true  poBition  of  Caracta- 
cus^  final  battle.  The  geography  which  has  created  so 
great  a  difficulty  in  solving  the  question  heretofore, 
is  now  free  from  any  objections.  As  far  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  aecertain  from  the  few  data  we  possess  what 
formed  the  country  of  the  Ordovices,  there  is  every  ar- 
gument in  favour  of  considering  the  whole  of  the  district 
North  of  this  part  of  the  Secern^  as  being  theirs.  The 
river  is  sufficiently  large  to  have  arrested  the  progress 
of  an  army,  and  it  must  have  been  crossed  before  an  at-' 
tack  could  be  made  upon  the  spot  under  notice.  There 
are  numerous  British  entrenchments  in  the  vicinity,  such 
as  DiNAS,  Prn  t  Oaer,  Pen  y  CAerrELL,  Pen  y  Clyn, 
Cefn  y  GiiOddia,  &c.,  besides  the  Roman  one  of  Gabr 
SwB,  a  mile  from  the  base  of  Cefn  Carnedd. 

Cefn  Carnedd  adapts  the  figure  of  its  entrench- 
ments to  the  shape  of  its  own  sumnut  which  is  a  very 
elongated  parallelogram,  about  five  hundred  paces  long 
and  two  hundred  broad,  the  angles  being  rounded.  It 
is  fortified  with  a  single  vallum  on  the  North  Western, 
and  with  a  double  one  on  the  North  Eastern  side,  from 
which  quarter  the  attack  upon  its  possessors  would  be 
made.  Roman  pottery,  coins,  and  other  remains  have  fre- 
quently been  found  at  Caer  Sws,  whilst  two  roads  con- 
structed by  this  conqueror  further  tend  to  shew  that  the 
Romans  planted  themselves  here.  And  what  is  more 
likely  than  that  having  gained  a  victory  on  the  spot,  they 
should  choose  the  scene  of  their  glory,  as  the  one  of  all 
others  most  agreeable  as  a  habitation  for  the  colonists! 

I  merely  throw  out  these  remarks  conjecturally, 
hoping  that  some  one  who  has  opportunity  may  be  in- 
duced to  examine  this  last  mentioned  position  more 
carefully  than  I  can  now  do:  and  as  the  place  in  ques- 
tion lies  close  on  the  high  road  from  Shrewdmry  to  the 
agreeable  watering-place  of  Aherystfcith^  an  investigati<m 
may  be  made  without  much  difficulty. 


THS  CHAIN  OF  CAMPS  ERECTED  BY  OSTORIUfi 
CONSIDERED. 


PON  examining  the  country  North- 
wards of  the  junction  of  the  Upper 
Avon'  with  the  Severn  at  TetcksB^ 
bury^  we  must  immediately  be  con- 
vinced that  the  WarwictsAire  Avon 
cannot  be  the  river  mentioned  by 
Tacitus.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
Warwickskire^  Staffordshire^  and  WorcesterMre^  on  the 
Eastern  side  of  the  Severn  there  is  a  singular  deficiency 
of  earthworiLS.  Several  considerable  eminences  mark 
these  counties,  positions  in  themselves  so  favorable  for 
defensive  occupation,  such  for  instance  as  Cle&ve  HiU^ 
the  Ckn^  and  Rowley  HiUt,  the  Liciey,  &c.  &o«  that 
had  the  inhabitants  here  been  suspected  by  Ostorius,  he 
would  not  have  neglected  to  av^  himself  of  the  na- 
tural advantages  offbred  by  the  country.  We  do  not  in 
fact,  meet  with  any  vestiges  of  entrenchments  NorUir 
wards  of  the  spot  where  the  two  rivers  alluded  to  unite, 
until  we  reach  Brinklow  on  the  Northern  borders  of 
Warwicbkire^.     Whether  this  extraordinary  fortress  be 

>  The  early  xeadinff  was  Auiona,  and  auppoaed  to  be  the  Nen, 
bat  as  the  oouzae  of  wis  river  would  in  no  way  rait  the  maroh  of 
Ostorins^  it  was  corrected  into  Auwma,  or  the  Avon,  Several  Welsh 
streams  have  this  title^  though  none  of  them  are  of  rafficient  im- 
poitanoe  to  merit  attention;  either  the  Upper  or  the  Lcfwer  Avon, 
the  one  flowing  through  the  county  of  Wartoiek  and  the  other  through 
SomerteUkire  must  be  the  stream  Tacitus  alludes  to.  The  Awtoit 
or  Teei,  is  too  much  to  the  South. 

'  In  making  this  assertiony  I  however  oudbt  to  say^  that  there 
exists  a  circular  encampment  on  Bsausall  Commox,  whose  area 


66 


of  Britwh  or  Roman  construction  I  will  not  now  en- 
quire, seeing  that  it  lies  too  remote  and  isolated,  and 
too  little  connected  with  any  regular  line  of  fortifica- 
tions to  be  assignable  to  the  period  under  discussion. 
Proceeding  Westward  we  meet  with  nothing  whatever 
until  we  reach  the  centre  of  Shropshire.  The  first 
work  observed  here,  is  the  British  stronghold  on  the 
summit  of  the  Wbekin.  It  would  be  needless  to  follow 
the  course  of  the  Setem  higher,  inasmuch  as  whatever 
military  works  exist  in  this  direction,  were,  (with  a  few 
exceptions,  noticed  in  another  place,)  constructed  by  the 
natives. 

We  are  therefore  driven  to  inspect  the  renuiins 
existing  between  the  Lower  Avon  and  the  Severn,  and 
the  indications  presented  in  this  quarter,  tend  to  shew 
pretty  evidently  that  it  was  this  district  that  Ostorius 
fortified ^     The  A^ion  rises  at   Tetbury  in  Gloucestershirej 

contains  about  six  acres.  Looking  at  the  plan  of  it  with  which  I 
am  fitvonred  by  Sir  Henry  Dryden,  Bart.,  it  is  in  part  double 
ditched. 

Besides  this,  I  have  examined  a  quadrangular  camp  of  mndi 
smaller  dimensions  at  Chesterton  on  the  Fosw,  ax  miles  South 
£ast  of  Zjeamin^Um;  the  Roman  pretensions  of  which  are  indis- 
putable. On  one  of  my  visits  thither,  I  brought  away  some  coins 
of  the  Lower  Empire,  just  turned  over  by  the  plough  in  the  vi- 
dnitir. 

The  small  work  at  Wapekbury,  North  East  of  Leamh^Um, 
beffldes  lying  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Avon,  is  too  insignificant 
to  attract  notice.  I  believe  this  and  the  chief  of  the  smaller 
Wdrwidcshire  earthworks .  to  have  been  possessed  by  Romanized 
Britons. 

About  two  miles  North  of  the  junction  of  the  Upper  Awn  with 
the  Severn  is  a  quadrangular  encampment,  apparently  Roman,  called 
TowBURT  Hill;  on  Bredok  Hill,  and  a  little  to  the  East  are 
two  huge  irregular  works  with  a  smaller  one  a  mile  to  the  Souths 
these,  with  one  on  Oxexton  Hill,  lie  completely  detached  from 
the  great  range,  and  must,  I  imagine,  be  unconnected  with  this 
campaign. 

*  Mr  Bloxam  seems  to  think  that  Ostorins's  Chain  of  Gamps 
conHnenoed  at  Brinkhw,  and  went  hence  due  South  to  the  Samer- 
eetMre  Avon*.  My  reason  for  dissenting  from  his  opinion  is  this. 
Supposing  BrhMw  to  be  the  Northern  Bnk  of  these  fortresses,  we 
are  compelled  to  travel  as  far  as  Bredok  Hill,  or  Oxevtok  Hill 

•  AmtaUtt,  ifoL  W.  p.  185. 


67 

and  afterwards  flows  Southwards  in  a  parattd  direotion 
with  the  Sewm  till  it  reaches  Bath^  when  it  bends  to 
the  North  West.  In  the  country  lying  between  these 
two  rivers  there  are  numerous  encampments,  some  of 
them  of  considerable  magnitude.  The  principal  one  lies 
most  Northemly,  and  from  this  point  we  will  trace  them 
Southwards. 

The  first  position  that  comes  under  our  notice  is 
Ulet  Burt,  an  unusuaQy  large  camp,  in  the  shape  of 
a  parallelogram,  double  ditched,  a  mile  East  of  Dursley. 
Dbakbstonb  Camp  on  SHneheomb  Hilly  and  Blackbnbubt 
DrrcHss,  a  small  triangular  work,  on  an  eminence  North 
of  WboUan  Underedge^  come  next  in  the  group.  Nine 
miles  due  South  of  Ulbt  Bubt,  on  a  high  ridge  of  land 
communicating  with  the  preceding,  is  a  small  semi-ellip- 
tical work  known  under  the  title  of  Horton  CAflrrLB.  A 
mile  still  more  Southward,  on  the  same  eleyated  line, 
we  find  a  spacious,  double  ditched  quadrangular  encamp-* 
ment  at  Little  Sodburt.  This  and  Ulbt  Burt  are  the 
chief  fortresses  in  the  range.  The  Eastern  side  of  this 
ridge  as  far  as  Langrtdge^  a  distance  of  nineteen  miles^ 
is  comparatively  a  plain  country,  but  the  Western  side 
is  for  the  most  part  very  steep.  The  chief  of  the  works 
along  it  are  as  considerable  as  any  met  with  in  other 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  from  these  facts  it  may  be 
inferred  without  dispute  to  be  the  ground  Ostorius  chose 
for  his  defensive  chain. 

Three  miles  and  a  half  South  of  Ltttle  Sodburt 
Camp,  the  Turnpike  road  from  PuMechurch  to  Netdetan 

near  CheUenham,  the  nearest  of  which  places  is  upwards  of  forty 
miles  in  a  straight  course  from  Brinkhw,  before  we  meet  with  an- 
other camp,  and  from  thence  to  Ravburt  Camp  upwards  of  twenty 
miles  East  of  Cireneeater,  before  we  come  to  a  third;  this  besides 
would  carry  us  quite  too  £sr  to  the  East  How  much  more  then, 
if  we  go  from  Brinkhw,  to  Nadbubt  Caxp,  as  he  proposes,  on 
the  borders  of  Chefcrd^tin?  I  put  Meon  Hill  in  tnc  South  of 
WarwidcMre  out  of  the  question,  because  no  appearance  of  ram- 
parts exist  on  this  summit  though  weapons  have  been  found  there. 

5-2 


68 

pwHCB  through  an  irregular  semi-oirottlar  camp  on  the 
top  of  HiNTDN  Hiix ;  and  two  miles  East  we  meet  with  a 
yery  small  quadrangular  epaulement  on  Hsbdovn  Down. 
Five  miles  Southwards,  inclining  a  little  to  the  East,  we 
oome  upon  the  most  extreme  link  of  the  diain,  at  the 
irregularly  triangular  smgle  ditched  fortress  upon  Littlb 
Salisbury  Hill,  scarcely  a  mile  from  the  Avon,  and  not 
two  from  the  city  of  BnUk;  making  a  distance  from 
due  North  to  South  of  upwards  of  twenty  miles,  wheie 
are  found  eight  fortresses^  which  lying  betwixt  the  Avon 
and  the  Sewmy  completely  agree  with  the  narratiye  of 
Tacitus. 

Approachmg  the  latter  river,  numerous  vestiges  of 
military  occupancy  occur,  but  whether  assignable  to  the 
same  period  I  wiU  not  venture  to  assert,  thou^  I  should 
be  inclined  to  consider  they  were.  It  is  not  unlikely 
their  object  was  to  check  any  irruption  which  the  Silubbs 
mi^t  make  from  the  opposite  shores  of  Monfn<nUh$hire 
and  GlamofyansAire.  Be  this,  however,  how  it  may, 
we  find  the  following,  which  may  additionally  tend  to 
prove  that  this  was  the  expected  seat  of  war. 

The  first  defensive  work,  commencing  at  the  mouth 
of  the  ilfw»,  and  journeying  Northwards,  is  Mbrb  Bank, 
a  high  vallum  running  parallel  with  this  river  from  the 
banks  of  the  Severn^  till  it  nearly  joins  a  circular  eur 
trenchment  close  to  Henburt.  West  of  the  Atony  oppo- 
site Cli/ton  are  two  large  semi-circular  camps,  known 
under  the  titles  of  Stokm  Lbigh  Camp,  and  Boweb  or 
Borough  Walls.  Ooing  from  hence  Westwards,  on 
Stoke  Leigh  Down  are  two  small  circular  earthworks; 
and  two  miles  still  further  to  the  West,  are  appearances 
of  three  inconsiderable  circumvallations  which  lie  on  the 
direct  road  to  the  spacious  oval  fortress  of  Cadburt 
Gajip  dose  to  Tiekenham,  As  we  travel  Northwards 
frx>m  this  point,  the  first  indication  of  entrenchments  is 
seen  at  ViNEVARn  Break,  North  of  Ohetian,     There  are 


69 

slight  remains  petceptible  at  Oldburt  on  Sevbrn,  whilst 
a  large  p^itagonal  camp  in  a  very  perfect  state,  double 
ditched,  lies  a  Uttle  to  the  North.  This  is  the  last  strong- 
hold of  the  Western  range  we  have  been  tracing. 

Besides  the  works  on  the  two  barriers  hitherto  men- 
tioned, a  few  are  here  and  there  visible  in  the  inter- 
vening country.  They  are  comparatively  undeserving  of 
notice,  and  ought  not  to  be  contrasted  with  those  al- 
ready desmbed.  Uncertain  remains  are  distinguishable 
at  BirroN:  there  is  a  smaH  oval  camp  on  Bcby  Hill, 
South  of  Wtnterbaum;  a  small  irregular  single  ditched 
camp  caUed  the  Gaotlb,  near  Titherinffton ;  another  at 
Bust  Housb,  South  of  DcynUm;  a  Biuff^  entitled  Burt 
Camp^  a  mile  East  of  MarskfieU,  and  vestiges  of  another 
work  a  little  to  the  West  of  it'. 

^  WMbt  this  sheet  Is  passing  through  the  press  I  find  in  Lyson's 
Acooant  of  the  Roman  Antiqnities  disoovered  at  WootMiester,  the 
foUowing  oonfinnatioii  of  mv  own  views,  ''It  is  extremely  probable," 
rays  he,  "that  the  entrenchments  at  ITZsy  Bwy  and  on  Panuwiek 
InB,  and  perhaps  those  also  on  Broadridge  Green  and  at  Little 
Soitmrff,  are  remains  of  those  gamaons  (Roman  under  Ostorins)  or 
at  least  of  their  Castra  expioratoria,  A  great  number  of  Roman 
coins,  both  of  the  higher  and  lower  empire,  have  been  found  within 
the  entraicfaments  of  Vhy  Bury  and  Pahmrick  HiU  Campe."  p.  18. 


^ 


THE  LINK  OF  CAMPS  CONSTRUCTED  BY  CARACTACUS 
EXAMINED. 


scBNDiNa  with  the  Secern   North- 
wards   from    the    counties    hist 
spoken  of,  the  first  encampment 
we  find  on  its  Western  side,  is 
Gadbuht    Banks,   an    irregularly 
four  sided  camp,  eight  miles  North 
of  Gloucester^  and  four  South  East 
of  a  very  large  entrenchment  on 
MmsuMMBR  Hill.   This  latter  one 
is  placed  upon  the  ridge  gene- 
mlly  known  under  the  name   of  the 
Malvern  Hills  and  is  the  most  South- 
erly of  the  remarkable  works  that  were 
built  upon  their  summit.    A  mile  fur> 
ther  along  this  line  we  come  to  the 
well  known  fortress  of  the  Hereford- 
8HFBB    Beacon.      Fifteen    miles    more 
Northerly   on   the  Abberley    Hills  we 
reach  Woodbury  Hnx,  the  last  strong- 
hold of  the  group. 

These  four  fortresses  which  are  un- 
uBually  large,  as  well  as  difficult  of 
access,  must  have  been  erected  by  the 
Bntons  to  check  the  progress  of  the 
Romans  Westward.  The  eminences  on  which  they  are 
placed,  are  the  most  advantageous  situations  that  could 
possibly  be  occupied,  and  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  the 
Britons  would   suffer  the  enemy  to  advance  into  their 


71 

country,  withcmUinaldiig  a  vigorous  resistanoe  in  a  quar-< 
ter,  where  nature  herself  had  done  so  much  to  assist  them 
in  preserving  their  liberty.  They  are  extremely  well 
adapted  for  the  intention  they  had  in  view,  as  they  en- 
tirely command  Hebbfordshiiub  and  the  Welsh  diistrict 
lying  East  of  it:  and  had  the  Roman  forces  landed  on 
the  shores  of  Glamofyansiire  or  entangled  themselves 
unwarily  in  the  Forett  of  Bean  in  Ghucegterskire,  and 
even  afterwards  escaped  out  of  those  difficulties,  they 
would  in  vain  have  attempted  to  retreat  to  their  own 
chain  of  fortresses  so  long  as  the  Britons  remained  in 
possession  of  this  most  important  range. 

And  that  the  first  great  stand  was  made  here,  dis- 
advantageously  to  our  countrymen,  can  scarcely  admit 
of  a  doubt.  Neither  of  the  contending  powers  imme- 
diately went  Northwards;  a  conclusion  we  are  justified 
in  drawing  from  the  fact  of  so  many  military  works 
existing  between  this  point  and  the  Wye^  whilst  there 
are  none  in  the  other  direction.  Wall  Hills,  near 
Ledbury^  a  strong  pentagonal  work  double  ditched,  and 
an  elliptical  single  ditched  camp  at  Sollbb^s  Hope,  on 
this  river,  are  the  most  Southerly  fortifications  that  oc- 
cur. The  encampments  at  Bbinbop,  KENCHESTBai,  Iving- 
TON,  and  Blackbuby  Hill,  by  their  rectilinear  circumval- 
lation  appear  to  be  Roman  constructions  ^  It  is  doubtful 
what  Sutton  Walls,  Rjsbuby,  and  a  small  circular  work 
two  miles  East  of  Leamintter,  were,  but  most  likely 
later  works.  The  magnificent  elliptical  fortresses  of  Cboft 
Ambbst  and  Waplbt,  scarcely  seven  miles  asunder,  the 
former  a  little  North  of  Aymesiry,  the  latter  a  little 

>  There  exuts  a  tradition  that  Chohtry,  situated  a  mile  West  of 
LeominHer,  was  a  Roman  camp  or  colony.  This  tradition  receives 
some  degree  of  corroboration  from  etymology.  Cholstry  seems  to  be 
a  corruption  of  CaHra.  In  ancient  writings  it  is  epelled  CaeroHruy, 
Le^the  City  qf  (ktruy,  perhaps  a  corruption  of  Ostorius.  Hist  of 
Leominster,  p.  7. 

Otstkr  Hill  in  HertfwrdshWe,  and  Oitster  Hill  in  Here- 
/wMire  have  been  supposed  to  owe  their  name  to  the  same  cause. 


72 

Soath  of  Prmdeiffn,  are  undoiibiedly  British  ereotiom. 
They  are  the  key  to  Badnonkire  and  MdUffomeryshire^ 
and  before  OstoritiB  oould  adyanoe  into  these  counties, 
which  I  suspect  were  occupied  by  the  Obdoviobb,  it  was 
necessary  they  should  be  forced. 

The  fortunes  of  the  braye  CaractacuS  were  declining, 
and  we  are  now  compelled  to  tread  in  his  retreating  foot- 
steps, and  follow  him  and  his  yaliant  companions  from  the 
fertile  plain  of  Herefbrdshire  to  the  nigged  and  naked 
mountains  of  the  boiu)brs.  But  how  shaQ  we  describe 
the  state  of  his  army,  defeated  as  it  has  been,  dimi- 
nished, in  part  disarmed,  writhing  under  their  wounds, 
yet  carrying  onwards  an  unrepressed  passion  to  coyer 
recent  defeats  with  yictory?  and  as  they  took  a  last 
glance  at  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  eyery  feding 
that  national  affection  could  infuse  must  haye  inspired 
them  with  new  courage,  till  they  became  actually  mad- 
dened for  fresh  opportunities  of  conflict.  The  issue 
was  too  uniformly  adyerse,  and  we  behold  them  gradu* 
idly  reduced  to  a  small  band,  whidi  ultimately  was 
subdued. 

Cboft  Ambbby  and  Wapley  are  the  most  Southern 
of  Garactacus^s  interior  line  of  camps,  which  commences 
in  the  North  at  Hbn  Dinas.  The  Romans  haying  gained 
these  two,  proceeded  to  secure  their  conquests  in  the 
country  they  had  entered,  by  choosing  such  positions  as 
were  ayailable,  and  which  would  at  the  same  time  en- 
able  them  to  press  as  closely  as  possible  upon  the  enemy. 
We  thus  find  them  occupying  the  important  post  of 
Norton  Camp,  a  large  quadrangular  work  double  ditched, 
which  commands  defiles  to  the  East  and  West,  and 
moreoyer  lies  yery  closely  upon  the  flank  of  Caractacus 
in  his  supposed  entrenchments  upon  Bubrough  Hill, 
Billings  Ring,  and  (Burt  DrroHEs.  The  strong  work 
of  Branbon  Camp  South  of  Ldntwardine  would  form 
a  counterwork  to,  or  command  the  stronghold  of  Cox- 


78 

WALL  Knoll,  as  Nonyr  Bank  would  do  to  the  Doobm 
above  SkysiaiL 

From  Brandon  Camp,  it  ■eems  most  likely  that  Oa- 
toritts  made  a  divendoa  of  part  of  his  forooB  against 
Cau  Caraixx)  and  the  DraoBBS,  and  having  diiven  out 
the  Britons  from  these  elevated  posts  he  left  garrisons  in 
the  ooontry)  to  prevent  their  reooeapation.  Nobdy  Bank 
was  intended  to  hinder  their  gaming  poesesaion  of  the 
large  enclosore  on  the  summit  of  Jbion  Bwfj  by  hold- 
teg  whieh  the  Britons  would  command  the  extensive 
valley  running  betwixt  the  sBraten  and  the  TiUenians 
CU$  HUb  towKtdB  Bridffmunih  and  Wore&tterMre,  whilst 
it  would  at  the  same  time  serve  the  purpose  of  keeping 
m  dieok  the  inhabitants  of  Corw  Dak.  The  works  at 
RuBHBumr,  were  erected  for  similar  reasons,  to  keep  in  sub- 
jection tiie  inhabitants  otJpe  Dale,  at  the  head  of  whidi 
valley  it  is  placed.  And  we  thus  find  an  early  military 
way  from  these  garrisoned  places  to  Wroweter.  Begin, 
ning  at  Hcmn  Bank  it  passes  through  TuffFosD,  Orate- 
lOSD,  over  Roman  Bank  to  Rosbbusv,  thence  by  Oha^ 
wall,  where  it  bears  the  name  of  the  Dsvil^s  Gausbwat, 
(a  more  particular  account  of  which  is  given  hereafter,) 
Aekm  Bomisi;  PUoktwDy  &a,  to  the  Severn  at  Wro^ 

The  position  chosen  by  Ostorius  at  WhetSeUm  was 
in  every  respect  an  important  one:  and  it  shevro  that 
the  gr»it  principles  of  Stbatbot  have  been  the  same  in 
all  ages.  It  had  the  command  of  observation  of  four 
vaUeys;  Cobvb  Dalb,  Ajpb  Dalb,  the  Stbbhon  Vallbt, 
and  that  leadmg  to  Brandon  Camp,  near  Lrinhomrdine;  \ 

it  was  a  means  of  securing  a  safe  retreat  for  the  Ro- 
man forces  in  case  they  should  be  driven  back,  whilst  ! 
it  would  also  secure  them  in  the  possession  of  all  the 
{Jain  as  far  as  LucUow^  and  even  beyond  it. 

It  would  be  imposnUe  to  mark  with  accuracy  and 
in  succeesion,  the  course  of  Ostorius^s  progress  <m  the 


74 

Weitem  aide.  We  immeduiieljr  gei  into  the  momitaHi- 
OII0  district  of  Radmankire^  where  defensive  yestiges  are 
very  nmneroiiSy  «nd  scattered  over  the  eminences  with- 
out any  discernible  prindj^e.  There  are  several  small 
oircidar  worics,  epaulements  with  one  ditch,  such  as 
ToMEN  CAsruSy  South  East  of  Nmo  Radnor;  Castjbll 
Cbftnllts;  Caxr  Oinon;  Tomen  Bbddcorb  near  BuUik ; 
the  Oaks,  a  double  fortress^  and  several  small  recti- 
linear fortifications  on  the  Mderydd  Mountain;  othen 
on  Gloo  Hill;  Casilb  Bma  South  of  Disooyd;  Bubva 
Bank,  a  mile  lowec»  &c.  &c.  Castkll  Cwbt  LLscHiunm, 
a  mile  North  of  BuiUk  (Bullbum);  Llan  du  (a  penta- 
gonal entrenchment)  North  of  lAawDair  Waterdine;  two 
Caeb  Dm  Rings,  and  two  very  small  quadrangular  works 
a  little  South  of  them,  all  five  in  Clun  Forett.  Im* 
mediately  before  entering  MotUffomefyshire^  whilst  yet  in 
Shropshire,  we  have  Castbll  Ceftn  Fron,  a  small  cir- 
cular work  seven  miles  West  of  Bury  Ditches;  Upprai 
Short  Ditch,  and  Lower  Short  Ditoh;  a  few  circular 
works  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kerry;  Castle  Ring, 
above  BaUinghope^  (described  more  fiiUy  hereafter)  and 
Castle  Ring  under  the  Western  side  of  the  Stiperstones; 
Castle  Ring,  betwixt  HysHngton  and  Church  Stoke^  and 
Caer  Brb,  betwixt  Church  Stoke  and  Chirbury^  which 
brings  us  close  to  Fiudd  Faldwin  and  Caer  Howel 
near  Montgomery. 

With  the  exception  of  the  long  oval  works  of  FRmn 
Faldwin  and  the  circular  one  on  Tongley  Hill,  called 
Bury  Ditches,  East  of  Bishop's  Ccutle^  which  has  three 
concentric  aggers,  none  of  the  works  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  paragraph  are  extensive,  a  fact  proving 
that  Radnorshire  was  not  the  field  of  any  very  severe 
contests. 

Having  driven  the  troops  of  Caractacus  thus  far, 
the  Roman  general  seems  to  have  paused,  to  allow  time 
for  the  construction  of  such  a  camp,  as  would  be  suit- 


78 

able  both  to  oontaiti  hk  foroee,  as  well  as  to  aeouie  the 
territory  he  had  aoquired.  The  flite  waa  just  each  an 
one  aa  a  akilfiil  taotioian  like  Oatorina  would  be  likely 
to  chooae.  We  have  obaerved  the  prudenoe  which 
guided  him  in  fixing  upon  Wietthton  Wood  or  Nobton 
Camp  aa  a  flank  defence  for  the  valleys  of  Corve  JDah^ 
Ape  Dale^  and  the  Stretkm  Oarge^  and  in  the  present 
ipstanoe  his  position  was  selected  .as  advantageously. 
Caer  Fl6b  stands  above  the  Eastern  banks  of  the  Se-^ 
tern  at  the  confluence  of  four  valleys  a  mile  and  a  half 
North  of  Montgomery;  one  of  these  takes  the  course  of 
the  river  to  Welshpool^  Llandrinio,  and  Meherley^  where 
it  expands  into  a  vast  champagne  country:  the  other 
takes  the  Eastern  side  of  the  Brddden  and  unites  with 
the  preceding  valley  at  Cardeston  and  AJberbwry.  Be- 
sides being  a  key  to  these  two,  it  is  so  situated  as 
completely  to  command  the  whole  district  as  far  as 
Bkhop's  C€Utle  to  the  South  East,  and  the  vale  of  the 
Secern  as  high  as  Newtown  to  the  South  West. 

The  entrenchments  on  the  Bbeidden,  already  de- 
scribed, are  the  nearest  British  strongholds  of  import- 
ance to  the  Roman  work  at  Cabr  Flos,  but  whether 
their  construction  was  prior  to  this,  is,  I  must  con- 
fess, very  uncertain.  The  Britons  retreating  along  the 
mountain  heights,  as  the  StreUon  HiUs  and  Long  Myndy 
crossing  the  SHperstonee^  and  thence  flying  to  the  Long 
Mountain^  in  all  of  which  places  we  find  Tumuli,  might 
have  fixed  upon  this  insulated  propugnaculum  in  their 
extremity,  though  as  the  Roman  camp  of  Gaeb  Flos 
is  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  Ostorius  would  have 
had  no  need  to  ford,  as  we  know  he  bad,  at  the  spot 
where  the  decisive  engagement  happened.  As  I  have 
ahready  entered  into  this  question,  and  expressed  my 
reasons  for  thinking  that  Ostorius  penetrated  as  high 
up  the  Severn  as  Caer  Sws,  where  there  is  another 
Roman  camp  placed   with  a  view  of  commanding  the 


76 


vallejrBy  for  instande,  thftt  through  which  the  Gamo  flows 
from  the  North  West;  that  timmgh  whioh  the  T<»rwmQ 
flows  fSrom  the  West,  and  the  narrower  one  through 
whidi  the  Severn  flows  from  the  South,  I  shall  now 
eondude  tUa  mibjeot,  yet  not  without  oflbring  a  due 
meed  of  praiie  to  the  military  skill  he  eyinoed  from  the 
commencement  of  this  important  campaign  to  the  de- 
feat of  Garactacua,  during  which  he  displayed  such  a 
consummate  knowledge  of  tactics  that  we  are  warranted 
in  placing  him  amongst  the  first  of  Roman  Oenerala. 


wK 

^^ 

!y\/e 

Av^SSiO™ 

M«>; 

y^Wm 

^m 

om  <MiK0trs  or  ii|l«  Biwui- 


|ld  Obwbbtrt  lies  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  present  town,  upon  an  insu- 
lated eminence  that  has  the  tracing 
of  an  oblong  parallelogram.  Having 
been  planted  for  a  great  many  years, 
the  concentrio  ditches  are  in  some 
places  considerably  obliterated,  but 
enough  is  still  visible  to  excite  our  surprise  at  the  vast- 
ness  of  the  undertaking.  The  base  of  the  hill  occupies 
at  least  fifty  acres;  it  gradually  tapers  towards  the  plane 
of  site  which  is  perfectiy  flat,  whose  area  comprehends 
upwards  of  fifteen.  If  we  make  our  ascent  ftt>m  the 
Western  side,  and  leave  a  small  cottage  opposite  Mount 
Zion  to  the  left,  we  shaD  pass  through  five  lines  of 
drcumvallation  before  we  gain  the  top.  Two  of  these 
entirely  encircle  the  hill;  the  others  do  so  partiaUy, 
being  designed  for  the  peculiar  defence  of  the  entrance 
on  the  Western  side,  which  is  less  precipitous  than  the 
other,  and  consequently  required  more  artificial  protec- 
tion. 

If  we  enter  at  the  cottage  already  mentioned,  which 
point  was  one  of  the  original  approaches,  the  other 
being  on  the  opposite  side,  and  follow  the  drift  road 
leading  up  to  the  summit,  the  first  vaUum  we  come 
to  is  drawn  round  the  base  of  the  hill  for  a  consider- 
able distance:  the  second  has  its  relief  about  fifty  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  road  which  runs  along  the  bot^ 
torn.     The  parapet  is  ten  feet  across,  and  has  a  counter- 


78 

soarp  of  six.  Still  asoending,  we  find  the  adjoining  in- 
terior foflse  twelve,  and  the  third  vaUum  six  feet  wide 
across  the  parapet,  and  having  a  relief  of  ten  feet  above 
the  ditches  on  either  side.  The  second  and  third  lines 
lie  on  each  side  of  the  trench  we  are  pursuing.  There 
are  indications  of  another  vallum,  but  so  indistinct  and 
uncertain,  owing  to  the  broken  nature  of  the  ground 
and  the  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter,  that  we  wiU 
pass  on  to  the  lower  vallum  and  fosse  of  those  two 
that  entirely  circumscribe  the  upper  part  of  this  ex* 
traordinary  fastness*  The  exterior  or  fourth  vallum, 
is  something  like  fifty  feet  above  the  third  or  the  one 
last  mentioned.  Its  counterscarp  is  ten  feet,  its  width 
across  the  top  six.  The  fosse,  fortuitously  I  should  sup- 
pose, is  thirty  feet  wide.  The  superior  or  remaining 
vallum  is  on  much  the  same  scale,  having  a  slight  in- 
terior slope  towards  the  enclosed  plane  of  site.  But 
the  brakes  and  brushwood  being  much  thicker  towards 
the  top,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  exact  measures, 
and  as  my  observations  were  unfortunately  made  after 
heavy  rain,  the  labour  of  pushing  through  the  long  wet 
grass,  and  tangled  thickets  was  extremely  irksome. 

From  the  foregoing  remarks  it  may  be  observed  that 
this  fortified  eminence  is  conformable,  so  far  as  regards 
its  double  ditches,  to  other  posts  of  acknowledged  Bri- 
tish origin:  whilst  it  is  dissimilar  to  them  in  the  depth 
and  number  of  its  trenches  at  the  base.  In  how  much 
greater  a  degree  of  magnitude  and  perfection  these  se- 
veral works  appeared  at  the  time  of  their  first  forma- 
tion, can  only  be  surmised.  But  that  they  were  very 
much  larger,  having  their  valla  more  lofty,  their  fosses 
wider  and  deeper,  the  angles  of  the  scarps  more  acute, 
and  the  subsidiary  lines  of  circumvallation  more  extended, 
there  is  every  reason  for  beUeving.  What  must  have 
been  then  the  labour  expended  upon  the  construction 
of  tills  stronghold,  and  how  great  the  difficulties  a  be- 


79 

neging  army  had  to  overcome,  when  they  tried  to  aur- 
mount  all  ihe  military  obstacles  which  it  presented  f 
Even,  at  the  present  day  we  cannot  contemplate  such 
gigantic  efforts  without  being  impressed  with  a  feeling 
of.  astonishment,  yet  we  behold  the  walls  greatly  de- 
pressed by  the  subsidence  of  the  soil,  and  the  <Utches 
partially  filled  up  with  matted  fem^  and  detritus  that 
is  incessantly  slipping  down  from  above.  Other  causes 
have  conspired  to  alter  the  original  aspect  of  the  for- 
tification. For  we  are  told^  that  so  long  ago  as  1767 
as  much  timber  was  cut  down  on  the  ramparts  as  sold 
for  seventeen  thousand  pounds.  The  process  of  efiace- 
ment  is  still  quietly  going  on,  as  the  whole  of  this 
eminence,  with  the  exception  of  the  table  land  at  the 
summit,  is  covered  with  wood  in  various  stages  of  growth. 
After  I  had  twice  threaded  my  passage  through  the 
thorny  intricacies  of  this  sylvan  labyrinth,  I  descended 
to  the  point  where  I  had  commenced  the  circuit.  When 
I  looked  upwards  and  endeavoured  to  follow  with  the 
eye  the  prohibitory  circle  of  terraces  with  their  chasms 
underneath,  that  were  partially  visible  through  the  dark 
umbrageous  foliage,  I  was  forcibly  struck  with  the  silent 
majesty  of  the  scene.  The  chiUy  dew  of  evening  was 
falling  rapidly  around,  and  admonished  me  to  hasten 
onwards  upon  my  journey,  but  before  I  could  bend 
my  footsteps  from  the  spot, 

A  weight  of  awe,  not  ea^  to  bo  borne. 

Fell  suddenly  upon  my  Spirit — cast 

From  the  dread  bosom  of  the  unknown  past. 

The  history  of  this  remarkable  work  is  wrapped  in 

complete  obscurity.      It  is  called   Hen   Dinas'   or  the 

*  History  of  Oswestry,  1815.  p.  90. 

■  The  primary  signification  of  this  word  is  a  fortified  hill  or 
mount;  as  we  find  by  Castell  Dikas  Bban  above  UangoUen  in 
DenbigkMre,  and  Diir  Omwic  in  CaemarfxmMre,  Hence  the  Ro- 
man terminations  of  Dinum,  Diniutn,  and  Dunum  to  the  names  of 
their  cities  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  the  old  English  Tune,  now 
Dm,  Ton,  and  Town,  and  the  GaeL  Ir.  Arm.  and  Com.  dun,  for 


80 


old  oity;  and  anciently  Cakb  Ogtbfan,  or  0gjfff(mi9 
C€uti6f  wbo  waa  a  hero  contemporary  with  King  Arthur. 
It  haa  been  aaoribed  to  Oswald,  and  Penda,  but  merely 
on  conjectural  grounds.  I  agree  with  Pennant^  in  at- 
tributing it  to  the  Britona;  I  conceive  it  must  have 
been  one  of  the  chain  of  Caractaoua^s  border  fortreflBea^ 
which  it  closely  resembles  in  its  main  features  of  con* 
stmction^ 

a  fortifiad  hilL  Aeooiding  to  B«de«  dmn  means  a  hei^t  in  the 
ancient  BritiBhy  and  Clitophon  myn  it  had  the  same  signification 
in  the  ancient  Gaulish*  (oee  Aimstrong  under  Dunj  and  levies 
under  Dm,) 

In  the  nig^y  interestinff  Ansb  Nonnan  Ronumoe  of  Folk  Fits 
Warin,  with  a  sight  of  which  I  have  been  jbvouved  by  Thomas 
Dnfiiis  Hardy,  Esq.,  I  find  Ludbw  Castle  called  Dihan. 
'  Pennant's  Wales,  voL  L  p.  272. 
^  *  Basire  ensraved  for  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  1703,  a  round 
shield,  a  foot  diameter,  found  a  foot  under  ground,  within  the  ana 
of  JBTIb  dinat. 


euv  emaxiot. 


MLS  is  a  hill  fortresB  of  great  strength 
fOid  importance.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  its  having  been  one  of  the 
chief  positions  of  Caractacns,  or  Cara- 
ctog.  Its  situation  on  so  elevated  a 
mountain,  and  the  complete  insula- 
tion of  the  mountain  itself,  bespeak 
who  were  its  former  occupants.  Every  thing  tends  to 
shew  that  this  is  a  genuine  British  entrenchment,  and 
unquestionably  held  by  the  brave  warrior  who  for  so  long 
a  period  repulsed  the  armies  of  Ostorius.  It  forms  a 
conspicuous  object  amongst  the  Shropshire  Hills,  and 
is  designated  by  the  various  names  of  the  Caradoc^  the 
Cwrdoc,  the  Querdoc,  and  the  Quordoc.  Its  summit  is 
encircled  by  two  ditches  having  a  counterscarp  of  five 
feet  each,  and  an  external  slope  of  fifty.  On  the 
North  Western  side,  immediately  below  the  outer  fosse, 
is  a  cave  still  bearing  the  name  of  Oaractacuf  Cave^ 
which  is  about  five  feet  high,  and  capable  of  holding 
half  a  dozen  people.  The  Watling  Street  runs  under 
the  East  side  of  the  Caradoc,  and  at  this  part  of  its 
course  it  is  sixteen  feet  and  a  half  wide,  though  its  aver- 
age breadth  cannot  be  considered  as  greater  than  twelve. 

As  is  usual  with  all  British  fortresses,  the  present 
one  is  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  ground;  where  the 
fosse  terminates,  it  is  occasioned  by  a  rock  presenting 
a  natural  obstacle  to  it  being  carried  on;  this  would 
present  a  more  formidable  check   to  assailants,   on  ac- 


82 


count  of  its  rugged  and  precipitous  character,  and  thus 
render  artificial  strength  unnecessary.  The  extreme 
length  of  the  present  encampment  is  three  hundred  and 
ninety  three  paces,  and  its  width  varies  from  sixty  to 
seventy  nine.  There  seem  to  have  been  three  gorges, 
or  gates  of  entrance,  which  are  on  the  East,  West, 
and  North  sides. 

On  the  whole,  the  state  of  this  fortification  may  be 
regarded  as  extremely  perfect.  The  ditches  are  gene- 
rally from  five  to  six  feet  deep,  and  the  escarps  and 
counterscarps  tolerably  complete.  This,  however,  must 
not  be  considered  the  original  depth  of  the  ditches,  as 
I  have  been  informed  by  an  intelligent  individual  who 
has  known  the  Caradoc  for  several  years,  that  he  re- 
members them  much  deeper,  a  fact  in  accordance  with 
the  natural  tendency  of  trenches  becoming  choked  up  with 
stones  continually  rolling  down  from  the  rocks  above, 
or  else  being  filled  up  by  an  accumulation  of  vegetable 
matter. 


J3 


ftle  Oiti^tB 


BE  a  very  fine  encampment  about  a 
mile  West  of  the  turnpike  road, 
leading  from  WerUock  to  Ludlow^ 
and  a  short  distance  above  Larden 
Hall.      It   encloses  nearly   eight 
acres,  the  inner  part  being  four. 
The   form  is  nearly   a  complete 
circle,  like  Bury  DrrcHEs.     It  is 
surrounded  by   inner  and  outer 
fosses,  and  two  valla.  The  internal 
E^lope  of  the  inner  wall  falls  on  the  side 
due  East  twelve   feet,   and  externally 
twenty-five:    across  the   crest   of   the 
pjirapet  it  is  six  feet  broad.    The  re- 
lii'f  of   the   second    vallum    rises   ten 
fee*!  from  the  fosse,  and  is  at  present 
twL^ve   feet   wide   across   its  parapet: 
externally  it  falls  eight  feet:  there  is 
then  a  second  ditch  which  is  something 
like  twelve  feet  wide.    It  is  however  par- 
ttidly  obliterated,  either  in  consequence 
of  all  the  mounds   and  ditches  being 
planted  over,  or  through  their  being 
injured  by  natural  causes. 
These   Ditches  must   formerly  have  been   a  post   of 
some  importance :    for  they  supply   a  necessary  link  in 
the  chain  of  British  entrenchments  which  stretch  through- 
out the   county.     The  present  positicxi  is  in   the  im- 


84 

mediate  view  of  Nordt  Bank,  and  within  command  of 
observation  from  both  the  Caebs,  Burt  Ditches  and  the 
Wrekin.  The  original  entrance  appears  to  have  been  at 
the  North  East  rside.  There  is  much  difficulty  in  making 
out  these  points  satisfactorily  at  present,  as  the  whole 
camp,  at  least  the  walls  and  ditches,  are  completely  ob- 
scured by  wood.  Were  there  no  other  reason  for  the 
assumption,  the  fact  of  a  British  Urn  having  been  found 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  would  sanction  the  idea 
of  the  whole  work  being  British.  A  little  North  West 
of  the  DrrcHEs  is  the  semblance  of  a  Tumulus,  A  gen- 
tleman residing  in  the  neighbourhood  remembers  it  more 
prominent  than  when  I  first  saw  it.  There  were  still  how- 
ever sufficient  indications  to  lead  us  to  open  it\  though 
the  labour  did  not  requite  us  by  imparting  any  new  light 
to  this  subject.  After  making  a  cut  five  feet  deep 
from  West  to  East,  the  workmen  came  to  a  black  de- 
posit, which  led  us  to  suppose  that  the  interment  had 
been  simple,  and  by  cremation.  On  a  previous  occasion, 
by  mere  accident,  an  earthen  vessel  was  found  whilst 
making  a  drain  about  three  or  four  hundred  yards  South 
East  of  the  encampment.  It  was  formed  of  a  kind  of 
red  clay,  so  slightly  baked  on  the  outside  that  it  washed 
away  when  a  brush  and  water  were  applied  to  clean 
it.  The  inside  was  black  and  somewhat  harder,  as 
though  it  had  been  baked  by  making  the  fire  within. 
"Before  I  saw  it,''  says  Mr  Mytton,  "the  workmen 
had  broken  the  lower  part  which  was  next  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  but  by  putting  the  pieces  together  the 
form  could  be  made  out.  It  was  found  with  the  mouth 
downwards,  and  contained  fragments  of  bones."  For- 
tunately Mr  Mytton  made  a  drawing  of  it  at  the  time, 
a  copy  of  which  is  presented  to  the  reader.  It  appears 
precisely  of  the  same  kind  as  those  Urns  which  have 
been  generally  acknowledged  as  British,  and  so  repeatedly 
*  This  was  done  by  the  Rev.  R.  Moore  and  Thos.  Mytton,  Esq. 


85 


found  in  Cornwall  and  Wiltshire,  A  Cinerary  Urn, 
similar  to  the  one  now  under  discussion,  was  found  in 
the  year  1741,  in  the  parish  of  Gttythian  in  the  for- 
mer county.  Like  the  present  one  it  had  its  mouth 
downwards,  and  was  filled  with  human  bones.  The 
object  in  placing  it  thus,  was  to  prevent  the  moisture 
of  the  ground  above  from  suddenly  rotting  them.  (See 
this  subject  fidly  entered  into  by  Borlase  in  his  Anti- 
quities of  Cornwall,  pp.  286,  8co.  edit.  1769.) 


Scale  two  inches  to  the  foot. 


ewtu  Kill. 


A8TLE  Hill  lies  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
West  North  West  of  the  church  of 
Lebotwood,  As  far  as  can  be  judged 
from  existing  appearances  it  seems 
most  like  on  explorcUory  mounds  though 
of  an  uncertain  age.  Probably  this 
small  eminence,  which  is  in  great 
measure  a  natural  elevation,  had  its  height  still  more 
increased  by  artificial  means.  Its  summit  is  about  forty 
feet  above  the  subinjacent  plain,  and  the  extreme  length 
of  it  at  the  top  two  hundred  and  sixty  five.  There  is 
a  considerable  fall  on  the  North  side,  but  a  very  grar 
dual  one  on  the  South.  There  being  no  traces  of 
ditches  or  mounds  around,  would  lead  us  to  think  it 
was  originally  either  a  Barrow,  or  intended  for  a  Bear 
con;  yet  the  name  points  to  something  defensive,  simi- 
larly to  the  Castle  Binos,  near  WutantoWy  Edgtan^ 
and  RcMinghope.  Thus,  too,  we  have  Castle  Dykes  in 
Northamptonshire^  and  near  Buxton  in  Derbyshire;  Castle 
Hill  on  the  Tees^  besides  many  others. 

A  mile  and  a  half  Northward  of  the  present  spot, 
on  the  estate  of  Charles  Guest,  Esq.,  are  vestiges  in 
a  meadow  below  Bank  Farm,  of  a  quadrangular  en- 
trenchment. An  eminence  a  quarter  of  a  mile  further 
North  bears  the  name  of  Signal  Bank.  This  seems  to 
have  been  a  sentineFs  position  to  warn  the  occupants 
of  the  camp  just  mentioned,  in  the  same  way  as  Show 
Bank  was  for  Norton  Camp.  (See  remarks  upon  these 
words  among  Observations  on  the  Names  of  Places.) 


^ 


v/ 


4Ba0tIe  Hiiig 


^  ^ -t^  2'®  *  Britwh  encampment  immediately 
above  Ratlinghope^  and  contains  with- 
in its  area  about  an  acre  and  a  half. 
The  ascent  from  the  West  and  South 
sides  is  precipitous,  and  as  being  un- 
necessary here,  the  vallum  and  fosse 
have  been  slight  r  whereas  on  the 
East  side  where  the  ground  falls  but  gently,  the  works 
have  been  more  elevated.  The  camp  is  nearly  oval. 
The  gorge  is  at  the  East.  The  general  height  of  the 
vallum  seems  to  have  been  ten  feet,  and  the  work  is 
encircled  by  one  ditch  only.  There  are  indications  of 
another  camp  due  South  of  Castle  Rmo,  between  this 
place  and  BiUntch  Gutter^  and  a  British  trackway  ap- 
pears to  run  between  these  two  places,  for  the  purpose 
of  communication  between  the  two  positions. 

About  a  mile  to  the  North  of  CAsrrLE  Ring,  just 
above  the  turnpike  road,  is  a  Tumulus,  that  forms  a 
very  prominent  object  in  the  landscape.  From  the  cir- 
cumstance of  Roman  coins  having  been  found  in  empty- 
ing a  ditch  between  the  New  Leasawes  and  the  TAre^ 
kMty  I  should  feel  disposed  to  pronounce  this  a  Ro- 
man Tumulus.  But  in  this  as  in  all  other  cases  where 
Tumuli  have  not  been  opened,  we  have  nothing  but  con- 
jecture to  oflTer.  Below  CA&rrLs  Ring  a  copper  mine  has 
recently  been  opened  by  the  proprietors  of  the  neigh- 
bouring estate.  The  ore  is  extremely  rich,  and  it  pro- 
mises every  prospect  of  remuneration  to  its  owners, 
the  Messrs  Hawkins  of  Ratlinghope,  There  is  a  Castle 
Ring  near  Stanton  Moor  in  Derbyshire^  in  the  vicinity 
of  several  Druidic  remains,  that  has  a  deep  ditch  and 
double  vallum,  and  is  supposed  to  be  British*. 
'  See  Archseol.  vol.  vi.  p.  113. 


SiAMmtff  Vting. 


loDBURY  Ring  is  a  fflnall  encampment 
on  the  top  of  a  hiU  near  Church 
Stretton.  It  is  evidently  a  British 
position,  and  obtains  its  name  in  part 
from  that  language.  In  C.  Brit.  Body 
signifies  a  dwellhig:  this  was  a  for- 
tified abode  of  the  British,  surromided 
by  a  ditch,  or  Binff,  which  is  about  fortynseven  paces  from 
West  to  East,  and  ninety-five  from  North  to  South. 
This  will  make  it  ellipticaJ  in  its  figure.  There  is  a 
slight  vallum  four  yards  wide  to  the  South  South  East 
and  West  sides.  The  ditch  is  most  perfect  on  the 
North  and  East  sides  where  the  land  adjoining  has 
but  a  slight  fall.  The  camp  takes  the  natural  shape 
of  the  plane  of  site,  and  as  was  usual  it  is  protected  by 
a  fosse  and  vallum  on  those  sides  where  an  assault 
would  be  made  with  the  greatest  certainty  of  success. 
NoRBUBY  Ring,  near  Mindtaum^  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  Ordnance  Map,  is  similar  to  it. 


o 
© 

C:^^ 
^ 


ri^iS^iv 


9Pbt  mit^in. 


MKN  the  Wrekin  is  ascended  from  the 
South  East  side,  a  ditch  is  crossed 
cry  near  the  summit,  which  follow- 
ng  the  course  of  the  eminence,  runs 
•li^inctly  visible  from  North  East  to 
South   South   West  for  fifty  paces. 

The  fosse  is  very  narrow,  and  does 

not  seem  when  in  its  most  perfect  state  ever  to  have 
been  deep.  Its  present  width  is  scarcely  three  yards. 
Below  this  rampart  was  formerly  another,  which  is  now  in 
great  measure  obliterated,  in  consequence  of  this  re- 
markable elevation  being  planted.  A  farmer  who  has 
lived  below  this  side  of  the  Wrekin  for  upwards  of  fifty 
years,  assures  me  he  remembers  the  outer  vallum  and 
fosse  more  distinct  than  the  one  now  remaining. 

This  entrenchment  agrees  in  so  many  respects  with 
the  system  of  castrametation  adopted  by  Caractacus,  that  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  assigning  it  to  the  period.  Having 
reached  the  sununit,  we  pass  through  a  gate  of  entrance 
at  the  North  end,  which  haply  in  allusion  to  the  fatigue 
bemg  over  of  making  the  ascent,  bears  the  name  of 
Heaven  Gate.  Although  the  fall  on  the  North  East 
side  is  very  precipitous,  yet  we  find  it  strengthened  by 
a  ditch  that  is  still  discernible  for  thirty  or  forty  yards. 
Thcgre  is  a  gorge  of  six  feet  clear  between  the  portals 
or  sides  of  Heaven  Gate^  and  they  are  about  the  same 
height  above  the  average  level  of  the  table  land  of 
the  hill  itself. 


Prooeeding  along  the  top  for  nearly  its  whole  length 
we  oome  to  a  Tumulus,  that  is  about  four  feet  high, 
sixteen  paces  across  its  crest,  and  with  a  slight  in- 
dentation in  the  middle.  About  forty  paces  further  we 
meet  with  another  gorge  or  gate  of  entrance  to  the 
enclosure,  but  unlike  the  Hea/ten  Gate,  inasmuch  as  in- 
stead of  resembling  its  circular  base,  the  portals  have 
an  oblong  form ;  they  are  twenty-five  yards  long,  and 
twelve  across,  but  the  same  distance  asunder,  and  the 
same  hei^t  above  the  surrounding  plane  of  site.  These 
are  called  Hell  Oate.  This  truly  interesting  British  for^ 
tification  is  gradually  becoming  indistinct,  in  consequence 
of  the  rising  plantation.  In  a  very  few  years  eveiy 
trace  of  it  will  be  quite  gone. 

As  every  association  connected  with  the  Wrekin 
must  be  interesting  to  a  Salopian,  I  shall  endeavour  to 
give  its  Etymology.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  a 
mountain  of  such  altitude,  standing  isolated  in  the  midst 
of  a  vast  plain,  and  visible  from  various  points  of  a 
radius  of  seventy  miles  round  it,  should  form  in  remote 
times,  as  we  know  that  it  does  now,  a  very  remarkable 
landmark.  Hence  in  the  Celtic  we  find  that  the  name 
implies  as  much;  Bre^  which  is  synonymous  with  Vre 
or  Wre^  signifies  a  hill;  and  ten^  the  chief,  or  principal: 
that  is,  Wre-ken^  the  eonyricuous  hill.  In  the  Islandic, 
according  to  Haldorson,  Breeka,  denotes  a  hill;  Brecku 
hud,  eanvexitas  supra  horizontem,  (Verel.  in  Indie.) 
And  in  C.  Brit.  Wrf^  /signifies,  according  to  Pughe, 
^'  that  is  high  or  rotund*".  So  that  its  name  is  found 
in  all  respects  according  with  its  character.  It  is  called 
by  Lomarchus  or  Llywarf  Hen,  Ddiklle  Vrboon,  or  the 
high  placed  city   of  Wrecon}     Nennius   mentions  Caer 

^  Bohem.  wrch,  a  mountain. 

"  The  Heroic  Elegies  of  Llywar9  Hen,  p.  94.  Lluyd  savs  that 
perhaps  it  means  Wroxcester,  Archeol.  p.  258.  col.  3.  The  learned 
Baxter  supposes  tliat  the  Wrekin  took  its  name  from  Wraxeter,  but 
it  is  far  more  likely  that  the  Roman  station  should  have  derived 


91 

Ubna(»  or  Cair  Urnahc,  whidi  has  been  generally  oon* 
oeiTed  by  antiquaries  to  mean  the  city  of  WroxeUr. 

Baxter  supposed  that  Ubnagh  was  abbreviated  from 
UoT  na  Uoff^  ad  cermeem  /kiOiUj  and  that  Veroeanium 
sounded  like  Uar  o  eond  tii,  super  4»qud  pfineipe  vel 
Sabrind.  The  Romans,  in  this  instanoe  as  in  others, 
mi^t  have  Latinised  the  old  British  name,  by  tuning 
Umaek  into  Urioeanimm.  If  we  examine  the  word  we  shall 
see  how  closely  it  is  connected  with  the  Celtic.  In  this 
tongue  {7r  is  a  primitive,  denoting  a  dwelling-place  or 
habitation.  Uria  in  the  Basque  language  means  a  vil- 
lage or  city\  In  the  forty-first  book  of  Livy,  we  read 
that  the  Proconsul  Gracchus  having  vanquished  the  Gelti- 
berians,  entered  into  a  capitulation  vnth  them,  and  to 
leave  behind  him,  in  /^paifij  a  monument  of  his  victories, 
he  buflt  the  city  of  Gracchuris.  Strabo  informs  us  that 
OracekwrtBi  in  Spanish,  signifies  the  city  of  Gracehtu, 
From  this  it  appears  that  Uri  in  Spanish  signified  a 
city.  Ur  in  Greek  has  the  same  meaning.  Yurt  in 
Tartarian  is  a  horde  or  habitation  of  Tartars;  and  from 
Ur  comes  the  Latin  Urbi.  Canium,  in  the  present  in- 
stance, is  a  Latinised  form  of  the  Celtic  Oond^  an  em- 
its name  from  the  hill  above  it.  fiee  Gloasar.  Antiq.  Britan.  p.  243. 
Nor  can  I  agree  with  my  late  friend  Mr  Blakeway^  in  considering 
DdinOe  Frecon  to  be  Wroopeter,  a  position  quite  at  yariance  with  the 
poet's  description.  The  author  of  Vulgar  Errors,  Ancient  and  Mo- 
dam,  says  toe  Wnkm  comes  from  the  Gaelic  BnHghe,  pronounced 
and  written  Bre  and  Bri.  Its  root  is  Aighe  or  Eigh,  an  hill.  G 
in  old  terms  is  often  chaiiged  to  C.  Thus  Blaighe,  an  hill,  is  often 
changed  to  BkdCy  as  m  Biaiadonj  written  also  Bkukdown  *.  Bregtk»y 
then,  in  like  manner,  will  change  to  Breg  or  Brec;  and  as  B  often 
changes  to  F,  and  this  to  W,  Sreg  and  Brec  will  change  to  Wreg 
and  Wree  in  old  names.  We  have  accordingly  ^r^hill,  in  North- 
umberland,  where  Wreg  means  hill,  and  the  same  as  Wrec  or  JFrek, 
in  the  Wrekin.  The  word  In  is  land,  and  Wrekin  will  imply 
what  it  is,  the  hill  or  head  land,  (p.  66.)  Between  Uriamium  and 
Umach  is  considerable  resemblance,  and  the  former  may  be  derived 
from  the  latter. 

'  See  Bullet,  Diet.  Celt,  sub  voce. 

•  Hiere  i»  a  Blakboown  between  Hag^taaA  KkUUrmimter  in  WttreetterAire ;  and 
a  Blakblbv  Hill  between  Sta>%Um  and  Bury  WaUs,  in  Shromhire.  (See  obeerratiom  on 
the  nnneB  or  placet.) 


92 

bouchiire.  The  junction  of  the  river  Tern  (the  Tren  of 
LomarchuB)  with  the  Severn,  close  to  Wraa^eter^  makes 
the  name  highly  appropriate.  Hence  UriorOond^  Uri- 
Oand^  Uriconium,  the  city  at  the  entrance  or  embouchure 
of  the  river.  From  the  same  source,  probably,  are  the 
names  of  Condover,  and  Coctnd,  from  being  placed  on  a 
large  brook  which  empties  itself  into  the  Severn^  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  latter  village.  Whether  Casr 
Ubnach  and  Ubiconium  are  identical  can  only  rest  upon 
conjecture.  If  we  dissect  the  former  word,  it  will  seem 
rather  to  mean  the  Wrekin  than  Wboxbter.  Thus,  in 
the  same  language,  from  which  our  previous  conclusions 
have  been  drawn,  Ur  sigilifies  a  habitation  or  dwelling, 
and  Naeh  an  elevation,  or  mountain.  C/r-noM,  the  habi- 
tation or  position  on  high,  which  would  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  the  whole  of  these  Caers  meant  the  Wrekin.  Let 
this,  however,  be  how  it  may,  it  is  quite  reasonable  to 
imagine  that  the  Britons  would  make  mention  of  a  po- 
sition which  is  every  way  so  remarkable.  Yet  it  was  not 
merely  the  situation  and  strength  of  it  that  caused  them 
to  speak  of  it  in  the  scanty  records  which  have  survived 
to  the  present  day.  For  if  we  descend  the  hill  on  the 
Eastern  side  we  shall  fall  in  with  vestiges  that  at  once 
prove  it  to  have  been  an  important  military  post. 

A  small  valley  at  the  foot  still  shews  by  its  name 
of  Willow  Moor,  by  its  existing  Tumuli,  and  by  the 
great  quantity  of  broken  weapons  that  have  been  found 
there,  that  the  spot  was  formerly  contested.  Its  appel- 
lation of  WiUow  is  significant.  In  the  termination  low, 
direct  allusion  is  made  to  the  Tumuli  which  render  the 
place  still  remarkable.  Xatr,  Xa,  Loff^  Lo^  according 
to  their  different  pronunciations,  signify  an  eminence  or 
elevation.  Thus  we  have  fo,  high,  in  old  French;  loh 
in  German;  loo  in  Flemish;  and  lowe  in  A.  Saxon,  de- 
noting a  hill  or  gentle  eminence,  from  the  C.  British 
llehduy    to  place,   and  hence  by   contraction   fatt.     And 


93 


what  does  law  mean  but  a  Tumulus  or  Oravb!  The 
A.  Sax.  hlaetc^  hlaw^  expressly  marks  as  much.  And 
thus  we  have  the  Arbour  Lows  in  Derbyshire^  still  re- 
maining. Brompton  in  his  Chronicle  speaks  of  Bubbe- 
laWj  or  ffubba's  Grave:  and  there  is  scarcely  a  county 
in  England  in  which  there  is  not  some  spot  thus  nomi- 
nally consecrated  by  a  Briton'^s  or  a  Saxon^s  grave.  And, 
even  to  the  present  day,  the  first  syllable  indicates 
the  name  of  the  person  interred,  and  its  termina- 
tion, the  object  of  the  monument.  The  names  by  them- 
selves sufficiently  explain  themselves;  the  discoveries 
which  are  constantly  being  made  fully  point  out  the  use 
and  origin  of  these  Barrows,  whilst  at  the  same  time 
they  fiimish  us  with  additional  arguments  for  elucidating 
obscure  points  of  Archseology  by  the  assistance  of  ety- 
mology. This  has  been  very  clearly  shewn  by  Sir 
Thomas  Phillipps  in  a  paper  on  the  Saxon  Names  of 
Places,  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Literature,  where  writing  on  this  topic,  he 
adduces  from  Domesday  Book  several  instances  of  places 
possessing  names  clearly  indicative  of  their  origin.  Thus 
he  cites  ^  in  counties  contiguous  to  our  own, 

Oswaldslow,  the  grave  of  Oswald,  in  Worcestershire. 

Oflfelow,       (Ma,  in  Staffordshire. 

Tamenaslau, Tamena,     

X  aT/Csiau,     •••      •••      •••      x  ava,  •«•      •••      ••• 

Derunlau, Dering,  in  Shropshire. 

In  Warwickshire  there  are  BrinMow  and  Kniffhtlow^  two 
places  sufficiently  memorable;  the  former  being  tho  largest 
tumulus  in  the  island';  together  with  the  Bartlow  Ililk 
in  Cambridgeshire^  and  a  great  number  m  Derbyshire, 
Nor    is    the    term  low    unusual  in   our    early   English 

»p.  3. 

t  See  an  account  of  this  in  Mr  Bloxam's  excellent  iUustniiioti  «f 
the  British  and  Roman  Remains  of  WarvoidttluTe,  pubUnhed  in  the 
Annalist,  toL  iv.  p.  183. 


I.  9* 


*1  i 


r 


writers:  several  of  th^n  employ  it  to  d^iote  a  Barrow. 
In  an  dd  chronicle  cited  by  Heame,  speaking  of  Hubba^ 
the  writer  says,  ^'And  when  the  Danea  fond  Hungar  and 
Habba  deid,  thei  baren  theym  to  a  ntoutUayn  ther  besyde 
and  made  upon  hym  a  loffpe  and  lete  call  it  Hvbbd/ugh}^ 
The  metrical  romancers  continually  use  the  word*. 

We  will  now  see  how  far  present  appearances  accord 
with  these  derivations.  Willow  Moob,  Willow  Farm, 
or  as  it  is  occasionally  called  the  Wsekin  Fabm,  lies 
on  the  South  East  side  of  the  Wrekin^  in  a  sequestered 
and  highly  picturesque  valley,  from  which  there  seems 
at  first  sight  to  be  no  outlet.  To  this  secluded  spot 
I  frequently  wandered  when  residing  in  the  parish.  The 
sylvan  beauties  of  Wenlock  Wood  and  the  ErcaU  so 
often  aUured  me  to  their  retreats,  that  while  I  write, 
every  minute  feature  of  this  impressive  scenery  is  vividly 
recalled  to  the  mind'.  Having  descended  the  hiU  from 
LiUle  Werdocky  about  fifty  yards  above  the  gate  which 
stands  upon  the  road,  a  very  depressed  vallum  is  passed 
throu^,  which  is  just  perceptible  for  about  twenty  yards 
on  the  left  hand  side,  and  for  about  fifty  on  the  right. 
It  may  be  again  observed  curving  towards  the  Wrekin 
from  the  North  end  of  a  bam  for  the  same  distance. 
The  land  here  has  been  under  the  plough,  so  that  the 
mound  is  extremely  indistinct.  The  tenant  remembers 
both  this  and  the  Twnuli  much  more  conspicuous  than 
they  are  at  present.  They  are  in  truth  now  almost 
undiscoverable  without  his  assistance  to  point  out  where 
they  lie.  On  the  East  side  of  the  bam  in  three  dif- 
ferent meadows,  are  four  slight  mounds  which  have 
every  sign  of  being   artificial.     In   a  rushy  meadow  at 

1  Afi  quoted  by  Pegge  on  the  Arbour  Lows.  ^Jt^haeol.  voL  viL 
p.  134. 

'  For  further  Ulustratioiis  see  the  Glossarial  part  of  the  present 
work  under  Ludhw, 

^  In  the  accompanying  plate  I  have  endeavoured  to  present  the 
reader  with  a  view  of  the  sceneiy  in  this  little  valley,  as  seen  from 
the  top  of  the  hill  mentioned  in  the  next  paragraph. 


k 


t:  -   : 


. . .  i. 


95 

the  bottom  of  the  hill,  on  the  left  hand  aide  of  the 
road  which  leads  from  Little  Wenloci  to  Wellington^  are 
appearances  of  three  more  Tumuli:  and  on  the  other 
fflde  of  the  road  which  goes  into  Wenloek  Wood,  due 
West  of  these,  are  two  other  Tumuli. 

Th^re  are  still  other  reasons  for  considering  these 
mounds  sepulchral,  which  will  further  appear  when  it  is 
stated  that  on  two  occasions  in  the  memory  of  the 
present  generation,  remains  have  been  found  which 
mark  it  as  a  place  of  military  burial.  On  the  former 
occasion,  which  was  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  a 
considerable  number  of  broken  weapons  were  found 
dmilar  to  those  which  were  met  with  in  the  year  1835; 
but  beyond  this  nothing  further  can  be  remembered  of 
them.  From  residing  in  the  parish  when  the  last  were 
met  with  I  am  able  to  describe  from  personal  observaticm 
the  circumstances  attending  their  discovery.  Whilst  a 
labourer  was  cutting  a  drain  about  a  hundred  yards  from 
the  left  hand  side  of  the  road  leading  from  Little  Wen- 
lock  to  Wellington,  by  a  hedge  side  separatmg  the  two 
fields  lying  between  the  top  and  the  bottom  of  the  as* 
cent,  he  suddenly  came  upon  a  heap  of  broken  spears. 
They  lay  piled  up  together,  and  were  two  or  three  hun- 
dred at  least,  but  nearly  all  much  injured.  Among  them 
were  three  or  four  small  whetstonei^  and  a  eeU^.  The 
spear  and  celt  were  made  of  brass,  many  of  the  former 

Mt  18  by  no  means  unusual  to  find  whettUmei  among  funereal 
deposits.  In  a  tumnlus  opened  at  Everley  in  WUUhire  was  found 
a  whetstone  of  ftee  stone,  and  a  Uue  hone.  These  were  used  for 
the  purpose  of  sharpening  the  weapons  of  the  warriois  who  were 
interred,  and  probably  were  usually  carried  by  them  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

'  On  ^e  use  of  celts  much  has  been  written  in  the  Archieo- 
\opA  and  elsewhere.  My  own  opinion  is  entirely  with  that  of  my 
highly  esteemed  friend  Sir  Samuel  Meyrick,  wno  considers  them 
to  have  been  instruments  used  partly  for  warlike  and  partly  for 
domestic  purposes.  They  constantly  occur  among  the  contents  of 
Tumuli,  which  is  alone  a  presumptive  reason  for  thinking  them 
devoted  to  militaiy  uses.  See  this  subject  further  considered  in  the 
valuable  little  volume  by  Mr  Blozam,  p.  12.  - 


:| 


96 


t 


precisely  like  some  of  acknowledged  British  origin  that 
have  been  dug  up  elsewhere. 

The  accompanying  plate  will  shew  the  nature  of 
those  that  were  most  perfect,  to  which  I  refer  the 
reader,  that  he  may  better  be  enabled  to  understand 
the  description.  No.  1.  A  small  spear  quite  plain, 
having  a  hole  on  each  side  of  its  socket  through  which 
a  rivet  was  passed  to  fasten  it  to  the  shaft.  No.  2. 
This  has  a  sUght  chamfer  running  from  the  bottom  of 
its  rivet  hole  to  the  lower  part  of  the  blade.  Round 
the  end  of  it  are  four  ribs  by  which  the  string  binding 
it  to  the  shaft  was  kept  from  slipping.  The  workman- 
ship is  extremely  good.  Part  of  the  shaft  of  this  was 
still  remaining  in  Uie  socket.  No.  3.  A  spear  with 
rivet  holes  very  perfect,  but  without  chamfers  or  ribs. 
No.  4.  The  bhide  of  a  dagger,  probably  belonging  to 
the  handle  figured  (No.  7).  No.  5.  A  spear  head 
with  rivet  holes.  No.  6.  This  spear  is  unlike  any  of 
the  others  in  shape,  and  when  found  its  edges  were 
nearly  as  sharp  as  that  of  a  knife.  No.  7.  The  handle 
of  a  dagger.  It  seems  to  have  been  inlaid,  most  likely 
;^  with  ivory.     No.  8.     Another  spear  head,  with  aper- 

i  tures  on  each  side  of  the  shaft  socket  and  ribbed  at  the 

!  base.     No.  9.    A  small  celt.    Another  had  its  head  cham- 

j  fered  from  the  bottom  of  its  rivet  holes  towards  the 

[  point.      It  had   two    bands   or  ribs,   one  close  to  the 

rivet  holes,  another  at  the  end.  The  socket  was 
ornamented  between  the  bands  with  four  circles  that 
had  each  as  many  concentric  ones.  These  had  been 
struck  with  a  pair  of  compasses  after  the  spear  was 
cast^  There  were  four  other  circular  decorations  above 
the  upper  band  similar  to  those  betwixt  the  two,  and 
a  little  zigzag  work  engraved  on  each  side  of  the  cham- 

>  Bnas  spear  heads  have  been  cast  in  a  mould,  and  such  heads 
within  a  sheath  of  wood,  have  been  found  in  a  banow.  Axdueol. 
vol.  XV.  p.  Sdi.  pi.  xxxiv. 


^u 

^ 

^ 

M 


^ 


/l^v^ 


\'^'^m. 


97 

fer,  both  at  the  bottom  of  the  blade,  and  on  the  blade 
itaelf.  Another  of  a  very  elegant  shape,  still  sharp, 
had  the  usual  rivet-holes  and  the  ribbing  at  the  end\ 
The  rest  were  merely  firagmenta,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to 
give  a  representation  or  further  description  of  them. 

From  the  fact  of  similar  weapons  having  be^i  found 
in  some  of  the  Tumuli  opened  by  Sir  Richard  Hoare 
in  WUMirey  though  by  no  means  in  such  large  quan- 
tities; from  weapons  of  the  like  nature  having  been 
dv^  up  in  various  parts  of  Ireland^  where  we  know  the 
Romans  never  made  any  settlement;  from  others  of  the 
same  sort  having  been  discovered  in  Walis^;  at  Pm^ 
neBe\  and  in  the  neigUbourhood  of  Vire  in  Ncrmandg^ 
all  of  whidi  have  been  dedded  on  undeniable  grounds 
not  to  be  of  Roman  manu&cture,  it  follows  that  these 
also  are  not  the  work  of  our  Roman  invaders.  But  by 
whom  shall  we  say  that  they  were  made!  Latterly  it 
htm  been  the  fashion  to  consider  every  thing  which  is 
not  Roman  as  Phoenician,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
Britons  being  unable  to  fabricate  their  implements  of 
warfare,  procured  them  from  the  early  navigators  to 
Iheir  coasts  in  exchange  for  tin.  This  argument  would 
be  sufficiently  strong  if  such  weapons  were  peculiar  to 
Britain,  but  it  fails  when  we  discover  them  turned  up 
over  all  parts  of  Sweden,  France,  and  Germany.  Was 
it  likely  that  those  extensive  kingdoms  should  have  re- 
ceived the  instruments  of  destruction  from  a  country 
so  remote  as  Carthage,  from  one  with  which  they  could 
not  have  any  necessity  for  traffic,  and  in  the  instance 

1  Some  of  these  are  in  the  author's  possession. 

'  Four  ancient  weapons  were  exhibited  to  the  Antiquarian  Society 
llaich  23^  1809^  discovered  in  a  mountain  called  Cwm  3foeh,  in 
the  parish  of  Maentwrog,  Merionethshire,  figured  in  the  Archeo- 
logisy  voL  xtL  pL  70.    No.  3  is  like  No.  2  of  the  annexed  plate. 

'  The  weapons  found  at  Pemdfe  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ftre, 
and  in  the  Dipartement  de  la  Manehe,  were  fike  those  found  at 
WiOow  Farm.  See  Mtooires  de  la  SodM  des  Antiqnaires  de  Nor- 
mandie,  1827—1828. 


98 


of  the  latter  state,  no  means  of  communication !  It  is 
highly  improbable.  There  is  an  absence  of  any  thing  like 
proof,  nay,  of  any  evidence  but  mere  conjecture;  and  I 
am  disposed  to  consider  them  as  the  workmanship  of  the 
nations  where  they  are  found.  And  why  should  they 
not  be  so!  For  that  these  different  European  nations 
understood  the  art  of  smelting,  of  annealing,  and  of  in- 
laying, is  well  known,  and  it  is  but  natural  to  think  they 
were  equally  well  acquainted  with  the  art  of  casting^ 
Their  countries  severally  possessed  the  minerals  from 
which  these  implements  were  made ;  neither  does  it  ap> 
pear  probable  that  the  Phoenicians  should  have  come 
hither  to  freight  their  vessels  with  the  raw  material, 
for  the  very  small  profit  merely,  which  they  could  after- 
wards derive  from  its  reproduction  in  another  form. 

*  As  in  fact  they  were :  for  moulds  for  spear,  arrow  and  axe-heads 
have  been  frequently  fonnd  both  in  Britain  and  Ireland.  The  dis- 
coveiy  in  17S5,  on  Easterh  Moor  near  Y&rk,  of  100  axe-heads,  with 
several  lumps  of  metal  and  a  quantity  of  cinders,  may  be  con^ered 
sufficient  testimony  that  at  l^ist  the  bronze  imported  into  Britain 
was  cast  into  shapes  by  the  inhabitants  themselves,  (v.  ArchsBol. 
voL  xiv.  pi.  iv.  vol.  xv.  pi.  xxxiv.  CoUectanea  de  Reb.  Hibem. 
vol.  iv.pl.  X.   Borlase,  Cornwall,  p.  287.    Pict.  Hist  Engl.  p.  103, 4.) 


* 


Srumuli. 


BOUT  a  century  ago  some  Tumuli 
were  opened  upon  the  top  of  Morf 
by  the  Rev.  Mr  Stackhouse,  who 
furnished  an  account  of  his  opera- 
tions to  the  Royal  Society.  No 
vestiges  of  these  Tumuli  now  ap- 
pear, as  the  land  is  all  under  the 
plough.  We  gather  from  his  own 
account  what  was  the  result  of  his 
labors;  but  whether  it  was  owing 
to  the  unskilful  manner  in  which  the  ex- 
cavation was  set  about,  or  to  the  actual 
piwerty  of  the  Tumulus,  nothing  of  va- 
lue was  found.  He  dug  through  the 
middle  and  largest  Tumulus  from  North 
to  South,  supposing  by  that  method 
that  he  should  cross  any  body  that 
might  have  been  laid  there.  He  dug 
Hcven  feet  deep,  even  to  the  solid  rock, 
ithout  meeting  with  any  thing  re- 
markable, except  an  iron  shell,  in  shape 
like  a  small  egg,  with  a  round  hole  at 
one  end,  but  so  cankered  and  decayed 
t)i;it  it  easily  broke  into  small  pieces; 
this  he  supposed  to  have  been  the  pommel  of  a  sword. 
Upon  the  West  side  was  found  in  a  kind  of  hollow,  one 
of  the  large  vertebrae  of  the  loins  with  its  process  nearly 
perfect,    "but  thoroughly  petrified'^;   and  upon  further 


J 


100 


search,  several  portions  of  bones  all  alike  petrified,  bat 
so  ^^  disguised ^^  that  he  could  not  discover  to  what  part 
of  the  body  they  belonged.  He  afterwards  opened  one 
of  the  lesser  Tumuli^  and  found  what  he  considered  to 
be  the  os  sacrum,  and  many  other  small  pieces  of  bones 
in  a  petrified  state.  He  left  the  other  Tumuli  unex- 
amined. The  middle  Tumidtu  was  about  nine  yards  in 
diameter,  and  the  lesser  eight,  at  its  base. 

Midway  betwixt  the  period  when  Mr  Stackhouse 
made  these  excavations,  and  the  present  day,  an  open- 
ing was  out  into  a  Tumulus  at  Staplvton.  The  plan 
of  operations  has  not  been  recorded,  but  we  know 
that  all  that  was  discovered  in  it  was  a  funeral  urn, 
formed  of  clay  baked  in  the  sun,  which  it  is  thought 
had  formerly  held  the  ashes  of  the  person  to  whose 
memory  the  barrow  was  raised.  It  is  worth  noticing 
that  a  coincidence  exists  in  the  name  of  the  place  where 
this  Tumulus  was  placed,  and  Stapeley  Hill  on  the 
borders  of  Montgomeryshire,  each  of  them  haply  signi- 
ficant of  sepulchral  remains. 

Upon  the  sununit  of  Long   Mtnd  are  a  series   of 
Tumuli,  which  if  we  commence  at  Ohoulton  Lodge,  by  the 
time  we  reach  Yapsd  Bank,  we  shall  have  passed  six  of 
them.     The  one  here  and  one  North  West  of  Rock  make 
eight.     At  the  extremity  of  the  eminence  are  two  others 
which  bear  the  name  of  Robin  Hood^b  Butts.     A  few 
years  ago  that  lying  to  the  South  East   was  opened, 
but  whether  owing  to  the  natural  unproductiveness   of 
the  barrow,   or  to  the  interment  having  been  missed 
through  the  unskilfulness  of  the  labourers  who  were  em- 
ployed, nothing  was  discovered  to  repay  the  investigator 
for  his   enquiry.     It  was  of  an  oval   form,   eight  feet 
high,  twelve  wide,  and  from  twenty  to  twenty^five  feet 
long.     It  is  singular  that  some  Tumuli  on  the   South 
Eastern  borders  of  Dewmshire  should   have  the   same 
name.     They  are  conical   mounds  of  earth,   like  these. 


•<  I 


Ul 


101 


and  about  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  and  are  eupposed  to 
be  the  tombs  of  warriors  who  fell  during  the  con- 
tests between  the  Saxons  and  the  Danes.  One  of 
them  was  opened  in  the  year  1818,  but  no  deposit 
found.  These  Tumuli,  continues  my  authority,  bear 
the  characteristic  marks  of  Celtic  barrows.  Those  in 
Shropshire  we  may,  with  most  reason,  ascribe  to  the 
British  Period.  In  Derbyshire  are  Cairns  known  under 
the  name  of  Bobin  Hooffs  Pricke^  which  having  been 
opened,  were  ascertained,  from  the  urns  they  contained, 
to  be  British'. 

I  shall  take  this  opportunity  of  stating  my  belief 
tiiat  the  Port  Wat  running  along  the  summit  of  the 
Long  Mynd  is  an  ancient  Brfhsh  Track  Way  from 
Castlb  Hill  near  Lebatwood^  to  Billino^s  Ring,  an  oval 
entrenchment  of  two  ditches,  lying  two  miles  to  the 
South  East  of  Biekofs  Cattle.  The  title  of  Port  Way 
is  not  unusual.  There  is  another  Port  Wat,  a  branch 
from  Watung  Street,  in  Whittlebury  Forest.  The  Ro- 
man road  from  Sileheeter  to  Old  Sarum^  which  cuts 
another  at  almost  right  angles  between  Andaver  and 
Kmgk£s  Inham  in  Hampshire^  and  crosses  the  river 
Test  or  Anton^  at  St  Mary  Bcwm^  is  sometimes  called 
the  Port  Way.  So  is  the  Icknield  in  its  progress 
from  Streatley  to  Wantaye^  about  Upton  and  ffaneell 
in  Berkshire.  The  street  called  Icknield^  where  it  passes 
Old  Sarum,  from  North  East  to  South  West,  towards 
Stratford,  is  always  called  Port  Lane*.  There  is  a 
Po&T  Lane  between  Aylesbury  and  Dinton  in  Busking- 
hamshire.  At  Dinton  Roman  remains  have  been  found^. 
This  lane  runs  into  the  Ridge  Wat  or  Icilletov  Street 
as  it  is  caUed,  near  Easi  Ilslet  in  Berkshire,  near  which 
place  the  Port  Wat  runs  parallel  to  it:  passing  Streat- 

*  See  Aichaeol.  vol.  vii.  p.  IJ^. 

'  Warton's  Histoiy  of  Kiddington,  4to.  1816.  p.  64. 

^  See  AichaeoL  vol.  x.  p.  171. 


102 


LET,  Grimes  Dyke,  and  Cold  Harbour'  Farm,  it  trends  to 
Beacon  HiU^  where  it  is  called  Ickleton  road.  Here  it 
leaves  a  Tumulus  to  the  North,  and  Kinffgton  Grow  to 
the  South  East.  Just  before  it  reaches  Trinff  it  is 
<;alled  the  Igknield  Wat.  The  name  is  derived  from 
the  A.  Sax.  port,  pramontorium,  because  it  runs  along 
an  eminence,  and  is  in  fact  as  we  should  call  it,  strictly 
speaking,  a  Highway.  It  occurs  also  in  the  parish  of 
Hardwick,  Cambridgeshire. 

The  Rev.  John  Rocke  is  the  first  Salopian  who  at* 
tempted  to  open  a  Tumulus  in  a  methodical  and  scien- 
tific manner.  The  barrow  he  cut  into  was  unproductive 
of  those  sepulchral  relics  which  are  usually  found,  but  we 
are  repaid  for  the  want  of  internal  treasures  by  the  light 
which  his  succinct  and  accurate  observations  have  thrown 
upon  this  subject  generally.  I  am  indebted  to  his  friend- 
ship for  furnishing  the  foUowing  account  of  his  operations. 

A  few  yards  to  the  North  East  of  Clunounpord 
Church,  (vulgo  dictum  Lungonas^)  is  a  large  circular 
mound,  which  stands  fifteen  feet  above  the  average  level 
of  the  subjacent  meadow;  it  is  one  hundred  and  three 
feet  across  its  base,  and  forty-nine  across  its  sumnut. 
From  South  East  to  West  the  diameter  is  two  feet  more. 
The  sides  incline  at  an  angle  of  twenty-eight  degrees'. 

^  There  are  several  Cold  Harbours^  in  Great  Britain,  men- 
tioned in  the  ObeervatioDs  upon  the  Names  of  Placesj  (q.  v.)  A 
Cold  Harbour,  and  Cold  Comfort,  lie  two  miles  North  ot  Dinton. 

'  Clunookas.  Saxtons  Map,  1577.  Clungonaz,  Ciungunnas, 
Clungonaz,  Clungonford.  Charts  apud  Rev.  J.  Rocke.  Celt.  Lon^ 
Lun,  aqua.    Hence  London,  Laticaster,  &c. 

^  Dr  Dorow  in  his  account  of  the  excavations  made  by  him  near 
Wiesbaden,  in  the  year  1817,  (See  Opferstatte  und  Grabhugel  der 
Germanen  und  Homer  am  Rhein  untersucht  und  dargestelt  von  Dr 
Wilhelm  Dorow;  Wiesbaden.  4to.  1826),  states  that  he  oonsiderB 
the  winter  season  the  most  advantageous  for  making  researches  of 
this  nature.  The  soil  below  the  frozen  surface  is  more  readily  worked 
than  in  summer,  and  the  earthen  vessels  are  always  more  easily 
preserved.  The  opening  of  the  barrow  itself,  I  have  made  trial  of, 
says  he,  in  every  possible  manner,  and  account  the  best  and  most 
simple  to  be  aoooiding  to  this  practice:  to  begin  from  the  peak  of 
the  barrow  and  level  it  in  all  directions  as  far  as  the  outennost 


IJ& 


lit! 


k_ 


103 


Mr  Rocke  made  an  incision  into  the  barrow  from  the 
North,  by  cutting  a  passage  five  feet  five  inches  wide, 
which  he  carried  on  six  feet  beyond  the  centre  in  a 
Southern  direction.  At  the  distance  of  eight  feet  from 
the  edge,  he  came  upon  a  soHd  mass  of  ashes,  in  which 
was  found  numerous  pieces  of  rude  unbaked  pottery. 
This  cinereal  stratum  was  one  inch  and  a  half  in  thick- 
ness at  its  commencement,  and  kept  gradually  increasing 
as  it  got  nearer  the  centre  of  the  Ptrb,  when  it  be- 
came four  inches  thick.  Four  feet  from  the  edge  of 
the  ashes,  or  twelve  from  the  extremity  of  the  barrow, 
a  stratum  of  deep  grey  coloured  mud  began,  of  that 
kind  thrown  out  of  fish  ponds;  it  took  an  undulating 
form,  and  at  the  centre  of  the  Tumulus  was  as  much 
as  eight  feet  in  thickness.  It  was  highly  charged  with 
a  light  coloured  matter  resembling  mushroom  spawn, 
which  after  a  few  minutes  exposure  to  the  air  assumed 
a  pale  Prussian  blue  colour^  It  contained  animal  mat- 
ter, pieces  of  charcoal,  of  unbumt  wood,  pieces  of  bone, 
and  fragments  of  sunburnt  pottery:  the  handle  of  one 
piece  had  the  impression  of  a  man^s  thumb  on  the  un- 
der side.     Below  this  stratum  was  another  of  a  similar 

^edge.  Remarkable  objects  were  often  found  by  him  on  the  outer- 
most extremities  of  the  barrow^  perhaps  after  the  interments.  The 
same  thing  occurs  in  the  Wiltshire  Darrows,  the  interment  itself 
being  frequently  on  one  side. 

Mr  Davidson,  in  his  British  and  Roman  remains  in  the  vicinity 
of  Axminster,  says  that  the  vestiges  of  ancient  earthworks  and  lines 
of  communication,  which  are  in  many  instances  almost  effaced  b^ 
the  united  effects  of  the  weather  and  cultivation,  the  antiquaiy,  if 
he  wish  for  success,  should  choose  a  dear  wintei^s  day  for  his  re- 
searches. The  fields  are  then  bare  of  com,  the  herbage  is  short, 
the  trees  and  hedges  are  divested  of  their  foliage,  and  the  sun  being 
low,  a  broader  shadow  is  cast  from  any  irregumrities  of  the  sur&ce. 
p.  14. 

>  In  the  barrows  opened  by  M ilner  in  Dorset^ire,  was  noticed  a 
considerable  quantity  of  fine  rich  black  earth,  with  a  certain  white 
mouldinesB  between  the  particles,  which  must  have  been  fetched 
from  a  considerable  distance,  and  which  was  invariably  strewed 
•over  the  remains  of  the  dead  in  these  ancient  sepultures.  rDescrip- 
tion  of  several  barrows  opened  in  Dorsetshire,  selections  nom  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  447.) 


104 


kind,  inlying  however  in  some  degree,  inaemudi  as  it 
waB  of  a  deeper  colour,  and  appeared  more  highly  chai'ged 
with  animal  matter.  BeoideB  oontaining  bones  of  oxen 
and  large  pieces  of  diarcoal,  there  were  in  iliis  deposit 
boars*  tusks,  and  two  pieces  of  iron  resembling  a  horse- 
shoe nail;  one  long  and  thin  like  an  awl,  the  other 
like  *^  a  fratit  nail^'".  The  appearance  of  this  stratifica- 
tion exactly  resembled  what  we  see  at  the  present  day 
in  the  iron  manufacturing  districts:  where  in  the  con- 
version of  coal  into  coke,  or  wood  into  charcoal,  the 
surface  of  the  heap  is  smothered  with  damp  earth  or 
ashes,  as  a  means  of  making  the  body  retain  heat  better. 
And  it  had  probably  the  same  use  here,  being  employed 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  fire,  or  any  ofiensive  smell 
which  would  arise  from  burning  the  bodies. 

At  the  distance  of  twenty  feet  six  inches  from  the 
outside  of  the  barrow,  Mr  Rocke  came  upon  a  heap 
of  stones  which  seems  to  have  encircled  the  central  part 
of  the  Pyre,  and  was  intended  as  a  fender.  It  was 
three  feet  nine  inches  wide,  and  one  foot  eight  mches 
high.  Underneath  it  lay  the  dark  mass  of  charcoal 
before  mentioned,  which  evidently  shews  that  the  fender 
was  put  on  as  a  later  work.  At  this  point  the  richer 
mud  was  one  foot  in  thickness:  midway  betwixt  this 
part  and  the  centre  it  increased  to  one  foot  four  inches. 
The  hearth  was  one  inch  in  thickness  at  its  beginning, 
it  was  here  two,  and  at  the  centre  four  inches.    Towards 

*  lion  nails  have  been  found  in  some  of  the  WiU^ure  bairowa. 
Mr  Cunnington  opened  a  mound  in  Elder  VaUeu,  but  found  nothing 
in  it  but  a  few  aninud  bones,  a  small  piece  of  pottery^  and  a  wnL 
In  one  of  the  barrows  in  Aahton  Valley  he  found  with  pieces  of 
charred  wood,  iron  nails  with  flat  heads  from  half  an  inch  to  five 
inches  long.  THoare's  Ancient  Wiltshire,  p.  78.)  In  1801  he  opened 
a  large  Tumulus  on  Cotley  Hill  in  Wiltshire.  The  only  articles  he 
discovered  were  animal  bones,  iron  nails,  and  broken  pottery  of 
different  sorts.  This  barrow  is  surrounded  by  a  circular  yallum  of 
small  elevation,  and  from  the  circumstance  of  the  ditch  being  within 
the  bank.  Sir  Richard  Hoare  pronounced  it  to  have  been  original^ 
a  work  destined  for  religious  purposes.    lb.  p.  71. 


105 


the  oentre  there  appeared  to  be  two  strata  ot  ashee; 
the  lower  one  wae  four  inchee  thick,  the  upper  one 
three  inohes  thick,  having  nine  inchee  of  cUy  betwixt 
them.  This  seemed  to  have  been  sunk  on  the  Eastern 
side,  as  the  ashes  rose  up  towards  the  West.  Can  we 
infer  firom  this  that  there  was  more  than  one  crema- 
tion! The  richest  part  of  the  mud  was  towards  the 
centre  of  the  mound;  it  was  there  of  a  deeper  cast, 
and  fuller  of  the  prussiate  of  iron.  And  here  it  was  two 
feet  thick  above  the  coal  hearth,  and  about  two  feet  six 
inches  below  it.  Outside  the  fender,  just  where  the  cine- 
real  stratum  commences,  was  found  great  quantities  of 
vegetable  matter,  which  seemed  to  be  rushes:  this  was 
clearly  intended  to  kindle  the  funereal  pile.  Some  of  the 
seeds  were  shaken  out  of  it,  and  sown  in  a  hot-house  to 
ascertain  what  they  actually  were,  but  they  did  not  grow. 

Having  carried  on  his  investigations  thus  far,  Mr 
Rodce  reached  the  centre  of  the  Tumulus,  and  think- 
ing that  he  mig^t  still  have  missed  some  interment, 
he  continued  the  excavation  five  feet  further,  and  two 
feet  loww.  He  still  found  the  same  kind  of  mud,  but 
in  a  more  liquid  state,  and  falling  into  a  basin  as 
it  were,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  plum-pudding 
stone  of  a  peculiar  shape,  one  foot  high  and  eighteen 
inches  long,  and  fifty  pounds  weight,  that  had  formerly 
been -supported  by  a  piece  of  deft  oak,  which  was  lying  flat 
underneath  it.  This  stone  had  evidently  been  set  here 
for  some  purpose  or  other:  but  not  to  mark  the  place 
where  a  body  had  been  put,  as  the  ground  below  it  had 
never  been  moved. 

That  this  Tumulus  is  an  instance  of  interment  by 

cremation  is  so  clear,  that  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to 

state  it^      Through   the  careful  and    praiseworthy  at- 

^  Theie  is  reason  to  think  that  the  rites  of  crenuttion  have  been 
practised  in  Tumnli  where  we  find  charred  wood^  with  fragments  of 
numan  bones  and  mde  British  pottery.  As  in  the  instance  of  JCtn^« 
barrow  in  WUUhire.    Hoare's  Ancient  Wiltshire,  p.  73. 


106 


tention  bestowed  by  Mr  Rocke  whilst  the  labourers  were 
employed,  we  gain  some  insight  into  the  method  that 
was  adopted  in  burning  the  dead  at  the  period  when 
this  barrow  was  constructed.  We  see  how  the  fire  was 
kindled,  how  the  bodies  were  held  in  through  means 
of  the  stone  fender,  and  how  the  heat  was  retained  un- 
til they  were  entirely  consumed  ^  His  trouble  was  not 
compensated  by  the  discovery  of  such  intrinsically  valu- 
able relics  as  have  sometimes  attended  similar  labors 
elsewhere,  but  he  has  increased  our  knowledge  on  the 
subject  of  sepulchral  remains  in  a  manner  that  will 
elicit  the  gratitude  of  all  succeeding  antiquaries. 

In  the  interesting  account  which  Dr  Dorow  has  given 
of  his  excavations  near  Wiesbculenj  there  are  several  facts 
mentioned  that  accord  with  these.  Many  of  his  exca- 
vations were  fruitless :  he  met  with  coals  only,  which  lay 
in  strata,  and  were  covered  with  reddish  burnt  earth. 
He  observed  no  fixed  connexion  or  order  in  the  position 
of  the  barrows  which  he  opened.  They  seem  specially 
to  have  sought  for  declivities  towards  the  East.  There 
frequently  lay  in  barrows,  skeletons  unbumt,  still  adorned 
with  jewels  and  ornaments,  and  close  by  were  found 
burned  bones  and  ashes  in  urns.  It  is  worthy  of  obser- 
vation that  he  found  no  coins  in  any  barrow  in  the 
environs  of  Wiesbaden,  although  objects  therein  contained 
were  of  unquestionable  Roman  origin.  In  the  first  bar- 
row which  Dorow  opened,  on  the  road  to  the  Platte^ 
in  a  wood  belonging  to  the  town  of  Wiesbaden,  called 
Hebenkies,  he  ordered  the  workmen  to  dig  from  the 
West  side  of  its  extreme  edge,  towards  the  middle,  and 

*  The  A.  Sax.  poem  of  Beowulf  furnishes  us  with  some  curious 
particulars  relative  to  the  manner  in  which  the  obsequies  of  a  Teutonic 
Ilero  were  celebrated.  The  principal  points  were  the  feast ;  the  raising 
of  a  mound ;  the  burning  of  the  boay ;  and  the  throwing  upon  the 
pile  or  into  the  mound^  jewels,  arms,  and  warlike  implements ;  the 
sacrifice  of  hawks,  hounds,  horses,  and  even  human  beings,  slaves 
or  free  men.  (See  the  subject  further  illustrated  in  the  notes  of 
Kemble  s  Translation  of  Beowulf.  1837.) 


107 


soon  oame  upon  a  layer  placed  with  design,  in  fashion 
like  a  wall  of  field-stones,  piled  up  three  feet  high  and 
two  and  a  half  broad,  which  lay  in  the  direction  of  the 
middle  of  the  barrow.  Following  this  up  for  five  feet 
he  came  upon  the  exterior  side  of  a  caldron-shaped 
layer  of  just  the  same  kind  of  stones.  From  this  the 
passage,  which  was  filled  up  with  stones  as  above  men- 
tioned, issued.  He  caused  this  caldron  (kessel)  that 
was  burdened  with  an  agglomeration  of  burnt  earth, 
stones,  pieces  of  earthen  vessels  and  other  substances,  to 
be  cleared  out  with  every  precaution.  Directly  at  the 
ri^t  side  of  the  entrance  into  the  caldron  he  found 
on  this  side  a  stone  battle-axe,  not  far  from  it  on  the 
left,  bones  of  the  upper  and  lower  jaw  of  a  horse.  On 
the  right  near  the  battle-axe,  fragments  of  ornamented 
urns,  and  bones  of  a  skull  almost  as  hght  as  a  feather, 
pieces  of  arm  and  leg-bones,  a  man's  tooth,  and  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  ashes,  which  are  distinguishable  in 
barrows  from  the  rest  of  the  soil  by  their  pale  yellow 
colour,  by  their  lightness  in  a  dry  state,  and  by  their 
feeling  soft.  The  bones  lay  upon  crystals  of  quartz, 
which  were  found  in  very  considerable  quantities,  and 
had  suffered  more  or  less  from  fire.  Under  these  small 
stones  was  found  a  polished  flint  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  long  and  a  quarter  broad,  perhaps  a  fragment  of 
a  knife. 

The  fragments  of  urns  were  now  carefully  picked  out 
from  amongst  the  burnt  rubbish  and  stones,  also  sherds 
of  two  burned  earthen  vessels,  which  were  found  by  the 
horse's  bones.  A  closer  inspection  of  the  sepulchre 
induced  the  belief  that  it  had  been  built  in  the  barrow 
with  field-stones  set  wedgewise,  in  the  form  of  a  trough- 
shaped  caldron,  seven  feet  diameter  and  five  feet  high, 
so  that  on  the  West  there  was  left  a  horizontal  aper- 
ture, which  at  last  was  filled  up  with  stones.  There 
appeared  upon  this  caldron,   which  shewed  no  trace  of 


108 


taolting  over,  a  cone  raiaed  up  seven  feet  higher,  <tf 
just  the  Bame  field-stones,  but  the  whole  was  covered 
over  with  earth  a  foot  thick:  in  this,  immediately  at 
the  top,  were  found  a  great  number  of  metallic  rings, 
much  covered  with  vardigris,  in  part  entirely  converted 
into  it. 

From  the  iashicm  of  this  burial-place,  we  are  led 
readily  to  form  the  supposition,  that  first  the  caldron 
was  buih  up,  in  order  to  raise  upon  it  the  pile  of 
wood  for  burning  the  deoeased  with  his  arms  and 
his  war-horse.  The  horizontal  passage  into  it  seems 
like  a  vent  hole  or  flue  for  encouraging  the  fire.  The 
urns  placed  on  the  edge  of  the  sepulchre  with  the  orna- 
ments of  it,  tumbled  down  into  the  caldron  with  the 
ocmsumed  pile,  and  were  covered  over  with  the  ashes, 
and  crushed  by  the  hard  and  heavy  load  of  the  cone 
of  stones. 

These  objects  are  totally  difierent  fi*om  the  Roman 
remains  that  are  found  in  this  part  of  the  worid,  as 
well  as  the  internal  appearance  of  the  burial-place  itself, 
with  the  quantity  of  field-stones  piled  up;  and  th^ 
justify  our  concluding  that  this  was  an  Aboriginal  Oer- 
man  grave,  and  lead  to  the  conjecture  that  a  warrior, 
chieftain,  or  prince  was  interred  there. 

The  Battled  Axe  weighing  two  pounds,  was  two  and 
a  half  inches  broad,  nine  inches  long,  one  inch  nine 
lines  thick,  and  was  of  dark  green  serpentine.  Half  of 
that  side  which  lay  uppermost  was  coated  over  with 
an  incrustation  half  a  line  thick,  of  the  nature  of  sand- 
stone, which  it  was  not  possible  to  detach,  without 
injuring  the  serpentine,  especially  as  the  coating  had 
penetrated  at  the  same  time  into  the  pores,  that  were 
found  here  and  there  on  the  surface  of  the  stone.  Ex- 
cepting one  small  spot  besides  this,  incrustation  was  not 
found  elsewhere  on  the  other  half  of  this  side,  which 
almost  alone  is  a   proof  of  its  having  laid  a  thousand 


m 


109 

years  and  more  in  its  place.  The  baAUe-axe  in  all 
probability  served  rather  for  ornament  than  for  actual 
service  against  the  enenqr.  The  form  as  weU  as  the 
workmanship  of  this  piece  of  arms  is  pointed  out  as 
alike  excellent.  The  polish  still  retained  its  lustre ;  and 
the  round  aperture  pierced  through  for  the  handle  was 
very  singular;  it  was  made  vdth  the  greatest  skill,  and 
could  not  have  been  drilled  more  beautifully  by  the  best 
woi^ers  in  metaJ,  whilst  the  lustre  of  it  also  was  not 
in  the  least  degree  inferior.  For  a  wooden  handle 
the  aperture  appeared  railier  too  small,  though  there 
was  no  metal  to  be  found  which  would  in  all  respects 
have  served  the  purpose.  The  stone  battle-axe,  more- 
over, may  have  been  placed  in  the  sepulchre  as  a  symbol 
oi  Thor  the  god  of  war,  to  denote  that  the  deceased  was 
a  hero. 

There  were  found  four  Ubnb.  The  Jlnt  of  these  was 
of  nnglazed  bumi  day,  eight  and  a  half  inches  hi^ 
and  bdlying  out  six  inches  in  diameter.  The  ornaments 
appear  to  represent  fir-cones,  and  are  slightly  sketched 
in  with  a  round  blunt  style,  and  then  worked  out  v^ith 
a  pointed  style.  The  form  of  the  urn  was  most  simi- 
lar to  a  drinking  vessel,  and  of  uncommon  occurrence. 
It  was  originally  bhick.  The  brittleness,  softness,  and 
weatherbeaten  state  of  the  fragments,  from  which  how- 
ever it  could  have  been  entirely  put  together  again,  shew 
from  having  lam  in  the  earth  a  tiiousand  and  more  years, 
by  what  means  this  urn  may  have  lost  its  dark  colour. 
The  second  Ubn  was  still  more  similar  to  a  drinkmg  ves- 
sel than  the  foregoing,  and  had  with  equal  height  and 
outrbellying,  a  greater  projection  in  the  brim,  and  a 
wider  corresponding  neck.  The  lump  of  clay  out  of 
which  this  was  iashioned  was  also  blackened,  and  ap» 
peared  coarser  than  the  preceding  one.  Its  form  and 
decoration  was  of  a  simpler  and  ruder  kind.  The 
Mrd  Ubn  was  found  in  more  than  fifty  pieces  by  the 


110 


side  of  the  horse's  bones,  but  Dr  Dorow  managed  for 
the  most  part  to  put  it  together.  It  was  strikingly 
different  in  shape  from  the  foregoing  one,  inafimuch  as 
it  had  a  wide  oval  protuberance  of  one  foot  one  inch  in 
diameter,  by  one  foot  high,  two  handles,  and  a  narrower 
neck  opening,  of  four  inches  nine  lines  in  diameter,  and 
on  the  whole  looked  not  unlike  a  water-pot.  Its  clay 
was  of  the  same  goodness  as  the  second  urn,  and  it 
had  much  resemblance  to  it  in  the  style  of  its  decora- 
tion. However,  the  strokes  which  form  the  ornaments 
in  this  were  more  carelessly  drawn,  more  irregular,  less 
deeply  impressed,  and  less  sharply  defined.  This  urn 
was  of  yeUow  clay,  and  appeared  burnt  harder  than 
the  foregoing  one.  The  fowrth  Urn  lay  likewise  with 
the  horse'^s  bones,  was  of  a  smaller  kind  than  the  pre- 
ceding ones,  and  of  very  much  coarser  clay,  of  ruder 
shape  and  workmanship.  It  was  four  inches  eight  lines 
high,  and  instead  of  the  two  handles  on  the  protuber- 
ance of  six  inches  diameter,  a  rudely  shaped  lump  of 
clay  projected,  in  which  a  hole  of  two  Unes  in  dia- 
meter was  made,  probably  in  order  to  pass  a  string 
through.  This  pot-shaped  urn  was  of  a  greyish  yeUow 
colour  and  without  ornament.  Besides  these  there  was 
found  the  ornamented  handle  of  a  fifth  Urn  of  black 
clay. 

The  Horse's  bones  consisted  of  a  piece  of  the  upper 
jaw-bone  with  two  teeth,  and  a  much  larger  piece  of  the 
lower  jaw-bone  with  the  first  five  teeth.  On  the  teeth 
themselves  the  enamel  was  perfectly  well  preserved :  the 
bones  had  suffered  more  in  comparison,  but  contrasted 
with  the  human  bones  were  solid.  Under  these  bones 
lay  a  wrought  piece  of  stag's  horn,  as  Dr  Dorow  and 
several  other  persons  supposed  it  to  be,  not  unlike  a 
toothpick. 

There  was  found  with  the  human  bones  an  oblong 
but   irregular  and  opaque  piece  of  white  quartz,  appa-. 


Ill 


rently  a  rock-crystal,  which  in  this  country  occurs  only 
among  the  slates  of  the  Rhine :  it  was  probably  laid  in 
the  grave  with  some  intention,  since  in  several,  yet  only 
in  such  as  are  considered  German,  quartz  stones  of  the 
same  kind  have  been  found.  The  tasteful  and  simple 
decoration  of  the  first  and  second  urn  was  remarkable, 
and  may  be  considered  as  an  argument  that  Asiatic 
Colonists  of  a  higher  degree  of  civilization  migrating 
into  these  parts,  grew  savage  in  the  forests  and  colder 
climate  of  Germany,  and  by  them  these  elegant  forms 
had  been  preserved,  though  the  workmanship  and  ma- 
terial had  become  coarse. 


in 

m 


^ 


% 


,1 


ROMAN   PERIOD. 


't 


WROXETER. 


nAViN»  examined  the  etymology  of 
Wroxpter  in  a  former  part  of  this 
volume  \  I  shall  now  place  before  the 
reader  those  few  facts  we  possess  re- 
lative to  its  early  history.  The  first 
writer  by  whom  it  is  mentioned  is 
Ptolemy*,  who  speaks  of  OmpoKo- 
v'lov  as  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  Cornavu.  It  occurs 
in  the  second  and  twelfth  Iter  of  Antoninus,  under  the 
Latinised  form  of  Uriooonium.  The  doubtful  authority 
of  Richard  of  Cirencester,  says  that  Urioonium  was  one 
of  the  largest  cities  in  Britidn'.  In  his  first,  second^ 
and  thirteenth  Iter  it  is  called  Virioconium.  These 
facts  of  themselves  shew  that  under  the  Roman  domi- 
nion of  Britain  it  was  a  place  of  considerable  import- 
ance. 

The  Saxons  called  it  Wreken-ceastbr,  which  has 
sabsequently  been  corrupted  into  Roxaltxr,  (Speed''s 
Map,  1646.)  Wroxaltkr,  (Philos.  Trans.  1747,  vol. 
xUv,  p.  557,)  and  Wroxbter  its  present  name. 

'  Vide,  p.  91. 

'  Ptolomiei  Grec^.  apnd  Horaley,  p.  359. 

*  Uriooniam  inter  Britanniie  ci^tates  maxumas  nomen  poseide- 
bat.    Ricardi  Corinensis  de  situ  Britaimise,  lib.  L  cap.  27. 

^  Gale,  in  his  comment  on  this  second  Iter  says,  "  Nomen  hujus 
nrbis  e  Vindilida  cum  Romanis  aquilis  ad  nos  venisse  videatur; 
occnmmt  enim  Virucinates  inter  <]aataor  Vindelicomm  gentes  ^uaa 
nobis  in  Alpino  trophaeo  exhibet  Plinins,  lib.  iii.  cap.  20.  Britan- 
nicitm  vero  nomen  hnjus  urbi  fiiit  Brec€fn  rel  Vreoon,  quod  et 
letinet  in  vincia  mens  hodie  Wreken  appellatus."  Anton.  Iter.  cut& 
Gale,  p.  56. 


116 


Baxter  says  that  an  ancient  tradition  existed  in  hig 
day  that  the  city  was  burned  by  the  Danes,  ^^immissis 
P<u$eribfu  de  Veroconio  monte,^  the  meaning  whereof 
others  may  better  explain.  He  suspects  these  fugitive 
sparrows  to  have  been  monks  or  hermits  from  the  Wre- 
kin^.  In  later  times  the  mountain  was  usually  termed 
MoNs  GiLBERTi,  or  St  Gilbert^s  Mountain,  from  which 
^Saint*"  the  Gilbertine  Monks  originated.  The  earliest 
authority  in  which  I  have  met  with  the  title  of  Sr 
Gilbbrt's  Hill  for  the  Wrekin  is  in  the  highly  curious 
Anglo  Norman  Romance  of  Fulk  Fitz  Wuin,  where  it 
is  called  Mont  Gylrbert'.  From  the  fact  of  an  iron 
seal  having  been  dug  up  at  Wboxeter,  upon  which  wa« 
engraved  the  head  of  a  prince  circled  with  a  Roman  dii^ 
dem,  and  having  long  hair,  wiili  the  inscription  CA  TTVT 
S6AVI  D€l,  Baxter  concludes  the  city  had  not  been 
overthrown  by  ilie  Saxons.  He  conjectures  this  head 
to  have  represented  Qffu  king  of  Meroia,  on  aecount  of 
the  intermixture  of  Greek  with  Latin  characters.  From 
the  i^ace  being  mentioned  at  the  dose  of  the  seventh 
century  in  the  ChorOgraphy  of  Ravennas^  as  the  chief 
city  of  the  Cornavu,  he  supposes  that  it  flourished  till 
the  time  of  the  Danes,  and  that  perhaps  even  here  at 
one  period  the  Mercians  fixed  their  capital.  And  if 
Ddinlle  Vreoon,  means  Wroxeter,  and  not  ilie  hill 
fortress  of  the  Wrekin,  Uricanium  was  standing  when 
Llywar9  Hen  wi-ote  his  elegy  on  the  death  of  Cynddylan. 

The  Caer  Urnach*  of  Nennius  has  been  conjectured 
to  mean  Wroxeter,  but  without  sufficient  reason^.  The 
affix  of  Ur  in  TJniconium  and  in  Vnruich  being  the  chief 
argument    for   the    assumption.      Baxter  imagines   that 

^  GloBsarium  Antiquitatam  Britanmcamm^  p.  243.      *  p.  2. 
'  Vtriconion  Comoninorum.    Urioconium  Comavionun^  (Como- 
yionun  Vat  MS.)  Ravenn.  Chorog. 

*  Whitaker^  in  his  Histonr  of  Manchester,  supposea  Wroxeter  to 
be  V  Ricon  Caer,  the  city  of  Kings,    vol.  L  p.  lA. 

*  See  p.  92. 


117 

Ca^r  uar  na  kag  signifies  cimtcu  od  eerme^m  fiuetwr. 
Its  connexion  with  the  Oiant  Umaoh,  gays  he,  of 
whom  the  Welsh  fables  speak,  is  too  ridiculous  to 
excite  attention. 

Antiquities  of  the  Roman  period  have  been  found 
here  at  various  times.  The  earliest  disooveiy  of  which 
we  have  any  information  is  the  Sudatory  or  Hypooaust^ 
that  was  uncovered  in  the  year  1701.  About  forty 
perches  North  of  the  wall  some  labourers  in  digging  to 
asc^tain  the  cause  of  unfruitfulness  of  the  land  there,  came 
upon  a  small  square  room  ^^  walled  about  and  floored  un- 
der and  over.*^^  It  was  set  with  four  ranks  of  small  brick 
pillani  eight  inches  square,  and  laid  in  a  strong  sort  of 
very  fine  red  clay,  each  pillar  being  founded  upon  a  foot 
square  quarry  of  brick;  and  upon  the  head  of  every 
pillar  was  fixed  a  large  quarry  of  two  feet  square,  hard 
almost  as  flint.  These  pillars  were  to  support  a  double 
floor,  made  of  very  strong  mortar,  mixed  with  coarse 
gravel  and  broken  bricks.  The  first  of  these  floors  was 
laid  upon  the  large  quarries,  and  when  diy  the  second 
floor  was  laid  upon  it. 

There  was  a  range  of  tunnel-bricks^  fixed  with  iron 
cramps  up  to  the  wall  within,  with  their  lower  ends 
level  with  the  under  sides  of  the  broad  quarries,  and 
their  upper  ends  with  the  surface  of  the  upper  floor: 
and  every  tunnel  had  alike  two  opposite  mortice-holes, 

*  Sir  Christopher  Wren  informed  Dr  Harwood  who  oommimi- 
cated  an  account  of  this  discovery  to  the  Royal  Society,  that  he 
discovered  the  remains  of  such  another  Hypocaust  when  they  were 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  King's  house  at  Windiegter. 

Mr  Christopher  Hunter,  in  a  letter  to  Dr  Lyster  dated  May  15, 
1702,  published  in  Philos.  Trans.  No.  278,  p.  1131,  dves  an  account 
of  one  dug  up  in  Yorkghirt.  Edward  Lmyd  in  his  additions  to 
Camden  notices  another  discovered  at  Kaer  hyn,  co.  Caernarvon. 
fie  describes  and  ffives  a  figure  of  one  of  the  hollow  bricks  or 
tnnnek.  Another  has  been  found  at  Hope  in  Flintshire,  and  an- 
other at  Chester^  besides  several  other  places. 

'  These  flues  are  usually  the  same  wherever  they  occur.  The 
eaent  ones,  from  the  representation  given,  are  just  like  some  I 
ive  seen  that  were  found  at  Borough  HiU,  near  Ikiventry, 


118 


\- 


one  on  either  side,  out  through  for  a  crosB  paaaage  to 
disperse  the  heat  amongst  them  all^ 

In  1747^  a  clay  mould  for  forging  Roman  coin  was 
found  here,  it  had  on  it  the  head  of  Julia,  the  wife 
of  SeyeruB,  and  the  inscription  Jvua  Avovbta.  It 
was  described  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Royal  Society 
the  same  year,  together  with  four  others  discovered  in 
digging  sand  at  Byion^  near  Candover*.     They  were  all 

*  A  description  of  a  Roman  Sudatoiy  or  Hypocaiutnm,  found 
at  WrojpeUr  in  Shropshire,  1701,  bv  Mr  John  Lyster,  (Philosophical 
Transactions,  vol.  xxv.  p.  2226—8.)  a  representation  is  given  of  these 
remains  in  the  volume  quoted,  and  a  model  of  them  existed  in  the 
Library  of  the  Free  School,  Shrewsbury. 

'  According  to  the  account  of  them  in  the  Philos.  Trans,  vol. 
xliv.  p.  557,  tney  were  as  follows :  • 

1.  Probably  the  reverse  of  a  Denarius  of  Sevems.  On  the 
reverse,  Figura  velata  coram  aram  sacrificans.  Yota  Svbckpta.  x. 

2.  On  one  side  Caput  Julis  Severi,  IVLIA  AVGVSTA.  On 
the  other  was  the  reverse  of  a  Denarius  of  Severus.  Victoria  gia- 
diens  cum  fune  superecuto  P.  M.  TR.  F.  VIII.  COS.  II.  P.P. 

3.  A  reverse  of  CaraoEilla.  Trophseum  de  Parthis  cum  duobus 
captivis  assidentibus.  PART.  MAX.  PON.  TR.  P.  V.  COS. 

4.  Caput  JuUtt  Severi.    IVLIA  AVGVSTA. 

These  were  bought  by  Gough  at  the  decease  of  the  possessor, 
and  are  now  probably  among  ms  bequests  to  the  Bodleian. 

*  I  remember,  gays  the  author  of  this  paper,  no  aooount  of  any  nich  Und  of  roouldt 
being  found  m  other  countries  exoeptinf  some  said  to  be  fixmd  at  Lyofw,  but  I  believe 
more  of  them  have  been  discovered  at  different  times  in  England.  I  have  been  infimned 
Chat  the  Barl  of  Winchelsea  had  several  impressions  or  moulds  of  this  sort,  all  joined 
together  ade  by  side,  on  one  flat  piece  of  day  as  if  for  the  making  of  many  casts  at 
onocL  They  wese  all  of  the  Emperor  Severus.  In  the  Earl  of  Pembroke's  coueetiao  b 
a  day  mould  impressed  on  both  sides  like  No.  2,  one  side  with  the  head  of  Severus,  the 
other  with  a  known  reverse  of  that  emperor,  so  that  all  we  know  of  are  nearly  of  the 
same  time.  Severus  or  Caracalla  his  son  and  immediate  successor.  They  are  seemin^y 
intended  for  the  coinage  of  money  though  it  is  verv  difficult  to  conceive  in  what  man- 
ner they  could  be  employed  for  that  purpose,  especially  those  with  an  impression  on  both 
sides,  unless  we  suppose  two  pieces  to  have  been  coined  at  the  same  time  by  the  help  of 
three  moulds,  of  wnidi  this  was  to  be  the  middle  one.  If  by  dispodng  these  into  some 
sort  of  frame  or  case,  as  letter  founders  do  the  brass  moulds  for  casting  typesL  the 
metal  could  be  poured  into  them.  It  would  certainly  be  a  very  easy  methoa  ot  coining, 
as  such  moulds  require  little  time  or  expense  to  make,  and  might  easily  be  renewed. 
They  seem  to  have  been  burned  or  baked  suffldently  to  make  them  hard,  but  not  so  at 
to  render  them  like  bricks,  whereby  they  would^have  lost  their  smooth  and  even  surftcef 
which  in  these  is  plainly  so  smooth  that  wluUever  metal  should  be  farmed  in  them  would 
have  no  appeuitnce  like  the  sand  holes  by  which  counterfeit  coins  are  usually  detected. 

At  l4nnu  in  the  Fourviere,  (forum  vetus)  the  quazter  mostly  inhabited  by  the  Romana, 
moulds  of  whitish  clay  baked  are  frequently  found.  M.  ICahudel  has  given  a  memoir  on 
thdr  use.    (Memoires  de  TAcademie  d'Inscriptions,  tom.  iii.  218.  Na  ii.  333-.342.) 

They  are  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  two  lines  thick  at  the  edge ;  most  have  iroprealoB 
on  both  sides.  Each  mould  has  a  small  opening  or  channd  at  the  edge  leading  to  the 
cavity  of  the  impression,  which  served  to  reorive  and  conduct  the  metaL  When  a  mim- 
ber  of  them  were  laid  together,  at  eaeh  end  was  a  mould  impressed  only  on  one  side^ 
and  they  were  perhaps  imbedded  in  earth  to  hold  them  together,  as  some  still  ad- 
hered to  some  of  these  moulds.  They  were  of  the  time  of  Severus,  who  rerided  long  at 
Lifontt  where  Caracalla  was  bom.  An  ingot  of  mixed  metal  was  found  with  them,  the 
verdigris  on  which,  shewed  there  was  more  copper  than  silver.  The  number  and  good- 
ness of  these  moulds  led  some  antiquaries  to  the  supposition  that  the  Romans  somciomeB 
cast  their  silver  coin.  M.  Mahudel  adduces  various  arguments  to  shew  that  it  was  atradw 
and  thinks  that  these  moulds  were  used  soldy  by  fislse  ooinerB. 


119 

of  the  rize  of  a  denarius,  a  little  more  than  the  thick- 
nesB  of  a  halfpenny,  with  the  exception  of  the  former 
one  that  was  double.  They  were  made  of  a  smooth 
pot  or  rather  brick  clay  that  seemed  to  have  been  well 
cleaned  fiom  sand  or  dirt,  and  well  beat  or  kneaded,  to 
render  it  fit  for  taking  a  fair  impression.  Oreat  num- 
bers of  them  were  found,  but  for  want  of  care  most  of 
them  were  broken  in  pieces. 

In  the  year  1762,  in  a  field  two  hundred  yards 
North  East  of  the  Old  Wall  were  found  three  sepul- 
chral stones,  that  are  now  preserved  in  the  Free  School 
Library  at  Shrewsbury^  together  with  a  fourth  subse- 
quently discovered*.  Ab  far  as  type  will  allow  I  have 
endeavoured  to  print  their  inscriptions  in  the  following 
pages. 

'  These  are  engraved  in  Camden^  voL  iiL  p.  13,  and  in  a  small 
privately  printed  volmne  of  plates  which  gives  representations  of 
some  coarse  urns  found  in  1810. 

PMny  fpeaks  of  the  detaieinent  of  coin  and  the  art  required  to  diitinfliiih  that  iHiidi 
'      ""         *  "^  *  '         '"      "'  ^  Imitations  were  dnm  to  well  exe- 


from  pieces  cast  in  a  nnd  mould,  which  1 .  

eutea  that  the  carious  would  often  give  many  pieoes  of  good  money  for  one  fklse  one. 

Count  Caylus  took  impressions  in  pewter  from  these  Lyoiw  moulds;  when  they  weie 
csseAiUy  cleaned  he  obtained  perfect  casts;  they  were  of  Antoninus  Pius,  Oeta  and  Julia, 
«U  dacrihed  by  Coca 

Count  Caylus  diflbn  from  Ifahudel  as  to  the  use  of  these  moulds,  Bacuell  L  S86,  he 
thinks  that  the  Bomana  as  well  as  the  kings  of  Egypt,  Syria,  Judea,  Ace,  used  both  moulds 
and  the  hammer.  They  seem  intended  for  silver  coinaoe,  whidi  in  the  reign  of  Severus 
was  debased,  and  continued  more  and  more  so  till  the  tune  of  Dioderian.  After  the  time 
of  Severus  coins  are  mostly  of  billon— brsss  alloyed  wldi  a  tittle  silver,— and  to  foige 
sudi  base  coin  be  argues  would  be  hardly  worth  the  coiner's  while,  and  also  that  the 
mints  would  Iw  more  oarelees  about  the  mode  of  mariting  such  coin  and  use  the  shortest 
and  least  costly  method,  namely,  the  mould,  the  head  might  quickly  be  enjomved  in  relief 
on  a  pundieon  hard  enough  to  stamp  the  day.  the  legend  posdbly  printed  by  moveable 
chanM^er^  a  eopjecture  aidhoriaed  by  the  otmAioon  and  IranqxisitloQ  of  letters  on  medals. 


costly  method,  namely,  the  mould,  the  head  might  quickly  be  enjoaved  in  relief 
idieon  hard  enough  to  stamp  the  day.  the  legend  posdbly  printed  by  moveable 
^  a  eopjecture  aidhoriaed  by  the  otmAioon  and  IranqxisitloQ  of  letters  on  medals. 
le  rufais  of  the  fountain  of  Nismes  were  found  two  bran  dies  of  medals  of  Au- 
acmved  Memoiies  de  FAcad.  des  Insc.  xiv.  lOB.  Caylus  Becueil  L  cv.  f.  1.  See  a 
ItoaUnet  Cabinet  de  St  Genevieve,  p.  117>  of  Augustus ;  in  the  same  collection 
„  -ron  of  Constantius. 
See  in  Phil.  Trans.  voL  —  No.  S34^  an  account  by  Thorssby  of  day  moulds  tea  casting 


money  fimnd  at  Tkorp  in  Yorkihire:  they  were  of  Severus,  his  consort  Julia,  his  son 
Caragefla  Alexander  seveius,  his  mother,  Hammsea.  and  Dladumcnianus.  In  the  Ashmo- 
lean  are  matrices  of  day  for  casting  Roman  coins  found  167,  in  the  parish  of  MwriinA 
ca  9tmgr$tL  pmscnted  16881  by  John  Aubrey  of  Auton  PHaee,  WUU.  Na  93-66  coins. 


^ 


120 


No.  1. 

Is  a  stone  four  feet  ten  long  and  one  foot  nine  inches  wide. 


M.  PETRONIVS 
UFaMEN 
VICaANN 

xxxviri 

MIULrC 

illl  GEM 

MILITAVIT 

ANNaXVIII 

SIGNaFVIT 

H^SaE. 


Marcus .  Petronius  Luoii .  filius  .  Menenise  vixit .  annoe 
XXXVIII  miles  .  legionis  XIIII  gemina'  militavit  annoe . 
XVIII .     Signifer  .  fiiit.     Hio  .  Sepultus  .  est. 

'  It  is  said  that  this  l^on  was  never  in  Britain,  thon^I  hare 
been  unable  to  ascertain  on  what  authority  it  is  so  stated.  Dr  Ward 
in  his  account  of  this  Inscription  in  the  Philos.  Trans.  voL  xlix. 
part  i.  p.  196,  conjectures  that  Petronius  only  came  for  his  health 
and  died  here ! 


121 


No.  2. 

A  stone  four  feet  five  inohes  higfa,  by  two  feet  three  wide. 
Surmounted  at  the  top  by  a  pine  apple  betwixt  two  lions. 


Caiufi .  Mannius .  Caii .  Filius  Pollise  .  Secundus^  .  Pol- 
lens Miles  Legionis  .  XX  .  Annorum .  LII .  Stipendiarius  * 
XXXI.  beneficiarius  legati*  .  provinciae  hie  Sepultus  est. 

*  SecundfUi  an  epithet  bestowed  by  his  general:  this  and  PoOeaSf 
were  titles  of  honour. 

'  Eveiy  province  had  its  legati,  or  Lieutenant  Generals,  appointed 
by  the  Consuls. 


i 


122 


No,  3. 
A  stone  two  feet  eight  inohes  high^  and  two  feet 
three  wide,  divided  into  three  compartments,  one  of 
which  is  blank.  The  upper  part  is  ornamented  by 
the  representation  of  two  dolphins,  two  serpents,  and 
a  human  head. 


^ 

1 

1 

1 

DM 
PLACIDA 

ANLV 
CVRAC 

CON  •  1- 

J 

DM- 

DEVCCV 

SANXV 

CVRC 

RATRE 

Diis .  Manibus  Placida  annis .  LV  cura .  agente  conjuge  ^ 
Diis .  Manibus .  Deuccus .  annis .  XV .  oura .  agente  patre'.* 

'  I  am  not  pTepared  to  set  before  the  reader  a  better  interoretation 
than  this^  nor  bc^d  enough  to  add  to  it  the  numerals  XXa.  as  hm 
been  done  by  others,  imJplyi^g  that  Placida  was  thirty  years  a  wife. 
What  has  been  tortured  mto  aXX.  appears  to  me  notblng  more  than 
a  lone  cross  ornament  at  the  bottom,  like  the  triplication  of  a  W, 

'  Nor  do  I  feel  satisfied  with  the  reading  of  the  latter  part  of  this 
inscription. 


123 

i 

No.  4- 
A  stond  two  feet  ten  high,  and  two  feet  wide : 

TIBCLAVDTIB 

NtNSEQCoH 

THRACVMAI 

ORVMLVILST 

ENDIoRX 

H    S 

TiberiuB  ClandiuB  Tibertintu  Equee  Cohortis  Thracum 
auxiliorum  LVII.  Stipendiorum  X.  hie  Sepultus  est^ 

In  June  1788  veiy  considerable  remaioB  of  Roman 
Baths,  and  Hypooausts*  were  found,  together  with  coins 

1  Eograved  in  Camden,  vol.  iiL  p.  23. 

'  The  nature  of  these  Hypocausta  is  well  examined  by  Baxter 
in  a  letter  to  Harwood,  in  which  he  says. 

The  Ancients  had  two  sorts  of  Htfocausta,  the  one  called  by 
Cicero  Vaporarium,  and  bj  others  lAuxmicum,  or  Sudatw,  which  was 
a  large  sweating  bath  in  which  were  tria  vasa  ahena,  called  Calda^ 
rium,  Tmdarium,  and  Frigidarium,  from  the  water  contained  in 
them.  Tne  other  sort  of  Hypooatutum  is  not  so  distinctly  handled  by 
Antiquaries,  and  it  was  a  sort  of  Forruue,  or  kiln  to  heat  their  winter 
parlonrs  or  Canatiuncukp  Hyberrue.  "  Erat  et  DiKtffi  sive  Coenati- 
nnculs/'  says  Arsol  upon  Panvinins,  ''sab  qua  i^pois  accendebatnr, 
nnde  et  eoenatio  Ifypocaustom."  Cicero  in  his  Epistles  mentions 
Ccenaiiones  jEttiva  et  Hyberrue, 

The  Terrace  floor  is  called  by  Vitravius,  Testudo,  Testudines 
alreorum  in  <^mmnni  hypocausi  calefacinntnr.  This  Hypocausis  was 
caUed  Aiveus  and  Fonnax,  and  the  man  who  tended  the  flre  Farna* 
eater.  The  TubuU  seem  to  have  been  contrived  to  convey  away  the 
smother,  that  otherwise  would  choke  the  Fomacator,  This  kind  of 
stove  seems  to  be  graphically  described  by  P.  Statins,  in  Balneo 
,  Hetrusii: 

^ubi  languidus  imis  inerrat 

iEdibus,  et  tenuem  volvunt  hypocausta  vaporem. 

Of  the  TerracBy  Argol  has  these  words,  ''  Testudines  sunt  pavi- 
menta  sub  quibus  Fornax  ardet." 

P.  S.  By  the  way  I  take  the  word  SUme  to  be  derived  firom  M^iUi 
quasi  JBstuwam^  there  wanting  hitherto  a  probable  etymon. 


1* 

! 

I  if' 


'11 


124 

both  of  the  upper  and  lower  Empire,  bones  of  afnimab 
(some  of  which  were  burnt),  fragments  of  earthen  yessels 
of  various  sizes,  shapes  and  manufactures,  some  of  them 
black  and  resembling  Etruscan  ware,  pieces  of  glass,  and 
the  whole  ground  was  in  fart  full  of  charred  substances  in 
different  strata,  with  layers  of  earth  between  them,  seem- 
ing to  indicate  that  the  place  had  suffered  from  more  than 
one  conflagration. 

The  buildings  were  carefully  surveyed  at  the  time  of 
their  discoveiy  by  Mr  Telford  \  and  plans  with  fiill 
descriptions  are  giv^i  in  the  Archseologia*. 

The  first  floor  uncovered  was  paved  with  tiles  cdxteen 
inches  long,  by  twelve  wide,  and  half  an  inch  thick.  They 
lay  on  a  bed  of  mortar  a  foot  thick,  under  which  were 
rubble  stones  to  a  considerable  depth.  Adjoining  it  on 
the  Northern  side  was  a  small  bath  capable  of  holding  four 
persons,  supposing  them  to  sit  on  the  steps  or  seats  along 
the  Southern  side.  Through  the  North  side  was  a  hole 
near  the  bottom.  The  bottom  was  paved  with  tiles,  and 
the  sides  and  seats  plastered  with  mortar  consisting  of 
three  layers  or  coats :  the  first,  or  that  next  the  stones, 
was  formed  of  lime  and  pounded  brick  without  sand; 
the  third  of  the  same,  but  having  a  greater  proportion 
of  lime,  and  a  little  sand,  the  surface  of  this  was  very 
smooth  and  veiy  hard. 
I  Next  to  this  were  two  Hypocausts  about  five  feet  by 

seven.     They  stood  on  a  floor  of  mortar,  one  of  them 
tj  having  six,  and  the  other  eight  pillars^.     Several  pieces  of 

i  painted  stucco  were  found  in  the  first  Hypocaust,  some 

of  which  were  in  stripes  of  crimson  on  a  yeUow  ground, 
some  in  a  decussated  cheoquer  of  the  same  colors,  others 
plain  red,  and  others  plain  blue.  There  was  also  found 
in  this  place  a  tile  two  feet  square,  pierced  wiili  many 

*  See  also  the  Life  of  Telford,  published  by  Murray,  1899. 
'  VoL  ix.  p.  323.  communicated  by  the  Rev.  F.  Leighton  to 
Gough. 

'  Fragments  of  these  still  remain  in  the  viUage. 


!■;:' 


125 


boles,   whioh  were  wide  at   the  lower  (ride,  and  ended 
afanofit  in  a  point  at  the  upper  side. 

There  were  two  other  small  rooms,  two  feet  by  six,  and 
two  larger  ones,  respectively  five  feet,  and  three  feet  by 
eij^  which  had  tesselated  floors  made  of  pieces  of  brick 
one  inch  and  a  quarter  square,  disposed  merely  in  a  simple 
ehfioqaer,  besides  another  large  tesselated  floor  nine  feet  six 
by  fourteen:  and  another  Hypocaost  twelve  feet  by  twenty. 
Its  floor  was  of  mortar  upon  rubble  stones.  The  pilliuB 
were  not  uniform  in  their  shape,  size  or  disposition :  some 
rows  consisted  of  six,  and  some  of  sevm  pillars:  some  pillars 
were  shorter  than  others,  and  the  deficiency  was  made  up 
by  tiles,  or  stones  laid  upon  th^n :  some  were  apparently 
the  fragments  of  large  columns  of  a  kind  of  granite,  one 
foot  six  inches  and  one  foot  two  in  diameter.  In  one 
comer  of  this  Hypocaust  there  was  a  small  Bath,  with  one 
seat  or  step  on  two  of  its  sides.  The  whole  of  the  inside 
was  well  plastered  with  mortar.  Near  this  Bath  was 
found  a  piece  of  leaden  i»pe\  not  soldered,  but  hammered 
together,  and  the  seam  or  juncture  was  secured  by  a  kind 

^  The  Romans  worked  the  Lead  Mikes  under  the  Stwerstonef 
at  an  early  period  after  their  gaining  the  island.  This  is  snewn  by 
pigs  of  IcMod  having  been  found  in  the  neighbourhood. 

A  pig  of  lead  was  found  in  the  year  l7o7  about  a  foot  below  the 
sur&ce  of  the  groundi  in  a  piece  of  land  about  three  miles  North 
West  of  Bishops  Castle*.  It  was  22  inches  long;  7  wide  at  base; 
3  J  at  top,  and  4  J  deep.  There  are  two  stam^  upon  the  border  that 
runs  round  ^e  rdievo;  the  letters  of  which,  says  the  describer, 
are  WINPt;  as  he  i^prehends,  they  stand  for  Q^iruiuemrorum 
jussu  notatum  plumbum.  This  is  mere  conjecture.  It  may  be  ob- 
served as  to  the  first  two  letters:  '' deducebatur  oolonia  aut  per 
triumviros,  aut  per  decemviros,  quamvis  et  qutMjuevircrum,  sep- 
temvirorum,  vigintivirorum  colonisB  deducendee  huic  inde  fiat  men- 
tiot/'  The  inscription  may  be  considered  as  a  proof  that,  in  the  time 
of  Adrian,  the  mines  in  Britain  were  worked  solely  for  the  advantage 
of  the  Emperor,  agreeable  to  what  Suetonius  says;  ''plnrimis  etiam 
civitatibus  et  privatis  veteres  immunitates,  et  jus  metaUorum  ac  vecti- 

•  This  it  the  one  mentioned  by  Mr  Murchiaon  in  hit  SBuzian  Syttem,  at  being  to 
the  potaeadon  of  Mr  More,  near  fiitnop'g  Cattle. 

A  pig  of  lead  in  all  retpectt  similar  to  this  is  described  in  the  Library  of  Enter- 


A  pig  of  lead  in  all  respects  shmlar  to  this  is  described  in  the  Library  of  Enter- 
taining Knowledge,  the  Townley  Gallery,  vol.  iL  p.  291,  it  was  ftxmd  near  Snaibatchy  and 
Meaenled  to  «Se  British  Museum  in  1798L  They  each  bear  the  inscription  IMP. 
UAORMNI  AVO. 

t  Ocnt  Mag.  voL  M.  p.  924. 

%  Hatoeeeii  Antlq.  RomaiK  Append.  lib.  i.  119,  and  119. 


126 


of  mortar.  Probably  at  the  same  time  a  iiriffU  and  a 
bronze  key  kept  with  the  antiquities  in  the  Free  School 
Lilnrary  were  found. 

Several  other  things  have  at  difierent  times  been 
turned  up.  Amongst  them,  an  amuletal  seal,  disoovered 
by  some  men  near  the  Old  Wall  while  ploughing;  in  the 
year  1808.  The  letters  are  mcised  upon  a  circular 
jadz  stone  seven  eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter  and  a 
quarter  thick.  It  has  hitherto  baffled  the  endeavours  of 
those  who  have  attempted  to  explain  it*  As  far  as  our 
type  will  allow,  the  reader  may  form  some  idea  of  it ;  the 
letters  are  carefully  engraved^  on  ibe  originaL 


I 


galla  adempta*."  And  thus  also  all  criminals  were  condemned  either 
to  work  on  the  roads  or  in  the  mines.  ''Moltos  honesti  ordinis 
deformatos  prius  stigmatum  notis,  ad  metaOa  et  munitiones  yianim, 
aut  ad  bestias  condemnavitt."  However,  private  adventurers  were 
afterwards  permitted  to  work  them.  Heineccius  says,  "  Restituerant 
deinde  iisdem  hoc  heneficium  seqnentes  principes,  sed  ea  lese,  ut 
certum  inde  Canonem  metalUcum  solverent,  de  quo  agit  L.  4.  C.  Theo- 
dosii  de  Metallar.  et  ibi  lo.  Gothofredus."  And  we  are  told  in  the 
Codex  what  this  Canon  metatticui  was:  ''Cuncti,  qni  per  privatomm 
loca  saxomm  venam  laboriosis  effossionibus  persequentur,  dedmas 
fisco,  dedmas  etiam  domino  repnesententt."  The  adventurers  were 
to  pay  a  tenth  to  the  crown,  and  a  tenth  to  the  owners  of  the  bind« 
If  the  mines  of  this  island  were  in  the  time  of  Adrian,  worked  solely 
for  his  advantage,  it  is  natural  to  think  that  the  blocks  of  metal  were, 
at  that  time,  stamped,  in  order  to  prevent  lead  being  sold  by  any  but 
the  imperial  officers. 

^  It  is  eiu;raved  in  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  Ixxx.  p.  617,  and  mentioned 
in  Beauties  of  England  and  Wales,  county  Salop,  p.  191. 


*  In  Tiberio.  c.  40. 


t  In  CaliguU,  c.  97. 


t  Codicte,  Ub.  xL  Tft.  vl.  3. 


127 


In  1810  several  urns  were  found,  and  two  small  tessel- 
ated  pavements,  besides  a  quantity  of  sflver  coins  ^  These 
by  having  become  dispersed  and  carried  out  of  the  parish, 
have  lost  their  chief  value,  and  it  is  now  difficult  to  trace 
them.  Some  years  ago  a  clause  existed  in  the  leases  of 
of  the  tenants  at  Wroxetery  that  all  antiquities  found  there 
should  be  rendered  to  the  proprietor  of  the  soil'.  Had 
this  continually  been  enforced,  its  history  might  have  been 
oonfflderably  enlarged.  As  it  is,  ahnost  every  thing  that 
has  been  discovered,  has  been  lost,  or  by  falling  into  hands 
unconnected  with  the  place,  these  objects  have  lost  their 
local  relationship,  and  thus  ceased  to  have  any  real  worth* 
It  is  their  association  with  Wroxbteb  that  can  alone 
render  such  relics  of  any  interest,  speaking  as  to  their 
pecuniary  value,  they  actually  possess  none^. 

*  The  corns  found  are  still  called  Diitders,  from  Denariut  (see 
Gloss.)  as  they  were  when  Honley  visited  the  spot. 

There  were  other  things  found  in  1818,  and  1824. 

■  Lloyd's  Ma  Hist,  of  Shropshire. 

'  In  1829  Mr  Dukes^  Shrew^nmy,  presented  to  the  Society  of 
Antiqparies,  a  mannscript  aooonnt  of  Wrojpeter,  which  contains  a 
list  <n  201  silver  coins,  one  gold,  and  four  counterfeit  ones,  found 
there  at  difierent  times. 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  WROXETER. 


\\\i 


H'^KVEK  travels  along  the  road  from 
iiit^ddwtu  to  Skrewabury^  cannot  &il 
*\  tsorving,  close  to  the  highway,  as  he 
ajiproaches  the  village  of  WroxeteTj 
a  [.irge  ruin  of  OIH  829^11  stand- 
\!v^  in  a  field  to  his  left.  This  is 
till  that  now  remains  of  the  ancient 
Uriconium,  a  diy  formerly  so  extensive  that  it  covered 
from  three  to  four  hundred  acres,  and  even  now  ves- 
tiges of  its  circumference  may  be  traced,  though  indis- 
tinctly it  must  be  confessed,  for  three  miles.  A  vallum 
and  fosse  encircled  the  whole,  and  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  make  out,  from  the  depressed  and  altered  state 
to  which  they  have  been  reduced  by  the  plough,  the 
vallum  was  fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  the  fosse  the 
same  in  width.  It  appears  to  have  commenced  at  the 
Severn,  not  quite  a  quarter  of  a  mile  South  of  BeU 
Brook;  it  crosses  the  turnpike  road  a  few  yards  North 
West  of  the  fifth  milestone,  passing  over  Bell  Brook 
and  pointing  towards  Norton,  which  it  leaves  a  furlong 
and  a  half  to  the  North.  It  then  goes  over  the  road 
leading  from  Norton  to  Wroxeter,  and  continues  East- 
wards till  it  crosses  another  road  leading  to  the  Horse 
Shoes.  I  conceive  this  road  that  falls  into  the  Watling 
Street  at  the  last  mentioned  spot  to  have  been  the  direct 
line  of  Roman  road  to  the  city,  though  it  is  now  degene- 
rated into  a  mere  lane.  From  its  section  with  this  Une 
of  communication  it  inclines  a  little  to  the  South,  when 


•i 


111. 


129 


again  passing  over  BeU  Broohy  it  makes  a  sudden  turn 
to  the  South  West,  and  terminates  at  the  Se^Mm. 

Between  the  road  to  Norton  and  the  road  to  the 
Hone  Shoes^  if  I  mistake  not,  or  else  East  of  the  latter, 
on  an  eminence  called  Middle  Crowe  Green^  was  the  oeme- 
trj  of  the  city,  as  it  is  supposed,  for  at  this  place  were 
found  the  graTOHstones  before  mentioned,  besides  several 
bones,  urns.  Sec,  all  evincing  that  it  was  a  spot  of 
sepulture  ^  The  silver  coins  found  in  1810  were  dis- 
covered in  a  glass  vessel  with  two  handles,  in  the  road 
leading  from  the  Horse  Shoes  toward  Wroxeter. 

The  fragment  of  the  ancient  Uriconium  so  gene- 
rally known  as  the  €^Ul  WSMlf  is  in  all  respects  a 
genuine  example  of  Ronum  construction.  It  is  built 
on    just    the    same    principles    as    Richborouoh^    and 

'  An  observation  has  been  made  in  reference  to  the  manner  of 
bniying  kere^  where  the  eraves  are  foimd  to  be  deep  and  wide,  and 
the  corpse  endoeed  in  red  clay  both  under  and  over,  and  to  prevent 
the  mixture  of  other  monld  with  that  clav  the  graces  were  faced 
on  the  sides  with  slates,  and  then  covered  with  stones^  sometimes 
five  or  six  upon  one  sepulture.  Bones  have  been  fonnd  to  be  in- 
terred after  tms  manner  which  contribnted  to  their  preservation  for 
some  hundreds  of  years.  Teeth  have  been  taken  out  of  the  jaw-- 
bones of  men,  near  three  inches  long  and  as  manv  about.  Some 
thigh  bones  have  been  found  of  a  full  yard  in  length.  Several 
urns  have  been  discovered,  in  the  memoiy  of  man,  after  digging 
three  or  fonr  feet  into  the  earth,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  as  the 
dead  bodies  here  are  buried  in  red  day,  so  are  the  urns  lodged  in 
red  sand.    Uoifd^i  MS, 

'  The  remains  at  Richborouor  Cabtl£  occupy  three  sides  of 
a  square,  the  fourth  side  having  a  steep  bank,  ana  a  stream  at  the 
bottom.  The  walls  are  eleven  feet  thick  and  from  twenty  to  thirty 
in  height.  The  exterior  is  faced  with  quarried  flints  of  seven  and 
nine  courses,  and  at  these  distances  are  two  rows  of  Roman  tile, 
not  going  entirely  through  the  wall.  In  the  whole  there  are  six 
courses  of  tile  as  there  are  at  Burgh.  The  interior  of  the  wall  is 
filled  up  with  rubble,  mortar,  flints,  &c.  It  has  buttresses  or  flank- 
ing walls^  and  towers;  the  latter  like  those  at  Bttroh.  There  is 
so  much  resemblance  between  these  three  Roman  works  that  upon 
comparing  together  two  drawings  of  my  own  of  the  masonry  of 
WraapeUr  and  Ridibonmgh  made  in  18do,  I  see  no  difference  ex- 
cept in  the  space  between  the  two  uppermost  courses  of  Roman 
tile.  At  Richborotigh  there  are  nine  courses  of  quarried  flints  be- 
tween them,  whilst  at  Wroxeter  there  are  only  four  courses  of 
quarried  sand-stone. 


i 


130 


BuBOH*  Castles  being  faced  with  smaU  quarried  stones 
six  inches  by  four,  with  bondings  of  Roman  tile  after  a 
certain  number  of  courses.  What  remains  is  seventy-two 
feet  long,  and  twenty  high,  the  wall  itself  being  three  feet 
two  inches  thick.  There  are  six  courses  of  tile  in  it,  which 
as  at  RicHBORouGH  and  Burgh,  are  pkced  edgewise,  with 
only  mortar  between  them,  having  two  rows  of  tile  in 
each  course.  The  uppermost  course  of  quarried  surface 
consists  of  four,  the  three  next  six,  and  the  fifth  from 
the  top  of  the  building  of  eight  rows  of  squai^  stones. 
As  these  are  red  sandnstones  their  face  has  suflfered 
considerably  more  than  the  harder  materials  have  which 
are  used  by  the  Romans  at  the  forementioned  stations. 
Mr  Carte  of  Leicester^  appears  to  have  been  the  first 
person  who  called  the  attention  of  antiquaries  to  this 
interesting  specimen  of  Roman  architecture.  In  1721 
he  gave  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  an  account  of  *Hhe 
old  work  with  a  rude  draught.^  ''The  main  wall  now 
standing,^  said  he,  'Ms  thirty  yards  long,  and  the  foun- 
dations from  it  Westward  forty  yards,  so  that  the  whole 
was  seventy  yards  long.      The  middle  arch  six   yards 

^  I  am  indebted  to  the  friendship  of  Albert  Way^  Esq.  for  fur- 
nishing me  with  an  account  of  Buroh,  as  well  as  for  some  valuable 
assistance  on  the  subject  of  Wroxeter  generally.  Mr  Way  visited 
BuROH  Castle  in  March  of  the  present  year  when  he  xnade  the 
following  notes: 

On  the  North  side  which  seems  to  be  the  highest  part,  the 
wall  is  about  fourteen  feet  nine  inches  above  the  surfisK^  of  the 
ploughed  land  around. 

The  South  side  is  most  perfect,  beino;  furthest  from  the  village 
of  Burgh,  almost  all  the  flint  facing  ana  much  of  the  tile  has  be^ 
carried  away  on  the  North  and  East  sides  to  build  the  church,  &c. 

On  this  South  side  I  found  the  facing  to  consist  of  seven  strata 
of  squared  flint  with  six  strata  of  tile  intervening. 

The  former  measures  about  one  foot  seven  indies  in  height,  but 
towards  the  upper  half  of  the  wall  two  feet,  and  the  fifth  stra- 
tum from  below  the  facing  consists  of  five  rows  of  square  flints,  all 
the  others  having  only  four  rows.  It  is  not  stated  however  posi* 
tively,  that  this  was  uniform  all  roimd,  for,  as  observed,  the  facing 
is  almost  wholly  removed  in  other  parts,  and  time  did  not  allow  a 
careful  observation  of  the  fragments,  fr^m  which  a  more  perfect 
account  might  probably  be  drawn  up. 


181 

high  from  the  ground,  but  from  the  floor  much  higher, 
six  yards  broad;  the  other  two  only  four  yards  broad, 
but  of  the  same  height.  The  hole  in  the  middle  arch 
supposed  to  have  been  broken  through,  and  so  is  the 
other.  At  each  end  are  smooth  walls  coming  out  at  the 
end  of  the  arches;  the  foundations  answering  the  main 
wall,  and  tiie  arches  ten  yards  from  it.  Two  rows  of 
tfle  go  through  the  wall.  The  stones  are  laid  exactly 
across  each  other;  in  the  middle,  rubbish  and  pebbles. 
The  arches  seem  covered  with  the  same  as  the  walls. 
Some  ragged  pieces  stand  out  a  yard  and  a  half  from 
the  wall.  It  is  now  ei^t  yards  from  the  ground;  the 
North  side  smooth,  except  some  holes  as  for  soaffolds^^^ 
When  Mr  Lloyd  saw  the  ®lll  081011^  it  was  twenty 
feet  high  and  a  hundred  long'. 

The  stmtuin  of  tile  oonskdng  of  thiee  tiles^  each  with  a  thick 
layer  of  cement  between  each  row  of  tiles,  measures  in  height  about 
seven  inches  and  a  half,  the  average  thickness  of  tile  being  one 
inch  and  a  half. 

The  tile  is  only  one  row  deep,  the  interior  wall  being  wholly 
rubble.  There  appear  courses  of  tile  on  the  inner  side,  but  whether 
they  range  or  not  with  those  outside,  remains  for  enquiry.  The 
dimensions  of  the  tile  as  near  as  oould  be  ascertained  are  of  the 
usual  size.  They  are  of  fine  well-burnt  red  clay.  Some  firagments 
are  found  with  a  recurved  edge,  the  use  of  which  is  not  ascer- 
tained;  it  has  not  the  appearance  of  being  merelv  aoddentaL 

The  area  endosed  is  now  a  ploughed  field;  tnree  walls  remain 
almost  perfect  The  West  side  is  wholly  open,  and  ajppears  to  have 
been  defended  by  a  steep  bank  overhanging  the  ancient  .Estuary, 
now  marshy  meadow  land;  but  this  bank  nas  been  thrown  down, 
and  it  is  uncertain  whether  there  was  any  wall  on  this  side.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  wide  iEstuary  was  Caistor  another  Roman 
station. 

The  walls  were  flanked  by  six  rounders  of  a  horse  shoe  form, 
two  at  North  East  and  South  East  angles,  two  between  them, 
and  on  the  North  and  South  sides  one,  iMth  of  which  have  Mien. 
These  bastions  of  solid  masonry  were  faced  like  the  whole  of  the 
wall,  the  strata  following  in  regular  order  like  those  of  the  curtain 
wall;  but  the  said  bastiotis  are  not  part  and  parcel  of  the  wall,  all 
the  lower  portion  of  them  being  merely  applied  to  the  &ce  of  it, 
but  at  about  the  fourth  stratum  of  tile  from  the  bottom,  they  are 
hid  in  the  main  walL  This  imperfect  union  having  in  most  in- 
stances given  way;  it  is  possible  to  see  and  in  one  case  to  pass  be* 
tween  the  main  wall  ana  the  bastion. 

*  Camden,  vol.  iii.  p.  27.  *  lb. 

9-« 


182 

Horsley  seems  to  have  examined  Wboxbter  with 
some  care.  In  his  comment  on  the  second  Iter  of  An- 
tonine,  he  says,  '^  Urioonium  eleven  miles  in  the  Itiner- 
ary from  BfUuniutny  has  with  good  reason  been  fixed 
at  Wroaster.  I  spent  the  greatest  part  of  a  day  with 
much  pleasure  in  viewing  that  place  and  the  antiquities 
of  it.  I  had  seen  several  medals  at  ShrewAwry^  most 
of  which  were  found  here,  and  I  purchased  a  few  myself 
the  people  call  them  Wroxeier-Dindersy  probably  from 
Denarii.  The  town  has  been  very  large  and  sjso  the 
fortified  ground.  It  is  situated  on  the  North  or  North 
East  side  of  the  Secern^  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
place  runs  a  small  rivulet,  so  that  this  (as  many  other 
of  the  Roman  stations)  has  been  situated  on  a  lingula 
near  the  confluence  of  a  rivulet  and  a  larger  river. 
There  is  a  piece  of  old  wall  yet  standing  which  has  in 
it  three  regular  strata  of  Roman  brick,  each  stratum 
consisting  of  the  thickness  of  two  bricks.  It  is  about 
eight  yards  high  and  about  twenty  long.  The  field  this 
stands  in  I  thought  to  be  the  Prcetorium^  for  like  Aldr 
borough  in  Yorkshire^  the  whole  city  seems  to  have  been 
encompassed  with  a  rampart  and  ditch,  above  half  a 
mile  square,  the  vestiges  of  which  may  yet  be  discerned. 
It  encompasses  the  whole  of  the  fields  in  which  the 
stones,  coins  and  other  antiquities  are  found.  I  was 
informed  that  a  balneum  or  sudatory  had  been  disco- 
vered here  some  years  ago,  but  then  was  destroyed*.'" 

The  annexed  plate  will  shew  the  reader  what  ap- 
pearance the  ®m  SSBaU  presented  in  the  year  1838, 
when  I  last  visited  it,  and  made  the  drawing  from  which 
it  is  taken. 

Wroxeter  is  mentioned  in  two   Iters  of  Antonine, 

and  in  three  of  Richard.     It  is  placed  in  the  second 

Iter  of  the  former  betwixt  Rutunium  and  Usaoona,  and 

the  distance  from  Rowton  Castle  and  Oaken  Gates^  (where 

>  Britan.  Rom.  p.  419^ 


^' 


I 


133 


an  Hypocaust  has  been  found*)  exactly  corresponds  with 
the  numbers  in  the  Itinerary. 

Another  great  road  from  it  went  over  the  Severn 
through  Bravinium  (Anton.  Iter,  xii.)  or  Brannooenium^ 
(Ric.  Corin.  Iter,  xiii.)  which  is  Brandon  Camp  near 
LeintuHtrdine^  and  so  onwards  to  Ctwr  Leon.  Great  part 
of  the  way  this  road  bears  the  name  of  the  Watling 
IStreet.  Foundations  of  a  bridge  below  the  Ford  were 
visible  two  or  three  years  back. 

*  A  third  road  from  Wroxeter  passed  over  the  Severn 
due  West  towards  Berrington  ffaUy  near  which  place 
the  line  of  road  is  still  called  King  Street^  leaving  the 
small  epaulement  of  the  Burgs,  a  Roman  work,  to  the 
right,  going  by  Hunger  Hilly  ExFOKo^a  Green^  Ascot  and 
Lea  Cross  (where  a  tesselated  pavement  was  found 
in  1793);  from  Lea  Cross  it  proceeded  to  Edge  and 
Stoney  Stretton  where  it  fell  into  the  road  from  Rutu- 
NiuM  to  Caer  Flos. 

A  fourth  road  went  Northwards,  through  Newport 
to  Chester^  and 

A  fifth  crossed  the  Severn  and  branched  out  of  the 
Watiinff  Street  near  Pi^ford,  trending  along  the  Devil^s 
Causeway  to  Rushbury  and  Nordy  Bank,  a  more  par- 
ticular account  of  which  the  reader  will  find  in  the 
ensuing  chapter. 

>  Gent  Mag.  Feb.  1797. 


^ 


THE  DEVIL'S  CAUSEWAY. 


has  ever  been  the  practice  of  a 
credulous  and  ill  informed  people  to 
attribute  any  works  displaying  extra- 
ordinary skill  and  labor  in  their  exe- 
cution, to  preternatural  agency.  In 
accordance  with  this  principle,  the 
DetiTs  Bridge  in  Cardiganshire^  the 
DemVs  Ditch  in  Cambridgeshire^  and  the  Devil^s  Cause- 
way* in  our  own  county  have  severally  taken  their  names. 
It  was  an  easy  mode  of  solving  a  difficulty  when  the 
peasantry  attempted  to  account  for  works  which  they 
ignorantly  gazed  upon  with  superstitious  awe.  Though 
we  are  immediately  led  to  question  their  wisdom  in 
drawing  such  conclusions,  it  must  at  the  same  time,  be 
confessed,  that  they  rarely  resorted  to  these  explansr 
tions  upon  imworthy  occasions;  unconsciously  acting  on 
the  rule  laid  down  by  Horace, 

Nee  deus  intersit  nisi  dignus  yindice  nodoB, 
they  never  referred  to  Satanic  influence  circumstances 
of  minor  importance.  It  was  only  when  a  scene  was 
marked  by  more  than  usual  grandeur,  when  nature  seemed 
convulsed,  and  a  savage  and  wild  aspect  was  stamped  upon 
her  form,  or  else  when  man  had  triumphed  over  great 
difficulties,  and  displayed  wonderful  artifice  and  con- 
trivance in  his  work,  that  they  called  in  the  aid  of 
unearthly  powers  to  account  for  their  origin. 

*  Stane  Street  Causeway,  a  Roman  road  which  is  fahled  by 
the  lower  orders  to  have  been  made  by  the  Devil.  (Aubrey's  Survey, 
vol.  iv.  p.  187.) 


A 


.lik. 


135 


Mainly  in  consequence  of  the  imposing  appellation 
which  Thk  Devil^b  Caubkwat  has  obtained,  I  determined 
at  the  close  of  the  autumn  of  1838  to  ascertain  by  a 
personal  inspection,  what  was  the  nature  of  its  claims 
to  so  unusual  a  title.  At  an  early  hour  in  the  morning 
I  crossed  the  Watling  Street  at  Longnor  Qreen^  and 
proceeded  due  East  for  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  up 
a  strait  narrow  lane  which  had  every  appearance  of  having 
been  made  at  a  remote  time.  Before  reaching  Froddedey 
Lodge^  all  traces  of  it  were  lost,  but  as  I  pressed  onwards 
across  the  wild  and  open  land  of  Froddesley  Park^  I  fell 
in  with,  on  the  Northern  side,  some  vestiges  of  an  ancient 
paved  way.  The  stones  which  formed  it  were  disposed 
with  too  much  regularity  to  have  been  the  work  of  chance. 
They  struck  me  as  singular  immediately  I  saw  them,  and 
I  accordingly  followed  the  direction  they  took,  as  far  as  it 
could  be  distinguished,  which  was  for  a  distance  of  perhaps 
fifty  yards.  Viewing  them  in  this  situation,  thus  seem- 
ingly isolated,  I  was  unable  to  connect  them  with  any 
satisfactory  conjecture,  and  could  only  hope  that  some 
link  would  present  itself  in  the  course  of  my  ensuing 
investigation,  that  would  serve  to  unite  them,  as  it  after- 
wards did,  with  the  object  of  my  enquiry. 

Upon  quitting  this  undulating  and  unenclosed  ground, 
a  lane,  which  twisted  about  with  a  good  deal  of  occasional 
angularity,  brought  me  to  the  little  hamlet  of  Buckley. 
At  this  point  of  jimction  I  diverged  in  a  South  Western 
direction,  towards  the  village  of  Cardinfftany  and  instantly 
observed  evident  signs  that  the  road  I  had  taken  was  the 
right  one.  For  upon  the  left  was  a  high  artificially  formed 
causeway,  about  the  width  that  such  paths  usually  are,  and 
a  very  bad  road  below  it.  There  was  nothing  demomaeal 
it  is  true,  but  there  seemed  an  unusual  degree  of  magni- 
tude in  the  materials  with  which  the  causeway  was  con- 
structed. A  little  further  on,  both  it  and  the  road  were 
upon  the  same  level,  and  here  and  there,  first  upon  the 


136 


light,  then  upon  the  left,  lay  large  coping  stones,  that 
seemed  placed  rather  as  the  boundary  of  the  road,  thah 
for  curb  stones.  Occasionally  large  boulders  shewed  them- 
selves in  the  centre  or  at  the  sides,  but  clearly  neither 
-washed  there  by  diluvial  agency,  or  fortuitously  rolled 
from  the  slopes  above.  As  I  went  forwards  they  became 
more  numerous,  so  that  by  the  time  Causeway  Wood  was 
gained,  the  road  was  absolutely  laid  with  them.  They 
were  placed  with  the  utmost  regularity  with  respect  to 
each  other,  and  presented  such  a  systematic  appearance, 
that  no  doubt  any  longer  existed  in  the  mind,  that  the 
labor  of  making  the  road  had  been  performed  at  a  very 
early  period.  It  was  clearly  artificial,  and  if  I  were 
to  add  the  epithet  gigantic,  it  would  not  be  inappropriate. 
The  whole  partook  of  vastness:  it  indicated  the  genius 
of  a  great  people,  and  silently  seemed  to  declare  that 
it  had  formerly  been  a  considerable  thoroughfare.  Who 
that  people  were,  and  whither  it  led,  I  shall  presently 
enquire. 

Viewing  the  Dbvil^s  Causeway  at  this  spot,  it  looks 
very  like  the  boldest  and  most  shaking  pav^,  an  English- 
man ever  jolted  over  in  France  or  Italy.  From  Cause- 
way Wood  to  which  it  has  been  traced,  to  its  termination 
two  or  three  hundred  yards  farther  on,  the  work  in 
question  is  to  be  seen  in  its  most  perfect  state,  and 
I  shall  take  this  opportimity  of  describing  it  more 
minutely. 

The  Devil^s  Causeway  is  a  way,  partially  at  present,  but 
originally  entirely  formed  of  large  blocks  of  basalt,  which 
were  procured  from  the  neighbouring  sides  of  the  Lawley, 
They  vary  in  superficial  size  from  one  to  two  feet  in 
length,  and  from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  in  breadth,  and 
are  disposed  in  their  longest  direction  across  the  road. 
At  first  they  were  placed  with  extreme  regularity,  and 
had  their  face  much  more  even  than  it  now  lies.  From 
an  average  of  several  measures  taken  in  diiferent  parts, 


137 


the  road  aeems  originally  to  have  been  thirteen  feet  wide. 
It  is  edged  with  roughly  hewn  flat  stones  lying  upon  the 
Borface  of  the  soil,  and  varying  from  one  to  two  feet  in 
width;  they  are  uniformly  one  foot  in  thickness,  and  stand 
so  as  to  touch  each  other.  The  existing  inequality  of  the 
face  of  the  road  may  be  accounted  for  on  reasons  which 
it  is  almost  superfluous  to  mention.  Such,  for  instance, 
as  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  stone  itself  with  which  it 
is  paved,  and  its  aptness  speedily  to  disintegrate:  the 
traffic  which  it  has  for  a  very  lengthened  period  sus- 
tained :  the  operation  of  various  natural  causes  which  are 
BtiU  in  action,  such  as  the  tendency  that  heavy  bodies 
have  to  become  imperceptibly  buried  below  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  together  with  the  spmir  of  destruction 
which  has  incessantly  actuated  man  to  carry  away,  and 
break  up  the  materials  of  which  the  road  is  composed. 

Thus  far  had  I  proceeded  when  a  suspicion  that  was 
but  faint  in  the  outset  of  my  path,  grew  more  confirmed, 
and  I  felt  assured  that  the  Devil^s  Causeway  must  be  an 
old  Roman  Road.  Possessed  with  this  idea  I  returned 
and  examined  it  under  this  impression.  It  was  not  until 
then,  that  its  resemblance  to  a  Roman  road  I  had  tra- 
veUed  along  a  few  years  previously  across  the  Plain  of 
Magnesia',  suggested  itself,  and  upon  mentally  comparing 

^  Upon  referrinff  to  a  MS.  journal  written  whilst  travelling  in 
Asia  Minor,  I  find  tiie  Roman  road  in  question  thus  alluded  to. 
''In  four  hours  from  Smyrna  we  reached  a  Caffii  called  Yakakue. 
Immediately  opposite  on  the  South  was  a  grand  mountain  capped 
with  snow,  whose  outline  reminded  me  of  the  Wrekin.  A  very  rich 
plain  of  no  great  extent  lay  at  its  feet  We  continued  ascending 
tor  another  hour,  haying  occasionally  a  view  of  the  sea.  Our  de- 
scent from  this  elevation  then  commenced  rather  rapidly;  the 
scenery  became  wild  and  barren.  But  the  ancient  Roman  road 
formed  our  constant  line  of  travelling  in  those  parts  where  our  horses 
had  most  difficulty  of  footing.  Though  broken  up  in  places,  it 
was  generally  very  perfect  After  travelling  through  this  rugged 
Alpine  region  for  an  hour,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  plain  of 
Magnesia.  It  stretched  twenty  miles  before  us,  and  apparently 
the  same  distance  on  each  side.  It  was  extremely  rich;  and  the 
uniform  equality  of  its  surfisice  conv^ed  an  idea  of  interminable 
extent     The  town  of  Magnesia  is  built  on  the  Southern  side, 


I 

i 


I 


138 


the  two  together,  though  m  different  continenta,  I  was 
muoh  struck  with  their  conformity.  Nor  was  this  se^ 
cond  inspection  without  value  in  another  respect,  for 
upon  carefully  looking  at  a  small  bridge  which  the  cause- 
way traverses  close  to  its  termination,  there  i^peared 
additional  indications  that  both  the  road  and  the  bridge 
itself  must  be  ascribed  to  the  same  age  and  people. 
Althou^  the  conviction  that  this  was  a  Roman  road 
slowly  dawned  upcm  my  mind,  yet  it  now  presented  so 
much  resemblance  to  others  of  the  same  dass,  that  even 
without  the  superabundant  evidence  of  the  architecture 
of  the  bridge,  I  could  have  no  scruple  in  attributing 
its  existence  to  that  enterprising  nation.  And  I  think 
any  one  who  has  ever  examined  a  specimen  of  their  art 
of  road  making  wiU  identify  the  two  as  singularly  alike  ^ 

immediately  under  a  mountain  which  rises  precipitously  above  it 
to  a  great  altitude.  The  vicinity  is  renderea  interesting  in  conse- 
quence of  being  the  scene  of  the  consul  Sdpio's  victory  over  Aur 
tiochus  the  Great,  the  first  conquest,  and  the  nrst  footing  the  Romans 
obtained  in  Asia.    •••••• 

Left  Magnesia  before  sunrise  the  next  morning.  At  half  an 
hour's  distance,  the  Hermus  was  crossed  bv  a  wooden  bridge:  the 
foundations  of  the  old  Roman  one  were  qmte  perfect  a  little  above. 
This  river  which  was  celebrated  by  Viigil  for  beinff  turbid  with 
gold,  is  now  remarkable  for  the  excellence  of  its  fiw.  The  Poet 
meant  to  infer  by  ''auro  turbidus"  that  its  inundations  tended  to 
enrich  and  fertilize  the  plain  through  which  it  flowed.  We  con- 
tinued along  the  Roman  road  for  a  considerable  distance,  at  one  time 
using  it,  at  another  making  slight  deviations:  ^et  continually  falling 
in  with  it  again.  The  extreme  r^^ularity  with  which  it  is  pave^ 
shews  that  until  within  the  last  tew  years,  all  our  more  modem 
roads  were  vastly  inferior  to  those  constructed  by  the  andents.  The 
chaussei  of  both  France  and  Italy  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  this."  After  leaving  Thyatira  I  discerned  no  further  traces  of  it. 
The  road  of  which  mention  has  been  made  was  the  line  of  com- 
munication betwixt  Smyrna  and  Thyatira,  at  which  latter  city  it 
joined  one  commencing  at  Lampsacus,  and  passing  from  thence 
to  Abydos,  Dardanus,  Uium,  Troas,  Antandros,  Adrymyttium,  Peiga- 
mos.  Genua,  Tlwatira,  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  TripoUs,  and  Hierapolis 
it  terminated  at  Laodicea.  It  was  probably  formed  bv  Tiberius  Cssar, 
ftfter  the  earthquake  which  laid  Sardis  and  the  neighbouring  cities  in 
ruins,  as  Magnesia  was  one  of  those  which  partook  of  his  munificence. 

'  In  a  very  valuable  little  volume  treating  upon  the  British  and 
Roman  remains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Axmintter  a  similar  oaute* 


139 


When  we  look  at  the  architeoture  of  the  bridge 
we  cannot  fail  to  notice  three  peculiarities.  And  first, 
the  form  of  the  arch.  It  springs  from  two  centres,  and 
asBomes  a  curve,  somewhat  resembling  a  segmental  arch, 
but  more  depressed  than  any  thing  Norman,  being  in 
fact  broader,  as  we  see  it  in  Roman  examples.  Secondly, 
the  Youssoirs  are  alternately  parallel-sided,  and  cuneiform 
or  acutely  shaped  at  one  end,  as  though  the  intention 
of  the  architect  was  to  make  them  available  in  filling  up 

way  is  described  that  formerly^  existed  on  the  borders  of  Devonshire 
and  Somersetshire,  ''This  remarkable  spedmen  of  Roman  work- 
manship," as  it  is  rightly  called,  ''whidi  is  known  by  the  name 
of  Morwood's  Causeway,"  must  not  be  passed  without  particular 
notice,  as  well  on  account  of  its  peculiiur  construction,  as  the  im- 
portance which  has  been  attached  to  its  title.  The  spot  of  ground 
across  which  it  was  carried  is  a  part  of  what  is  callea  Crow  Moor, 
and  was  no  doubt  then,  as  it  is  to  the  present  day,  a  flat  and  boggv 
place,  yeiy  difficult  to  be  kept  dry,  and  consequently  impassable 
at  that  time  without  such  a  pavement.  The  causeway,  which  now 
no  longer  exists,  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  runnin? 
ahnost  North  and  South,  in  width  about  fifteen  feet,  and  composed 
of  very  large  flint  stones,  with  which  the  neighbourhood  abounds, 
laid  together  in  a  most  compact  and  durable  form,  having,  of  course, 
their  mi  sides  uppermost,  and  resting  upon  a  deep  stratum  of  smaller 
stones  and  gravel.  The  work  presented  an  appearance  somewhat 
similar  to  tlmt  of  the  pavement  m  the  London  streets,  except  that 
the  materials  were  of  much  larger  size,  and  that  at  every  interval 
of  about  ux  feet  there  was  a  cavity  or  channel  across  it,  which  ca^ised 
the  intermediate  portions  to  assume  the  shape  of  low  arches,  and 
formed  a  furrow,  or  gutter,  to  facilitate  the  chaining  of  water  from 
the  surface.  That  tms  fragment  was  of  Roman  construction  there 
IB  little  reason  to  doubt ;  for  it  remarkably  coincides  with  the  plan 
adopted  by  that  people  when  they  were  obliged  to  cany  their  roads 
across  marshy  places,  as  given  by  Statius. 

Hie  primus  labor  induMue  suleos 
Et  xcMiodere  limites,  et  alto 
^otu  panitua  oavare  teirai: 
Mox  hauitas  alitor  replere  fo«as 
Et  aummo  gxemium  parare  daiao 
Ne  mutant  tola,  ne  maligna  ndes 
St  prmb  duUum  cubile  taxis. 

This  interesting  relic  of  Roman  art  was  taken  up  to  form  a 
turnpike  road  at  its  Southern  end,  though  with  much  more  difficulty 
than  had  been  anticipated,  and  its  materials  broken  to  pieces.  The 
name  and  the  outline  of  its  course  are  all  that  now  remain  to  point 
out  where  it  existed.  The  British  and  Roman  remains  in  the 
vicinity  of  Amninster,  in  the  county  of  Devon.  By  James 
Davidson,  London,  1833.  p.  71,  2. 


I 


140 


I' 

ill 

il 


the  intentioefi  between  the  segular  paraUelnsided  Touasoirs; 
and  lastly,  the  whole  is  put  together  with  concrete^  as 
may  readily  be  detected  by  taking  the  trouble  to  oreep 
underneath  the  arch,  and  detaching  a  piece  of  it  from 
the  joints.  If  we  couple  the  foregoing  description  of 
the  road,  with  these  remarkable  characteristics,  the 
Roman  claims  of  both  are  not  unsatisfactorily  esta- 
blished. 

Nor  is  this  the  whole  amoimt  of  argument  which 
may  be  adduced  in  support  of  these  opinions.  For  if  it 
should  be  asked  what  induced  the  Romans  to  carry  a 
road  of  such  magnitude  through  a  remote  and  seques- 
tered yalley,  running  parallel  too  as  it  does,  with  the 
Watung  Street,  not  more  than  two  miles  to  the  North 
West,  it  may  be  replied  that  the  Devil'^s  Causeway 
was  the  direct  line  of  communication  from  Nordt  Bank 
through  jTtt^FORD,  Cro^^FORD,  over  Roman  Bank  to  Rush- 
BURT,  the  Wall  under  ffeywoody  the  Latin  Vallum; 
leaving  the  village  of  Cardinoton  like  the  Hoar  Edge 
on  the  left,  each  of  which  places  derive  their  name 
from  bordering  upon  it,  (See  remarks  under  Hoar  Stone 
and  Ford)  was  the  direct  line,  as  is  imagined  from 
NoRDY  Bank,  and  thence  to  the  station  at  Rushbury 
by  CardingUm^  and  Chatwall,  (quasi  ChaUwaU^  or  Chalum 
VaUum^  a  halting  place,  a  half-way  house,  as  it  actually 
is  betwixt  the  two  extremities,  (Lat.  Chalo.  Or.  ^oXooi) 
to  Buckley,  Here  one  part  branched  off  to  the  left,  and 
went  over  Froddesley  Park^  where  vestiges  of  it  still 
appear.  It  is  probable  that  from  hence  it  took  the 
course  of  the  ancient  lane  to  Longnor  Green  where  it 
fell  into  the  Watunq  Street,  leading  from  Uricanium 
or  Wroxeter,  to  Branogenium^  or  Brawmium^  (Brandon 
Camp,  see  p.  ^5^  73.)  Magna  or  Magnis^  (Kentchester), 
Gobannium  (Abergavenny),  ajid  Bultrum  or  Burrium^ 
(Usk).  The  main  road,  however,  from  the  Roman  sta- 
tion at  Rushbury,  passed  through  Buckley;  it  continued 


141 


in  a  direct  line  through  Aet<m  Bvnnel^  and  a  mile  be- 
yond, it  joined  the  same  great  road  half  a  mile  South 
of  the  village  of  PitehFOBD.  Its  course  is  here  inter- 
rupted for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  but  it  is  again  met  with 
in  some  fields  to  the  East  of  the  general  line  of  com- 
munication. After  answering  the  purpose  of  a  common 
drift  road  used  merely  for  agricultural  convenience  for 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  it  again  joins  the  road  from 
PitehFOBD  to  Cound.  Having  crossed  Cound  Brook  it 
proceeds  Northerly  by  Bladk  Bam  and  Growter  where 
it  crosses  the  turnpike  road  from  Much  Wenhck  to 
Shrewtbury :  from  hence  it  takes  a  North  Easterly  di« 
rection  for  nearly  two  miles,  when  it  terminates  upon 
a  ford  immediately  under  the  present  village,  or  ancient 
city  of  Wroxeteb. 

According  to  Isidore*  the  Carthaginians  were  the 
first  people  who  underwent  the  labor  and  expence  of 
regularly  paving  their  public  roads.  From  thent  the  art 
wafl  learned  by  the  Romans,  who  carried  it  with  their 
conquests  through  the  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia,  as 
much  with  a  view  to  the  advantages  arising  from  easy 
communication  with  their  possessions,  as  a  means  of 
keeping  the  people  out  of  idleness^.  The  immense  sums 
of  money  expended,  and  the  vast  multitudes  employed 
in  these  works,  is  not  their  least  striking  feature. 

When  we  consider  that  they  extended  from  the 
most  Western  side  of  Spain  and  B^urbary,  to  the  East- 
em  kingdoms  of  Media  and  Assyria;  and  from  Oreat 
Britain  in  the  North,  through  Oaul,  Hungary  and  Scy- 

*  Bur  in  composition  is  repeatedly  found  in  the  names  of  places  on 
the  Watling  Street,  as  Burlington,  near  Sheriff  Hayk»;  Burcot, 
near  Hay  Gate;  Burway  near  Church  Stretton;  Burrow  Hill 
Camp  near  the  Craven  Arms;  Burrinoton  near  Wigmore;  Birley, 
South  of  Stretford;  Birley  Hill  and  Burohill,  &c.,  &c.  Can  this 
allude  to  Roman  occupation  oi;  ponnexion  ?  ''  Castellum  parvulum, 
quern  Burgum  vocant.'    Vegetius  de  re  Militar.  iv.  10. 

•  Isidor.  Orig.  lih.  xv.  c.  16. 

•  Plinii  Nat.  Hist.  lih.  xxxvi.  c.  12, 


142 


thia,  to  Arabia,  Egypt  and  Libya  in  the  South,  we 
may  justly  wonder  how  such  stupendous  projects  oould 
have  been  completed.  We  can  only,  by  means  of  the 
scattered  information  we  possess,  assign  their  aocompliish- 
ment  to  the  belief  that  the  Roman  soldiers  were  not 
permitted  to  continue  indolent  in  peace,  but  in  con- 
junction with  the  inhabitants  of  the  vanquished  pro- 
vinces, were  obliged  to  labor  in  the  formation  of  these 
works.  The  difficulties  and  hardships  they  suffered  whilst 
performing  these  labors  occasioned  heavy  complamts, 
which  even  sometimes  broke  out  into  sedition.  The 
Roman  subjects  in  the  provinces  were  compelled  to  assist 
in  constructing  the  roads,  and  they  considered  this  so 
oppressive  that  Galgacus^  when  eidiorting  his  coimtry- 
men,  the  Caledonians,  to  resist  more  vigorously  the 
Romans  under  Agricola,  reminded  them  of  this  grievance 
with  which  the  conquered  inhabitants  of  Britain  were 
afflicted.  Besides  these  classes,  all  criminals  were  con- 
denmed  either  to  work  in  the  mines  or  upon  the  great 
roads  of  the  empire,  as  our  malefactors  are  employed 
at  the  present  day^. 

Great  attention  was  bestowed  upon  their  preservaticm. 
Their  care  was  an  office  of  high  trust,  and  only  con- 
fided to  persons  of  consequence,  such  as  the  governors 
of  the  district,  or  those  who  had  filled  important  situa- 
tions in  the  state.  Augustus  Caesar  was  chosen  to  hold 
the  post  of  surveyor  of  the  roads  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome, 
as  one  of  peculiar  honor;  and  having  undertaken  their 
management,  to  discharge  his  duties  with  greater  credit, 
he  appointed  for  his  deputies  those  who  had  passed  through 
the  prsetorship.  Pliny^  in  one  of  his  epistles  deems  it 
a  fitting  subject  of  congratulation  to  his  correspondent 

*  In  Vita  Agiicols^  c.  29,  Ac 

'  MultoB  honesti  ordinis  deformatos  prius  stinnatuin  nokis,  ad 
metalla,  et  munitiones  Viamm,  ant  ad  bestias  condemnayii.  Sueton. 
in  Caligula,  c.  27. 

»  Plinii  Epist  lib.  v.  ep.  15. 


IL  _ 


143 


Pontius  that  their  mutual  friend  Comutus  TertuIluB 
who  had  shared  the  consular  dignity  with  him,  should 
have  been  elevated  to  this  distinguished  situation.  In 
the  same  comi^imentary  manner  Statins^  alludes  to  his 
friends  MarceUus  and  Plotius  Grippus  having  been  elected 
to  the  same  dignity.  Nor  can  we  suppose  it  was  less 
highly  esteemed  in  Britain,  where  the  same  enterprising 
nation  introduced  their  arms  and  civilisation. 

The  usual  method  of  making  a  road  consisted  in  first 
laying  down  a  stratum  of  round  rough  stones,  grouted 
with  lime,  sand  or  cement,  which  was  called  gkUummj 
or  the  foundation.  The  next  course  was  composed  of 
rubble,  or  any  kind  of  refuse,  (rudera)  or  rubbish,  (^/o- 
rsa)  or  gravel,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  material 
employed.  Upon  this  was  laid  the  upper  coating,  which 
consisted  of  large  flat  blocks,  that  varied  in  size  and 
shape,  though  usually  square:  they  were  jointed  with 
such  nicety  that  it  was  difficult  to  see  where  one  stone 
touched  another.  They  were  usually  of  flint,  and  had  a 
row  of  curb  stones,  (marffines)  on  each  side  to  keep  the 
erown  or  centre  of  the  road  {apffer^)  uniform  and  straight. 

The  first  road  formed  in  Italy  was  the  Via  Appia 
which  extended  from  Borne  to  Capua,  It  is  not  only  the 
most  remarkable  in  point  of  priority,  having  been  laid 
down  upwards  of  two  thousand  years,  but  also  in  re- 
spect of  its  beauty.  In  some  places  it  is  stiU  wonder- 
fully well  preserved,  as  I  can  myself  testify  from  having 
seen  it;  that  part  where  it  crosses  the  Pontine  Marshes 
is  admirably  perfect,  though  the  work  was  commenced 
B.  c.  309. 

In  the  year  b.  o.  241  Caius  Aurelius  Gotta  formed 
the  second  public  way  in   Italy,   and  from  him  it  de- 

'  Statii  Sywar.  lib.  iv. 

'  Agger  est  media  strata  eminentia,  coaggeratis  lapidibns,  vel 
glaiea  aut  silidbus  strata;  ab  a^gexe,  id  est  ooacervatione  dicta, 
qiiam  historici  Viam  militarem  dicunt.  laid.  Orig.  xv.  c  ult.  Beig. 
torn.  L  p.  253. 


:  i 


144 

rived  (he  name  of  the  Via  Aurbua.  It  oommenoed  at 
Itame^  and  paflsaed  along  the  ooaei  of  Etruria  to  Pisa, 
Genoa,  Nice  and  Arlsi.  At  Genoa  the  Via  PofirrauMiA 
connected  it  with  the  Via  ^Gmilia  at  Piaeenza,  which 
from  hence  paased  through  Parma,  Beggio,  Moiena,  Bo- 
logna, Cesena  and  Riminu  And  here  the  Via  Muoaa 
\         >•  was  met  by   the   Via   Flaminia,  which   coasting  along 

\  the  Adriatic  to  Ancona  paased  over  to  the  West  through 

I  Nocera,  Fcligno,  Nami,   Otriccli  and  Nepi  to  Borne. 

Besides  these,  there  were  forty-two  others  of  import* 

j         I  ance  whose  courses  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  follow 

here,   especially  as  the  subject  has  been  so  thoroughly 

\  investigated  by  a  very  learned  writer,  that  Utile  is  left 

for  additional  illustration  ^ 

Yet  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  that  such  magnificent 
undertakings  were  not  confined  to  Italy.  For  at  the 
close  of  the  last  Punic  War,  b.  c.  150,  the  Romans  began 
to  extend  these  advantages  to  their  provinces.  They 
commenced  them  in  Spain.  In  the  year  b.  c.  124, 
Domitius  Ahenobardus  carried  the  Via  DoMmA  through 
Provence  and  Savoy.  Under  the  reign  of  the  Gsesars 
a  road  bearing  the  same  name  was  constructed  in  Geiv 
many.  We  next  read  of  the  Via  Eonatia,  that  com* 
menced  at  ApoUonia  in  Epirtu  and  terminated  at  Cgp- 
selas  in  Thrace^,  which  was  furnished  like  the  Via  A^ 
piA,  and  in  fact  like  all  the  Roman  roads,  as  we  have 
every  reason  for  believing,  with  Milliaries  on  the  side  to 
indicate  the  distances.  Some  of  the  roads,  the  Via 
Appia,  for  instance,  even  had  horse-blocks  on  each  side 
to  enable  the  weary  and  infirm  to  mount  without  as* 
sistance.  Caius  Oracchus  was  the  considerate  person  who 
introduced  both  of  these  conveniences.  A  Roman  Mil* 
liary  y^aa  discovered  some  years  ago  in  the  neighbour- 

'  Histoire  des  gtands  Chemins  de  TEmpire  Romaiii.    2  torn.  4to» 
a  Bruxelles.  1736. 
»  Strabo,  lib.  vii. 


145 


hood  of  Leicetter,  It  was  dug  up  about  two  miles  from 
the  town,  and  bore  upon  its  face  the  Emperor  Hadrian'^s 
name,  and  was  marked  u  a  Ratis.  One  discovered  a 
few  years  ago  on  the  road  from  Cambridge  to  Hunting- 
don, is  now  in  the  vestibule  of  the  University  Library. 
Others  have  been  found  in  the  nei^bourhood  of  Lan- 
cotter^. 

As  has  been  already  intimated,  there  were  in  Italy 
alone  fortynseven  roads,  whose  united  lengths  measured 
13,500  miles,  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole  of  which, 
were  systematically  paved.  The  number  in  the  provinces 
cannot  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  be  ascertained,  for 
there  must  have  been  several  that  are  not  mentioned 
in  the  Itineraries.  That  some  notion,  however,  of  their 
extent  may  be  formed,  I  have  added  together  their  re- 
spective lengths.  They  amount  to  88296  Roman  miles, 
or  allowing  according  to  Reynolds^  computation  that  the 
Roman  and  the  English  miles  are  the  same,  the  whole 
distance  is  88296  miles,  English  measure*.  And  this 
immense  sum  is  independent  of  the  fifteen  British  Iters, 
which,  according  to  this  commentator  upon  Antoninus, 
comprehended  an  extent  of  2654  additional  miles  of 
r^ularly  formed  road,  a  surprising  sum  when  it  is  borne 
in  mind  that  it  was  for  the  most  part  laid  down  after 
the  fashion  which  prevailed  in  Italy.  Besides  these, 
there  were  several  branches  of  which  the  early  geogra- 
phers have  not  made  any  mention.  Some  of  them  may 
still  be  traced  in  different  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia 
apart  from  the  great  line  of  acknowledged  Roman  roads, 
and  in  secluded  and  remote  districts  in  our  own  island. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  several  old  Causeway$  par- 
take of  these  characteristics,  and  would  prove  to  be,  if 
followed   throughout  by  personal   examination    and   the 

>  See  one  fi^ared  and  described  in  Whitaker^s  History  of  Bidi- 
numdihirey  voL  iL  p.  214. 

'  Iter  Britannianim,  or  that  part  of  the  Itinerary  of  Antoninus 
which  relates  to  Britain,  p.  52.  4to.  1799. 

10 


146 


Ordnance  Surveys,  genuine  constructions  of  the  Roman 
period:  those  who  have  opportunities  would  do  well  to 
look  at  them  with  this  view,  for  in  a  few  years  all 
vestiges  of  the  kind  may  be  destroyed. 

It  would  be  an  assertion  resting  too  nmoh  upon  oon^ 
jecture,  if  it  were  stated  that  all  our  roads  in  England 
were  pated  throuphout  after  the  method  learned  by  the 
Romans  from  the  Carthaginians.  Such  labor  and  ex- 
pence  would  be  unnecessary  in  several  places,  besides 
the  difficulty  that  would  exist  in  getting  suitable  stones 
to  build  in  this  way.  In  passing  through  the  oolitic  dis- 
trict in  Northamptonshire^  as  one  instance  out  of  many 
that  may  be  adduced,  the  workmen  upon  the  Watuno 
Stbbbt  would  be  unable  to  procure,  unless  from  a  great 
distance,  any  of  those  durable  materials  which  are  so 
ready  at  hand  in  the  county  of  Shropshire.  And  con- 
sequently, we  see  the  Watung  Stbebt  road  hereabouts, 
very  much  more  worn  on  its  surface,  which  leads  us  to 
believe  it  could  never  have  been  formed  with  such  so^ 
lidity,  from  this  want  of  a  hard  and  firm  statumen^  as 
it  was  on  other  parts  of  the  line  where  they  were 
easily  obtained.  Happening  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Weedon  a  short  time  back,  when  the  London  and 
Birmingham  Bailteay  was  just  cut  through  the  Watung 
Street  near  BrockhcM,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examin- 
ing how  this  Roman  road  was  laid  down.  There  were 
not  the  least  appearances  of  stratification,  either  of  ce- 
ment, rubbish,  or  of  any  other  kind  of  deposit.  It  had 
no  other  marks  than  those  of  a  common  drift  road 
that  is  used  for  agricultural  purposes.  When  we  get 
to  the  Four  Crosses  which  lie  two  miles  North  West 
of  Cannock,  (and  I  am  constrained  to  pass  over  all  the 
intermediate  distance,  from  never  having  examined  it,) 
when  we  get  to  the  Four  Crosses,  there  are  vestiges  of 
the  ancient  Pavement;  and  immediately  the  road  enters 
Shropshire,  which  it  does  close  to  Weston  under  Lizard, 


147 


a  branch  leads  out  to  the  North,  that  three  miles  Air- 
ther  on,  midway  betwixt  Woodeote  and  Newport^  bears 
the  name  of  Pays  Lanb.  This  particular  line  is  seen 
to  possess  one  of  the  great  features  of  a  Roman  road, 
namelj,  the  direct  course  it  takes  from  one  point  to 
another.  No  deviatiotis  for  the  sake  of  avoidhig  hills 
ever  occur;  when  the  line  was  chosen,  every  natural  im- 
pediment, whether  it  were  mountain  or  morass,  yielded 
to  the  enterprise  and  labcnr  exerted  by  this  great  na- 
tion. 

It  may  be  worth  enquiring  whether  or  not  this 
road  which  quits  the  Watlikg  Shieet  at  Weitan  under 
Lizard^  and  goes  first  to  Pave  Lake,  and  thence  to 
Newport^  be  not  in  fact  an  early  c(»nmunication  to 
Chester.  For  let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  direction 
it  takes  is  straight  forward  to  the  second  Stretton^  from 
the  place  where  it  quits  the  Watling  Street.  It  is  not 
improbable,  that  from  Pennocrucium  or  Penkridge^  the 
Usual  line  of  traffic  was  by  Streiton,  Weston  under  Liz- 
ard^  Pave  Lane,  Newport,  Lane  End,  Hinstock^  Tern 
HiU^  SandtFOKD^  Whitchurch^  Malpas^  another  Stretton, 
thence  bending  a  little  to  the  West  to  HoU^  ajid  thence 
to  Chester.  This  is  merely  supposition,  and  is  thrown 
out  rather  as  a  suggestion,  that  those  who  have  the 
opportunity  may  ascertain  whether  such  an  idea  is  de- 
serving the  topographer^s  further  attention. 

In  the  present  corrupt  state  of  the  text  of  Anto- 
ninus it  would  be  useless  to  seek  out  the  true  situation 
of  Mediolan^m.  It  has  been  placed  by  Gale  and  Stuke- 
ley  at  Metvod ;  by  Horseley  at  Market  Drayton ;  by 
Tilstock  at  Middle;  and  by  a  writer  in  the  Cambrian 
Quarterly,  at  Shrewsbury^.  None  of  these  spots  agree 
in  the  least  with  the  distance  in  the  Itineraries.  In  the 
same  way  Rutonii^m  has  been  variously  placed  at  Bowton 
Castley  Botetany  and  Buyton  of  the  Eleven  Toume.  The 
»  Vol.  i.  p.  62* 


/ 


148 


dktanoe  from  Bawian  OatUe  to  Wroweter  agrees  with 
the  number  of  milee  marked  in  the  Itinerary,  and  bo 
does  RuBHBUBT.  The  distance  from  Mediolanum  to 
Ubiookium  exactly  agrees  with  that  from  Cabb  Fl6s 
to  WroxeUr^  and  the  intervening  station  of  Rutunium, 
or  Bawian  CoiUe^  to  reach  which,  we  pass  over  Stbktton 
HeeUh,  tallies  sufficiently  to  authorise  our  placing  it 
there.  But  on  the  other  hand,  by  fixing  Mediolanum 
at  Cabb  Fl6s,  all  the  places  between  it  and  Deva 
disagree  with  the  Itinerary  numbers.  The  whole  of  the 
Iters  relating  to  this  district  are  very  obscure,  and  I 
think  it  will  be  hopeless  to  attempt  their  illustration, 
until  some  one  presents  us  with  a  better  text  of  Anto- 
ninus to  work  upon. 


^ 


RUSHBURY. 


OR  several  reasons  it  is  probable  there 
was  a  Roman  station  at  Rushburt. 
There  is  not  much  corroboration  of 
this  in  the  name  of  the  place  itself, 
though  sufficient  in  that  of  the  con- 
tiguous hamlet  of  Wall  under  Hey- 
woody  as  well  as  in  the  title  of  the 
hill  above  it,  which  is  called  Roman  Bank.  Gale*  fancied 
he  saw  proof  enough,  that  Rushburt  was  the  Bravinium 
mentioned  in  the  twelfth  Iter  of  Antonine,  from  the  mere 
circumstance  of  Brwynen  in  C.  Brit,  signifying  a  Rush. 
But  as  the  distance  from  Uriconium  to  this  place  is 
only  about  half  what  the  Itineraries  of  Antonine  and 
Richard  set  it  at,  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  be  the 
Bravinium  of  the  one,  or  the  Brannooenium  of  the  other. 
Qad  RuTUNiuM  been  fixed  upon  instead,  there  would 
have  been  no  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  distance,  and 
not  much  dissimilarity  in  the  sound  of  the  name. 

However,  the  claims  of  Rushburt  being  a  Roman 
station  are  very  clearly  made  out,  without  having  re- 
course to  a  strained  etymology.  It  lies  on  a  Roman 
road  between  Wroxeter  and  Nordt  Bank  ;  the  Devil^s 
Caubewat  passes  through  it  in  a  direct  line  fix)m 
the  former  place,  and  terminates  at  the  latter.  Roman 
antiquities  are    said    to   have   been    found    here^    and 

»  Antonini  Iter,  cure  T.  Gale,  p.  127. 

'  My  own  enquiries  after  coins  were  unsuccessful,  nor  could  I 
learn  from  aged  people  who  had  lived  here  from  their  youth,  that 
any  Roman  ones  had  ever  been  found.  Reynolds  (v.  Iter.  Brit, 
p.  460)  states  that  there  have. 


150 

there  are  still  some  works  existing  asoribable  to    the 
same  age. 

These  consist  of  an  elevated  rectilinear  mound,  sur- 
rounded by  a  ditch,  at  present  discernible  on  the  North 
and  South  side,  but  which  seems  formerly  to  have  gone 
round  the  who)e.  The  exterior  slope  of  the  vallum  falls 
externally  twenty-five  feet ;  the  fosse  is  twenty-three  feet 
wide,  and  the  relief  of  the  mound  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch,  twelve.  The  area  of  the  work  is  a  hundred 
and  forty-five  feet  from  East  to  West,  and  a  hundred 
and  thirty-one  from  North  to  South,  the  angles  being 
rounded.  Indications  of  other  works  are  seen  in  a 
meadow  South  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  on  the  North 
and  East  sides,  but  as  the  ground  has  been  disturbedi 
they  are  traceable  with  difficulty. 


^. 


NORDY  BANK. 


ORDT  Bank  is  a  Roman  station  midway 
betwixt  the  Clee  Burf  and  the  little 
village  of  Clee  St  Margaret.  It  is 
by  far  the  most  perfect  work  of  the 
period  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
The  shape  inclines  to  an  oval,  though 
the  boundary  lines  are  all  straight, 
and  it  may  with  greater  correctness  be  said  to  be  a 
parallelogram  having  the  angles  rounded.  From  West 
to  East  it  is  two  hundred  and  ten  paces,  and  from  North 
to  South  a  hundred  and  forty-four.  A  single  fosse  twelve 
feet  wide  surrounds  the  whole.  From  a  cutting  made 
at  the  South  East  end,  it  is  seen  that  the  vallum  is 
twenty-six  feet  wide  at  its  base,  and  six  across  its  crest. 
The  interior  slope  is  twelve  feet,  the  scarp  eighteen,  and 
the  counterscarp  six.  There  are  four  gorges  or  open- 
ings due  North,  the  original  ones  being  at  the  East 
and  West. 

The  situation  of  Nokdy  Bank  was  a  very  important 
one  for  the  Romans  to  occupy,  as  it  gave  them  the 
command  of  Come  DaU^  whilst  at  the  same  time  being 
entrenched  here,  they  lay  so  close  upon  the  Clee  Hill 
valley  on  the  Southern  side  of  the  Burf,  as  in  a  cer- 
tain degree  to  command  access  to  that  also. 

Had  no  other  reasons  been  already  ^ven  for  the 
supposition  that  Abdon  Burf  was  a  religious  enclosure, 
and  not  a  defensive  one,  I  think  the  existence  of 
this   very    perfect    Roman    work   inmiediately  below    it 


152 


would  render  it  probable;  for  had  the  Britons  been 
in  poflsession  of  the  enclosure  above,  the  Romans  would 
hardly  have  placed  themselves  in  an  inferior  and  com- 
manded situation,  one  that  could  so  readily  have  been 
assaulted. 

It  is  conceived  that  the  road  from  WraxeUr^  or  the 
Devil^s  Causeway,  terminated  here,  passing  from  Rush- 
BUBT  over  Roman  Bank  and  thence  through  Hungerford 
and  Tugford. 


\^^- 


NORTON  CAMP. 

oAiAK  Camps  may  be  distinguished 
from  British  and  those  of  a  later 
nge,  by  the  reetilinearity  of  their 
vaUa,  and  by  being  most  commonly 
encompassed  by  one  ditch  only^ 
Of  this  kind  are  the  following. 
CmmkjCb  Camp  near  Argues^  which, 
though  irregular,  has  its  lines  straight;  C.fiSAR*s  Camp 
North  of  Farnham^  Surrey^  which  is  sevenHsided,  single* 
ditched,  and  has  all  its  lines  straight;  Vbspasian^s  Camp 
near  Ambresbwry^  co.  WiU9,\  Weatherburt  Castle, 
00.  Donetj  which  has  a  small  quadrangular  work  in- 
side a  larger;  Castsll  Dinas,  South  of  Talgarth^  co. 
Breconj  quadrangular;  Abebtscib,  East  of  Brecon^  the 
supposed  site  of  Bannivm,  quadrangular;  Holme  on 
THE  Sea;  CAisrroB,  and  Tasbubgh,  in  the  county  of  Nor- 

>  The  Roman  stations  in  Britain  may  be  classed  as  follows. 

First,  the  fpeat  Romanized  capitals  of  the  British  trib^  or  other 
foundations  of  the  Romans  themselves^  which  were  destined  to  be 
garrisoned  by  a  legion  each.  These  appear,  from  their  outlines  and 
other  remains,  to  have  occupied  forty  or  fifty  acres. 

Next  were  the  ordinary  stations  of  the  Itineraiy  or  Notitia, 
intended  for  the  reception  of  a  cohort  in  the  first,  or,  as  at  Bre- 
metoniacum,  a  numerus  in  the  second.  Now  from  the  absence  of 
remains  at  some  of  these,  and  the  appearances  of  arts  and  elegance 
in  others,  the  first  appear  to  have  been  mere  military  posts,  whilst 
the  latter  have  enjoyed  a  civiHsed  and  cultivated  population.  In 
the  latter  division,  Kibchester,  frdm  the  elegance  and  abundance 
of  its  remains,  stands  eminently  conspicuous.  But  beside  these, 
frequently  appear  small  outposts,  probably  thrown  up  for  temporary 
purposes,  and  evidently  depending  upon  some  of  the  former;  besides 
airy  and  spacious  summer  camps  on  the  hills,  in  the  outline  of 
wluch  the  ordinary  forms  of  Roman  castrametation  were  abandoned; 
and  of  these  it  may  be  observed,  that  while  they  scarcely  ever 
bear  the  name  of  caster  or  Chester,  but  most  commonly  that  of 
borough,  as  contradistinguished  from  that  of  bury;  so  uie  castra 
hibema,  or  regularly  fortified  towns,  frequently,  as  at  Overborough 
bear  the  same  appellation  without  distinction.  Whitaker's  History 
of  Richnumdshire,  vol.  iL  p.  268. 


154 

folk;  Chesterton,  co.  Warwick;  Uley  Burt;  Little 
SoDBURY,  CO.  Somers,;  and  Brandon  Camp,  near  LeifU- 
wardine,  all  quadrangular;  besides  several  others  which 
it  is  needless  to  enumerate. 

To  this  list  must  be  added  the  fine  rectilinear 
camp  above  Whetileion^  which  there  is  every  reason 
for  considering  a  Roman  woric. 

The  advantagebus  position  of  Norton  Camp  has  been 
already  adverted  to\  It  merely  remains  therefore  to 
state  that  it  is  a  quadrangular  work,  built  on  a  con- 
siderable eminence,  having  two  valla,  the  enclosed  area 
being  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  paces  square.  The 
chief  entrance  is  on  the  Eastern  side,  and  a  modem 
one  has  been  made  at  the  North  West  comer.  In 
consequence  of  the  whole  of  this  eminence  having  heen 
planted,  I  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  get  a  good 
section  of  the  works,  but  as  far  as  I  could  make  them 
out,  the  base  of  the  interior  vallum  was  forty  feet» 
and  the  width  across  its  crest  twelve.  The  escarp  of 
the  interior  vallum  was  twenty  feet;  width  of  fosse 
twelve;  counterscarp  eight.  The  escarp  of  exterior  val- 
lum was  eight  feet,  breadth  of  fosse  about  the  same, 
and  the  width  of  the  crest  twelve.  There  was  a  very 
rapid  natural  fall  towards  the  West,  where  it  is  nearly 
inaccessible.  I  imagined  that  there  were  other  marks 
of  vallation  on  the  Eastern  side,  whei^  the  ground  is 
not  so  precipitous,  but  owing  to  the  rising  plantations 
they  had  become  uncertain  and  indistinct. 

The  Watling  Street  from  Uriconium  to  Bravinium 
runs  underneath  the  Western  side,  and  as  the  distance 
from  Uriconium  to  Bravinium,  in  the  twelfth  Iter  of 
Antoninus,  and  also  in  the  thirteenth  of  Richard,  where 
it  bears  the  name  of  Brannooenium  exactly  agrees  with 
it,  I  make  no  scmple  in  assigning  Bravinium  to 
Brandon  Camp  near  Leiwttoardine. 
• »  See  p.  72. 


CALLOW  HILL. 


rveral  plaoee  in  Shropshire  bear  this 
ikNsignation,  for  instance,  the  pre- 
sent one,  which  lies  betwixt  Habberly 
Liml  Minsterly ;  another  which  lies 
&  little  Easterly  of  the  Long  Mynd^ 
and  a  third  betwixt  Westhope  and 
NiiHon  Camp.    They  owe  their  name 

to  their  character,  Callow^  signifying  a  spot  that  is  bald, 

or  smooth.     Thus,   A.  Sax.  caloy  calu ;    Franc.   eh(do ; 

Qerm.  kcd;    Pers.  kal^  calmu^  glaber,   depilis.     And  as 

Milton  uses  the  word, 

Their  brood  as  numerous  hatch,  from  the  egg  that  soon 
Burstiiig  with  kindly  rapture  forth  diadosecP 
Their  oaUow  young. 

Paradise  Lost,  Book  yiL  y.  420. 

The  camp  on  Callow  Hill  near  MifuUrly  is  rectangu- 
lar, and  surrounded  by  a  fosse  four  yards  wide.  This 
form  favors  the  supposition  of  its  having  been  thrown  up 
by  the  Romans.  It  is  eighty-six  paces  from  East  to  West, 
and  fifty-eight  from  North  West  to  South  East.  The 
comers  are  gently  rounded:  that  at  the  East  North 
East  more  so  thim  the  rest.  The  only  camp  in  com- 
mand of  observation  is  Ceftn  y  Castel  on  the  Breidden. 
The  view  up  the  valley  of  Minsterly  from  the  present 
spot  is  extremely  beautiful,  and  the  neighbourhood  pre- 
sents, from  its  richness  in  lead  mines,  many  attractions 
for  the  Geologist  to  visit  it,  nor  would  the  Botanist 
find  the  vicinity  undeserving  his  investigation. 


CHESTERTON. 


HE  Walls  at  CHEflrrBRTON  are  works 
of  a  defensive  kind,  placed  upon  an 
eminence  dose  to  the  village,  having 
this  name.  Like  most  other  fort- 
resses that  have  the  semblance  of 
being  British^  the  present  one  as- 
sumes such  a  shape  as  is  naturally 
dictated  by  the  form  of  the  ground.  The  figure  of  the  en- 
closure is  irregular,  and  comprehends  about  twenty  acres. 
The  inunediate  neighbourhood  is  alike  remarkable 
for  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  and  the  beauty  of  its 
scenery.  A  narrow  valley  runs  round  three  sides  of 
the  encampment ;  the  verdant  meadows  at  its  base  are 
seamed  by  a  brook  well  stored  with  trout,  and  flanked 
on  the  North  Western  side  by  red  sand-stone  rocks 
which  rise  in  rugged  and  romantic  forms,  a  hundred 
feet  precipitously  above  the  level  of  the  stream.  It  is 
just  such  a  spot  as  an  idler  would  love  to  loiter  in  on 
sunny  days,  or  such  as  a  painter  would  frequent  for 
the  sake  of  imparting  a  feeling  of  the  abrupt,  broken 
and  picturesque  to  his  canvass.  Yet  in  addition  to 
these  attractions  of  soil  and  situation,  the  spot  is  still 
better  calculated  for  protection  and  defence.  T^e  earlier 
possessors,  who  could  not  have  been  insensible  to  these 
manifold  advantages,  chose  it  for  a  military  post.  Who 
they  were,  who  thus  first  fixed  upon  it,  it  would  now 
be  impossible  to  say  with  certainty.  We  can  only  con- 
nect them  with  conjectural  associations,  or  speak  of 
them  inferentially  from  a  few  existing  facts. 


167 

The  name  of  CHESTxitioN  at  onoe  betokens  R&man 
oocupation :  but  the  nature  of  the  fortifications  bespeak 
a  British  origin.  The  evidence,  in  support  of  either  sup- 
position is  pretty  equally  balanced,  incljiiing  rather  more, 
perhaps,  to  the  aborigines  than  the  invaders.  Let  us 
dispamonately  examine  how  the  claims  of  each  respect- 
ively stand. 

It  might  have  been  observed  throughout  the  preced- 
ing pages^  how  constantly  the  Border  Camps  are  found 
adapting  themselves  to  the  irregularity  of  form  of  the 
elevated  points  upon  which  they  are  placed — ^that  their 
sites  are  usually  such  as  would  naturally  present  for- 
midable obstructions  to  the  besiegers — and  that  where, 
from  circumstances  the  ground  is  weak,  and  an  assault 
might  be  made  with  most  chance  of  success,  there,  re- 
eoorse  has  been  had  to  artificial  means  to  make  the 
position  strong.     The  methods  invariably  resorted  to,  to 
remedy  these  deficiencies,  are  the  fosse  and  vallum ;  the 
latter  as  often  having  a  bold  escarp.     Very  frequently 
two  or  more  ditches  are  drawn  round  the  quarter  most 
obnoxious  to  attack.     In  some  instances,  as  for  example, 
in  that  most  extraordinary  fortress  at  Old  Oswestry, 
there  are  four  or  five  concentric  ditches.     Two  are  the 
oommoner  number,  and  these  are  observable  at  the  two 
Cabr  Cabadocs,  (pp.  51,  52,  81,)  Craio  t  BREmnsN,  &c., 
all  of  which  erecti<M]8  are  indisputably  attributable  to  the 
British.     Examining'  still  closer  the  method  which  the 
Britons  pursued  in  constructing  their  walls  of  defence, 
it  may  be  seen  that  they  were  generally  formed  of  loose 
stones,   according  to  the  description  that  Tacitus  has 
left  of  their  mode  of  building  fortifications. 

Now  in  the  example  before  us,  may  be  detected  an- 
adherence  to  all  those  general  laws  which  regulated  their 
principles  of  castrametation.  For  besides  the  situation, 
being  predsely  such  an  one  as  the  British  would  choose, 
there  is   moreover  a  manifest  conformity  to  all   their 


158 

nmial  lulee  of  oonstraction.     Thus,  we  find  on  the  West- 
em  side  of  the  enclosed  area,  where  the  descent  is  gra- 
dual, and  an  assault  would  most  probably  be  made,  the 
natural  weakness^of  the  ground  is  compensated  for,  by 
having  a  fosse  and  vallum  drawn  round  the  most  preg^ 
nable  part  of  the  declivity  for  upwards  of  a  hundred 
yards.     Whilst  if  we  look  at  the  materials  with  which 
the  vallum  that  surrounds  the  whole  enclosure  is  formed, 
we  find  it  consisting  of  pieces  of  the  sand-stone  rock 
that  forms  the  geological  basis  of  the  hill.     These  facts 
indirectly  t^id  to  shew  that  the  work  is  of  British  origin. 
If  we  look  to  Etymology  to  confirm  this  supposition, 
we  shall  find  but  little  aid;   yet  I  think  in  that  little 
there  is  at  least  a  grain  of  valuable  weight.     There  are 
two  places  in  the  neighbourhood  that  bespeak  some  con- 
nexion with  the  British^  arising  in  all  probability  from 
conflicts  happening  at  CnEffrERTON.     Stanlow  and  Kmos- 
Low,  indicate  something  British,  so  far  as  we  are  justi- 
fied in  drawing  conclusions  from  the  illustrations  afforded 
by   Etymology.     It  would  seem   that  these   two   places 
must  have  been  the  sepulture  of  some  Britons  who  fell 
whilst  defending  their  country.     I  am  not  unaware  that 
such  an  idea  may  be  deemed  fanciful,  but  if  the  argument 
that   is  borrowed  from  Etymology  be  unworthy  of  our 
notice,   then  the  claims  of  Chesterton   being  a   Baman 
position,  must  immediately  fall  to  the  ground,  for  it  is 
solely  from  those  reasons  that  it  can  have  any  preten- 
sions whatever. 

When  we  speak  of  Chesterton  we  use  a  word  tiiat 
is  of  acknowledged  Latin  origin.  This  is  so  universally 
accepted,  that  wherever  the  word  is  located^  we  imme- 
diately associate  the  Romans  with  the  spot.  It  belongs 
to  a  Chssterton  in  Warmdtshirey  where  Roman  coins 
of  the  lower  empire  are  continually  being  turned  over, 
some  of  which  I  have  procured  there  myself.  It  be- 
longs to  Cksttertm  in  Cambiiidgeskire^  near  which  there 


159 

is  the  semi-circukr  Roman  oamp  of  Arburt  ;  (so  called, 
because  it  lies  betwixt  and  oontigaous  to  two  Roman 
roads,  the  Via  Dkvaka  and  another;  see  remarks  un- 
der Hoar  Stones,  p.  217)  to  a  Chesterton  in  OxfordMre^ 
situated  nesii' Bicester^  on  the  Akbman  Street;  and  to 
Chesterton  in  Somersetshire^  where  there  is  a  Roman 
camp.  Besides  these  we  have  Casterton  in  Butlandshire; 
Chesterfield  in  Bedfordshire;  Chestefford  in  Essex^  where 
coins  and  other  Roman  antiquities  have  been  discovered. 
Not  to  mention  the  various  Roman  positions  of  Chester^ 
Cclehester^  Winchester^  Dorchester^  Bochester^  Butchester^ 
Chichester^  Bichester^  Ebehester^  Manchester^  Silchester^ 
Gfodmanehester^  &c.,  &c.  HcJton  Chesters^  Walwick  Ches- 
ters.  Great  and  Little  Chesters^  all  derived  from  Castrum; 
besides  the  kindred  names  of  Wroxetsr,  Worcester^  Al- 
cester,  Leicester,  &c.  Another  name,  arising  from  the 
same  tongue,  and  equally  favoring  the  idea  of  Roman 
colonization,  occurs  close  to  the  camp  itself.  The  title 
of  Stratford,  which  the  brook  below  has  acquired,  is  de- 
duced on  the  same  authority  from  Stratum,  and  occurs 
in  very  many  places  where  the  tide  of  Roman  popula- 
tion has  set.  We  meet  with  it  in  our  own  county  at 
the  Strettons  which  lie  on  the  Watlino  Street;  at 
Stratford  Grote  near  Wista^fvtotiD,  and  in  the  adjoining 
one  of  Herefordshire,  at  Stratford,  a  village  on  the 
Watlino  Street,  five  and  a  half  miles  South  West  of 
Leominster.  The  term  is  borrowed  from  the  Latin 
Stemo;  as  Strata  signified  paved  roads  whether  it  was 
applied  to  roads  in  cities  or  in  the  country.  It  has 
the  same  sense  in  Lucretius,  who  writes 

Strataque  jam  volgi  pedibus  detrita  viarum 

Saxes  oonspiciinus.  De  Natar.  i.  322. 

and  in  Virgil,  where  the  poet  describing  the  building  of 

New  Carthage,  and  the  wonder  of  Mneas  at  the  works 

which  were  in  progress,  says, 

Mixalar  portas^  strepitximquey  et  ttrata  tnortim. — JEjl  L  426. 


160 


It  is  rather  singuUr  that  no  antiquities,  appertaining  to 
either  people,  should  ever  have  been  discovered  at  Ch£»- 
TEBTON.  Thus,  all  our  proofs  of  it  being  a  Baman  for- 
tress are  confined  to  its  name,  and  we  can  only  say  in 
its  behalf, 

vox  n   PRJETBRSA  NIHIL. 

Yet,  after  all,  if  we  attempt  to  reconcile  these  two  dis- 
sentient statements,  it  may  be  done  I  think  upon  fair 
and  good  grounds.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Chkstbr- 
TON  was  a  position  held  by  both  Britons  and  Itamans, 
Originally  it  might  have  been  constructed  as  an  out- 
post by  the  former  nation,  who  were  subsequently  ex- 
pelled from  it  when  the  latter  advanced  from  the  line 
of  firontier  camps  which  they  had  formed  between  the 
Avon  and  the  Severn. 


%Ja^ 


^n^h^^l^nxon  $moti. 


mtalh 


I  HE  Wall  lies  five  miles  North  East 
of  the  town  of  Weliinffton.  It  is  an 
enclosure  of  an  irregular  form  con- 
taining within  its  area  thirty  acres, 
and  accommodating  its  figure  to  the 
nature  of  the  rising  ground  on  which 
it  stands.  This  is  encircled  by  a 
vaUum  or  waU^  (hence  its  name)  nearly  the  whole  of 
which  is  still  perceptible;  and  altiiough  much  depressed 
in  some  parts,  its  general  height  is  ten  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  interior.  The  present  work,  like  so  many 
others  that  have  been  described,  has  been  considerably 
injured  by  the  plough, 

Hec  igitur  minui,  com  sint  detiita  yidemus^ 
and  the  altitude  of  its  vaUom  has  in  most  places  m»- 
teriaOy  beat  affiacted  by  the  operations  of  agriculture. 
Upon  approaching  it  from  the  direction  of  Kinmrdey^ 
there  are  Beesi  two  concentric  mounds  which  have  an  in- 
tervening ditdi  about  four  yards  wide.  They  are  visible 
for  ft  hundred  and  fijfby  paces,  and  were  thrown  up  for 
the  especial  protection  of  the  South  Western  side  of 
the  strongh(M:  and  here  in  all  probability  existed  the 
original  gate  of  entrance. 

Following  the  course  taken  by  the  innermost,  or 
third  vallum,  we  find  the  road  that  has  conducted  us 
hitherto,  running  along  the  top  of  it  for  a  few  hundred 
paces,  tmtil  it  finally  crosses  a  brook  at  the  North  end. 
In  some  parts   the   stream  is  so   very   shallow   that    it 


164 

was  necessary  to  use  artificial  means  to  render  this  side 
of  the  enclosure  stronger.  So  that  besides  the  regular 
surrounding  rampart,  there  are  here  traceable  two  other 
concentric  ones,  similar  to  those  we  have  just  left  on  the 
Western  side.  All  other  parts  of  this  fortification  are 
naturally  defended  by  marshy  ground.  As  it  is  almost 
impassable  now,  it  must  of  itself  have  furnished  a  veiy 
complete  defence  at  the  period  when  the  work  was  oc- 
cupied. Besides  the  bog,  it  is  surrounded  nearly  on  aU 
sides  by  a  brook  that  washes  the  base  of  the  vallum, 
and  by  some  wide  and  deep  water-courses. 

The  concentric  ditches  on  the  South  West  and 
North  East  sides  lead  us  immediately  to  infer  that  the 
fortification  is  not  Roman.  It  lies,  moreover,  quite  too 
distant  from  the  WaUing  Street^  or  any  other  Roman 
road  for  that  nation  to  have  made  it  one  of  their  sta- 
tions, or  in  fact  to  have  had  any  connexion  with  it. 
Evidently,  it  is  later  than  the  period  of  their  dominion; 
and  consequently  it  was  not  the  erection  of  the  forces 
under  Caradog.  The  earthwork  of  all  others  it  most 
resembles,  is  the  inferior  fortress  at  the  Bebth  ;  yet  it  is 
in  all  respects  much  more  extensive  than  that.  There  is 
great  similitude  in  both  their  positions,  as  they  are  alike 
surrounded  by  a  morass,  and  protected  by  a  single  fosse. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  this  is  one  of  the  places 

mentioned    by    Lomarchus   in  his   plaintive   elegy  upon 

Cynddylan.     The  poet,  in  his  heroic  lament,  states  that 

the  British  Prince  was   "pierced  through  the  head  by 

Twrc^  (or  the  Hog,)  whilst  defending  the  town  of  Trm^ 

In  another  part  of  the  same  poem,  he  says. 

The  churches  of  Baasa  afford  space  to  night. 
To  the  progeny  of  C^drwyn — 
The  graye-house  of  feir  Cynddylan  I  ^ 

If  Cynddylan  actually  died  in  defending  "Tren  the  pa- 
trimony of  his  sire,'*^  the  two  passages  are  at  variance, 

^  The  Heroic  Elegies  of  Llywar^  Hen,  translated  by  William 
Owen.    Lond.  1792,  p.  86. 


166 

ibr  it  is  highly  unlikely  that  if  the  British  Prinee  was 
slain  at  Tren^  which  must  have  been  either  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river  Tern  (and  of  such  a  spot  there  are 
no  vestiges)  or  iu  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  that 
he  should  have  enriched  the  churches  of  Btuta^  or  Bos- 
ckureh  with  his  funeral,  as  that  village  is  at  the  least, 
fifteen  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  this  river.  After 
the  forces  of  Cynddylan  were  driven  from  the  town  of 
Tren^  it  is  veiy  likely  that  they  would  take  refuge  either 
at  the  camp  of  Eburt  Wood  (supposing  it  then  existed) 
or  else  at  the  Berth;  and  the  Welsh  Prince  dying 
during  the  retreat,  or  immediately  his  forces  gained  the 
latter  position,  he  might  have  been  interred  at  Bcu- 
eiurch.  This  is,  however,  assuming  a  great  deal  more 
than  our  facts  warrant.  All  we  really  know  is,  that 
there  still  exist  extensive  earthworks  at  Wall;  that 
they  are  of  a  nature  precisely  like  the  defensive  con- 
structions of  the  period  when  these  circumstances  are 
alleged  to  have  happened,  and  that  somewhere  near 
the  Tem^  a  sanguinary  conflict  occurred  between  the 
British  Chief  and  the  Saxons.  Whether  this  event  took 
place  at  the  spot  in  question  must  be  highly  uncertain; 
if  there  be  any  value  in  presumptive  argument,  how- 
ever, we  should  be  led  to  condude  that  it  did. 

The  present  one  is  a  .fair  occasion  to  make  a  few 
renuurks  upon  the  names  of  those  places  in  Shropshire 
which  are  mentioned  in  the  Poems  of  Llywarf  Hen, 
the  Welsh  bard  just  quoted.  He  speaks  of  the  rivers 
AvAKRWT,  Then,  Tbydonwy,  Mabcawy,  and  Havren. 

In  parallel  windinffs  with  Avabrwy 

Doth  Tren  glide  into  the  rough  Trydonwy, 

And  alflo  the  stream  of  Trbn  into  Marcawy', 

'  Usually  pronounced  Team.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the 
original  mode  of  speaking  it,  if  we  may  argue  its  correctness  from 
the  wajr  in  which  it  is  roelt  in  the  list  of  Tenants  in  Capite  in 
Shropshire^  Circa  temp.  £dw.  I.  ''Item  Abbas  tenet  viliam  de 
TiEBNB."    Collect.  Topog.  vol.  L  p.  118. 

*  Llywap?  Hfin,  p.  91. 


166 

The  Atarrwy  may  meftn  the  stream  of  the  Psbrt,  wbkh 
rifles  at  St  MarHn\  four  miles  North  of  Chwettrj^  and 
empties  itself  into  the  Sewmy  a  little  below  MontfiMrd 
Bridge.  It  flows  about  a  mile  and  a  half  Sonth  West 
of  the  BsRTH.  The  Tmn  is  the  Tern  ;  the  Tktdohwt, 
the  RoDEN ;  Mabcawt,  the  Memb;  and  the  Hayren,  with- 
out dispute,  the  Sbtern.     He  also  mentions  Blwyddbn, 

In  parallel  windingB  with  Elwtddzit 
I>Dtk  TRVDOifWY  unite  with  Trbn*. 

in  another  place  he  says, 

The  barrow  of  Elwydden  is  it  not  drenched  with  rain. 
Tlttre  is  Maoddyit  under  it*. 

It  is  difficult  to  make  out  what  stream  this  can  be. 
The  only  other  which  flows  in  parallel  windings  with 
the  Boden  is  Lonoo  Brook  that  springs  at  Bithop's  Qfff^ 
in  Btaffordskire.  It  thence  flows  close  to  a  spot  stiD 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Gamp,  just  on  the  borders  of 
the  two  counties,  leaves  Kinoes  Well  and  Ellbrton  a 
little  to  the  West,  and  falls  into  the  Mebss  at  Ohehegnd, 
Most  likely  it  is  Ellerton;  and  in  the  list  of  the  toiants 
in  Capite  we  meet  with  a  place  called  Ehoc^dyn^  which 
must  be  the  same.  ^^BawUofh  et  Ebtctrdyn.'^  JSLowUm^ 
and  EUardine'.  The  poet  bewails  the  death  of  his  son 
Gfften  at  the  ford  of  Morlas.  This  river  has  been 
thought  to  be  a  brook  of  that  name  which  runs  from 
Sdattyfiy  and  is  crossed  four  miles  North  of  Otwesiiy; 
it  shortly  afterwards  falls  into  t}\e  river  Ceiriog\  But 
the  Morlas  is  quite  too  insignificant  a  stream  to  have 
been  memorable,  and  as  there  are  several  others  bearing 
the  same  name,  the  Morlas  commemorated  by  Lomarchus 
is  rightly  supposed  to  be  a  river  contiguous  to  the  poet^s 
own  principality,  West  of  the  forest  of  Cdyddon  some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lanca/ster. 

•  LlywaT9  HSn,  p.  91.  ^  lb.  p.  101. 
^  Collect  Topog.  vol.  i.  p.  118. 

*  Hist,  of  Shrewsbury,  vol.  i.  p.  4. 


167 

Beridee  these  riven,  be  introduoeB  into  hia  Elegies 
gome  names,  whioh  there  is  good  cause  for  thinkiiig, 
identieal  with  spots  in  Shropshire.  The  first  we  will 
notice  is  Escal. 

The  sod  of  Ercal  is  on  the  ashes  of  fierce 
MeOy  of  the  progei^  of  Morial^ 

There  are  three  places  of  thb  name.  Childs  Ebcal, 
lying  between  the  river  Tern  and  the  Camp  before  men- 
tioned ;  at  neither  of  these  are  there,  however,  any  ves- 
tiges assignable  to  this  period.  The  second  is  Hiqh 
Ercal,  a  village  close  upon  the  banks  of  the  Boden. 
Perhaps  this  may  be  the  place  intended  by  the  Poet ;  for 
a  mile  South  of  it,  about  three  or  four  hundred  paces 
from  the  Eastern  side  of  the  stream,  there  is  still  per- 
ceptible what  appears  to  be  a  Pond  Barrow  as  it  has 
been  termed  by  the  late  Sir  Richard  Hoare.  It  is  a 
veiy  depressed  mound,  thirty-six  yards  wide,  and  ninety 
long,  with  the  angles  rounded,  and  encircled  by  a  fosse 
six  feet  deep  and  twenty-nine  wide.  The  spot  is  called 
WeiMen  Bam,  though  it  does  not  bear  this  name  in 
the  Ordnance  Survey,  where  it  is  noted  as  a  Camp.  If 
it  ever  was  used  for  any  purpose  of  defence,  it  was  most 
likely  a  moated  house,  for  it  is  quite  too  limited  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  an  entrenchment.  The  name  of 
Weielden  would  further  seem  to  pomt  to  something.  In 
C.  British  hwytaw  implies  to  heap  together,  and  it  is 
not  unlike  the  present  title  in  sound,  while  its  signlfi- 
cation  is  similar. 

The  third  Ercal  Hee  betwixt  WeUingUm  and  the 
Wrehin.  The  tumuli  at  the  foot  of  this  well  known 
mountain  have  been  already  noticed,  and  as  it  has  al- 
ready been  shewn  that  they  probably  belong  to  a  much 
eariier  period,  it  is  unnecessary  to  state  that  they  are 
unconnected  with  the  sepulchres  of  the  progeny  of  Morial. 

*  Llywar?  Hen,  p.  03. 


168 

There  are,  however,  four  mounds  of  a  oonioal  form  lying 
on  the  brink  of  the  Dabt  Pit\  a  deep  pool  of  dark  water, 
which  have  eveiy  semblance  of  being  artificial  erections. 
They  lie  nearly  obscured  by  wood,  amid  tangled  fern 
and  impervious  thickets,  where  only  the  lover  of  nature^s 
sylvan  gloom,  or  the  ardent  fowler  is  ever  likely  to  pene- 
trate. Their  summit  is  just  perceptible  from  the  road 
leading  to  Willow  Farm  from  Cludddey  (vulgo  Clockley 
or  Clotley')j  just  where  it  trends  to  the  Hatch^.  There 
is  every  appearancey  I  repeat,  of  these  four  mounds  being 
artificial :  the  conformity  of  them  to  each  other  is  too 
remarkable  to  induce  the  belief  that  they  are^'^'inatural. 
The  South  Western  tumulus,  if  such  it  may  be  called, 
rises  twenty  feet  above  the  ground  at  its  base,  and  thirty 
above  the  level  of  the  Dart  Pit.  The  one  at  the  East 
North  East  side  is  twelve  yards  across  its  base,  and 
eighteen  long.  The  North  Eastern  mound  is  ten  paces 
from  the  last ;  and  here  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
four  are  very  nearly  the  same  height  and  size,  and  that 
they  stand  equidistant  round  the  margin  of  the  pit :  the 
latter  mound,  however,  is  more  pointed  than  any  of  the 
others,  though  the  fourth,  which  stands  in  the  West 
South  West  side,  is  rather  more  elongated  than  the 
other  three. 

Whether  these  elevations  are  Tumuli  raised  over 
^'  the  ashes  of  fierce  men^  can  only  be  conjectured.  They 
stand  on  the  Ercal  it  is  true,  but  beyond  that,  we  are 
left  to  rove  amid  the  deductions  of  fancy.     And   this 

1  Teutonic,  Dofy,  Darie,  oespes  bitnminoBiu,  gleba  bitominoea, 
oespes  fo68itiiu,  nigra  qnaedam  et  yisooea  gleba  qua  ignis  fovetnr. 

■  In  the  Forest  Perambulation  of  Shropshire,  28  £dw.  I.,  the 
place  bears  this  name:  ''de  Clerkenebrugge  in  Watlingestrete  as- 
oendendo  per  le  Stonibrok  usque  caput  ganuni  Radulfide  Clotlboh." 
Chartular.  Abb.  St  Petri  MS.  penes  Sir  T.  Phillipps.  ''£t  Villa 
de  Clothleoh."  In  the  list  of  tenants  in  Capite  m  Shropshire, 
Circa  temp.  £dw.  I.  printed  in  the  CoUectanea  Topographica,  vol.  i. 
we  find  the  place  spelt  as  it  is  still  pronounced,  Clotlsy,  see  p.  117. 

3  HuntUonegkaeche,  in  the  Forest  Perambulation. 


169 

k  a  region  favoiable  to  its  growth,  as  the  reader  will 
gather  from  the  following  proof  that  I  gleaned  on  the 
spot.  My  informant,  who  had  been  severely  afflicted 
with  rfaenmatism,  was  induced,  at  the  recommendation 
of  one  of  his  neighbours,  who  privately  practised  phar* 
macy  for  the  injury  of  his  fellow  creatures,  to  come 
hither  daily  to  drink  buckbean  water  to  cure  his  com* 
plaint,  but  having  obeyed  the  injunction  a  few  times, 
he  found  himself  daily  growing  worse,  and  at  length 
these  drafts  from  the  Dart  Pit  brought  him  close  to 
death'^s  door.  He  relinquished  his  potations  in  time,  but 
not  before  he  had  fully  proved  their  danger.  Of  course 
every  thing  connected  with  the  spot  was  henceforth  more 
vividly  impressed  on  his  imagination,  and  the  stories  of 
his  boyhood  were  oftener  recalled  to  his  memory.  He 
told  me  it  had  always  been  considered  a  place  replete  with 
horrors:  that  children  would  go  a  long  distance  round 
lest  they  should  unluckily  encounter  any  of  those  objects 
which  are  fabled  to  walk  at  the  midnight  hour.  Even 
his  grandmother  used  to  hurry  past  it  with  her  eyes 
shut,  ''  for  fear  a  should  see  the  sperrets,  because  the  fut 
path  was  uzed  to  come  that  way,  un  a  saiden  as  how 
sperrets  wun  laid  under  the  waiter.*"  He  stated  that 
a  felon  named  Kirby,  having  escaped  from  the  county 
prison,  hid  himself  for  several  days  in  the  dark  recesses 
of  the  neighbouring  woods,  and  having  filed  off  his  fet- 
ters cast  them  in,  as  an  offering  to  the  deities  of  the 
water.  Nor  are  these  the  only  legends;  for  it  is  re- 
ported the  unearthly  powers  are  unappeased,  and  that 
Rutter's  Gho9t  still  walks  abroad  in  the  silence  of  night 
among  these  hills, 

To  haunt,  to  startle  and  way-lay. 
"  One  Rutter,  a  cricker,"  continued  my  informant,  "wuz 
laid  here  yo  minden;    un  a  wuz  mighty  fond  o  drink. 
When  a  cummM  whdam  at  neet  a  wuz  uzed  to  tak  a 
mug  un  goa  into  the  cellar  like,   un   fach  him  a  drop 


170 


o^drink,  un  then  him  an  his  wife  usen  to  differ,  an 
qnarril  an  aggravait,  an  a  wenten  on  a  thisns  till  at 
last  his  wife  pizened  him.  After  a  wnz  dhed  the  mug 
as  a  wun  nzed  to  drink  out  on,  oummd  down  off  the 
shilf  as  nataral  as  if  aM  ootohed  hont  on  it  wie  his  two 
honds,  im  it  ud  goa  and  faoh  drink  out  o"*  the  ciller. 
Tve  often  heard  em  talking  about  it:  some  o^  Mat- 
thnsses  people  liyen  thire  at  the  time.  They  saydeo 
as  how  his  sperrit  wuz  laid  T  th^  Dary  Pit;  but  I 
dunna  knoa  whoa  laid  him :  yo  onghten  to  know  moor 
about  sieh  things  than  me  Sir,  for  yo  sin  I  binna 
buned.'' 

To  return  from  this  dialectical  digression  to  the  sab- 
jects  of  enquiry.     The  poet  speaks  of 

The  Whits  Town  Iwiween  Tesn  and  Traval*. 
and  of 

The  Whitb  Towir  between  Trbiv  and  Trodwydd*. 

The  WmTB  Town  is  on  sufficient  reasons  supposed 
to  be  WhiUingUm;  and  its  sitoation  between  the  Tern 
and  Roddinffton  leads  us  at  once  to  infer  that  Trodwydd 
must  mean  this  latter  village.  Where  Traval  was,  it 
is  not  BO  easy  to  settle.  From  Tre  signifying  a  town 
and  gwal  a  wall,  in  tiie  same  language  in  which  Llywarp 
H^n  writes,  (thus  Trct-mt  the  walled  town,  and  GiM 
S&cer  the  wall  of  Severus,)  it  seems  evident  that  it  alludes 
to  some  fortified  position.  It  cannot  mean  Wall,  because 
this  stronghold  is  beyond  the  Tem^  it  must  therefore 
be  either  Ebukt,  or  Burt  Walls,  ne«r  Hawkstoney  most 
likely  the  latter.  Pengwem  is  sufficiently  known  to  be 
Skrewibwry,  The  rock  of  Hydwtth,  cannot  be  Hodnei^ 
because  there  is  not  any  rock  there;  it  may  be  some 
eminence  in  the  vicinity,  for  instance,  KensUme^  or  Clar- 
tmry  Hitt^  or  Bury  Walls  ^ 

»  Uvwai^  HSn,  p.  87.  >  lb. 

*  I  do  not  think  it  is  Armour  Hill  :  Celt  Ar,  a  rock^  and  mer, 
greats  high:  Ar-mefy  'the  high  rock'  as  PendlesUme  rwk  on  the 
He^ytm  above  Bridgenoith,  is  called. 


171 

The  Hall  of  Cynddylan  is  not  ea^y  this  night, 

On  the  top  of  the  rock  of  Hydwytb'^ 

Without  its  lord,  without  company,  without  the  circling  feasts. 

And  this  supposition  is  rendered  more  probable  by 
Wegton,  a  village  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  latter, 
being  called  in  a  document  of  the  time  of  Edward  I., 
Weston  super  Lichefeld^.     (See  Gloss,  under  Lichoatb.) 

**The  Vallet  of  Meisib,  the  celebrated  land  of 
Bra^vcui^  may  perhaps  mean  the  extensive  plain  through 
which  the  Sewf^JjiOYm  from  Welshpool  to  Shrewsbury; 
and  ^Hhe  verdant  vale  of  Freuer^,  up<»  which  the 
poet  used  to  gaze  from  the  high-placed  city  of  Wbboon, 
was  the  fertile  vale  of  the  Havren  or  Severn,  from 
Wroxeter  to  BuUdwas.  Digoll  was  a  circular  entrench- 
ment still  bearing  the  name  of  Caer  Diool,  situated  on 
the  summit  of  Cefn  Digol,  at  the  South  end  of  the 
Long  Mountain,  It  is  also  called  the  Beacon  Bing^ 
and  was  a  trigonometrical  station*.  This  spot  is  men- 
tioned both  by  Lomarchus  in  the  seventh  century,  and 
by  CynddeDw  in  the  twelfth,  which  implies  that  Cefyn 
Digoll  was  a  post  generally  occupied  in  the  warfare  of 
the  Britons.     Dtgen  is  most  likely  to  be  the  BaEmDEN. 

*  liywaor^  HSn,  p.  77. 

'  Camb.  and  Celt  Quart.  Mag.  voL  iv.  p.  388. 


^ 


C|e  ISrrtli* 


HERE  is  not  any  reason  for  doubting 
the  authenticity  of  the  poems  ascribed 
by  Welsh  scholars  to  Llywar9  Hen, 
a  poet  who  lived  in  the  sixth  century. 
Nor  can  their  genuineness  be  im- 
pugned on  the  score  of  their  mis- 
representing events  taking  place  at 
that  period,  because  the  poet  was  an  eye-witness  of  the 
actions  he  records.  He  bore  a  distinguished  part  in 
defending  his  country  against  the  growing  power  of  the 
Saxons,  and  survived,  as  the  historians  tell  us,  to  lament 
the  loss  of  twenty-four  sons  who  fell  in  the  same  cause. 
The  poet  himself  was  at  length  obUged  to  seek  for 
shelter  in  the  court  of  CJynddylan,  a  prince  of  Powis, 
whose  subsequent  misfortunes  he  describes  in  one  of 
his  odes.  These  heroic  elegies  throw  considerable  light 
upon  the  events  of  the  period,  and  further  enable  us 
to  fix  upon  the  spot  where  the  bard's  regal  protector 
was  defeated  by  the  Saxons. 

It  has  been  thought  by  a  writer  of  high  reputation 
who  has  touched  upon  the  passages  of  these  early  times, 
that  Cynddylan,  after  his  expulsion  from  Pengwem  cirdt 
570,  sought  out  a  position  somewhere  at  no  great  distance 
Northwards.  He  states  there  are  strong  grounds  for 
thinking  that  the  spot  he  fixed  upon  was  in  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood  of  Baschurch^  because  he  was 
buried  there,  and  ^^  because  Baschurch^  in  the  reign  of 
Edward   the   Confessor,    formed   part    of   the  royal   de- 


173 

mesne  of  the  crown  of  England.^  And  'Mt  is  natural 
to  suppose^  as  my  authority  continues,  *^that  such 
demesne  was  in  Mercia,  derived  firom  the  Mercian 
kings;  and  it  is  likely  that  Ofia,  in  his  conquest  of 
Western  Shropshire,  would  retain  in  his  own  hands  all 
the  possessions  of  the  native  sovereigns  of  Powis.  Thus 
the  place  is  connected  by  no  improbable  links  with  the 
time  of  Cynddylan.'*^  Amid  the  great  darkness  of  the 
period,  it  is  difficult  to  catch  even  a  gleam  of  light  to 
guide  us  in  fixmg  upon  the  actual  scene  of  Cynddylan^s 
defeat.     Mr  Blakeway  conceived  it  was  at  the  Berth  ^ 

^  Pennant  says  this  fortress  is  called  the  Bru^^  corruptly  6x>xn 
Burgh,  and  that  it  was  cast  up  by  Kinred^  King  of  Mercia^  against  the 
invasions  of  Osred,  king  of  Northumberland,  who  was  slain  here  in 
battle  in  716.  This  stronghold  is  composed  of  two  deep  ditches  and  a 
rampart,  formed  chiefly  of  stone :  the  precinct  not  of  any  re&nilar 
shape,  for  the  fosses  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  hill.  Two  of  the 
comers  project  naturally^  and  form  a  species  of  bastion.  The  en* 
trance  vras  on  the  side  next  the  present  road.  The  approach  is 
very  visible:  it  crept  up  the  steep  sides;  divided  about  midway, 
one  branch  took  to  the  left  and  the  other  to  the  light.  (Paiiuml « 
Journey  from  Chester  to  London,  pp.  46,  47.) 

It  is  suggested  by  the  writer  just  quoted,  that  the  corpse  of  Osred 
might  have  been  buried  under  the  tumulus  at  O^dow,  I  will  not 
attempt  to  disturb  that  conjecture,  seeing  how  many  I  have  been 
necessitated  to  offer  myself;  but  I  must  correct  this  valuable  topo- 
gnpher^s  historical  mistake.  The  works  were  not  thrown  up  by 
Kvnrtdy  but  by  Ceoired,  King  of  Mercia.  Cenred,  King  of  Mercia, 
went  to  Rome  in  the  year  709  according  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle 
and  Bede,  lib.  v.  c  24,  where  he  died.  He  was  succeeded  in  his 
kingdom  the  year  he  abdicated  his  throne  by  Ceoired,  who  in  716 
fought  with  Ina  at  Wbdnesbeorh,  which  seems  to  me  most  likely 
to  be  where  Wednetbuty  in  SU^ffMMwre  now  stands.  And  in  ^e 
succeeding  year  he  defeated  Oared  at  Mere.  ''Osred  vero  rex" 
says  Heniy  Huntingdon,  ''belli  infortunis  juxta  Mere  pugnana 
interfectus  est"  Lib.  iiii.  Cenred  was  Osred's  successor.  Sax,  Chron. 
ann.  709—716.  Fhr.  War,  p.  266.    Matt,  Wut,  p.  26a 

'  If  these  works  at  Berth  HiU  were  reallv  constructed  by  the 
Saxons,  it  shews  that  they  had  retained  the  British  svstem  of 
eastnunetatbn,  but  when  we  look  at  the  fortress  of  the  Berth 
near  Baaehurd^  which  was  built  a  century  and  a  half  earlier,  it 
appears  to  me  that  the  works  on  Berth  HiU  must  be  assigned  to 
a  period  anterior  to  that  agreeing  witii  our  historical  data,  mr  they 
are  precisely  like,  if  we  may  accredit  Pennant's  account,  the  en- 
campments of  Caractacus'  Chain.  And  herein  I  have  the  authoritv- 
of  King  with  me,  who'  says  and  proves  by  two  instances  adduced. 


174 

My  own  reMons  for  diMenting  from  hk  opinion  have 
been  already  given.  Setting  aside  our  mutual  ccmjeo- 
turea,  let  ub  examine  it»  present  appearanee.  It  liee  a 
mile  and  a  half  North  East  of  the  village  of  Basekmrek, 
and  takes  its  name,  either  from  the  C.  Brit.  Berths  which 
signifies  «  WoIm^  tkruH^  tallyii^  with  the  event  for  whioh 
it  is  mimoraUe,  or  dse  from  the  G.  Brit.  Bmrtk^  an  en- 
doBUie.  A  small  oval  Mitrendunent,  bearing  the  name  of 
Bebth  Hill,  lies  just  out  of  Shropshire,  in  the  adjoining 
county  of  Stafardy  between  Woom  and  CAapd  GharUon^ 
and  we  find  no  less  than  six  places  with  very  significant 
names  in  the  immediate  contiguity  of  it.  Camp  Hill; 
War  Hill;  Woodbn  Dale,  evidently  Woden  Dale;  Berbt 
Hill;  Sandt  Low,  and  Maer  field,  or  the  Watchino  field; 
(C.  Brit.  MiMer).     Surely  these  titles  are  not  accidental. 

The  works  at  the  Berth  oonsist  of  two  distinct  for- 
tresses, lying  in  a  morass,  but  which  are  connected  with 
each  other  by  an  artificially  raised  causeway,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yiunds  long  and  twelve  feet  wide,  formed  with 
vast  labor  of  small  stones.  Though  this  traverses  the  bog 
at  present  on  a  level  with  it,  yet  it  is  distinctly  marked 
by  the  yellowness  of  its  herbage,  notwithstanding  aD  the 
draining  which  the  land  has  undergone.  Besides  this, 
there  is  another  causeway  that  tiJLes  a  sinuous  line 
across  the  bog  towards  the  higher  ground  at  Mmrkm. 
This  was  the  road  of  general  communication  with  the 
miun  land;  the  other,  was  merely  a  passage  of  inter- 
course between  the  two  camps.  They  are  each  of  them 
built  with  stones,  brought  from  a  gravel  pit,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  distant. 

The  Upper  Work,  occupies  a  circular  eminence  of 

three  acres,   and  rises  about  forty-five   feet   above  the 

level  of  the  bnd  at   its  base.     It  is   strengthened  on 

that  *'  Places  of  this  deBcription  were  not  onlv  stronglioldB  and  for- 
trasaes  in  the  early  British  times,  bnt  were  also  deemed  capable  of 
being  such  even  in  much  later  ages."  Mimimenta  Antiqna.  vol.  i. 
p.  26. 


176 

three  sideB  by  a  monuM;  upcHi  the  South,  or  fourth 
mi%  by  a  deep  pool  of  water,  covering  eight  aerei. 
A  oo&oentric  trenoh  and  vallum  enoirole  the  whole  work : 
in  some  parts  this  is  still  tolerably  perfect,  chiefly  so 
on  the  North  side,  but  having  been  formed  of  stones 
according  to  the  British  method  of  construction,  the 
greater  portion  of  it  is  destroyed,  and  what  remains 
is  daily  growing  less  conspicuous,  in  consequence  of  the 
materials  being  used  for  draining  the  surrounding  wet 
land.  The  fosse  was  at  first  as  much  as  ten  feet  wide. 
The  crest  of  the  vallum  is  at  present  about  twenty 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  marsh.  On  the  North  North 
East  side  are  remains  of  the  original  entrance.  The 
gorge  or  gangway  is  seven  feet  wida  It  had  a  Uywet 
GQ  either  side,  or  S(Hne  erection  which  answered  the 
same  purpose,  for  there  are  two  great  heaps  of  stones 
still  ool  the  surface,  notwithstanding  the  ^ousands  of 
loads  that  my  informant  told  me  had  been  buried  in 
the  surrounding  bog,  or  carried  away  to  mend  the 
neighbouring  roads.  The  work  of  destruction  was  pro- 
ceeding whoi  I  was  on  the  spot,  but  happily  it  will 
take  many  years  still  to  complete  it.  A  stream  runs 
round  this  side  of  the  work,  that  cuts  off  the  causeway 
from  reaching  to  the  very  entrance.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  was  intentional,  and  served  the  purpose  of 
preventing  all  approa<di  to  the  superior  fortress,  unless 
its  inhabitants  let  down  a  plank  or  drawbridge  to 
aDow  their  friends  to  come  over. 

Proceeding  along  the  Causeway  for  a  hundred  and 
twenty-five  yards  we  are  stopped  by  a  high,  thick 
hedge,  and  obliged  to  make  a  little  deviation  from  a 
straight  line,  so  as  to  fidl  in  with  it  again,  on  the 
other  side.  Following  it  for  twenty-five  yards  further, 
we  enter  the  Inferior  Work  between  two  slightly  ele- 
vated mounds,  which  formed  the  original  gate  o(  ad- 
mission. 


176 

The  Infebiob  Fortrbbb  is  of  an  elliptical  form.  It 
was  defended  by  a  morass  on  all  sides,  and  even  inter- 
sected by  a  ditch  that  was  supplied  with  water  to  render 
all  access  to  it  still  more  difficult.  The  works  on  the 
side  next  the  superior  fortress  are  considerably  higher 
than  those  in  the  other  quarters.  They  are  so  faint  and 
uncertain  on  the  North  side  of  the  intersecting  ditch^ 
that  it  is  questionable  whether  this  dde  of  the  entrench- 
ment had  ever  any  other  defence  than  the  morass,  the 
treacherous  nature  of  which,  even  now,  (1838)  makes  it 
troublesome  to  cross.  It  would  have  been  a  measure 
easily  resorted  to,  if  the  Britons,  when  attacked,  had 
dammed  up  the  two  streams  which  now  tend  to  drain 
the  bog,  and  this  would  at  once  have  converted  each 
of  these  fastnesses  into  an  island.  Yet  if  they  had 
confided  in  the  natural  advantages  alone  of  their  re- 
treat, the  protection  afforded  by  the  elevated  situation 
of  the  Superior  Work,  and  the  marshy  ground  around 
it,  would  have  rendered  their  positicm  extremely  formi- 
dable. In  whatever  way  we  look  at  these  two  fortifi- 
cations, they  cannot  fail  to  strike  us  as  most  remarkable 
examples  of  castrametation  for  the  age  when  they  were 
constructed.  They  evince  a  degree  of  military  know- 
ledge that  is  highly  curious  and  surprising,  whilst  they 
furnish  us  with  a  connecting  link  in  the  history  of 
martial  tactics,  that  is  well  deserving  the  attention  of 
the  antiquary  and  the  soldier. 


4BliitV9  Camp. 


HAVE  already  intimated  the  probability 
of  Ebuby  Camp  being  Hhe  rock  of 
Hwydwyth''  spoken  of  by  Lomarohus, 
and  I  shall  now  proceed  to  give  the 
reason  for  this  supposition.  There 
is  such  a  scantiness  of  soil  upon  this 
eminence,  and  such  an  extensive  and 
clear  development  of  rock  upon  its  North  Eastern  side, 
that  the  name  of  Ebary  rock  would  still  not  be  un- 
appropriate.  It  Ues,  moreover,  in  an  insulated  and 
commanding  position,  so  that  the  circumstance  of  it 
being  mentioned  as  a  Rock  is  not  unlikely.  Setting, 
however,  such  a  speculation  aside,  I  will  describe  the 
existing  appearances. 

Ebcjbt  Camp  is  an  oval  enclosure,  fortified  by  a  single 
fosse  and  vallum:  having  at  the  original  entrance  at 
the  South  South  Elast  end  a  breach  through  the  mound 
of  ten  paces  in  width :  a  little  further  on  there  is  an- 
other interruption,  two  paced  wide,  but  whether  both 
these  entrances  are  original,  it  is  difficult  to  determine. 
One  of  them  is  so,  undoubtedly,  because  there  is  no 
appearance  of  an  entrance  on  the  other  side,  whilst 
there  is  a  concentric  vallum  or  outwork  at  this  point 
running  for  fifty  paces.  The  general  position  of  the 
camp  is  extremely  commanding.  It  has  a  very  strong 
natural  defence  in  the  precipitous  character  of  the  rock 
at  the  Nordi  East  end,  as  well  as  in  the  steep  fall  at 
the  North  end.     In  the  centre  of  the   area  there  are 


.  I 


178 

some  very  large  BioneB,  whioh  fleem  bb  thou^  they 
might  have  formed  a  portion  of  a  eramledk,  and  w»  they 
difl^r  from  the  formation  of  the  hill,  they  have  evidently 
been  transported  hither. 

We  mo0t  afldgn  this  work  to  the  same  period  as 
THE  Wall,  which  it  greatly  resembleB  in  the  fnmplicity 
of  its  oonstniction. 


■^s 


notttMfotD  mm 


HB  Camp  upon  the  summit  of  thia 
eminence  is  Britiah,  and  may  I  think 
be  assigned  to  the  year  661,  when, 
according  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle, 
Cenwalh  fought  at  PorUeabyriff  against 
the  Welsh.  It  is  a  double  camp, 
having  its  ditches  and  walls  in  con- 
formity to  the  nature  of  the  ground.  The  Hill  is 
very  steep  on  all  sides,  especially  towards  the  East, 
where  the  declivity  is  nearly  perpendicular.  The  lower 
camp,  which  is  the  Southerly  one,  is  three  hundred 
and  seventeen  yards  long,  and  varies  from  twenty- five 
to  thirty- five  in  width.  The  upper  and  Northerly  di- 
vision is  the  same  width,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  yards  in  length.  There  is  an  entrance  due  North 
into  the  upper  one,  and  one  due  South  into  the  lower. 
Great  similarity  exists  between  these  works  and  those 
at  Cainham:  though  this,  from  being  situated  on  a 
greater  elevation,  is  naturally  much  stronger. 

A  wake  is  annually  held  on  Palm  Sunday,  on  the 
top  of  ^^Pansert  UilT  as  it  is  termed,  under  the 
pretence  of  ^^seekinff  for  the  Golden  Arrow.'"  I  have  in 
vain  looked  for  elucidation  of  this  custom,  and  can 
therefore  offer  nothing  better  than  mere  conjecture  as 
to  its  origin.  It  may  not  be  improbable  that  some 
tradition  formerly  existed  of  a  golden  arrow  having 
been  shot  in  the  encounter  between  the  two  contend- 
ing  parties  in   the  seventh   century,    and    as   Cenwalh 


180 


fought  at  Easter,  it  seeniB  but  likely  that  Pahn  Sunday 
should  be  a  oommemoration-day  of  the  event,  and 
that  the  golden  arrow,  whether  fabled  or  genuine, 
should  on  that  day  especially  be  sought  for.  It  is 
almost  needless  to  add  that  the  custom  is  now  merely 
a  pretext  for  having  a  merry  making. 


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jW|  iilJ\}W\\)  llilj 


»,„-<"^ 


A;'.Mi.t^h. 


Fit  iVii]  n':h  '''-\"^n'hrifi<^-- 


i.  V'--  '  '  •.'k^  '■■■    '    '^hn  ■. 


roMJ'AHA'IIVK    Sf-.Vl.K    nK    |>iKK.^ 


1  . .  ; :  ■•■■ 


.  .\:.Y 


AS  TOR     I'-   ^  ■■       X  -n 
XiLha.S  M      ■       * 


etia'0  mvtt. 


FFA  having  expeUed  the  Wekh  from 
the  open  country  they  poflseeeed  be- 
tween the  Wye  and  liie  Severn^  and 
annexed  the  Eastem. parts  of  Wales, 
as  far  as  the  former  river,  to  the 
kingdom  of  Merda,  proceeded  to 
separate  the  Britons  from  his  sub- 
jects by  a  high  mound  and  ditch^  This  extended  from 
near  Treiddyn  in  Flintshire  to  the  Wye  at  Bridge 
8oUers  in  fferefordiMre^  and  it  may  still  be  traced  in 
a  very  perfect  state  at  various  places  along  this  line. 

It  does  not  appear  likely  that  Of&  intended  his 
work  for  any  other  purpose  than  merely  a  boundary. 
As  a  defence,  it  would  have  been  totally  insufficient 
to  keep  the  rebellious  Welsh  in  awe,  who  had  con- 
structed at  an  earlier  period  numerous  fortifications  of  so 
strong  a  nature,  that  this  would  have  presented  scarcely 
any  obstruction  to  their  movements.  Their  extraordinary 
operations  in  forming  the  extensive  chain  of  hill-fortresses 

'  Ofia,  qui  yallam  magmim  inter  Britamuam  atque  Merdam^ 
id  est  de  man  naqiie  ad  mare  fiuxre  imperavit.  Simeon  Dnnelm. 
Hist.  p.  118. 

Fut  in  Mercia  modemo  tempore  quidam  atrenuus,  atque  uni- 
veTBiB  circa  se  regibna  et  leg^onibus  finitimis  formidolosns  lex, 
nomine  Ofia;  qui  vaUmn  magmmi  inter  Britanniam  atque  Mer- 
dam  de  mari  usque  ad  mare  raoere  imperavit.  AaseriuB  de  .ffilfredi 
rebus  gestis.  £dit.  Camden,  Fnmcof.  1603^  p.  3. 

As  the  Welsh  CfhroniclerB  do  not  mention  either  (Mi's  Dvke 
or  Wa^s  IMce  as  extending  so  far,  I  doubt  very  mn(£  whetner 
thev  reallj  did  so,  my  reasons  for  which  are  riven  hereafter.  It 
will  not  escape  observation,  that  6ne  of  these  nistorians  has  bor- 
rowed the  very  words  of  the  o^er. 


182 


bordering  upon  Wales,  forbid' our  gupposing  them  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  arts  of  strategy  and  castrametation,  and 
the  valor  they  uniformly  evinced,  contradicts  the  idea 
of  their  having  become  in  the  short  interval  after  the 
Roman  invasion,  degenerate  sons  of  a  warlike  race. 

The  barrier  erected  by  Otb,  is  of  such  a  nature, 
that  it  would  be  easy  for  a  hostile  force  to  break 
through  and  even  partially  destroy  it,  (as  in  fact  we 
know  the  Welsh  did)  by  making  the  assault  at  those 
parts  where  it  might  be  left  unguarded.  Mr  Pennant\ 
instead  of  attributing  their  incursions  after  the  death 
of  Offa,  to  the  greater  readineser  with  which  they  were 
able  to  surmount  his  Dyke,  ought  rather  to  have  bb- 
signed  them  to  the  naturally  restless  spirit,  and  the 
invincible  love  of  freedom  which  that  nation  have  always 
shewn ;  instead  of  attributing  them  to  the  more  certain 
hope  of  success  with  which  they  were  inspired,  when 
they  found  they  had  no  longer  to  struggle  against  the 
superior  tactics  of  this  martial  prince. 

Sanguinary  enactments  were  made  for  the  purpose 
of  confining  the  Welsh  on  their  own  side  of  Oppa's 
Dyke.  By  a  law  of  Egbert^  the  penalty  of  death  was 
incurred  by  every  Welshman  who  passed  it.  And  by 
another  law,  made  by  Harold  Harefoot,  it  was  de- 
creed that  if  a  Welshman  entered  England  without 
permission,  and  was  taken  on  the  English  side  of  the 
ditch,  his  right  hand  should  be  cut  off  by  the  king^s 
officer. 

The  precise  year  of  its  construction  is  not  known, 
but  on  the  authority  of  the  Brut  y  Saeson  and  the 
Brut  y  Twysogion,  two  Welsh  Chronicles,  I  think  it 
may  be  fixed  in  or  close  after  the  year  784.  The  first 
of  these  historical  records  states*  that  in  the  summer 

»  North  Walea,  vol.  i.  p.  274. 

'  DOCLxxxiiiL  yr  haf  y  difeithwB  y  cymre  cyvoeth  OfiSy  ac  yna 
y  peris  OflBei  gimeuthur  clawd  yn  derwyn  lyngthawa  chymre  val 
y  Dei  haws  ydaw  gwrthnebu  y  mthyr  y  dynion;  a  hwnnw  a 


183 

of  tfaia  year,  'the  Welsh  laid  waste  the  domimons  of 
OBbl  And  then  Qffib  eaosed  to  be  made  a  dyke  as  a 
limit  between  hie  territories  and  Wales,  as  it  was  easier 
thus  to  resist  the  assault  of  his  enemies,  and  this  is 
called  Offals  Dtkk,  (Clawdd  Offa^)  firom  that  time 
to  the  present/  The  hitter  CSuronicle*  expresses  it 
mther  difierratly :  ^  the  Christian  year  784,  Mereia  was 
hod  waste  by  the  Welsh,  and  Qflh  made  a  dyke  a 
second  time  neaier  to  him,  that  is,  one  running  farther 
to  the  South  East,  and  leaving  room  for  the  territory, 
between  the  Wye  and  the  Severn,  of  Elystan  Olodrydd, 
one  of  the  five  xoyai  tribes  of  Wales.^ 

From  another  passage  in  the  same  authority'  we 
are  told  that  in  the  year  776,  the  people  of  Gwbnt 
and  MoneANWT  rose,  and  went  against  Mereia,  and 
broke  in  Oflb^s  Dyke  even  with  the  ground,  and  after 
this  returned  with  great  spcMl. 

When  the  people  of  Mimmtmthihire  and  C^c^morffan- 
ikire  made  this  imiptiim,  they  probabfy  broke  down  that 
Dyke  which  is  now  known  under  the  name  of  Wattes 
Dtks,  which  I  conceive  was  constructed  by  Ofia  also 
nearly  twenty  years  before  Offa^  that  is,  in,  or  im- 
mediately after  765. 

dwir  yn  glawd  Offii  yr  hynny  hyd  hedyw.  Brut  y  Saeson 
(Gluemcle  of  the  Saxons)  in  Cotton  Lib.  Qeopat.  B.  V.  P.  136. 
nut  xix.  A. 

'  C.  Britt.  claudh;  Bret  daz;  Ir.  obut;  Gael,  cfaw;  Arm.  cleuz, 
fossa. 

*  Oed  Crist  784  ^  di£feithiwyd  y  Men  gan  y  Crmiy,  ac  Ofia 
a  wiaeth  fflawdd  yr  ail  waith  yn  nes  attaw  a  eadael  Ue  gwlad  rwng 
€rwy  a  uafiren  lie  mae  Uwvth  Elystan  Glodiydd  lie  ydd  aethant 
yn  on  0  bum  Breninllwytli  Cymry.  Brat  y  Twysogion.  (Chronide 
of  the  Princes)  from  a  copy  of  an  ancient  MS.  nuide  in  1764  by 
Geoige  WiUiamSy  Esqnixe,  of  Aber  Pergwm. 

'  Oed  Crist  776  y  ordes  Gwyr  Gwent  a  Morganwy  ao  a  aethant 
am  benn  y  Mers,  ac  y  toirasant  Glawdd  Ofia  yn  gynwasted  a'r 
ddaear,  a  gwedi  hyni^  dydiwelyd  as  ymil  fawr.    lb. 

For  these  transcripts  I  am  indebtea  to  the  kindness  of  my 
fnead  Sir  &  Meyriok  of  Goodrich  Court,  who  has  also  obligingly 
famished  me  with  some  yahiable  suggestions  lelative  to  this  part 
of  Uie  subject. 


184 

When  we  look  at  Offa's  Dtke,  even  at  the  preeent 
day,  we  shall  be  surprised  at  the  boldness  of  its  eon- 
oeption*  It  is  carried  over  the  summit  of  lofty  moun- 
tains, across  morasses,  and  through  places  where  every 
natural  obstruction  is  presented.  These  difficulties  are, 
however,  successively  overcome,  and  we  behold  its  dark 
ridge  traversing  the  mountainous  district  of  the  Bordbb 
oouNTBT  apparently  with  as  much  ease  as  though  the 
engineer  had  felt  himself  superior  to  every  natural  im- 
pediment which  he  had  to  contend  with.  Those  who 
have  had  opportunities  of  examining  the  regular  method 
in  which  Offal's  Dtkb  is  constructed,  and  of  tracing  its 
course  in  the  secluded  and  remote  districts  through 
which  it  is  carried,  must  regard  it  as  a  very  extraor- 
dinary efibrt  of  human  labor  and  skill.  Although  it 
was  projected  by  the  king  of  the  Mercians,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  compelled  the  Welsh  to  carry  his 
plan  into  execution,  and  that  he  imposed  upon  the  pea- 
santry, through  whose  country  it  passed,  tiie  labor  of 
constructing  their  own  boundary  line.  This  he  might 
do  by  way  of  penalty  for  their  former  a^iressions,  or 
might  else  take  it  as  a  remission  of  tribute^ 

In  the  autumn  of  1838  I  examined  this  work  in 
several  places  where  it  is  most  complete:  and  from 
having  taken  measurements  at  different  parts,  I  am  en- 
abled to  state  what  appear  to  have  been  its  dimensions 
when  first  constructed. 

Offals  Dyke  consists  of  a  trench  and  a  mound, 
the    former   supplying    the    means   of   raising   up    the 

»  Lewis  Glvn  Cothi,  a  Welsh  Bard  of  the  Pifteenth  Centuiy, 
in  a  poem  adcb-eflsed  to  Griffith  ab  Howell  ab  David  ab  Cadwd- 
lader,  of  Bachelldrw  (now  BtuMdre),  in  the  parish  of  CkurchitUike, 
3f(nUgomerv8hire,  urges  him  to  serve  under  the  banners  of  Edw.  IV. 
He  reminds  him  that  his  mansion  stands  on  Offa's  Dyke,  and 
that  as  the  Welsh  were  threatened  with  still  further  encroachments, 
he  should  unsheath  his  sword  in  behalf  of  the  nation.  Griffith  was 
steward  of  the  Manor  of  Court  or  Cause^  under  the  lords  who 
dwelt  at  that  castle.    Gwaith  Lewis  Glyn  Cothi,  p.  268. 


185 

latter\  The  ditch  is  invariably,  throughout  its  whole 
extent,  on  the  Welah  eide,  and  averages  twelve  feet  in 
width,  and  six  in  depth.  A  vallum  or  mound  of  earth 
is  thrown  up  at  an  angle  of  forfy-five  degrees  on  the 
En^Ush  side  of  the  ditch,  whose  relief  on  the  Welsh  side 
is  about  fifteen  feet  in  perpendicular  height,  and  its 
width  four  feet  across  the  top.  The  vallum  is  ten  feet 
in  perpendicular  altitude  above  the  average  level  of  the 
adjacent  soil  on  the  English  side  of  it.  The  width  of  the 
mound  and  ditch  together  is  fifty-four  feet :  the  base  of 
the  mound  thirty-six,  its  summit  four,  and  the  ditch  eleven. 
Although-my  measures  allow  only  four  feet  for  the  width 
of  the  top  of  the  vallum,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
formerly  it  was  more,  as  we  must  allow  something  for 
the  tendency  of  works  like  this  to  slip,  and  to  become 
diminished  through  the  natural  depression  of  the  soil. 

The  earlier  topographical  writers  who  have  men- 
tioned Opfa^s  Dtks  have  confounded  it  with  Wattes 
Dtkb,  describing  them  as  one  and  the  same  work. 
They  make  Offals  Dtkb  to  commence  at  the  Bristol 
Ciamndi  and  terminate  where  Wattes  does,  at  the  Dee, 
Pennant  was  the  first  writer  who  attempted  to  trace 
their  courses  correctly,  but  he  has  not  followed  them 
out  entirely. 

It  has  be^i  laid  down  by  all  preceding  writers,  as 
a  fact,  that  Offals  Dvkb  commenced  in  the  parish  of 
Tiddeniam  in   Gloucestershire^  that  it  went  from  thence 

>  Ofia  died  794,  and  it  has  been  sappofled  that  he  was  buried 
at  Qffchun^  near  Leamington,  (Camb.  Qnart.  vol.  iy.  p.  347.)  But 
the  Offtieia  mendoned  by  his  biographer  (Vita  Offte  Secunds,  p.  d87), 
as  the  place  where  he  died  is  more  lively  to  be  Qffbrd  Cluny  or 
Qfford  I/Arcy  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bedford,  to  which  town  his 
bodv  was  afterward  carried,  and  interred  in  a  chapel  on  the  banks 
of  the  Oiue,  QffchurA  and  Qffbhurck  Bury,  the  Bury,  as  it  is 
still  caUed,  has  been  examined  by  me  in  vain  for  any  traces  of  works 
earlier  than  the  little  church,  which  belongs  in  part  to  the  Norman 
period.  We  recognise  Ofia's  possessions  in  those  Tillages  which  are 
still  called  Qffki^Um,  Ovington,  Uppington,  Uffington,  Ovey,  Upton, 


186 

iie«r  CoiiD  Habboub  to  St  BBIAVEu^  aad  thenoe  to  OU0- 
/ord^ ;  bat  ct  this  there  k  no  proof. 

Mr  Foflbroke  Bays  that  Offals  Dtkb  k  '*  known  to 
have  oommenoed  at  Tiddmkam  in  GUau^mienkir^^:  but 
how  known!  When  he  was  himself  at  /St  BruMO&Uy  he 
did  not  see  it,  bat  derived  his  infonnaticm  aeoond-hand 
firom  a  gentleman  who  is  represented  to  have  often 
eroMed  it,  and  who  stated  that  it  ran  through  a  wood 
called  the  Fmie$  near  Bigmteir  Bridg0.  As  there  an 
two  oamps  in  the  vicinitj,  one  at  Castle  Obohasis  the 
other  South  West  of  Oumbbr^s  Babit,  it  seems  to  me 
very  probable  that  Mr  Fosbroke's  informant  mistook 
wocoB  defensive  ditch  connected  with  them,  for  a  portico 
of  Offals  Dtkb.  And  this  k  rendered  more  likely  by 
what  he  subsequently  learned  fix)m  a  gentleman  engaged 
in  the  Ordnance  Survey,  who  informed  him  (if  I  on* 
derstand  the  paragraph  rightly),  that  there  was  a  camp 
in  Caswbll  Wood  within  the  entrenchment,  and  that  a 
line  or  mound  from  thk  Camp  could  be  traced  nearly 
to  a  Tumulus  <m  the  West  side  of  the  road. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  each  of  these  assumed 
parts  of  Offals  Dtkb  are  immediately  connected  with 
fortifications,  and  there  seems  abundant  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  they  constituted  a  part  of  them.  Nor  does 
there  appear  to  be  any  necessity  for  thk  artificial 
boundary  South  of  its  junction  with  the  Wye  at  Bridge 
Setters^  the  river  forming  a  natural  line  of  demarcation. 
Nor,  again,  would  it  have  been  in  any  wise  needful  to 
construct  it  betwixt  8t  Bria/eeh  and  Tiddenham,  as  the 
country  included  betwixt  this  place  and  the  Severn  is 
very  narrow  and  limited  in  extent.  The  existence,  more- 
over, of  a  Cold  Habboub  here  in  the  contiguity  of  roads 
running  with  remarkable  directness,  together  with  some 
military  works,  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  most  of  the 

'  Fosbroke's  Wye  Tour,  p.  128. 
*  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  ci.  p.  682—4. 


187 

defiBOUve  femains  with  vfakh  this  nearly  insulated  part  of 
Okmcuisnkire  abounda,  must  have  been  ereoted  at  an  ear^ 
her  period,  ^pdien,  in  &€ft^  the  Bomana  had  gained  a  footing. 

Its  line  has  been  presumed  by  Sir  Samuel  Meyrick' 
to  have  gone  from  henoe  to  Symond'B  Tal,  Hunitholm 
Ferry-kou9$j  Bryngwyn^  Peneroig^  HeniUm^^  FmnaofUm, 
Walbrooky  and  Timd  Dikh  to  Bridge  SMun^  wh^re  it 
crossed  the  Wye.  The  Ordnance  Survey  does  not  in- 
dicate any  trace  of  it  South  of  Oohfardj  nor  any  what- 
ever NordiwaidSy  till  it  reaches  the  Wye  at  Bridge  SoUerSy 
either  in  the  name  of  any  place  by  which  the  above  line 
woold  take  it,  or  in  a  visible  track  through  this  part  of 
MotmumAakire  and  HerefcrdMre.  These  circumstances 
induce  me  to  dissent  from  the  opinions  of  foregoing 
writers,  and  lead  me  readily  to  beUeve  that  Ofpa^s 
boumdafy  commenced  with  the  mouth  of  the  Wye^  and 
that  the  river  itsdf  formed  the  line  of  demarcation  un- 
til it  reached  Bridge  SoOere^  mx  and  a  half  miles  North 
West  of  Herefard  where  the  DrrcH  first  appears.  South- 
ward tA  this  place  we  meet  with  no  traces  of  it,  but 
proceeding  Northward,  they  are  abundant. 

Commencing  then,  at  this  spot,  the  Dikik  is  distinctiy 
visible  the  whole  way  to  Maned  Oamage ;  it  continues  in 
the  same  course,  due  North,  in  a  tderably  perfect  state 
for  a  mile,  to  Uppkbton,  or  OJVe  Town.  No  marks 
of  it  are  hence  perceptible  for  six  miles.  In  all  pro- 
bability it  took  the  line  of  the  turnpike  road,  through 
Sameefieldj  as  far  as  the  Holmes^  dose  to  which  place 
it  is  met  with  again. 

Rows  DrroH,  which  is  a  ditch  a  mile  long,  due 
North  of  Pembridge^  and  the  same  distance  from  it, 
would  bring  the  Une  too  much  to  the  North  East.  This 
therefore,  must  have  been  a  short  defensive,  or  bound- 
ary ditch  unconnected  with  it,  similar  to  the  Ditch 
Baxk  under  Fron  HiU  in  Badnorshire,  or  the  Ancient 
^  Camb.  Quart.  Mag.  vd.  v.  p.  273. 


188 

Dyke  above  Llangynllo^  or  the  Uppbr  and  Lowsr  Short 
DiTCHBs,  in  Ohm  Fore9t.  That  these  two  last  are  of 
the  same  period  as  the  great  one  whose  course  we  are 
piirsomg,  IS  very  probable.  It  nu^  be  presumed  they 
are  those  mentioned  as  being  thrown  up  during  the 
twelve  days  truce  between  Oib  and  Marmodius^  A 
church,  erected  by  the  piety  of  the  former  prince,  ex- 
isted in  the  days  of  his  biographer,  and  was  called  Offe 
Kirk,  This  church  no  longer  remains;  but  a  couple. of 
miles  West  of  MainsUme^  betwixt  the  two  ditches  in 
question,  there  is  some  high  land  called  Saeson  Bankj 
or  Saxon^s  Bank^  where  Offii^s  forces  it  is  imagined  were 
stationed,  and  as  another  spot  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
still  retains  the  name  of  Church  Town  HiU,  its  title,  for 
the  same  reasons,  might  have  originated  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  church  having  stood  there. 

At  the  North  Western  extremity  of  HerefordMr^ 
Offals  Dtkb  is  again  found  a  little  to  the  South  of  Lytk- 
hales  in  a  tolerably  perfect  state.  Two  miles  frorxi  KingUm 
it  is  (nx)6Bed  by  the  turnpike  road  to  Boss.  It  then  takes 
a  Northemly  direction,  skirting  the  Western  side  of  the 
hill  above  Bulhek^s  Mitt.  Its  course  then  grows  devious 
and  irregular:  we  find  it  ascending  heights  and  descending 
into  valleys.  At  Knitt  Cfaraway^  where  it  is  veiy  perfect, 
it  traverses  a  plain  and  makes  an  angle  without  any  appa* 
rent  reason.  Adapting  itself  to  the  natural  figure  of  the 
summit,  it  runs  round  the  crest  of  Herrock  and  descends 
at  the  Northern  end. 

*  Veruntamen  com  nollent  vel  exerdtus  regis  Offiae,  vel  Wallea- 
dimi  inde  procol  reoedere,  Rex  OiOfa  ad  cautelam  inter  ipsos  duoe 
exerdtus,  commmii  assensu  iinum  foasatum  longum  nimis  et  pro- 
ftrndum  fffodi,  aggere  terrestri  yersus  Wallenses  eminenter  elevate, 
ne  fallafiinm  hostiam  irruptioiiibiis  repentinis  preoccaparetur.  £t 
at  tutius  ac  quietiiis,  divinis  obsequiis  in  tanta  solemnitate  vacaret, 
unam  ibidem  construxit  eccledolain.  Quae  omnia,  pront  temporis 
brevitas  exigebat,  ante  natale  Domini,  videlicet  duodedm  diebus, 
licet  breviBsimis,  sunt  completa.  Cujus  rei  ut  memoiia  peipetuetur, 
fossa  ilia  Offse  didtur,  et  ecclesia  Cffekirk,  usque  in  hodiemum  diem 
appellatur.    Vita  Olfc  Seconde,  p.  976. 


189 

Just  upon  entering  Rcidnorihire^  it  paaeeB  under 
DrrcH  Hill,  to  which  it  most  obviously  gives  the  name, 
and  upon  whose  sunmiit  there  is  an  oval  entrenchment. 
Thence  winding  round  JStenjob  Hill  and  Eeenjob  Bank^ 
it  leaves  the  circular  work  of  Castlb  Rmo  below  it  to 
the  West,  and  the  two  rectangular  camps  of  Caeb  Din, 
one  to  the  South  West,  and  the  other  to  the  North 
East.  The  course  of  it  now  lies  nearly  straightforward  in 
a  Northemly  direction,  till  it  reaches  Kniffktonj  a  dis- 
tance of  six  miles,  during  the  greater  part  of  which 
distance  it  is  but  little  altered  or  depressed.  It  may, 
however,  be  noted  that  midway  between  Castlb  Ring 
and  Kniffitan^  the  Dtkb  in  passing  over  the  top  of 
Furrow  Hilly  curves  to  the  East.  It  is  again  found  a 
mile  on  the  North  West  side  of  Knighton^  or  Tbbf-y- 
CLAWDD,  ike  town  upon  the  Diiehy  at  tiie  point  where  it 
emeiges  from  the  end  of  Kindey  Wood. 

This  brings  it  into  Montgomeryshire,  For  six  miles 
it  continues  without  any  interruption,  pointing  in  a  di- 
rect line;  only  two  deviations  occurring,  one,  where  it 
winds  round  the  hill  to  the  East  of  Shyborry  Orem^ 
the  other,  two  miles  farther  on,  where  it  makes  a  slight 
deflection  to  the  left.  Just  before  reaching  this  spot,  it 
leaves  a  small  pentagonal  Camp  to  the  right,  on  the 
summit  of  Llan-du^ 

Having  followed  Offals   Dykb  from  Kinsley    Wood 

for  six  miles,  all  traces  of  it  are  then  lost  for  about  a 

quarter  of  a  mile.     It  is  again  met  with  after  having 

1  In  its  fonn  this  earth-work  is  not  unlike  Boldixr's  Biiro, 
in  WUtMre,  and  Cj[8Aa*8  Camp  in  Surrey:  there  is  another  like 
them  at  Madmaktoit  in  Os^fbrdMrey  and  a  fourth  example  of  pen- 
toffonaL  eastnunetaihn,  though  difieiing  still  from  theae^  at  Lktcombs 
Basset  in  Berktkhre,  Letcokbs  Castls  is  nearly  dicalar,  hut 
has  a  sofiiGient  decree  of  lectilinearity  to  bring  it  into  the  same 
class  as  the  foregomg  ones.  AU  of  these  worki  are  ooosidenibly 
larger  than  the  one  upon  Llav-du.  From  their  great  rM;iilaii1y 
of  oonstmction,  and  their  conformity  in  main  principles  to  eadi  other^ 
it  is  most  natoral  to  refer  them  all  to  the  Roman  period.  (See 
this  subject  farther  treated  upon  at  p.  153.) 


190 


passed  over  ButfiM  Witmrm^  just  where  it  crosses  the 
road  leading  from  NeweaMU  to  Wiiiooi.  Leaving  a  amafl 
quadrangular  camp  to  the  West,  it  nms  along  the  aide 
ot  Bryn-y^araekj  descends  close  to  an  irregular  ovoid 
Camp  at  Uppis  Kkdgk,  and  proceeds  gently  curving 
Eastwards  to  Maimiome.  Hence  it  travenee  Ed0mkope 
Hiilj  where  it  is  tolerably  perfect.  Leaving  this,  it 
,  points  directly  forwanls  without  any  interruption  to  the 
Blue  BM^  about  six  miles  on  the  tnn^ike  road  going 
from  Bi$hopU  Cattis  to  Mon^ommy. 

A  mile  farther  on  it  forms  the  boundary  of  Bh/top- 
9hir0  and  MmUgomtryMre^  until  it  reaohes  the  road 
comnranicaiing  between  the  latter  town  and  Ckirbury. 
It  is  found  in  a  perfect  state  a  mile  onwards,  bot  all 
traces  are  lost  at  the  DemFe  Hoh.  Prooeediag  NotUh 
wards,  it  is  again  fallen  in  with:  for  two  miles  it  seems 
to  take  the  course  of  the  turnpike  road  oonnectiqg 
Mevitgomery  with  WdAfoal^  from  which  road  it  is  dis- 
tant merely  a  few  paces.  At  the  first  approach  it 
makes  to  Uie  road  in  question  it  is  very  perfect  for  a 
mile.  At  Nantcribba  HaU  it  passes  by  a  dronlar  en- 
trenchment called  the  Moat,  at  wUch  place  it  is  veiy 
well  preserved.  Inclining  a  little  to  the  East,  it  goes 
(m  to  Fnm^  where  it  suddenly  bends  to  the  West,  and 
then  goes   nearly  in  a  straight   Une   to    Bottuioion^ 


>  Ths  fisKon  Chsoaiele  anno  894^  mcttibns  a  ooafliet  at  tins 
epoty  between  the  Danes  and  the  Saxons,  the  latter  being  asBiated 
l^  the  Welflh.  When  they  were  all  asBembled  they  came  up 
wkh  the  amy  at  BmkUgimgtiun,  on  the  banks  of  ike  Sevecn^  and 
there  they  beeeiged  them  ca  ewrj  side  m  a  feitteafc  When  they 
had  been  encamped  <m  the  two  aidea  of  the  river  for  nuny  weeks^ 
Ibe  king  bemg  still  detamed  by  the  fleet  in  the  West,  in  Dmmtkin, 
the  Danes  were  proooed  by  hnnser,  and  they  had  eaten  jneai  Mit 
of  their  hones,  and  aonie  perianed  through  fiunine.  liieii  tney 
nuhed  out  upoa  the  men  who  weie  postad  on  the  £a8t«n  side  ot 
Ae  river,  and  fought  with  them^  and  the  Christians  gained  the 
victory,  but  the  Kuig's  Thane  Oidhelm  was  stain  there,  and  many 
others  of  Uie  Kind's  Thanes;  and  those  (of  the  beadiens)  who  es- 
caped were  saved  by  flight 


191 

Tbe  river  Se0&m  at  this  pkoe  serveB  instead  (rf  the  ar- 
tifieial  bonadavy,  and  aooordingly  there  are  no  mdioa- 
tioDB  of  tke  diteh  met  with  for  four  or  five  miles.  Bat 
upon  crosBiiig  the  nier  at  Smfmn  Ftwm^  the  Dtkb  is 
igain  fomid.  At  the  distance  of  a  mile  and  three 
quarters  it  fonns  part  of  the  turnpike  road  from  JUoa- 
drimo  to  LkmymyneekK  At  the  latter  place  it  skirts 
the  bold  esoarpment  of  limestone  rock  above  the  vil- 
lage,  and  then  trends  a  mile  Northwards. 

Parallel  with  two  other  Dtkis  upon  this  eminenee, 
there  is  a  etupendous  rampart  of  loose  stones,  accom- 
panied with  a  deep  fosse,  lAudk  follows  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  and  eBMN>mpasses  about  one  half  of  its  whole  ex- 
tent. On  its  Eastern  brow  once  stood  a  cromleeh, 
measoring  seven  feet  by  six,  and  about  eighteen  inches 
thick.     It  was  called  by  the  vulgar  Bidd  t  Cawb,   or  j 

iks  gr0(U  Stpukkte:  and  it  was  the  voice  of  immemorial  j 

tcadhioii,  that  a  giant  had  buried  Us  wife  under  this 
stone,  with  a  g(dden  torques  about  her  neck.     This  re*  | 

port  caused  three  bothera,  who  lived  in  the  neighboor-  I 

hood  some  years  bade,  to  overturn  the  stone  from  its  ! 

pedestals  in  searah  of  the  treasore,  in  which  positian  it  i 

DOW  li€B^ 

BCarks  <tf  Ofpa^s  Dtkx  are  next  found  near  a  small 
enoampmsBt  to  the  North  West  of  White  Hawu,  but 

A  namber  cf  tiie  Shrewdmiy  Chzcnide  describes  a  nngular 
diaocvenr  made  at  this  pteoe  in  183&  la  ^iggmg  the  foiiiMlalJon 
Iot  a  sdiool-lioiue,  near  ibe  chnrcb,  the  workmen  b  labors  were  in- 
lerrttuted  by  ft[idiiig  immenHe  quantities  of  homan  drolls  huddled 
togemer  in  haks,  with  other  bones  <^  the  hsonan  frime  scatteaed 
around^  to  ilie  amount  of  aeveial  oart-loads.  Ninety  skulls  were 
token  from  one  hole,  and  upwards  of  three  hmidred  were  ranged 
in  grisly  show  in  the  chuicn.  In  many  the  leeth  were  pemot, 
and  most  of  them  exhibited  symptoms  of  havinff  belonged  to  men 
in  the  prime  of  life.  Still  more  recently,  nearly  the  last  of  the 
ssflnffninaiy  straggles  of  the  Wdsh  for  nations!  mdependenoe  was 
made  on  this  spot 

*  A  mile  from  this  place  we  obser^  a  sixth  PaUagtmal  Camp^ 
called  Clawdb  Coch  approached  by  Causeway  Lane. 

'  Camb.  Regist.  toL  i.  p.  275. 


192 

its  veBtigQ0*ftre  agam  speedily  lost.  It  leaves  TnfmMn 
a  little  to  the  right;  the  turnpike  road  from  Xfai»- 
tkaidr  yn  Moeinant  to  Oncettfy  crosses  it  at  Pmdre 
Shand  near  Trefar  Clawdd.  Henoe  it  goes  over  Craiff 
Fardd^  leaving  the  oval  entrenchment  of  Cobd  t  Oair 
to  the  South  West,  passing  a  stone  of  memorial  to 
the  North  East.  It  leaves  OiweOry  Rao»<our9e  a  little 
to  the  right,  and  runs  on  in  a  direction  nearly  straight, 
by  the  Forett^  Cabbg  t  big,  Garsedd  W&n^  and  8t  Ma/t- 
tifCs  Hill  to  Bnm  y  Oarihj  where  it  quits  Shropshire, 
and  enters  DetibighBhire^  being  traceable  for  twenly  miles, 
in  a  perfect  state,  through  the  former  county. 

At  Pen  isaf  glyn  there  is  a  breach,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  place  of  interment  of  the  English,  who 
fell  in  the  battle  of  Craigwen^  It  then  goes  by  Chirk 
CtJuUe^  crosses  the  Ihe  at  C^yn  y  Wem^  skirts  the 
park  at  Wynstay^  and  cuts  the  Buabon  road  near  7Vr- 
y-fron.  It  runs  parallel  and  contiguous  to  the  tum- 
pike  road  from  Btioban  to  Tcmry-dawdd^  and  thence  to 
Pentre  Buehan.  At  Pen  t  Oabdden,  about  two  hun- 
dred yards  to  the  left  of  the  Dtke  is  the  circular  camp 
of  Gabr  Din,  enclosing  about  four  acres.  The  inner 
ditch  is  made  of  loose  stones,  with  a  waU  of  vast  thick- 
ness on  the  top.  Within  the  area  are  many  vestiges 
of  buildings*.  From  Penire  Buehan  it  proceeds  between 
Pku  Power  and  Phu  Buckley^  by  LUdiaH  Farm  to 
Brymbo;  and  finally  crossing  the  river  Oegidoy^  and 
passing  througih  a  little  valley  on  the  South  side  of 
Bryn  Yarkyn^  to  Coed  Talwym^  it  tenninates  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  South  East  of  Treiddy%  in  the  parish 
of  Mdd  m  PUntMre\ 

1  Pennant's  Wales,  vol  L  p.  274. 

'  The  lecimenoe  of  StreeU  in  this  part  of  DetM^fukhre,  betokens 
a  connection  with  the  Romans.  Thus  we  find  Croea  Street,  Street 
leaf,  Street-f^Dinas,  Street-yr-hOftA. 

'  Veiy  slight  vestiges  are  discernible  between  7^  y  eyfion  and 
Treiddyn, 


193 


It  does  not  appear  why  this  Dyke  was  not  conti- 
nued to  the  sea^;  but  most  probably  Offa  imagined 
that  the  Clwydian  Hittsy  and  the  deep  valley  that  lies 
on  this  side  of  their  base,  would  serve  as  a  continuance 
of  his  prohibitory  line.  He  had  carried  his  arms  over 
most  part  of  Flintshire^  and  vainly  thought,  that  his 
labors  would  restrain  the  Cambria/n  inroads  in  one  part, 
and  his  orders  prevent  any  incursions  beyond  these  na- 
tural limits,  which  he  had  decreed  should  be  the  bound- 
aries of  his  new  conquests.  It  is,  however,  important  in 
this  enquiry,  to  bear  in  mind  that  Offals  Dyke  is  no  where 
to  be  discovered  from  opposite  the  village  of  Hope  to  the 
coast,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles,  and  that  the  two  Dykes 
appear  to  become  much  narrower  as  if  to  form  a  junction. 

Running  parallel  with  the  Dyke  just  described  is 
another,  known  at  the  present  day  by  the  title  of 
Wattes  Dyke,  and  which  is,  I  think,  the  earlier  of  the 
two'.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  its  name.  The 
only  writer  who  has  hitherto  offered  any  explanation, 
refers  it  to  the  C.  Brit,  gwaed^  signifying  blood.  But  I 
cannot  see  any  connection  that  it  has  with  such ,  an 
etymology.  The  name  seems  more  likely  to  be  taken 
from  fftMethy  'the  worse\  Hhat  is  less  good\  which 
epithet  would  distinguish  the  two  Dykes  from  each  other 

*  The  Monkish  ChionicleTB  state  that  Offa's  Dykb  went  from 
sea  to  sea,  which  I  think  highly  improbable  for  the  reasons  already 
sssigned,  reasons  farther  stren^ened,  by  the  complete  silence  of 
the  Welsh  annalists  on  the  subject,  who  would  hardly  have  omitted 
mentioning  so  important  a  fact,  had  the  work  been  so  extensive. 

*  Oed  Crist  765,  y  di£feith  iwyd  Tiroedd  y  Mors  gan  y  Cymry 
ac  y  gorfuant  ar  y  Season,  ac  ai  hyspeiliasant*  yn  ddirvawr,  a  diaws 
hynny  y  ffwnaeth  Ofia  brenhin  y  Mers  y  clawdd  mawr  a  elwir  dawdd 
CH9a  yn  derfyn£ft  rhwng  ^lad  Gymru  ar  Mers,  yal  y  mae  fyth  yn 
parhau.    Brat  y  Twysogion  (Chronicle  of  the  Princes.) 

The  Christian  era  7^,  the  lands  of  Merda  were  laid  waste  by  the 
Welsh,  and  they  oyerthrew  the  Saxons,  and  the^  despoHed  them 
exceedingly.  On  account  of  that,  Offa,  King  of  Merda,  made  a 
great  dyke,  called  Offa's  D^ke,  to  be  a  limit  between  the  countiy 
of  Wales  and  Meicia,  so  they  were  thus  separated. 

•  Henoe  the  SftlopUoi  word  huspii.,  to  huR7  or  ipoU.    (See  01o«.  nib  voce.) 


194 


with  peculiar  ugnific&ney.  Wattes  Dyke  being  the  lesaer 
work  of  the  two.  By  a  slight  change  in  its  termination, 
the  word  would  become  turned  into  WcfU:  as  GrWAsrH 
Dyke,  or  Gtoates  Dyke,  WaU's  Dyke,  the  in/srior  Dyke. 

Upon  examining  Wattes  Dykb  in  the  autumn  of 
1838,  I  was  immediately  struck  with  its  inferiority 
to  Offals.  The  whole  of  its  course  is  not  more 
than  thirtyHseven  miles :  for  the  first  ten  of  which^  up 
to  Wynstay  Park,  it  is  very  indistinct,  nearly  in  fact 
supposititious,  nor  is  it  of  equal  magnitude  to  it,  in  any 
of  tiiose  parts  which  are  most  perfect.  It  is  bek>w  it 
both  in  the  height  of  the  vallum,  and  the  width  of  the 
fosse.  The  reUef  of  the  vallum  from  its  crest  to  the 
bott(Hn  of  the  ditch  is  eleven  feet  six  inches:  width  of 
fosse  seven  feet,  whilst  the  vallum  at  its  top  is  almost 
pointed.  The  measures  being  taken  at  Pentre  Clawdd 
near  Mkitaban.  If  we  assign  the  erection  of  the  former 
one  to  the  year  784,  we  must  fix  the  date  of  Watt's 
Dykb  on  the  same  authority  to  the  year  765. 

These  two  great  Ditches  run  side  by  side  for  twenty 
miles.  In  some  places  they  are  within  a  few  hundred 
yards  of  each  other;  in  others  they  lie  asunder,  with- 
out any  apparent  reason,  for  three  miles.  The  in- 
tervening space  has  been  said  to  have  been  neutral 
ground.  But  this  rests  on  the  poetical  description  of 
Churchyarde  in  his  Worthines  of  Wales, 


Ofiaes  Dyke,  that  reacheth  feire  in  length: 

All  kind  of  ware,  the  Danes  miffht  thether  bring. 
It  was  free  ground,  and  cal'de  tne  Britaines  str^igtlu 
Wat's  Dyke  likewise,  about  the  same  was  set, 
Betweene  which  two,  both  Danes  and  Britaines  met. 
And  tiafficke  still,  but  passing  bounds  by  sleighte. 
The  one  did  take,  the  other  piisner  streight. 

Watt'^s  Dtkb  commences  at  Mnedmry  near  Otwestry. 
It  is  very  slight  at  the  first  part  of  its  course.  The 
Hdyiead  road  passes  through  it  near  Gidloiea  tree  gate. 
Thence  it  proceeds,  leaving  a  huge  stone  of  Memorial 


195 

to  the  right,  to  Hbn-ddinas,  by  Pentre  Clatodd  to  Go- 
bawe»y  and  the  site  of  a  small  work  called  Bfythy-Ocutel^ 
where  it  quits  Shropshire  and  enters  DmbighAire;  it 
passes  by  Prys  HenUe  and  Belmont^  crosses  the  Ceiriog 
between  BrynkinaU  and  Tan  y  Blew  forge^  and  the  Dee 
below  Nant  y  BeUan;  from  whence  it  runs  through 
Wynttay  Pari^  formerly  called  WatUtay^  by  another 
Penire  Olmodd,  betwixt  Hafed  ffauee  and  the  Fielde  to 
Erihig^  where  there  is  another  fort  on  its  course.  From 
the  turnpike  road  North  West  of  Erikig  to  the  Wil- 
demesa  MiU  Pond  at  ChcersyU^  about  two  miles  and 
three  quarters,  it  can  be  followed  without  difficulty,  pass- 
ing to  the  West  of  Wrexiam  and  between  Bhoeddu 
and  Croes-yneiris.  For  the  next  two  miles  and  a  quar- 
ter, to  the  road  from  Cefyiiry-Bedd  to  Ohegter  scarcely 
a  vestige  of  it  remains.  It  passed  over  the  Alyn^  through 
the  township  of  Llai  to  Rhydin  in  the  county  of  Flinty 
above  which  is  Caeb  EarnrN,  a  British  position. 

From  hence  to  Hope  it  is  indistinct,  but  after- 
wards runs  very  perfectly  for  ten  miles  and  three  quar* 
teiB,  to  the  point  where  it  crosses  the  turnpike  road 
from  ffolyweU  through  Northop  to  Flint.  It  is  how- 
ever lost  in  the  intermediate  distance  for  a  quarter 
of  a  mile.  North  of  Garreg  Llwyd:  but  after  this  it 
is  found  in  a  very  perfect  state  trending  Northwards, 
cutting  through  the  South  West  comer  of  Songhton 
Part,  and  traceable  hence  for  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
F/ynnon  pen  y  CaeteU.  During  the  whole  of  this  dis- 
tance it  is  very  plain ;  and  in  some  parts  appears  more 
perfect  than  at  any  other  part  along  the  line.  But 
from  the  crossing  at  the  turnpike  road  for  a  distance 
of  five  miles  to  a  farm  called  C^n-y-Coed,  but  little  of 
it  18  left  to  form  a  continuous  line,  and  from  Oefnry- 
Coed  to  the  Abbey,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  yards  at  the  back  of  BagUU  ffall^ 
no  part  of  it  is  left  and  its  course  is  unknown. 

IS-t 


196 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  from  the  village 
of  Hope  to  BoHugwerk  Abbey ^  the  Dyke  is  called  Clawdd 
Offa  or  Offa''s  Dyke,  a  fact  which  serves  to  confirm 
my  idea  of  each  of  these  Dykes  being  constructed  by 
the  same  prince. 

There  are  two  ditches  on  the  extreme  West  North 
West  side  of  Shropshire,  which,  judging  from  their 
present  condition  and  the  peculiarity  of  their  situation, 
must  have  been  Defensive  Ditches  \  The  first  lies 
about  two  miles  and  a  half  from  Mainstone^  and  is  known 
by  the  title  of  the  Lower  Shobt  Ditch  :  the  vallnm  of 
each  of  these  works  is  on  the  East  side  of  the  fosse: 
they  run  nearly  parallel  their  whole  length,  which  is 
about  a  mile,  and  are  distant  two  miles  and  a  half 
from  each  other.  The  other  ditch  under  notice,  is 
called  Upper  Short  Dftch.  There  are  several  Tumuu  in 
the  neighbourhood,  besides  militaiy  remains  of  a  British 
and  Roman  character,  all  deserving  attentive  observation. 

The  plan  of  Offa's  Dyke  and  the  IBfUir^  9itC|| 
in  Cambridgeshire  is  similar.  Yet  notwithstanding  their 
similarity,  they  can  hardly  be  compared;  for  alihou^ 
alike  in  their  sections,  they  differ  materially  in  the  mag- 
nitude of  their  conception.  The  plan,  in  fact,  of  all 
those  ditches  which  now  remain,  is  the  same.  It  is 
impossible,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries  from 
the  period  of  their  execution,  and  in  the  default  of 
positive  information  on  the  subject,  to  say  what  was  their 
precise  object.  Various  conjectures  have  been  formed  re- 
specting their  origin;  all  we  actually  know  about  most 
of  them  is,  that  it  was  very  remote.  At  present  the 
IBCbU'0  IBtttj^  serves  for  the  boundary  between  the 
dioceses  of  Norwich  and  Ely.  It  might  formerly  have 
served  the  twofold  purpose  of  being  a  defence  as  well 

'  Of  this  nature  too,  must  be  the  Aitcient  Ditch  whidi  lies  two 
miles  to  the  North  of  LkmgyrtUo  in  Radnorshire*  It  is  not  veiy  per- 
fect, nor  was  it  ever  very  extensive.  In  this  vicinity,  are  also  several 
Tumuli. 


197 

as  a  boundary  line.  The  length  of  it  does  not  preclude 
the  poaeibility  of  keeping  it  continually  guarded,  a  pre- 
caution which  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  take  in 
the  ease  of  Offals  Dyke.  For  whilst  this  runs  across  the 
country  for  upwards  of  a  hundred  miles,  the  ]l9Cbir0 
tBttt^  does  not  extend  farther  than  eight.  But  though 
it  be  inferior  to  it  in  length,  it  surpasses  it  in  height 
and  breadth.  By  comparing  the  following  measure- 
ments, which  I  made  in  the  autumn  of  1837,  with  those 
abeady  given  of  Opfa'*b  Dyke,  it  will  be  seen  what 
military  advantages  the  one  posseses  over  the  other. 
The  sectional  representations  which  are  given  in  the 
accompanying  plate,  will  serve  to  shew  at  a  glance,  the 
relative  magnitude  of  the  most  important  of  these  works. 

On  the  Eastern  side,  the  10^11*0  JBit^  is  eighteen 
feet  above  the  average  level  of  the  subjacent  country: 
on  the  Western,  upon  which  side  is  the  fosse,  it  is  as 
much  as  thirty  feet.  The  width,  taken  across  the  sum- 
mit of  this  huge  mound,  is  twelve  feet.  The  width  of 
the  Ditch  is  twenty  feet:  it  is  at  present  eight  feet 
deep,  and  was  originally  perhaps  two  more.  The  entire 
length  of  the  inclination  of  the  sides  of  the  vallum  and 
fosse,  are  for  the  former,  on  the  Eastern  side,  thirty 
feet;  on  the  Western  side,  forty-six.  The  slope  of  the 
Ditch  bank  on  the  Western  side  of  the  fosse,  is  seven- 
teen. Judging  from  sections  made  at  different  parts,  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  varied  more  in  its  original 
state,  than  two  feet ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
other  Ditches.  From  this  it  would  seem,  that  any  force 
having  once  obtained  possession  of  the  lB^tr0  lBitC9» 
could  easily  retain  it,  as  well  by  reason  of  its  precipitous 
character,  aided  by  the  depth  and  width  of  the  fosse 
at  its  base,  as  from  the  circumstance,  that  an  assault 
could  not  readily  be  made  upon  it  without  observation'. 

<  These  measures  were  made  nearly  midway  between  Reach, 
viilgo  dictum  Roach,  and  the  BurweU  road  from  Swqffham,    A 


198 

The  B(lltt*0  9itt^  runs  in  a  direct  line  for  seven 
miles  and  a  quarter.  It  commences  at  B&ach^  and  ter^ 
minates  at  CamoU  HaU  near  DitUm,  The  course  of  it 
lies  from  the  North  East  to  the  South  West.  It  is 
most  perfect  for  the  first  mile  and  a  half  from  Beaek, 
At  the  end  of  the  first  mile  from  its  North  Eastern 
extremity,  it  is  cut  through  by  the  road  which  leads 
from  Swaffham  Prior  to  Burwdl.  From  this  road  it 
goes  on  in  a  considerable  degree  of  preservation  for  a 
mile  and  three  quarters,  when  it  is  again  cut  throu^ 
by  another  called  Rwming  Gap^  which  communicates 
immediately  with  the  Four  mile  Race  Caune  on  Neuh 
fnarket  HeaJtk.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  further  on, 
Staiklle  Gap  makes  another  sectional  cut  through  it; 
and  before  it  reaches  the  high  turnpike  road  leading 
from  Newmarket  to  Cambridge^  which  is  about  a  mile 
distant  from  this  latter  gap^  two  other  sections  ar^  made 
through  it  by  Wall  Gap^  and  Cambridge  Gap.  It  is 
then  cut  through  by  the  Icknield  Street,  and  becomes 
somewhat  diminished,  continuing  so  for  upwards  of  a 
mile,  when  the  road  communicating  betwixt  Newmarket 
and  DuUingham,  makes  a  seventh  section  through  it. 
Here  it  is  tolerably  perfect  till  it  reaches  Stetehwortk 
Park\  where  the  last  cutting  is  made  through  it;  and 
we  find  no  farther  traces  of  it  when  we  have  pursued 
it  to  Camms  HaU. 

The  earliest  notice  made  of  this  extraordinary  work 
is  by  Matthew  of  Westminster,  who  states  that  in  the 
year  902,  Edward  pursued  iEthelwald'  who  had  induced 

laborer  on  the  spot  described  the  Dsyil's  Ditch  to  me,  as  being 
''a  rare  bit  o'  work  when  it  was  first  huUed  up," 

*  There  is  an  encampment  here,  which  seems  from  its  rectanga- 
larity,  to  be  Roman. 

*  Tandem  com  pneda  maxima  in  offensns  com  redire  dispoa- 
soisset  ad  propria^  rex  £adwardus  multo  militum  stipatns  collegio 
su^rveniens,  iEtnelwnldum  versus  East  Angliam  fiu;ientem  inse- 
quitur.  £t  inter  duo  fossata  Sancti  Eaduundi,  ilium  cum  suis 
omnibus  ad  campestre  proelium  pneparatum  inveniens,  facta  suis 


199 

the  anny  in  Narihumb&rland  and  East  AngUa  to  break 
the  peace,  and  fought  with  him  betwixt  the  two  Dykes 
or  St  Edmuno,  where  on  the  part  of  the  Danes  were 
dain  Eohrio  their  king,  and  iGthelwald  who  had  insti- 
gated them  to  revolt.  There  was  great  slaughter  on 
both  sides,  but  chiefly  on  the  part  of  the  Danes,  though 
they  kept  possession  of  the  field  of  battle.  Edward, 
however,  infested  the  country  with  his  troops  and  laid 
it  waste  from  the  IBebir^  SitCfl  to  the  Otue,  and 
even  as  far  as  Narihumberland, 

Canute  declared  it  a  prohibitory  line  in  the  year 
1021,  and  commanded  that  the  king^s  purveyors  should 
not  approach  nearer  than  that  barrier  towards  Bury 
8t  Edmunds^  where  he  had  richly  endowed  a  monastery 
to  expiate  in  some  degree  for  the  death  of  Edmund, 
who  was  treacherously  murdered  by  Edric  in  1016^ 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  other  Ditch  which 
is  alluded  to,  is  that  now  having  the  names  of  Fleam 
Dyke  and  Bauham  Dtke,  for  they  are  one  and  the 
same  work,  though  bearing  different  titles  at  each  ex- 
tremity. As  respects  the  relative  priority  of  their  con- 
struction, it  may  be  inferred  that  the  IBcbir0  9tt^f  is 

exhortatioDe,  irroit  Yiriliter  in  ipsos.  Flores  Hist.  Matth.  West- 
mon.  p.  362. 

The  A.  Sax.  Chron.  fixes  this  incazsion  in  the  year  905.  See 
Edit  Gnme^  p.  117. 

At  rex  jBdwaidus  congregans  exercitum  quam  citios  potnit, 
ivit  post  eos  et  terzam  eonun  totam  prsedatos  est  inter  Dicum  et 
Uaam  usque  ad  paludes  in  Nordhumbre.    Henr.  Huntingdon,  p.  202. 

Lambarde,  speaking  of  the  DeviTs  Ditch,  says,  "Cannt  and 
thanncient  Chioniclers  name  it  St  Edmondea  Diche,  bycause  it  was 
made  for  the  oommodite  of  tiie  Monkes  of  St  Edmondes  Burye. 
Topog.  IMct.  p.  240. 

^  The  latter  yean  of  Canute's  reign  were  as  remarkable  for  his 
deeds  of  piety  and  religious  zeal,  as  its  beginnii^  was  for  the  display 
of  martial  virtues.  I  confess  myself  an  unbeuever  in  the  opinion 
which  some  writers  have  entertained,  that  he  was  accessory  to 
Edmund's  death.  In  confirmation  of  which  I  rely  upon  the  cir- 
cumstantial narratiye  left  us  by  Henry,  Archdeacon  of  Huntingdon, 
(see  p.  208,  9,  edit.  1696),  and  Wilfiam  of  Mahnesbury,  (p.  41.) 
see  also  Sax.  Chron.  ann.  1016. 


200 


the  earlier  work,  from  its  being  nearer  the  coiust.  There 
is,  however,  so  much  uncertainty  about  every  thing  British, 
and  so  little  historical  reference  can  be  made  to  this 
early  period,  that  we  have  nothing  better  than  our  own 
conjectures  to  furnish  illustration.  We  seek  for  light 
amid  the  greatest  darkness  whilst  describing  the  works 
under  notice,  and  can  therefore  only  offer  theories^  in- 
stead of  facts  to  guide  the  enquirer.  His  own  sagacity 
will  lead  him  readily  to  detect  our  fallacies,  for  fallacies 
must  always  be  inherent  to  opinions  which  have  no  better 
foundation  than  mere  conjecture  to  rest  upon. 

The  average  line  of  Fleam  Dtke  is  from  North  East 
to  South  West,  and  it  is  situated  six  miles  South  West 
of  the  former.  It  begins  at  Fen  Ditton  (Ditch-town) 
and  the  first  appearance  of  it  is  at  a  bam  just  on  the 
Quy  side  of  the  village.  The  present  road  to  Quy  from 
Ditton  is  on  the  vallum  of  the  dyke,  the  top  of  which 
has  been  thrown  into  the  fosse  to  make  the  road  suffi- 
ciently broad.  Where  the  Ditton  and  Quy  road  joins 
the  Neumarhet  and  Cambridge  road,  near  Quy  Water 
and  Fen^  we  lose  it;  but  &id  it  again  about  half  a 
mile  West  of  Great  Wilbraham^  whence  it  runs  directly 
South,  alongside  some  fenny  ground  to  a  point  half  a 
mile  South  East  of  FvJboum^  but  this  part  of  the 
vallum  is  hardly  discernible,  from  having  been  spread 
upon  the  land.  Near  Fulboum  it  rises  in  its  pristine 
state,  and  continues  in  a  straight  line,  uninterrupted, 
unless  by  the  small  gaps  cut  in  it  South  East,  to  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  Bakham.  Between  Fuiboum 
and  Dungate  it  crosses  the  Icknield  Way,  near  the 
Tumulus  at  Mutlow  Hill.  Towards  Balsham  it  has 
been  much  abraded.  Its  fosse  is  on  the  same  side  as 
that  of  the  HBttiV^  Bj^tit*  This  boundary  or  defence 
extends  nine  and  a  quarter  miles. 

Both  of  these  Dnx:«Es,  I  imagine,  to  have  been 
constructed    anterior   to  the   Roman   invasion   of  Great 


201 

Britain.  The  Bdgw  made  swen  in  WiUshire^  and  Celtio 
or  Continental  tribes  might  also  have  formed  these. 
Etymology,  which  often  gives  great  assistance  in  clearing 
up  what  is  obscure,  does  not  afford  us  any  light  here. 
When  resolved  into  the  A.  Saxon,  Fleam  Dyke  signifies 
FUglU  Dyke.  If  this  imports  anything,  it  looks  to  the 
expukion  of  the  Mercians  hence,  after  the  conflict  they 
had  sustained  ^th  the  East  Anglians  and  the  Danes. 
But  we  are  still  left  in  utter  ignorance  of  what  occa- 
sioned the  works  to  be  planned. 

In  passing,  we  may  remark  the  singular  fact  of  these 
DrrcHBs,  being  generally  found  running  parallel  to  each 
other.  Offa's  Dyke  runs  parallel  to  Watt's  Dtke  ; 
Fleam  Dyke  parallel  to  the  l^ttiV^  SttCJI^f  whilst 
several  of  the  Wiltshire  Ditches  are  conformable  to  the 
same  rule.  Thus,  if  a  straight  line  be  drawn  Northward 
from  the  Southern  coast  of  England,  about  Dorsetshire 
and  Hampshire^  only  thirty  miles  into  land,  it  would  cut 
through  the  curve  of  no  fewer  than  seven  of  these  bound- 
aries successively  circulating  one  beyond  the  other.  All 
these  seven  valla  describe  the  most  desultory  track,  but 
proceed  in  windings  nearly  parallel ;  a  proof  of  their 
reference  to  each  other,  and  that  the  Aboriginal  Britons 
did  not  suffer  the  invaders  to  advance  with  any  degree 
of  precipitation  ^ 

A  third  DrrcH  in  Cambridgeshire^  is  Pampisford  Ditch, 
about  a  mile  South  of  Bourn  Bridge^  lying  upon  de> 
dining  ground  between  Abington  Wood  and  Pampisford^ 
pointing  towards  Cambridge:  towards  the  middle  it  has 
been  filled  up  for  the  Icknield  Way  to  pass  over  it, 
which  shews  it  to  be  older  than  the  road.  It  has  no  bank 
on  either  side,  and  is  almost  destroyed.  It  now  begins 
on  the  Icknield  Way,  between  Pampisford  an^  Bourn 
Bridge^  running  South  East  by  South  for  about  two 
miles  towards  Hildersham  Wood.  The  vallum  has  been 
*  Warton's  HiBtory  of  KiddinffUm,  p.*  73. 


202 

fiqpread  on  the  land,  but  it  was  on  the  same  side  as  that 
of  the  other  Dtkim.  It  is  nearly  parallel  to  Fleam  Dyke, 
and  distant  four  miles  and  a  half.  This  must  be  the  ditch 
mentioned  by  Camden,  as  running  firom  Hinwton  East 
towards  Horseheatk  for  five  miles  together.  He  probably 
never  visited  it.  This  ditch,  like  Flbam  Dykb  and  the 
fi£lltt*0  JDittl^f  extends  from  the  woods  to  flat  soft  land. 

Brent  Dyke  runs  North  North  West  and  South 
South  East.  It  begins  at  ^Hhe  springs^  in  Fcuhnire 
Cotnmon  (a  fen)  and  continues  up  the  hill  to  a  spot 
where  a  track -way  (apparently  ancient)  crosses  it.  Hence 
it  is  a  stronger  work  throughout,  although  much  muti- 
lated. It  crosses  the  Icknield  Way  and  a  brook  at  the 
same  spot,  and  from  this  point  is  only  just  traceable 
for  the  next  two  miles  and  a  quarter,  up  the  hill  to 
Heydon  in  Enex^  beyond  which  the  country  is  woody. 
Here  all  trace  of  it  is  lost,  and  it  does  not  appear  ever 
to  have  extended  farther.  The  ditch  has  the  vallum  on 
the  same  side  as  the  others,  namely  on  the  North  East, 
or  Norfolk  side.  Its  whole  course  is  about  three  miles 
and  three  quarters,  and  is  nearly  parallel  to  Pahpisford 
Dyke  distant  six  miles  and  a  quarter. 

The  Ordnance  Survey  points  out  a  iD^U*0  Sfffc^ 
in  Noffoli^  beginning  on  Brandon  River  and  going  due 
North  visibly  for  four  miles  and  a  half  to  CranwuA 
Hey9^  leaving  Cranwich  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  West. 
A  little  above  Ccddecote^  eight  miles  North  of  the  com- 
mencement, it  is  again  perceptible  for  three  miles,  run- 
ning to  Narborough.    The  high  bank  is  on  the  Western  side. 

Another  iD^ir^  iBfilie  in  the  same  county  begins 
at  HaU  Green^  and  points  for  a  mile  and  a  half  to- 
wards MiUham^  the  highest  bank  being  on  the  Ecui 
ride.  This  appears  to  be  connected  with  the  road 
through  Shereford^  going  due  North  through  the  park 
to  ffolkham,  and  tenninating  at  the  circular  camp  of 
Burrow  Hill,*  to  the  West  of  Welb  on  the  Sea. 


203 

There  are  still  other  DrrcHBs,  both  in  DmneUhire  and 
in  Oxfordihire^  whioh  ought  to  be  mentioned,  and  in  doing 
so  I  shall  in  part  make  use  of  the  account  of  the  elegant 
historian  of  Kiddington^  in  the  latter  county,  to  make 
them  familiar  to  the  reader.  Combs  Dftch,  says  he, 
is  one  of  the  seven  Celtic  boundaries  and  abuts  at  one 
end  on  the  river  Alan  by  Blandford^  and  on  the  other 
on  the  river  Bere^  both  in  Dorsetshire.  Wansdtkb  is 
believed  to  be  flanked  by  the  Tees  about  Andofoer  in 
Han^pMre^  and  by  the  Awm  near  Bristol.  In  the  same 
manner,  to  mention  no  more  instances,  the  boundary  at 
KiddingUm  runs  from  the  borders  of  the  Olymm  in  BUn- 
heim  Park^  yet  with  many  an  intricate  digression,  to  the 
Ewfilode^  on  the  Eastern  side  of  Blandfard  Park,  A 
Britieh  or  Celtic  rampart,  fresh  and  prominent,  runs 
North  and  South  at  right  angles  over  the  Soman  road 
to  Farnham  Castlb  in  Surrey^  originally  a  Roman  for- 
tress, bearing  on  the  North  to  the  hamlet  of  OhiUand 
and  the  river  Ichen^  about  five  miles  from  the  East  gate 
of  the  city  of  Winchester  K 

Again,  Avesditch  or  Ofpa'^s  Ditch  in  Oxfordshire^ 
was  drawn  through  that  county  about  the  year  778  as 
a  partition  between  the  Mercian  and  West  Saxon  king- 
doms, and  may  be  still  traced  near  Ardley^  Middleton 
Stoney^  Ncrihbrook^  Heyford^  and  Kirtleton*. 

Thus  far  the  printed  authority.  We  wiD  now  come 
to  a  description  of  the  present  state  of  the  ditch  in 
question,  which  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Sir  Henry 
Dryden,  Bart,  who  visited  it  this  summer.  It  bears  in 
the  Ordnance  Survey  the  several  names  of  Ashbank, 
Wattlbbank,  and  Avesditch.  It  commences  at  Plough- 
let  Hill,  close  to  Souldem  in  the  county  of  Oxford^ 
and  after  trending  nearly  seven  miles  with  a  gentle 
degree  of  curvature,  it  terminates  a  little  North  of 
KiriUngton.     It  forms  the  road  from  Ploughlet   Hill 

*  Warton's  History  of  Kiddington,  p.  76.  •  lb.  p.  56. 


204 

to  FrUteelly  and  now  bears  little  refiemblanee  to  a  val- 
lum or  fosse.  At  intervals,  a  slightly  raised  bank  of 
about  fourteen  feet  across,  runs  parallel  at  a  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  distant  on  the  East  side.  After  leaving 
FritweU  it  is  a  road  not  much  used:  it  is  then  alto- 
gether lost,  but  soon  found  again  in  a  large  gorse 
about  two  miles  and  three  quarters  from  Ploughlsy 
Hill,  betwixt  Ardley  Castle  and  Middleian  Farm.  Two 
or  three  hundred  yards  West  of  the  line  are  some 
^'  Remains'\  consisting  of  a  vallum  and  fosse,  running 
North  and  South  for  about  four  hundred  and  forty 
yards,  having  the  vallum  on  the  East.  This  vallum 
and  fosse  terminate  abruptly  both  ways,  and  there  are 
not  any  indications  of  their  having  turned  at  either  end. 
The  ground  has  never  been  ploughed,  but  there  is  no- 
thing to  be  seen  near  it,  except  about  forty  yards  from 
the  ditch  side,  a  pentagonal  entrenchment  with  a  vallum 
and  fosse;  the  former  very  much  depressed,  and  the 
latter  outwards. 

Soon  after  this  we  get  again  upon  Avesditch.  For 
some  distance  it  is  planted  on  each  side  and  presents 
little  appearance  of  any  thing  ancient.  In  about  a  mile 
it  dwindles  into  a  single  track,  with  green  on  each  side, 
and  is  slightly  raised.  The  road  presently  parts  from 
it,  and  the  bank  is  found  in  a  ploughed  field  about  ten 
or  eleven  feet  broad  and  eighteen  inches  high.  The 
road,  or  Port  Way,  again  crosses  it:  at  the  crossing 
it  appears  to  have  been  paved. 

The  two  next  pieces  are  called  Ashbank^  (from  two 
trees),  and  here  the  vallum  is  about  two  feet  six  high, 
and  eighteen  feet  across.  My  informant  could  no  where 
get  the  names  of  Wattlebank  or  Avesditch  recognised 
by  the  country  people.  In  one  part  it  is  called  G>loot 
Bank,  and  that  it  has  been  Idrger  than  it  is  at  present 
may  be  argued  from  the  fact  of  its  dividing  the  parishes 
in   which   Colcot  and   Middleton   Stonsy   stand.     An  old 


205 

person  met  with  on  the  spot,  said  that  he  remembered 
it  ''much  larger  than  it  is  at  present;  that  ail  the 
earth  of  the  vallmn  was  taken  from  the  West  side,  so 
that  from  that  side  it  was  impossible  to  look  over  it; 
that  the  top  of  it  was  seven  or  eight  feet  broader,  and 
covered  with  stones,  many  cart  loads  of  which  had  been 
taken  awayT^  three  heaps  of  these  had  just  been  car- 
ried away  and  were  lying  near  the  spot\ 

The  frequent  recurrence  of  Ditches  in  Wiltshir0  leads 
us  to  the  supposition,  that  some  of  them  must  have 
been  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of  entrenchments.  Of 
this  nature,  I  conceive,  are  those  bearing  the  name  of 
Hamshill  DrrcHBS,  a  little  to  the  North  of  Wihon: 
those  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Casterley  Camp  to  the 
North  of  Amesbury^  and  some  others,  which  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  Maps  appended  to  Hoare's  Ancient  WiU- 
shirey  will  indicate  at  a  glance.  But  the  Ditciub  which 
are  known  under  the  titles  of  Bokerlet  Dftch,  Old 
Ditch,  Vern  Ditch,  Grims  Ditch,  and  Wansdyke,  were 
constructed  with  some  other  object  in  view. 

Such  ditches  as  run  for  any  considerable  distance  must 
have  been  intended  for  boundary  lines,  divisions  between 
the  territories,  or  lands  of  neighbouring  chiefs;  and  the 
farther  these  lines  were  extended,  the  more  powerful  we 
may  conceive  the  people  to  have  been  whose  kingdoms 
they  severed.  Stukeley  supposes  them  to  have  been 
formed  by  the  BelgcB^  as  a  means  of  securing  the  land 
as  they  successively  conquered  it  from  the  Britons,  for 
as  they  contested  it  inch  by  inch,  and  fought  pro  arts 
et  focis^  for  their  temples  of  SUmehmge  and  Abury^  these 
barriers  were  thrown  up  by  the  Bdgoe  to  secure  what 
they  had  gained*.  In  the  instance  of  Wansdyke,  he 
thinks  differently,  and  adduces  what  is  always  valuable 
when  accompanied  by  facts,  etymology^  to  support  his 

*  See  the  section  in  the  accompanying  plate. 
'  Stonehenge,  p.  4. 


206 


opinion.  Wansdykib  is  evidently  a  boundary  line.  The 
length  of  it  shews  as  much.  It  formerly  extended 
from  the  Severn  into  Berkihire,  a  distance  of  ei^ty 
miles.  Several  traces  of  it  are  yet  visible  in  Somet- 
igUhire,  Wiltshire^  and  Berhhire.  Sir  Richard  Hoare 
traced  it  from  M(iei  KncU  in  SameneUkirey  throu^ont 
the  whole  of  Wiltahire^  to  8a/cemake  Forett,  and  has 
given  a  map  of  its  course,  to  which  those  readers  are 
referred  who  desire  circumstantial  information  on  the 
subject.  From  an  engraving,  in  his  interesting  and  truly 
valuable  work,  the  section  which  illustrates  the  present 
subject  has  been  copied.  Wansdtkb  is  derived  from 
the  (7.  Brit,  ffwahanu^  separare,  and  this  coupled  with 
the  other  fact,  confirms  the  idea  of  its  having  been  a 
frontier  line.  The  opinion  of  the  late  Sir  Richard  Hoare 
leads  us  to  believe  that  with  the  exception  of  Wanb- 
DVKE,  and  BoKERLET  DiTCH  ucar  Woodyates^  the  WiUMre 
Ditches  were  lines  of  communication,  covered  ways  and 
sheltered,   leading  to   British  settlements. 

In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Stanwick  and 
Foreet  in  the  county  of  JticAmond^  are  some  very  re- 
markable fortifications,  enclosing,  by  a  system  of  irre- 
gular lines,  a  larger  space  of  ground  than  perhaps  has 
ever  been  discovered  in  any  one  encampment  of  any 
period  in  this  island.  It  appears  also  to  be  connected 
with  a  vast  prsetenture,  consisting  of  a  rampart  and  two 
ditches,  drawn  from  the  Tees  to  the  SwdUy  somewhat 
obliquely,  and  terminating  near  Barfarth  at  the  Northern, 
and  at  Ecuby  on  the  Southern  extremity.  It  is  some- 
times called  by  the  inhabitants  Scotch,  and  sometimes 
Rohan  Dyke;  but  it  is  indisputably  neither  a  work  of 
the  one  nor  of  the  other  of  these  nations.  This  fact  will 
be  proved  by  the  following  account  of  the  work  itself. 

The  Soots'  Dtkb  as  it  is  generally  called,  though  s(»ne-> 
times  the  Rohan  Dtkb,  much  resembles  the  Bttlilf0 
iDitd^  on  Newmarket  Heathy  consisting  of  an  high  ram- 


207 

part  of  earth,  with  a  foes  on  eaoh  side,  out  of  which  the 
materials  have  been  dug.  I  say  on  eaoh  side,  for  the 
two  fosses  are  very  conspieuous  on  Gtitherley  MoaVy 
where  the  work  is  most  entire.  A  ^ery  extensive  work, 
however,  with  which  it  appears  to  have  had  some  con- 
nexion, was  traced  about  the  year  1723  by  Mr  John 
Warburton,  Stmiene^  Herald^  firom  a  place  called  Whed- 
fiUy  where  it  enters  England  between  the  rivers  North 
Tine  and  Bead.  At  Buey  Gap  the  Roman  wall  cuts 
through  it,  which  is  decisive  as  to  the  comparative  an- 
tiquity of  the  two  works.  Soon  after,  the  Soors^  Dtks, 
as  it  is  there  called,  crosses  the  South  Tine^  and  falls 
in  with  the  course  of  the  river  Alone^  the  banks  of 
which  being  very  deep,  answer  the  purpose  of  an  arti- 
ficial fortification,  and  supply  the  want  of  it  to  the 
head  of  that  valley.  At  Bcote^  Neck  it  enters  the 
Bishoprick  of  Durham^  and  points  towards  the  head 
of  Tee8^  the  course  of  which  it  is  supposed  to  have 
pursued  to  WinHone^  and  thence  to  Gatherley  Moor^ 
after  which  it  reappears  in  the  township  of  EaAy^  and 
is  seen,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  more. 

There  is  some  doubt  with  respect  to  its  identity 
with  the  work  traced  by  Mr  Warburton  out  of  Scotland^ 
as  the  two  extremities  terminate  several  miles  from  each 
other,  and  form  a  considerable  angle.  Dr  Whitaker 
ccmsiders  it  to  have  been  one  of  those  gigantic,  but 
always  inefficient,  attempts  to  preserve  the  peace  be- 
tween two  neighbouring  and  hostOe  tribes,  to  which 
savages  have  always  been  fond  of  resorting. 

That  the  vast  lines  about  Aldburgh^  Stanwickj  and 
Foreei^  are  connected  with  this  mighty  rampart,  though 
they  do  not  absolutely  come  in  contact  with  it,  there 
can  be  little  doubt.  The  great  similarity  of  the  agger 
and  foss  in  both,  goes  far,  in  my  opinion,  to  prove 
them,  respectively,  works  of  the  same  people,  and  per- 
haps of  the  same  age. 


208 

The  outline  of  the  works  at  StcmfHck  and  Forcei 
approaches  to  no  geometrical  figure,  nor,  though  alto- 
gether irregular,  has  it  been  directed,  so  far  as  Dr 
Whitaker  could  discover,  by  any  advantage  or  disadvan- 
tages of  ground.  The  whole  is  nearly  upon  a  level. 
The  whole  circuit  cannot  be  less  than  five  miles,  nor 
the  area  less  than  one  thousand  acres. 

On  the  main,  my  authority  concludes,  that  this  stu- 
pendous work  formed  the  enclosure  of  a  British  city  of 
unknown  antiquity,  abandoned  in  all  probability,  before 
the  Romans  invaded  the  Brigantes.  There  is  not  a 
vestige  of  Soman  antiquity  about  the  placed 

It  is  only  by  comparing  analogous  facts  that  we 
can  hope  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  information  con- 
cerning their  origin  and  intention.  From  pursuing  this 
method  in  the  present  difficulty,  we  are  enabled  to  draw 
a  few  conclusions  that  help  us,  though  in  a  trifling  de- 
gree, to  dispel  some  of  the  darkness  with  which  the 
subject  before  us  is  incumbered. 

The  four  great  Wiltshire  Ditches  traverse  the  North- 
em  edge  of  a  ridge  of  hills,  and  have  their  bank  in- 
variably on  the  South  side,  and  their  ditch  on  the 
North.  From  this  it  is  conclusive,  that  if  these  were 
Ditches  of  Defence,  they  could  not  have  been  cast 
up  by  the  British  against  their  invaders,  because  the 
ditch  is  on  the  wrong  side.  By  the  like  process  of  ar- 
gument we  see  that  the  fosse  of  Opfa's  and  of  Watt**© 
Dtke  is  on  the  Welsh  side  of  each.  The  fosse  of  the 
Devil^s  Ditch  and  Fleam  Ditch  is  on  the  West  side 
of  each.  Wansdyke  must  have  been  formed,  as  Stukely 
says,  by  the  Belgse.  It  is  the  last  and  most  North- 
em  boundary,  and  would  cover  their  Southern  con- 
quests'. Just  as  we  see  that  Offals  Dtke  shut  out  the 
Welsh. 
t 

»  Whitaker's  Histoiy  of  Richmondahire,  vol.  i.  pp.  207,  208. 
»  Hoare'B  Anct  Wiltshire,  p.  18. 


209 

This  enabloB  us  to  draw  another  inference ;  namely, 
that  when  we  see  two  of  these  ditches  running  paraUd 
to  each  other,  the  fosse  being  on  the  same  side  of  each, 
there  are  manifest  proofs  of  their  being  constructed  bj 
the  same  people,  and  with  the  like  object  in  view.  And 
this  again  leads  me  to  think  that  the  four  Wiltshire 
DUeieSy  were  the  works  of  the  Bdgw^  as  we  know 
that  the  two  Welsh  Ditches  were  the  labor  of  Offa; 
Watt\  was  the  earlier  of  his  two,  I  suspect,  and  probi^ 
bly  not  being  suffidently  extended,  the  defect  was  subse- 
qu^itly  supplied  by  forming  the  longer  barrier.  And  that 
FuEAM  Dtkb,  the  JDttlU*0  JDitt|^»  luid  Bbent  Ditch, 
had  the  same  intention ;  if  defimsive  they  were  to  protect 
the  East  Anglians  against  the  Mercians,  or,  looking  to 
a  much  earlier  period,  the  Celtic  invaders  against  the 
Aborigines.  On  the  other  hand,  if  these  works  are 
regarded  solely  as  frontier  lines,  there  are  less  diffi- 
culties to  encounter;  always,  however,  excepting  the 
great  iiHoriecd  obscurity  which  overhangs  the  WiUthire 
and  CambriigeMre^  Ditches,  a  darkness  which  it  is  to 
be  feared  wfll  never  be  dkpelled.  We  have  nothing 
bat  conjecture  for  our  guide;  fancy  must  supply  the 
^aoe  of  history,  and  though  it  may  sound  paradoxical, 
yet  on  a  subject  enveloped  in  so  much  obscurity,  the 
most  imaginative  and  ingenious  may  perhaps  turn  out 
after  all  to  be  the  best  antiquary. 


*? 


Surf  Ca«tlr* 


|uRF  Castlb  IB  a  8inall  oval  entrench- 
ment lying  on  the  Bummit  ot  ui 
eminence  a  mile  and  a  half  East  of 
the  village  of  Quai/ord,  It  ie  na- 
turaUy  strong  on  Uie  South,  South 
East,  and  South  West  adee,  but 
lees  80  on  the  others.  With  a  view 
of  counteracting  the  weakness  here,  a  ditch  and  vallum 
seem  to  have  be^i  formed,  as  faint  traces  of  them  are 
still  perceptible.  The  fosse  does  not  appear  ever  to 
have  been  considerable,  if  we  nuijr  judge  of  its  breadth 
by  present  indications,  which  would  make  it  not  ex- 
ceeding twelve  feet  in  width.  From  the  land  being 
under  the  plough,  we  are  unable  to  state  precisely  tiie 
original  dimensions.  Enough  only  remains  to  shew  that 
a  ditch  and  artificial  bank  formerly  strengthened  the 
North  East  side  of  the  hill  upon  which  this  camp 
stands.  It  enclosed  two  or  three  acres,  which  proves 
at  once,  that  it  was  never  a  fortification  of  any  mag- 
nitude. 

Having  stated  thus  much  about  the  present  appear- 
ance of  BuRF  Castle,  we  must  endeavour  to  ascertain  next 
what  people  constructed  it,  and  this  is  a  point  not  quite 
so  readily  settled.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  word 
Burf  is,  a  summit,  or  point.  For  this  spot,  like  Abdon 
Burp,  is  as  often  called  by  the  peasantry  of  the  dis- 
trict Baff,  as  Bur/,  Barf  comes  from  Bar^  a  height 
or  hill:  thus  the  C.  Brit.  Arm.  Bret.  Irish  bar;  Gael. 


211 

barr;  Dan.  bar,  naked,  without  trees,  as  elevated  spots 
usually  are,  and  th»e  are  numerous  synonyms  in  the 
Eastern  languages,  either  simple  or  in  oon^Kidtion,  which 
reoognise  the  word  as  implying  height  of  schdo  descrip- 
tion or  other.  In  its  secondary  sense  Burf  means  an 
melo99Hn$:  C.  Brit,  buarth. 

That  the  Danes  shouhl  have  constructed  this  forti- 
fication, after  they  fled  before  Alfred  in  the  year  896, 
seems  at  first  sight  the  most  reasonable  sappoation. 
Yet  there  are  some  grounds  for  thinking  that  tt  is  not 
the  very  fortress  wUch  is  aDuded  to  by  one  of  the 
historians,  wlio  describes  the  occurrences  of  the  period. 
The  spot  the  Danes  fixed  upon  for  their  winter  quarters 
is  stated,  by  all  the  ohronioleiB  who  mention  the  event, 
to  have  been  at  OwMrioge,  Now  Qko^M^  which  seems 
to  be  the  place  alluded  to,  lies  a  mile  and  a  half  firom 
BuBF  Gastue,  and  at  Quatfatd  there  do  not  exist  any 
vestiges  of  a  military  kind^  which  on  sufficient  evidence, 
can  be  ccmsidered  as  of  Danish  origin.  Yet  that  these 
people  formei  an  mHwwkmeni  somewhere  in  the  imme- 
diate vidnity  is  indisputable,  inasmuch  as  Florence  of 
Worcester  teUs  us,  that  after  having  constmoted  a  for- 
tifioation  they  passed  the  winter  there^ 

As  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  distance  of  these 
two  places  firom  each  other,  gives  rise  to  a  difficulty, 
and  besides  this  there  is  another  to  be  encountered, 
which  presents  itself  in  the  circumscribed  and  limited 
dimmsianH  of  the  existing  works.  They  seem  scarc^ 
capaUe  of  acconmsodating  a  numerous  body  of  people, 
wUeh  there  is  reason    for   supposing  those    plunderers 


Again,  if  we  look  to  the  other  side  of  the  argument, 

we  are  unaUe  to  discover  the  least  traces  of  defensive 

*  Qood  xM  Paganis  innotuit,  uxoribiu  in  East  Anglia  denno 
ooouKModatu,  navibnaque  raUdiSy  locom  qui  Quatbrif  akaixat,  pe- 
destres  oeleri  fiiga  petuniL  oonstnictaqiie  aibi  munitione,  hiemem 
iMdem  exigmit    Flor.  WigonL  p.  394,  edit.  4to. 

14-1 


212 


occnpation  in  any  other  quarter  than  Burf  CAsenx. 
Under  these  circumstances,  I  think  we  are  not  assmn- 
ing  too  much,  when  we  state  that  the  weight  of  evi- 
dence  preponderates  in  favour  of  Bubp  Castle  being 
the  fortress  which  is  said  to  have  been  erected  by  the 
Danes.  And  if  this  view  be  a  correct  one,  we  shaM 
then  gain  an  important  piece  of  knowledge  relative  to 
the  mode  of  fortification  practised  by  this  nation.  Re- 
garding, therefore,  the  specimen  of  castrametation  before 
us,  as  a  Danish  Earth-wobk,  we  see  that  in  comparison 
with  similar  works  which  owe  their  existence  to  the 
Britons,  the  Romans,  or  the  SaxMis,  the  present  one  is 
inferior  in  strength  and  magnitude  to  nearly  every  one 
with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The  Danes  appear  in  this 
instance,  to  have  trusted  mainly  to  the  remoteness  and 
obscurity  of  their  position.  The  natural  advantages  of 
situation  were  few,  and  they  effected  but  little  to  in- 
crease them  artificially.  This  may  easily  be  accounted 
for,  if  we  contemplate  their  diaracter,  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  ravaged  the  country.  They 
were  littie  better  than  wandering  and  restless  freebooters, 
who  annually  infested  our  coasts,  making  descents  upon 
it  whenever  opportunities  offered.  Their  army  waa  pro- 
bably fonned  in  great  part  of  desperate  adventurers, 
who  placed  more  reliance  for  success  upon  the  tenor 
which  their  very  name  excited,  than  upon  the  discipline 
of  their  troops.  Such  an  unorganised  body  of  marauders 
were  necessarily  unacquainted  with  the  art  of  castrame- 
tation. Their  visits  to  this  country  were  so  hurried, 
and  their  sojourn  so  brief,  that  they  had  scarcely  the 
opportunity,  even  had  they  possessed  the  power,  of  erect- 
ing any  fortifications  commensurate  with  those  previously 
existing  in  the  island.     It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that 

"  The  incessant  rovers  of  the  Northern  mam" 
as  they  have  been  happily  called  by  one  of  our  modem 
poets  should  have  left  behind   them  on  the  face  of  the 


218 

ooimtiy,  80  few  memorials  indicative  of  their  settlement. 
These  facts  fiilly  explain  why  we  rarely  meet  with  mili- 
tary works  in  Oreat  Britain  which  can  upon  uncon- 
trovertible grounds  be  attributed  to  the  Danes  ^ 

^  Whether  Hun^torwgh  HiU,  near  Northampton,  is  a  Danish 
encampment  is  veiy  uncertfun.  Bratton  HiU  in  WUUhire  has  better 
pretensioiis  for  being  called  such,  as  this  has  been  considered  on 
very  good  grounds  to  have  been  the  camp  into  which  Alfred  intro- 
duced himself  in  disguise.    See  Vita  iEliredi,  p.  33. 


dtAM^m  Ctamp 


IE8  about  two  miles  and  a  half  South 
East  of  Ludlow,  on  a  gentle  eminence. 
It  is  a  double  camp,  fortified  by  a 
high  vallum,  and  a  fosse:  the  latter 
is  only  at  that  end  where  the  two 
camps  join.  The  entrance  is  at  the 
East,  and  is  about  six  paces  wide, 
iere  a  good  section  of  the  vallum  is  obtained.  Its 
base  is  as  much  as  thirty-four  yards  wide,  and  the  re- 
lief of  the  wall  rises  nearly  twenty  feet  above  it.  On 
three  sides  the  land  falls  somewhat  precipitously.  The 
mound  is  highest  on  the  Elastem  side,  where  the  slope 
is  easiest.  At  the  Western  end  of  the  Easterly  camp 
there  are  two  openings  into  the  other.  The  top  of  the 
vallum  of  both  is  planted.  As  might  be  expected  in  a 
view  from  an  insulated  eminence,  the  prospect  is  highly 
beautiful.  There  is  a  great  similarity  between  Cainkam 
Camp  and  the  one  upon  Ponaert  Hill.  The  latter  is 
British  and  it  seems  reasonable  to  refer  this  to  the 
same  period,  for  the  earth-works  here  are  too  exten- 
sive to  have  been  originally  built  by  the  Mortimers 
who  held  the  manor.  Leland,  speaJdng  of  it,  says, 
'^  Kainsham  pr  Kensham  CcuUe^  dene  down,  stood  within 
two  miles  of  Ludloey  on  a  hill  top.^  This  was  evidently 
the  site  of  their  castle,  but  it  must  have  been  built  sub- 
sequently to  the  construction  of  some  of  the  present  ram- 
parts— which  are  far  too  extensive  to  have  been  formed 
by  a  family,  ever  powerful  as  that  of  the  Mortimers  was. 


215 

We  cannot  diacover  any  thing  in  the  etymology  which 
Berves  to  elucidate  the  early  history  of  this  fortification. 
In  C.  Brit,  and  Bret.  Cae^  signifies  sepes^  daustrum,  as 
we  should  say  a  boundary,  thus  the  brook  which  runs 
underneath  bears  the  name  of  Cay^  and  Caynham  or 
Cainhani,  means  the  village  or  hamlet  which  is  the 
boundary — ^The  boundary  of  what?  Of  Herefordshire 
and  Shropshire. 


Soar  SbtotMp  0Utt  Stome, 
Stone0  of  ittemotriaL 


LL  those  fliiigle  fiiones,  upright,  and 
unhewn,   that    we  meet  with  in 
di£ferent  parts  a!  Shropshire  under 
the   name   of   Hoab   Stonies  are 
boundary  marks.     With  one  ex- 
oeption,  however,  near  the  Wkiie 
Grit  Lead  Mine  which  has  wrong- 
ly acquired  this  title.     It  is  a 
custom  derived  from  the  earliest 
ages  to   erect   single  stones  by 
way  of  defining  the  limits  of  territory. 
A  Hoar  Stone  is  a  stone  of  me^ 
morial,  a  division  between  estates  and 
parishes. 

As  far  back  as  the  Patriarchal  era 
it  was  the  practice  to  fix  such  bound- 
aries of  property.  Thus  we  continu- 
ally find  allusion  made  in  the  Old 
Testament  to  these  artificial  barriers. 
Where  no  natural  line  of  demarcation 
offered  itself,  the  Israelites  made  a  stone 
their  boundary ;  as  in  the  limits  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah;  "and  the  border 
wont  up  to  the  atone  of  Bohan  the  son 
of  Reuben."     Joshua  xv.  6. 

The   land-marks   of  the   Greeks    and  Romans   were 
similar,  and  to  write  on  them  would  occupy  a  separate 


217 

treatise.  The  poets  abound  in  aUusion  to  the  limits  of 
prsedial  possessions.  Thus,  Viigil,  in  the  twelfth  book  of 
the  iEneid,  places  one  of  these  huge  stones  in  the  hand 
of  Tumus,  when  he  struggles  with  iGneas:  having  bor- 
iK>wed  the  idea  from  the  twenty-fiist  book  of  Homer, 
who  represents  Minerva  aasailing  Mars  in  the  same  way. 

Saxum  antiquum,  iimens,  campo  quod  forte  jaoebat 
Ldines  agio  positua,  htem  ut  msoemeiet  anris. 

And  in  one  of  his  elegies,  Tibullus  describing  the  hap- 
piness of  the  Satumian  age,  makes  one  of  the  advan- 
tages which  the  simple  people  at  that  day  possessed, 
to  consist  in  their  equal  rights,  having  neither  need  of 
doors  to  their  dwellings  or  boundary  marks  to  their 
fields. 

Non  domua  uUa  fores  habuit;  non  fixua  in  agiis. 
Qui  regeiet  certis  finibus  arva  lapia. 

Lib.!.  mog.vLy.43,44. 

Upon  looking  into  the  object  of  Hoab  Stones  at  a  much 
later  period,  we  find  it  still  the  same.  Northern  nations 
separated  their  districts  by  similar  means.  They  pre- 
vail to  the  present  day  in  Nubia  \  as  well  as  in  our 
own  country,  and  still  ftdfil  their  original  intention.  The 
derivation  of  the  word  explains  their  use.  From  the 
Oreek  downwards,  there  are  synonymous  and  symphonious 
words  in  aU  European  tongues:  thus  Crr.  op<K;  Lat.  ara; 
Lat.  Barb,  oraria;  Celt.  C.  Brit,  or  and  oir;  Ir.  or^ 
ur;  Gael,  ear^  aird;  Arm.  harz;  Teut.  oort;  Oerm. 
Fran.  Alaman.  S.  Goth,  ort;  A.  Sax.  or,  ord^  ara;  Ital. 
orlo;  Fr.  arU;  Span,  orla^  ora^  limes.  Hence  our  word 
HORIZON,  and  the  heraldic  term  orfe,  for  a  bordure  or 
selvage ;  and  in  monumental  architecture,  orle  the  fillet 
encircling  the  bacinet  of  a  knight. 

In  Shropshire  several  places  bear  their  appellations 
from  these  causes.  Woore,  (m  Domesday  Book  Wavre^) 
is  a  small   village   lying  on  the  Northern  extremity   of 

'  Hamper  on  Hoar  Stones,  Aichsol.  vol.  xxv. 


218 

Shiopflhire,  pent  in  between  ^affordMre  and  OketUn. 
There  10  the  Hoar  Edge,  (Salopioi  dictum  Whuure  or 
What  idge)  a  very  devated  range  of  the  TimnuarroNi 
which  ninB  from  it  in  an  Easterly  direction,  and  terves 
as  a  natural  barrier  betwixt  the  (Jain  of  LwOow  and 
WcTcetterMre ;  and  the  Hoar  Edge  above  the  DbvilV 
Caubrwat. 

BuRWABTON  under  Abdon  Burf,  implies  that  it  is 
Ae  town  on  the  burden  rf  the  Bmrf:  Burf  Hoar  Town 
as  we  should  say ;  by  the  same  rule  as  Wabton  in  Btetf* 
fordMre  is  so  called,  from  bordering  upon  the  connty  of 
Shropshire.  Harley  also  receives  its  name  from  beii^ 
flat  land  (see  Glossary  under  ley)  at  the  bonndaiy,  to 
wit,  the  Ihnestone  barrier  above  it,  of  WsifLOCK  Einca; 
and  Hordlet,  for  the  same  cause,  from  being  near  the 
principality,  on  the  extreme  South  East  of  the  county; 
and  Arley,  from  touching  upon  Wcrceetenhire.  In  the 
immediate  vicinity  to  this  village  lies  Wars  Hill  Camp, 
a  small  rectangular  work,  apparently  of  the  Bomati 
period,  but  which  like  Wirswall,  (where  are  discover- 
able faint  indications  of  an  entrenchment,)  that  Ues 
just  out  of  Shropshire,  on  the  confines  of  Cheshire^  de- 
rives its  name  from  the  same  source.  Farlow  also,  a 
village  on  the  extreme  South  Eastern  side  of  Shropshire, 
and  Oreton  which  is  contiguous,  and  Farlow  Brook, 
take  their  name  from  being  on  the  confines  of  this 
county  and  Worcestenhire.  Whilst  a  little  more  South- 
ward still,  is  BoRASTON,  upon  the  same  barrier. 

The  actual  Hoar  Stones  themselves  that  now  enst 
are  few.  There  are  two  in  the  neighbourhood  of  09- 
weetry^  whether  they  still  mark  the  boundary  of  parishes 
I  am  unable  to  say.  There  is  every  reason  for  think- 
ing if  they  have  ceased  to  do  so,  that  formerly  they 
were  erected  for  that  or  a  similar  purpose.  One  of 
these  lies  very  near  Offals  Dyke,  and  about  a  mile 
to  the   South   West   of  the  race-course.      It  gives  the 


219 

name  to  an  adjoining  farm  and  is  known  by  the  de* 
8ignata<m  of  Cabbg  y  bio,  or  thb  pointkd  stonb,  from  its 
indined  poBition.  It  was  six  feet  ten  above  the  but- 
fiice  when  I  saw  it  in  the  autumn  of  1888,  and  mea- 
Bured  aoroBB  the  Western  face  three  feet  six  inches: 
aeroBs  the  South  Eastern  snrfaoe,  two  feet  ox,  havii^ 
a  narrow  side  m  inches  across  betwixt  each  of  them. 

The  second  Hoar  Stone  in  this  part  of  the  county 
lies  a  few  yards  to  the  right  of  the  MdyhMd  road^  a 
mile  on  the  Skrewthury  side  of  Oswetiry.  It  forms  so 
conspicuous  an  object  in  trayelling  in  this  direction, 
that  it  came  natundly  under  my  observation  when  psBS* 
ing  by  last  year.  This  is  called  Oabbbo  lwtd,  or  the 
ffrey^  hoary  ikme:  and  such  is  its  present  colour:  for  it 
is  of  a  deep  grey  at  the  summit,  and  its  tones  gra- 
dually mellow  from  that,  through  every  degree  of  silver- 
grey,  till  it  becomes,  towards  the  base,  of  a  rich  light 
red.  It  is  of  an  elongated  pentagonal  shape,  four  of  its 
sides  being  ahnost  equal,  the  fifth  very  narrow.  It  mea- 
Bures  twelve  feet  six  in  circumference,  and  is  three 
feet  across  the  centre :  the  height  nearly  nine  feet.  As 
this  is  a  sand-stone,  and  unlike  what  is  found  in  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood,  it  has  clearly  been  carried  hither 
from  a  distance  to  serve  the  purpose  to  which  it  was 
assigned. 

There  is  a  third  Hoab  Stonb  in  this  division  of  Shrop- 
shire, which  stands  upon  the  leftrhand  side  of  the  same 
turnpike  road,  nearer  to  the  county  town,  two  miles  and 
a  half  South  of  West  Fdtan.  There  is  also  a  place  called 
HoarstoM  lying  between  Moretan  Say  and  Hattiatone. 

The  next  Stone  of  this  kind  which  comes  under  our 
notice  is  at  a  conmderable  distance  from  that  part  of  the 
county  in  which  the  preceding  memorials  are  situated. 
Nearly  upon  the  summit  of  Cflunbury  HiU,  at  the  head 
of  a  slight  valley  on  the  Western  side,  is  a  large  up- 
right stone,   of  that   kind  termed  by   Geologists  green 


220 

tione.  That  this  huge  masB  has  been  carried  here  from 
some  pbce  or  other  is  perfectly  evident,  beoaase  the 
structure  of  the  hill  upon  which  it  stands  is  differ^it 
from  it,  being  that  known  under  the  name  of  lower 
Ludhtt  rock.  Thus  far  then  the  Oeologists  can  help  us. 
But  the  Antiquarian  recognises  immediately  a  boundary 
stone,  a  Hoab  Stonb  properly  so  called,  a  point  at  which 
the  parishes  of  dunyunford  and  dwnbury  separate. 

There  is  a  Hoar  Stone  to  the  East  of  Bishofs  CtuUe 
close  to  the  castle.  In  Halei  Owen  there  is  a  Hoar 
Stone,  dividing  it  from  Nortkfield  in  the  county  of  Wor- 
cestershire^. In  the  same  neighbourhood  we  have  War- 
usT  Bank  on  the  edge  of  either  county,  and  Harborne, 
quasi  Hoar  bourn,  on  the  verge  of  Worcestershire  and 
Wctrwickshire.  The  four  counties  hereabouts  run  so 
confusedly  together,  that  it  is  difficult  with  aU  the  ad- 
vantages of  landmarks  and  etymology,  for  any  one  but 
a  parish  officer  to  ascertain  them. 

The  Horeston  is  mentioned  in  the  Cartulary  of  St 
Peter's,  SaUop*,  '^  Usque  le  Horeston  in  Ardlestones 
grene.**^  The  Horreston  occurs  in  a  Cartulary  of  Hoffh- 
mon  Abbey^ ;  in  a  deed  of  lands  without  dat-e  at  AsUm^ 
near  Oswestry,  ^^  Et  sic  directe  usque  le  Horeston  m 
Twychenyldd  Grener  Salop  Forest  Roll,  26  Edw.  I. 
describing  Bunde  Foreste  de  Lythewood.  Et  sic  descen- 
dendo  usque  le  Horeston  in  Ardlestones  Grene,  ib.  de- 
scribing Bunde  Haye  de   Welintan. 

Mere  Stones  are  also  boundary  marks.  I  know  but 
one  in  the  county  of  Shropshire,  and  this  is  a  modem 
erection  on  the  site  where  an  ancient  stone,  bearing 
this  name  stood  within  the  last  few  years.  It  is  near 
Wilmoor  Pool,  midway  betwixt  the  Titterstone  and  the 
Hoar  Edge.     At  present  it  serves  to  indicate  the  divi- 

'  Hamper  in  Archaoolog.  vol.  xxv.  p.  65. 
*  Penes  Sir  Thos.  Phillipps,  fol.  252. 
^  Hamper  in  Archjeolop.  vol.  xxv.  p.  .55. 


221 


sions  of  two  properties,  am  a  stone  ftithout  a  name  does 
on  the  Wrekin.  The  peculiar  designation  of  Mere 
Stone^  is  recognised  in  some  of  the  Northern  languages, 
in  which  countries  its  use  is  similar  to  what  it  has 
obtained  in  ours.  Thus  we  find  in  the  Isl.  mart,  lauda 
nuBri;  Fris.  mare;  A.  Sax.  meare;  S.  Goth,  mare;  Belg. 
meer;  Lapp.  mcBrre;  Sclav,  mera;  Dalm.  mira;  *Pol. 
miara ;  Fenn.  mw(Brw,  terminus ;  6r*  fieipwj  divido. 

There  will  not  be  any  difficulty  in  distinguishing 
between  Stones  of  Memorial,  like  the  foregoing,  and 
those  geolo^cal  phsenomena,  known  as  Ebratic  Blocks. 
Where  these  occur  they  are  seldom  found  singly  and 
upright  too,  but  usually  scattered,  lying  prostrate  upon 
the  surface,  as  we  see  them  in  a  valley  between  dun- 
bury  Hill  and  Buihop^i  Ccutle.  Thus  the  HxniSTDNE  near 
Rowley  RegU^  on  the  confines  of  the  county  on  the 
WoTcettershire  side,  is  a  magnificent  block  of  basalt 
standing  at  the  edge  of  a  bold  hill,  and  the  Stiper- 
ffTONEs  (from  the  Islandic  Steypa,  fusio  metallorum),  are 
a  well-known  range  of  hills  in  Shropshire. 

'  The  Druids'  Altar^  near  the  Rath  of  MuUinuut  in  Irdand, 
served  the  purpose  oriciniilly  of  a  Mbrs  Stonb.  Campion  says 
that  JreLmd  was  diyidea  into  five  parts,  between  five  princes,  and 
that  ''for  better  contentation  of  all  sides,  they  agreed  to  fix  a 
meare-«tone  in  the  middle  point  of  Ireland,  to  which  stone  every 
one  of  their  kingdoms  should  extend."  Vide  Dublin  Penny  Jour- 
nal, voL  iv.  p.  §^. 


4(^AtfOtll* 


HE  Saxon  Chronicle  states  that  the 
Danes  built  a  fortress  at  Cwatbrioge 
in  896,  and  with  the  expectation  of 
finding  some  military  remains  there 
that  might  safely  be  ascribed  to  then 
marauders,  I  examined  the  spot  at 
the  close  of  last  year.  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that  I  had  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of 
meeting  with,  at  least  here,  something  which  might  sa- 
tisfactorily be  considered  a  Danish  work.  But  whaterer 
might  have  existed  at  the  earlier  period,  had  through 
a  change  of  occupants  become  so  altered,  that  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  say  with  precision  what  had  been 
built  by  the  original  possessors.  An  undisputed  speci- 
men therefore  of  a  Danish  encampment  yet  remains  to 
be  found.  My  enquiries,  however,  though  unattended 
with  success  upon  the  bearing  where  it  was  most  desired, 
were  not  without  a  certain  degree  of  value,  as  they  st- 
abled me  immediately  both  to  classify  several  military 
remains  existing  in  other  parts  of  the  county^  and  also 
to  assign  their  erection  to  a  definite  time.  There  is  sudi 
a  manifest  resemblance  between  Quatford,  CAflTLE  Puir 
VERBATCH,  WoousTASTON  aud  HoLOATE,  that  I  havc  now 
no  hesitation  in  considering  the  four  to  be  erections  of 
the  same  period. 

That  the  Danes  had  a  settlement  at  Cwaibricge  in 
the  year  896,  and  that  Cwaibricge  must  be  understood 
to  mean  the  present  village  of  Quatford,  and  not  Bridge- 
north^  does  not  admit  of  the  least  doubt. 


228 

Aflauming  then  that  this  matter  of  geography  is 
settled,  I  proceed  to  describe  appearances  as  they  were 
in  1888,  merely  premising  in  additi<A  to  the  facts  which 
will  shortly  be  detailed,  that  this  investigation  completely 
sets  at  rest,  in  my  own  mind,  any  speculations  that  would 
tend  to  invest  the  eaisHnff  remains  with  a  Danish  character. 

The  viDage  of  Qnatford  is  most  romantically  placed 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Severn,  which  is  here  navigable 
for  vesseb  of  Considerable  burden.  At  the  back  of  it 
stretches  for  some  miles  an  extensive  tract  of  level  sandy 
country.  In  this  there  are  discoverable  some  works  of 
an  eariy  nature,  though  they  are  partially  e£GM)ed.  They 
consist  of  BuBT  Castlb  which  lies  a  mile  and  a  half  o^ 
CmESTBirroN,  and  the  nearly  undiscemible  Tumuli  which 
Mr  Stackhouse  opened  about  a  century  ago.  Although 
the  surrounding  country  has  been  described  as  sandy,  it 
is  remarkable  for  bringing  its  crops  to  maturity  earlier 
than  any  other  land  in  Shropshire,  besides  possessing  an 
unusual  degree  of  fertility.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  the  Danes,  when  they  retreated  through  Merda 
before  Alfred,  upon  first  seeing  the  natural  advantages 
which  the  situation  possessed,  should  fix  upon  it  for  their 
winter  quarters  ^  By  means  of  the  precipitous  and  in- 
accessible rock  overhanging  the  river,  an  assault  from 
that  quarter  would  be  impossible,  or  when  compelled 
to  retreat  they  had  easy  access  to  the  water  below  it, 
which  during  this  season  of  the  year  would  enable  them 
to  use  any  new  vessels  that  they  might  construct  after 
the  loss  of  their  fleet  near  London.     And  as  all  our 

'  Sed  non  multo  post  supenreniente  reee  Aelfredo,  compulsi 
Bunt  pagani  locum  doBexere^  et  noctu  recodentes  per  proyinciam 
Merdoram,  nou  oeaeabanty  donee  ad  yiUam  super  Sabnuam,  que 
QuanUMge  dicitur,  perrenenmt    Matt  West  p.  348. 

Florenoe  of  Woroester  gives  nearly  the  same  versioii  of  their  de- 
fiaat  and  subsequent  settlement  ''Ouod  ubi  Paganis  imiotuit,  ux- 
oribus  in  Eastanglia  denuo  commendatiBy  navibusque  relictis,  locum 
qui  Quaibrig  didtur,  pedestres  celeri  fuga  petunt,  constructaque  sibi 
munitioney  hiemem  ibidem  exigunt"    p.  334.  edit  4to.  1692. 


224 

authorities  expressly  say  that  they  ttintered  here,  at 
this  time  the  Seyem  would  readily  admit  of  their  new 
vessels  being  serviceable  to  return  with,  if  they  had 
built  them.  They  departed  in  the  spring^  dispers- 
ing themselves  in  Eatt  AngUa^  and  Northwmberlamd. 
That  they  should  have  oonstruoted  the  present  place  of 
defence  during  this  short  visit  seems  rather  improbable, 
because  if  we  may  form  an  adequate  idea  of  its  sice 
from  the  modem  vestiges,  it  would  be  too  small  to  be 
serviceable  to  so  numerous  a  force.  It  is,  however^ 
worth  examination,  whether  or  not  they  built  and  oc- 
cupied the  neighbouring  entrenchment  of  Busf  Caotus, 
an  enquiiy  that  has  been  pursued  in  a  former  section. 
To  return  to  our  description  of  Quatford;  my  own 
opinion  is,  that  the  fortress  erected  here  by  the  Danes 
was  so  completely  merged  in  the  works  of  the  Normans 
afterwards,  that  were  we  not  assured  by  an  impartial 
annalist  of  its  having  once  existed,  it  would  be  very 
problematical,  such  a  Normanesque  appearance  does 
every  thing  now  wear.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  be- 
low the  village,  and  upon  a  rock  precipitously  overhang- 
ing the  river,  there  are  indications  of  a  keep  having 
formerly  stood'.     This  rock  would  be  naturally  impreg- 

>  ^stivo  tempore  Paganomm  exerdtuB,  qni  apud  QuOtbrige  hie- 
mayexet^  pars  qucdam  iEstangliam,  pars  qusdam  Northimbiiain 
petit,  ex  quibuB  nonnulli  ibidem  remanaenmt,  nomuilli  vero  navibiis 
aoquisitis  ssspe  dictum  flomen  Sequanam  adienmt.  Matt.  West. 
p.  334.  edit.  4to.  1692. 

'  Any  one  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  examining  the  existing 
appearances  of  Norman  Castles  will  inmiediately  identify  the  artifi- 
cial momid  on  the  summit  of  the  rock,  as  the  gromid-work  of  a 
Norman  Keep.  The  same  sort  of  thinff  may  be  seen  at  Chwutry 
at  this  day.  On  the  top  of  an  artificial  mount,  outside  the  town, 
formerly  stood  a  Castle  that  is  called  by  Leland  Mado^s  Tower, 
which  according  to  Powell  was  built  by  Madog  ab  Meiedydd  ab 
Bleddyn  in  114Q.  English  historians  fix  it  at  an  earlier  date,  as- 
signing its  construction  to  Alan,  a  Norman  chief  upon  whom  it 
was  bestowed  soon  after  the  accession  of  the  conqueror.  The  po- 
sition of  the  Keep  of  Cardiff  Castk  is  the  same :  Pickering  CaiUe, 
and  Scarborough  Caetle  in  Yorkshire^  part  of  Coni^Mrough  Cakkt  part 
of  Carinhrook  Cagtle  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  Guildford  CaHle  in  Surrey, 


225 

nable  on  the  side  next,  the  water,  as  it  rises  neariy  a 
hundred  feet  in  perpendieular  altitude  above  it.  As 
the  other  sides  needed  protection,  they  were  surrounded 
by  a  deep  ditch  out  round  the  base  of  the  mound.  Al- 
together unlike  any  other  species  of  fortification  with 
which  I  am  acquainted ;  this  ditch  is  cut  in  a  curvilinear 
direction  for  nearly  two  hundred  yards  ihnmgh  the  solid 
roeij  and  the  marks  of  the  workmen^s  tools  upon  it  in 
several  places  are  still  distinctly  visible.  It  is  tlu:ee  yards 
wide  at  the  bottom,  and  at  least  four  in  depth  below  the 
average  level  of  the  meadow  above  it,  whilst  the  sum-* 
mit  of  the  keep  upon  the  top  of  the  rock  is  about 
twenty-five  feet  above  the  same  level.  Whai  we  ex- 
amine this  remarkable  work  more  closely,  we  find  that 
it  was  not  merely  the  natural  advantages  of  soil  and 
situation  which  induced  its  possessors,  subsequent  to  the 
Danish  period,  to  leoccupy  the  spot;  for  as  the  rods,  lies 
immediately  above  a  ford,  they  strengthened  it  with  a  fur- 
ther view  of  preventing  any  hostile  passage  through  the 
river.  There  are  faint  indications  of  an  inferior  keep  a 
little  nearer  the  ford,  close  to  the  present  footpath  lead- 
ing to  the  ferry;  this  was  evidentiy  desired  for  its 
special  protection.  Another  ford  a  little  higher  up  the 
river  still  bears  the  name  of  Danesfordy  probably  in 
aUusion  to  the  earliest  settlers. 

It  seems  then  that  a  difficulty  which  camiot  easily 
be  got  over  presents  itself,  if  we  regard  the  existing 
vestiges  at  QucOford  as  Danish  constructions,  arising,  as 
was  just  stated,  both  from  their  comparative  insignifi- 
cance and  from  their  peculiarly  Norman  character.  Upon 
reading  further  in  the  Anglo  Saxon  annalist,  we  learn 
that  in  the  year  912,  iEthelflsed,  the  lady  of  MerciaS 

Narham  CaHle  in  Northumberland,  Orfwd  Castle  in  Si/ffolk,  and 
Giaere  in  Normandy,  all  manifest  the  same  confonnity. 

'  Anno  £dwaidi  regis  xviii.  Elfleda  domlna  Mercies  buTgam  ad 
Seoriaie  et  bnignm  apnd  Brugge,  posuit  et  constnixit.  Chron.  Job. 
Brompton^  p.  W3. 

15 


226 

buih  a  fortified  town  at  Briege.  Ab  Owatbricge  wag  so 
particularly  mentioned  in  the  former  panage,  I  see  no 
reason  for  torturing  the  prasent  one  so  aa  to  make  it 
imply  that  these  two  places  are  identical,  one  and  the 
same.  It  is  most  natural  to  suppose  they  are  not,  from 
the  difference  of  the  name,  and  to  refer  it  to  Briigenwih; 
indeed  the  deseriptionB  of  Matthew  Westminstw,  Flor- 
ence of  Worcester,  and  Simeon  of  Durham  clearly  fix 
it  there,  as  QitatfoTd  lies  upon  the  wrong  side  of  the 
river  to  correspond  with  their  account  of  the  eirenra- 
stance^ 

Whilst  this  view  fixes  the  site  of  the  erected  or  re- 
stored castle  at  Bridgenartiy  it  however  encumbers  us 
with  the  necessity  of  seeking  for  fresh  evidence  to  prove 
when  the  keep  at  Quai/ard  and  the  trench  surrounding 
it  were  made.  From  the  apparently  credible  account 
which  has  been  recorded  of  the  event  that  led  to  the 

^gelfleda  Meitdorom  domina,  secnudo  Nonas  Mail  com  ezercita 
ad  locum,  aui  Sceaigate  didtiuv  venity  ibidemque  aroem  munitam 
ezstruxit;  dehinc  in  oecidentali  phga  Sabrine  numinis,  in  loco  qui 
Brkoe  didtor,  aliam  €ed^iomfU.    Flor.  Wigor.  p.  341. 

Thb  veaaage  is  repeated  in  the  Hiatoiy  of  Simeon  of  DuTfaam, 
p.  153.  edit  Twysden. 

Eodem  tempore  iSlfleda  Meidorum  dominay  com  exerrita  mag^no 
t^ud  Sfcreoflite  veniena,  SBdificavit  ibi  aroem  munitam,  et  m  phga 
oocidentaR  Sabrin^Jluminis,  in  loco  qui  Brigges  didtur,  aliam  re- 
HaumvU.    Matt.  West  p.  367. 

This  lady  seems  to  have  been  remaikable  in  fleveml  wnrs,  if 
we  may  trust  the  author  quoted  in  the  ensuing  sentence.  He  de- 
scribes ner  as  cifted  with  smffularly  matron-like  prudence  from  her 
ei|ghth  year.  She  left  behind  her  an  only  daughter,  Algiva,  whose 
birth  caused  her  so  much  sufiering  that  for  the  forty  remaining 
years  of  her  life  she  refused  to  accept  the  embraces  of  her  husband: 
''a  viii  thoro  sese  et  oommixtione  caniali  subtraxit,  dedignans 
ulterius,  animi  nobilitate  ducta,  hiboriosi  partus  itemm  experiri 
doloies."    p.  369. 

'  I  believe  that  a  different  opinion  is  entertained  by  an  intelligent 
gentleman  who  resides  upon  the  spot,  who  has  paid  the  local  hiatoiy 
of  the  neighbourhood  considerable  attention,  and  that  my  bite  friend 
the  Rev.  J.  B.  Blakeway,  in  his  Histoiy  of  Shrewabury  endeavoured 
also  to  make  out  Quatford  to  be  the  Cwaibriege  b(B  Safem,  as  well 
as  the  Brief  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle.  I  think  the  passages  already 
quoted  which  must  have  escaped  their  notice,  wul  enable  us  on 
suffident  grounds  to  distinguish  the  two  places  as  difierent 


227 

fomidation  of  the  neigfaboaring  ohurdi,  we  may  oonelude 
that  the  oastle  was  biiiH  a  few  years  later^ 

^ItuAfUfri  waB  one  of  the  nnmeroufl  manon  granted 
by  Uie  Conqueror,  to  Roger  de  Montgomery.  Ab  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  hunting  in  these  parts,  the  strong 
hold  at  Qi^yaltfwd  might  have  been  erected  for  his  bo* 
oasional  reridence  when  he  oame  hither  to  enjoy  the 
pleasures  of  the  ohase,  and  this  recreation  he  pursued 
with  great  snooess,  if  we  may  oonsider  the  immense 
number  of  red  deer  bones  and  boanT  tusks  which  were 
found  in  the  ditch  underneath  the  keep  when  it  was 
excavated  a  few  years  ago  by  Mr  SmaUman,  as  consti- 
tuting the  spoil  of  his  labors.  Be  this,  however,  how  it 
may,  it  is  quite  dear  that  the  keep  in  question  must 
have  been  erected  here  within  two  centuries  from  the 
time  when  the  Saxon  Chronicler  affirms  Aelfleda  rebuilt 
the  fortress  at  Bridpenartk^  inasmuch  as  the  survey,  made 
by  order  of  the  Conqueror^,  speaks  of  a  new  kome  at 
Quaffbrd;  the  colony  or  town  is  also  expressly  mentioned 
in  the  same  document,  as  well  as  by  our  countiyman 
Vitalis,  who  states  that  Earl  Rogers^  son,  Robert  de 
Belesme,  in  the  year  1098,  removed  the  iidiabitants 
from  QwUford  to  Brugia^  or  Bridffenarih* :  (that  is  the 
Saxon  Briege  which  is  North  of  the  afore-mentioned  Cttai' 
bricffe)y  ndiere  he  built  a  very  strong  castle  for  the  pro^ 
tection  of  the  inhabitants. 

History  informs  us  that  with  Robert  de  Belesme, 
aD^giance  was  an  easy  obligation,   and  he  was  induced 

>  It  is  called  in  Domesday  Book  (p.  264),  Nova  doiniia,  and  as 
the  survey  of  Shropshire  was  completod  by  the  year  1062,  this  paa- 
aage  must  refisr  to  the  newly-erectod  castle ;  the  building  of  which 
may  be  fixed  between  1067,  when  Roger  de  Montgomeiy  fiist  came 
into  England,  and  the  latter  date. 

SemHan  and  SoearpaJte  are  identical,  and  refer  to  a  place  in 
WcreetUrMre.  '*  In  WvooAy  in  loco  qui  ScearHan  nominator."  FL 
Wiffom.  p.  385. 

'  Oppidnm  de  Quatjbrt  transtulit,  et  Brugiam  monitSsBimnm 
caatellnm  super  Sabrinam  flnyium  oondidit.    Otder.  VitaL  p.  768. 


228 

<M>iiBequently  to  take  these  meaaurefl^  for  faiB  own  peracHud 
security  ^  The  march  of  Henry  against  his.  rebellious 
subject  the  surrender  of  the  newly  fortified  c&Btler  after 
a  tii^ee  weeks^  AegBj  ihe  descent  of  tibe  king's  army 
through  the  rugged  pass  of  Wenloci  Edg€\  and  the 
final  surrender  of  Earl  Robert  at  Shrewtbury  to  the 
yiotorioufl  monarch,   are  fully  detailed  in  the  pages  <i{ 

^  Ibi  nempe  Bingiam  mnnitiwrimnTn  oastmm  super  Sabiinam  flu- 
Tium  cDDstraebaty  et  totis  ad  resisteiidum  TiribtuB  aoyiliarihs  frustia 
qunrebftt    (Ajmo.1102.)    Order.  Vital  p.  806. 

'  It  will  not  be  out  ox  j^laoe  here  to  quote  the  Monk's  description 
of 'IhiB  paas,  as  the  Yolume  in  which  it  is  contained  is  rarely  to  be  met 
with.  Kex  autem  phalanges  suas  jussit  Hund-hpgem  pertraoaiiey  et 
Scrobesburiam  nrbem  in  monte  sitam  obsedere,  que  in  temis  lateribus 
dztnunlnitur  Sabrina  flumine.  Angli  qnippe  quendam  transitam  per 
SHyam  Hune^jfe-hem  dicunt*,  qnem  Latim  nudum  callemty  vel  yjcmn, 
nuncnpare  possont.  Via  enim  per  mille  passus  erat  caya,  grandlbus 
Saxis  aspera,  stricta  quoque  qusB  vix  duos  paritur  equitantes  capere 
¥alebat;  coi  opacum  nemus  eit  utraque  parte  obumbrabat^  in  quo 
Sagitarii  delitesoebanty  et  stridolis  misulibus  vel  sagittis  prsatereuntes 
subito  multabant.  Tunc  plus  quam  LX  millia  i>editum  eiant  in  expe- 
ditione,  quibns  rex  jussit  silvam  secoribus  pmcidere,  et  ampliflsnnam 
fltratam  sibi,  et  cunctis  transeuntibus  usque  in  aetemum  prsepuare. 
Regia  jussio  velociter  completa  est,  Saltuque  oomplanato  Uitisrimtts 
trames  a  multitudine  adfieqnatus  est.  (ib.  p.  807>  &N)8.)  An  account 
•of  these  transactions  is  nuly  given  in  Mr  Blakeway's  History  of 
Shrewsbury,  pp.  19—^,  with  his  usual  deamess  and  fidelity. 

When  6u4ldus  de  Barri  travelled  from  Shrewtbury  to  Ludlow  he 
went  up  this  pass,  which  stiQ  bore  the  appellation  of  the  bad  road.  The 
circumstance  leads  him  to  relate  an  an^ote  connected  with  it,  and 
this  aflso  serves  to  sive  us  an  idea  of  the  humor  which  prevaOed 
among  the  educated  classes  at  the  period.  It  happened,  inyB  the 
Archbishop,  id  mv  time,  that  a  certain  Jew  journeying  towards 
Shrewt^ry  with  the  Archdeacon  of  the  same  place  whose  cogno- 
men was  (Peck  ?)  Peeeatum,  ^sin),  and  a  Dean  whose  name  was 
{Dibble?)  JMabolus,  {or  the  Devil),  hikard  the  Archdeacon  inddent- 
ally  remark  that  his  Archdeaconry  commenced  at  this  place  which 
is  termed  the  bad  road,  {nuUa  platen),  and  that  it  terminated  at  a  bad 
end,  {^nyUua  paemie)  Malpas,  near  Chegter,  Turning  over  in  his  mind 
the  cognomen  of  Uie  Archdeacon  and  Uie  name  of  the  Dean,  he 
£M)etiously  subjoined,  ''  It  is  a  marvel  to  me  if  mj  luck  ever  carries 
me  safely  out  of  this  country,  seeing  that  sm  is  the  Archdeacon, 
and  the  Dean  the  Devil,  a  bad  road,  forsooth,  is  the  beginning  of 
the  Archdeacom^  and  a  bad  end  the  termination."  Itiner.  Camb. 
lib.  iL  c.  Id.  p.  877. 

*  A.  Sax.  Aimel,  protervus. 

t  *«  Pitmrie  ergo  caBU  lenilta  tanuis.  caUo  peeorum.  pneduiata.**  Vur.  de  Ung.  Latin. 
Hence  the  French  ekauuie  unlen  it  be  from  catcUnu.  V.  Beigier,  vol.  ii.  p.  14a  Menage 
Diet  Etyroolog.  voL  i.  p.  361. 


S29 

our  Monkish  historiafi,  but  ais  their  investigation  scarcely 
accords  with  the  object  of  the  present  volume^  I  must 
reluctalitly  suflfer  -them  to  pass  >nrithdut  further  observa- 

The  inferences  then  that  I  would  establish  are  these. 
that  no  remains  are  now  visible  at  Quaifard  which  can 
be  considered  of  Damcdi  origin :  that  the  castle  which 
thh  Saxon  Chrcmicler  and  Matthew  WeJEttminster  state 
as  being  liuilt  or  restored  by  iEthelfleda  must  have  been 
at  Bridgenorik;  and  lastly,  that  what  actually  exists  at 
Qwxtford  must  have  been  the  erection  of  Roger  de 
Montgomery^  That  the  anti  Danio  character  of  the  spot 
may  be  still  further  set  out  of  doubt,  we  are  enabled 
to  shew  still  more  clearly  its  Norman  pretensions. 

It  has  abeady  been  observed  that  when  matters  had 
proceeded  to  eittremities  with  Robert  de  Belesme,  He 
deemed  it  necessary  to  concentrate  his  forces,  and  to 
make  a  decisive  stand  agunst  the  king.  To  effect  this  ob- 
ject the  better,  he  transported  the  inhabitants  from  Quat- 
fdrd  as  a  means  of  increasing  his  strength  at  his  castle 
at  Bridffenorth ;  and  with  a  view  of  further  rendering  the 
former  possession  of  no  value,  he  rased  it  to  the  ground. 
History  does  not  mention  this  circumstance  it  is  true,^ 
^d  we  can  otily  gather  so  much  from  excavations  which 
have  been  made  on  the  spot  at  a  very  recent  day. 
These,  like  all  labors  of  the  kind,  are*  in  the  highest 
degree  valuable,  and  they  call  forth  the  warmest  thanks 
from  every  enlightened  searcher  after  historic  truth.  We 
are  indebted  to  Mr  Smallman  of  QucOfard  Castle^  for 
these  additional  discoveries,  by  whose  directions  the  semi- 
cii^nihu"  ditdi  was  cleared  out. 

From  the  information  which  he  obligingly  communi- 
cated to  me,  I  learned  that  the  keep,  which  originally 
stood  lipon  the  high  rock  overhanging  the  river,  when 
dismantled  by  Robert  de  Belesme,  must  have  been 
thrown   down  the  sides  of  the  mound  so  as  to  fill  up 


230 

the  foBse  at  its  base,  as  the  stratification  of  it  from 
West  to  East  clearly  shewed.  There  were  found  em- 
bedded in  the  rubbish  great  quantities  of  red  deer  bones, 
and  boars^  tusks,  two  small  horse-shoes,  and  an  iron  spur, 
that  is  evidently  of  Norman  character. 

The  whole  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  original  csstte 
comprises  two  acres.  The  rent  of  this  land  is  at  pro> 
sent  appropriated  to  defray  the  charge  of  ferrying  per- 
sons over  the  river  when  they  attend  the  parish  ehiuch, 
and  if  my  memory  does  not  deceive,  the  same  obliging 
informant  assured  me  that  it  was  bestowed  upon  the 
church  for  this  express  purpose  by  Adeliza  its  <»%inal 
foundress. 

The  Ghutoh  is  altogether  so  interesting  and  remark- 
able a  structure,  that  it  well  merits  attention.  Its 
history,  moreover,  breathes  such  an  air  of  lel^ious  ro- 
mance that  the  reader  will  allow  me  to  wander  bom 
the  professed  object  of  my  vdume,  for  the  sake  of  m> 
troduoing  the  legend  to  his  noticed 

After  the  murder  of  Malnl,  his  first  wife,  Roger  de 
Montgomery  married  Adeliza  the  daughter  of  Ebraid 
de  Pusey,  who  was  one  of  the  most  noUe  £unilies  in 
France.  She  was  the  reverse  of  his  former  wife  in  dis- 
position and  character,  as  she  constantly  incited  her 
husband  to  deeds  of  religion  and  charity,  and  to  a  love 
for  the  monastic  orders.  Such  a  temperament  was 
easily  wrought  upon,  and  we  know  that  in  one  instance 
the  representations  of  monks  did  not  fail  of  producing 
eSbct. 

For  as  we  learn  firom  our  authority  for  this  history, 
when  the  Countess  first  came  over  to  join  her  husband 
in  England,  a  violent  storm  arose  at  sea,  and  the  vessel 
in  which  she  sailed  was  placed  in  the  most  hnminent 
danger  of  shipwre^A.  As  providence  wiUed  on  this 
emergency  (for  so  the  legend  states),  a  certain  priest 
>  Order.  VitaL  pp.  578»  679. 


who  was  in  her  retinue,  being  overcome  by  too  much 
watching,  fell  asleep,  when  he  beheld  in  a  dream  a 
matron  standing  before  him  and  thus  addressing  him: 
^'If  your  mistress  and  her  suite  desire  to  be  liberated 
from  the  instant  danger  of  horrible  shipwreck,  let  her 
make  a  vow  to  Ood,  and  promise  fiuthfully  to  build  a 
church  in  honour  of  the  blessed  Mary  Magdalene,  on 
the  spot  where  it  happens  that  she  first  meets  the  Earl 
her  husband,  and  exactly  where  a  hollow  oak-tree  grows 
by  a  pigsty."^  The  priest  having  awoke,  narrated  this 
singular  vision  to  his  mistress,  who,  when  she  had  heard 
it,  vowed  to  perform  every  thing  fiilly,  and  presently  the 
tempest  being  subdued,  she  quickly  arrived  with  her  re- 
tinue on  the  wished  for  shore. 

After  travelling  for  many  days  from  the  coast,  to* 
wards  the  hiterbr,  she  encountered  her  husband  whilst 
hunting  at  QucUfitrd^  which  was  then  deserted,  at  the 
very  spot  where  the  oakntree  that  was  indicated  in  the 
viskm,  grew.  She  unmediately  solicited  the  ESarl  to 
assist  her  in  carrying  into  execution  the  vow  she  had 
made  when  under  peril  of  shipwreck,  and  he  as  readily 
enabled  her  to  perform  it.  He  further  endowed  the 
church  with  ample  possessions,  and  ecclesiastical  privi- 
l^gos^ 

Such  is  the  history  given  of  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  foundation  of  the  present  church  at  Quatford,  and 
if  we  look  at  the  general  narrative,  it  may  be  received 
on  the  main  as  worthy  of  belief.  That  the  church  is 
of  this  exact  period  no  one  can  deny,  and  so  far  the 
building  corroborates  the  legend.  The  church,  is  in 
fact,  a  most  strikingly  interesting  specimen  of  Norman 
architecture,  and  will  amply  reward  the  visitor  for  its 
examination.  Though  merely  the  chancel  stands  in  its 
original  state,  for  the  nave  has  been  rebuilt  with   the 

'  These  ciicam8tan€e8  are  narrated  in  the  Chronicle  of  John 
firomton^  pp.  988^  969.    edit.  Twysden. 


232 

red  sand-stone  of  the  country,  yet  this  part  nlone  is 
deserving  attentive  inspection. 

-  The  Chancel  is  built  of  caleareous  Tufa,  which  must 
have  been  brought  hither  up  the  Severn  out  of  Glou- 
eeeterdUre^  as  the  nearest  deposit  of  this  formation  lies 
at  Stroud  in  that  county\  The  arch  which  leads  firom 
the  body  of  the  church  into  the  dumcel  nuikes  up  for 
its  deficiency  of  ornament  by  its  bold  proportions.  It 
is  of  a  very  simple  style,  and  consists  in  its  mouldings, 
merely,  of  two  flats  and  two  rounds,  each  of  which  de- 
crease from  the  exterior  to  the  inside  part  of  the  arch. 
The  capitals  are  perfectly  phiin.  A  low  font  of  the 
same  age  stands  in  this  part  of  the  church.  The  bovd 
is  one  foot  four  inches  hi^  and  three  feet  nine  in 
.diameter.  It  rests  upon  four  clustered  legs,  and  has 
a  further  support  in  the  centre.  The  sides  of  it  are 
ornamented  with  quatre  foils  inscribed  within  a  circle. 
The  entire  height  is  three  feet  ten.  For  a  Shropshire 
church,  this  contains  an  unusually  curious  specimen  of 
baptismal  workmanship.  There  are  five  flat  sepulchral 
slabs  which  probably  cover  the  remains  of  the  early  ec* 
clesiastics  who  belonged  to  the  building,  incised  after 
the  manner  that  prevailed  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries :  and  the  whole  floor  of  the  building  is  paved 
with  Norman  tile.  • 

^  I  am  infbnned  by  the  Rev.  John  Rocke,  that  Tranerline 
exista  in  the  wall  at  the  East  end  of  the  chaooel  of  Bredmairdimt 
Church,  twelve  miles  from  Hereford, 


%' 


Sl2ftool0ta0tom 


I  ELONGiNo  to  the  Nonnaa  Period  are  the 
remaiiifl  at  Woolsiastan,  OadU  Puher- 
baich\  Quai/ord  and  ffofyaie^  Those 
at  Woobkuian  oonsist  of  a  oonical 
mound,  about  ten  feet  high,  and  thirty- 
two  acrofls  its  centre;  and  another 
mound  adjoining  it  which  has  a  de* 
scent  on  three  sides.  This  is  naturally  elevated  above  the 
adjacent  land,  and  has  its  height  farther  increased  by 
an  artificial  raising  of  six  feet,  forming  a  figure  in  tho 
shape  of  a  parallelogram,  which  is  a  hundred  paces  wide 
from  North  to  East,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty-twof  from 
North  to  South.  If  this  be  the  site  of  a  castle,  as 
seems  most  likely,  it  was  either  Pieai^s  who  held  TTm- 
tanOune^  under  Earl  Roger,  or  that  of  Nigdhu  Medicis 

*  Castub  Pulvbbbatcb  18  00  piecSady  like  WooUtatton  that  it 
18  needleas  to  describe  it  more  paxticalarlv. 

'  HciigaJte  stfll  retains  the  name  it  did  in  the  time  of  Camden, 
being  oraaUy  called  in  the  neighbomihood  Haugii,  or  H&waet*  It- 
was  granted  1^  the  Conqueror  to  Earl  Roger,  and  held  under  binv 
by  Jadgo,  a  Norman  chira,  who  is  mentioned  by  Ordericus  Vitalis, 
as  **  quidam  Nonnannonun  potens  miles*."  He  ne}d  SUmtune  ( vulgo 
dictum  ^aun\  where  he  had  a  castle,  according  to  Domesday^  and 
this  ¥ras  bmlt  upon  the  veiy  elevated  mount  which  now  forms  so 
conspicuous  an  object  The  interesting  old  fium-house  that  is  con- 
tiguous was  built  two  centuries  later.  The  older  part  consists  of 
a  semi-drcnlar  gable,  which  was  originally  a  tower.  It  has  the 
narrow  lancet  window  peculiar  to  early  Bnglifth  architecture.  There 
are  yestiges  of  a  moat  having  surrounded  the  existing  buildings. 
The  church,  which  stands  immediately  contiguous,  has  three  small 
lancet  windows  at  the  East  end,  and  is  of  the  same  age  and  style 
as  that  at  Tvgfbrd  and  RuMvry. 
Domesday  Book,  fol.  258. 

♦  Order.  VlteL  lib.  iU.  p.  463.  t  Domesday  Book.  fol.  25a  b. 


234 

who  is  said  in  another  part  of  Domesday,  to  have  held 
WittanesUm^  of  the  king.  The  works  appear  to  me  to 
resemble  the  remains  of  a  keep  and  baly,  rather  than 
a  tumulus. 

In  a  meadow,  a  few  fields  distant,  contiguous  to  the 
church  of  Smethoai^  is  a  barrow:  and  there  is  every 
presumptive  reason  for  supposing  that  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  was  the  scene  of  some  sanguinary  con- 
test. It  is  most  natural  to  infer  that  it  is  built  over 
the  bodies  of  those  who  were  shun  when  this  neighbour- 
hood was  the  seat  of  war  between  the  Britons  and  the 
Romans.  Whilst  some  labourers  were  employed  in  the 
year  18S8  to  get  clay,  a  little  below  the  North  rade  of 
the  church-yard,  they  came  upon  a  vast  quantity  of 
hmnan  bones,  that  had  evidently  been  deposited  hare 
at  a  very  eariy  time.  In  consequence  of  this  spot  being 
the  burial-place  of  the  shun,  it  probably  acquired  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  sanctity,  and  was  looked  upon  afterwards 
by  the  vulgar  with  peculiar  veneration.  And  thus  in 
time  it  became  fixed  upon  {or  the  site  of  the  present 
Norman  church.  Instances  of  this  nature  are  very  com- 
mon«  They  may  be  observed  in  our  own  county  at 
Clunffun/ord^  Staphton^  BuMwry^  &c.  In  HerefordAire 
we  see  the  same  thing  at  KUpeek  and  ThrweUm;  in 
Warmctshire  at  HonUy;  and  in  Northamptonshire  at 
SulgraMy  Earls  Bartor^  and  WoUaston.  A  rude  font 
within  the  church  of  Smethcoty  and  two  circular  headed 
windows,  which  are  partially  obliterated  externally,  but 
which  are  in  their  or^nal  state  inside,  clearly  indicate 
the  Norman  character  of  this  building. 

'  Domesdfty  Book,  foL  200—6. 


^ 


wpon  ^ 


^ 


EiB  ensuing  observationa  are  an  attempt 
to  ascertain  how  far  it  be  possible 
to  illustrate  Topoorapht  by  the  aid, 
of  Ettmologt;  viewing  the  subject 
at  the  same  time  with  relation  to 
the  similarity  of  position  which  placea 
occupy  that  have  synonjrmoua  names^ 
From  the  ]»-esent  result  furnished  by  thiA  speciea  of 
enquiry,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  if. the  subject 
were  to  be  more  skilfully  pursued,  iij  would  tend  to 
throw  a  considerable  degree  of  light  upon  the  darkest 
and  most  obscure  passages  of  early  British  History, 
When  the  names  of  places  are  carefully  examined  with 
reference  to  their-  analogical  bearing  of  locality,  and  when 
their  derivation  is  investigated,  a  due  will  often  present 
itself  that  may  direct  further  researches^  and  a  glimpse 
even  of  truth  will  occasionally  disclose  itself  through  the 
subtle  mazes  of  etjrmological  conjecture.  But  in  pro- 
portion as  the  etymologist  finds  his  reveries  and  deduc- 
tions agreeable,  so  much  the  more  cautious  ought  he 
to  be  of  making  use  of  thenu  Fpr  there  is  such  i^ 
captivating,  such  a  misleading  plausibility  in  all  theories 
^iiich  are  built  upon  the  roots  of  words,  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  tp  decide  how  far  the  science  itself 
ought  to  bp  admitted  as  an  interpreter  and  guide.  The 
exuberant  ingenuity  of  the  suggestive  Vallancey  ^  caused 
severftl  to  look  upon  it  with  distrust,  whilst  our  ^alo^ 
pian  author,  Baxter,  by  referring  every  ^hiug  Roman  to 


288 

CSambro  Britiflh  etymology,  has  Tendered  his  learned 
work  rather  Bospicions.  Still  there  appean  good  reason 
for  thinking,  if  fancy  be  restrained,  that  ao  applicati(Ni 
of  the  Celtic,  Welah  and  Northern  langoageB  to  Topo- 
graphy and  Archaeology,  may  of  themaelyes  ehcidate 
some  of  those  portions  upon  which  we  need  information. 

It  may  be  noted,  for  example,  that  the  names  of 
oar  rivers,  mountains,  woods  and  vidleys,  are  perpetually 
found  isBoing  from  the  two  former  hmgnages.  ^e  tide 
of  Roman  ihobouohfaiib  may  be  traced  in  the  names 
of  Siratfard,  BtraUon,  Btr&aOeg^  Streatham,  Streiford, 
StreUot^  OaUicai,  CM  Harhaur,  Fordy  fcc,  &c.,  which 
exist  by  the  side  of  Roman  roads,  for  althoogh  in 
many  cases  the  roads  themselves  have  become  obliter- 
ated by  vegetation,  or  broken  up  by  the  plough,  yet 
these  names  still  continue,  and  by  their  aid  their  di- 
rection may  be  safely  followed. 

And  marks  of  A.  Saxon  colonisation  may  be  dis- 
cerned in  the  various  terminations  of  ftjf,  ham^  by,  wiek, 
wortkj  &c.,  which  prevail  throughout  the  island,  moire 
particularly  the  second  of  these,  on  the  Eastern  side, 
where  the  Saxons  first  landed.  In  proportion  as  pre- 
fixes and  terminations  from  these  sources  exist,  a  fair 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  comparative  antiquity  of  the 
towns  or  villages  where  they  respectively  occur.  No 
one,  for  instance,  would  affirm  that  the  finals  of  ckstier, 
and  eester,  betokened  mere  manufacturing  townlets  of 
twenty  years'*  growth,  neither  would  they  restrict  their 
orig^  to  the  Saxon  Period.  Nor  on  the  other  hand, 
would  they  class  the  hagiological  nomenclature  of  several 
towns  and  parishes  in  the  island,  such  as  Si  Alban\ 
St  CoMtantine,  St  Danid'i,  St  /«m,  St  Osyti,  State  Si 
MUborongh^  be,  with  the  BMe  Vuet,  Paradise  Bow$, 
Waterloo  Creecents^  and  fashionable  places  of  resort  which 
have  sprung  into  existence  within  the  memory  of  the 
present  generation. 


289 

In  the  appellatioDB  of  variouB  Rivebs,  the  Nen^  Wye^ 
Corny  Omifmayy  Dee^  &c.;  in  those  of  Mountains,  the 
WrMn^  Camdon^  Pmrnam  Ma/nor^  &c.,  &o. ;  and  in 
those  of  FoBEBTs,  such  as  Mwrf^  Arden^  Dean^  &c.; 
there  is  seen  sufficient  proof  that  their  names  have  thus 
long  outlived  the  oomiption  of  tongues  and  the  con- 
sumption of  time. 

Descending  with  successive  conquerors  of  the  country 
we  observe  this  alteration.  The  aborigines  we  may  sup- 
pose were  habituated  to  speak  of  these  places  generic- 
ally:  the  succeeding  tribes  identified  them,  or  rather 
distinguished  them  from  each  other,  so  that  what  was 
puidy  Celtic  for  watec  in  the  first  instance,  became 
the  name  of  the  stream  itself  at  a  later  date.  In  the 
same  way  the  Latins  communicated  their  terms  to  the 
people  whom  they  subdued.  They  formed  roads  or 
streets,  which  being  a  method  of  proceeding  barbarous 
nations  were  previously  unacquainted  with,  it  would  in 
a  proportionate  degree  excite  their  surprise.  Hence  the 
names  of  places  upon  these  lines  of  communication  are 
so  frequently  found  to  be  allusive  to  their  situation. 
Below  this  period  tiiere  are  but  few  names  discoverable 
which  mark  the  possession  of  the  kingdom  by  its  sue- 
cessive  invaders,  the  Danes  and  the  Normans.  Our 
maps  are  disfigured  rather  by  the  unmeaning  designa- 
HxjfOB  that  caprice  has  bestowed  upon  newly  cultivated 
lands,  than  called  after  the  custom  of  the  earlier  pos- 
sessors of  the  soil,  by  names  indicative  of  position. 


^ 


croN.  Cdt.  Ae^  hftbitatio ;  tOHj  ele* 
vatio.  A.  Sax.  Aoy  quercun ;  tun^ 
pagiis;  thufl,  Acton  Scot,  Round 
Acton. 

Al.  a  terminaticm  d^iotingao  el^ 
vation.  Gelt,  o^  oftus ;  as  in  the 
instances  of  the  Ercal,  Benthal, 
Posenhal,    Hiffh  Ercal,    Hadnal, 
Shiffiial,  Gaoral,  Oomal,  co»  Wor*- 
cesten    Pecknal,  near  Alberbury. 
Ai^TON.  The  same  as  Acton.    Celt.  a«, 
Imbitatio ;  t<my  elevatio. 
Wheaten  Aston;  Aston  Ejrres;  Aston 
m^ar  Oswestry ;  Aston  near  \Shiffiial ; 
Woolstaston ;  Aston  Rogers,  and  As- 
ton Pigot,   m  the  neighbourhood  of 
^V'orthin ;  Aston  Hill,  East  of  Caurse 
C^istle ;  Aston  Botterell. 
Bach  ;  a  bottom ;  as  Dr  Whitaker  justly 
remarks,  a  Merono  Saxon  word.     '^  In 
Clent  cowbach^   in  valle  bovina.      It 
enters  into  the  composition  of  several 
local  names  in  the  Midland  Counties. 
P.  Plouhman  euss  the  word. 
Cold  Batch,    South    of    Bishop^s    Castle;    Wellbatch; 
Swinbatch;    Batchcot;   Beatchcot;    Snailbatch;    Swin- 
bach,    above  Adderley;    Pulverbatch;    Wagbatch;    aU 
in  the  county  of  Salop. 


241 

Bailey,  Celt.  i9a/,  rupee,  elevatio.      Q!  BalUum. 
Bailey  Hill,  between  Chapel  Banhaglog  and  Llananno, 

CO.  Badnor. 
Bailey  HiD,  near  Knighton,  co.  Radnor. 
Bailey  HiU,  six  miles  North  West  of  Sheffield;  where 

there  are  several  tumuli,  and  other  remains,  (v.  Archseol. 

vol.  X.  p.  466.) 

Bailey  Brook,  North  part  of  Shropshire. 
Banner  Bank,   a  mile  South  East  of  an  entrenchment 
called  Camp  House,  betwixt  Honily  and   Haseley,    co. 
Warwick.     Allied  to  this  are 
Signal  Bani,  half  a  mile  North  of  the  entrenchments 

upon  ihe  estate  of  Charles  Ouest,  Esq.     Bank  Farm, 

West  of  Dorrington.     (Vide  p.  86.) 
Siaw  Bank,  a  mile  North  of  Norton  Gamp. 
SiowbarroWj  an  eminence  betwixt  Towbury  ffitt  Camp, 

and  a  fortification  on  Bredon  HiU,  co.  Worcester. 
Standard  Hill,  co.  Sussex ;  which  is  so  called,  because 

upon  this  hill,  William  the  Conqueror  is  said  to  have 

fixed  his  standard  previous  to  his  conflict  with  Harold. 
Watekfidd,  a  mile  South  of  Stratton  Borough  Castle, 

00.  WUts. 
Spyway,  six  miles  East  of  Maiden  Castle,  co.  Dorset. 
Batdon  Road,  (the  upper  or)  is  a  road  running  in  a  direct 
line  for  seven  miles,  along  high  land,  South  of  Lam- 
bourn,  CO.  Berks. 

Beacon;  A  beacon  is  generally  a  very  elevated  point, 
that  would  serve  both  as  a  place  of  defence,  (and  they 
are  most  commonly  fortified),  and  as  a  position  from 
which  an  alarm  might  be  spread  throughout  a  chain 
of  fortresses.  It  is  supposed  that  barrows,  served  this 
two-fold  purpose,  but  I  think  their  height  would  not 
be  sufficient  to  render  them  serviceable  for  such  an 
end. 

Beacon,  a  circular  camp  on  Rooky's  Hill,  North  of  East 
.  Lavant. 

18 


242 

Beacon  Batch,  a  mile  North  of  Wrington,  co.  Somenet. 

id.  a  mile  South  West  of  Blagdon  on  Blakedown^  where 

there  are  eight  tmnuli. 
Beacon  Hill,   two  miles   West  of  Castle  Frome,   eo. 

Worcester. 
Beacon  Hill,  a  mile  and  a  half  North  East  of  Shepton 

MaUet. 
Beacon  HiU,  a  mile  North  of  Bath. 
Beacon  Hill,  half  a  mile  East  <^  Trelledi,  eo.  Mi»- 

mouth. 
Beacon  Hill,  West  of  Wameford,  co.  Hants. 
Beacon  Hill,  North  East  of  Ainesbuiy. 
Beacon  Hill,  on  a  Roman  road.  North  West  of  Ospringe. 
Beacon  Hill,  a  fine  camp.  West  of  Burgclere,  oo.  Hants. 
Beacon  HiU,  between  Coddenham  and  Needham  Market. 
Beacon  Lane,  North,  but  close  to  the  camp  on  Hinton 

Hill,  near  Dyrham,  co.  Somerset. 
Beacon  Heath,  two  miles  South  of  Lingfield,  co.  Kent. 
Penn  Beacon,  East  of  West  Wycomb. 
Shipton  Beacon,  a  small  oval  encampment  East  of  Brid- 

port. 

Hembury  Beacon,  a  small  semi-elliptical  camp,  oo.  Corn- 
wall. 

Famham  Beacon,  oo.  Surrey. 
Michaelstow  Beacon,  a  triple  quadrangular  work  Nwth 

of  Michaelstow,  co.  Cornwall. 
Caer  Digol,  or  the  Beaoon  Rmo,  co.  Montgomery. 
Barr  Beacon,  co.  Stafford. 
The  Hebefordshibe  Beacon. 
Dundon  Beacon,  a  double-elliptical  camp  ringle-ditdied, 

with  a  vallum  across  the  middle.  East  of  Compton 

Dundon,  co.  Somerset. 
Weistbury  Beacon,  one  mile  North  East  of  Stoke  Bod' 

ney,  co.  Somerset.     Three  tumuli. 
Belan,  Celt.  Bd^  altns.  Bdy  arx.     The  derivation  and 
meaning  of  Bal  and  Bd  are  thorouj^y  investigated  in 


248 

the   Ordnance  Survey  of    Londonderry.    Dublin,   4to. 

1887.  pp.  210,  211. 

Belan,  NorUi  East  of  Trefeglws,  co.  Montgomery. 

Belan  Bank,  South  of  Kinnerley. 

Belan  Bank,  under  the  East  side  of  the  Long  Mountain; 

Behn,  (Upper  and  Gbeat,)  two  miles  North  of  Newtown. 

Bklbak*s  Hill,  a  fortress  near  Willingham,  eo.  Cam- 
bridge, is  supposed  to  have  taken  its  name  from  Be- 
lasius  a  Norman  general.  (See  Lysons^s  Cambridge- 
shire, p.  8.)  What  is  the  meaning  of  BaUzefs  Cross, 
three  miles  North  of  Shepton  Mallet,  co.  Somerset? 

Black,  a  very  common  prefix,  importing  a  gentle  swell 
or  undulation,  almost  in  fact  a  plain.  Teut.  Blacky  pla- 
nus. Gf«rm.  blach/ddf  locus  campestris.     Black,  Blake, 
Blaig,  and  Blag  are  identical. 
Black  Hill,  North  of  Hampton  Lucy,  co.  Warwick. 
Blackthorn  Hill,  East  of  Ambrosden,  co.  Oxford. 
Blakedon  Hill,  betwixt  Leamington  and  Kenilworth. 
Blakemore  Hill,  South  of  Hereford. 
Blakdey  Hill,  South  of  Bury  Walls,  co.  Salop.    Black- 
well  Hill,  close  to  Towcester. 

Blackmoor  Hill,  five  miles  South  of  Melton  Mowbray. 
Blackdown  Hill,  South  West  of  Crewkeme.    Id.  East 
of  Modbury.     (See  note  at  p.  288.) 

Bbadblet,  Celt,  braid;  A.  Sax.  irad^, latus,  broad;  and 
Celt.  Uh^  habitatio ;  A.  Sax.  ley^  leoff,  campus. 
Bradeley  near  Wenlock.    Bradeley  near  Kinlet.    Brade- 
ley  near  Bridgenorth. 
Bradeley  near  Bilstone,  co.  Stafford. 
Bradeley,  East  of  Droitwich,  co.  Worcester. 

Bbsdon  ;  Celt.  Bre^  locus  elevatus.     (See  Remarks  under 
Wbekin,  at  p.  91.) 
Bredon,   North  of  Tewksbury.    Bredon  Hill;  Bredon 

Norton,  co.  Worcester. 
Bredwardine,  oo.  Hereford. 
Bredenbury,  near  Bromyard,  oo.  Hereford. 


244 

Bullock  Road  ;  it  begins  at  Upton,  near  Aloonbuiy  HiU, 
on  the  Ermine  Street,  co.  Huntingdon,  and  ends  at 
Bourn,  co.  Lincoln.  It  points  to  the  North  West  for 
a  distance  of  eleven  miles,  passing  two  Cold  Harbaun^ 
Chesterton  and  Elton.  As  it  does  not  pass  through 
any  village  in  this  part  of  its  course,  and  runs  r^ularly 
purallel  with  the  Ermine  Street,  at  the  same  distance 
for  the  last  nine  miles,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  could 
have  been  its  direct  intention.  A  mile  North  of  its 
juncture  with  the  Elton  and  Cheeterton  Turnpike  road, 
it  is  traceable,  I  fancy,  at  Water  Newton  Lodge,  thence 
to  Water  Newton,  and  thence  to  C(uiar  and  Upton. 
From  Upton  to  Langdike  Bueh^  a  distance  of  a  mile, 
it  is  lost,  but  hence  in  a  very  straight  line  due  North 
it  is  distinctly  traceable  through  West  Deeping  and 
Thurlby,  to  Bourn,  co.  Rutland,  for  eleven  miles,  and 
is  known  for  a  conmderable  distance  under  the  name  of 
Kmo  Street.  From  Cador^  co.  Northampton,  this  is 
the  direct  road  to  Sleaford,  and  there  is  no  doubt,  I 
think,  of  its  Roman  pretensions,  from  beginning  to  end. 

Bunkers  Hill! 
Bunkers   Hill,    two   miles    South   of   Stourbridge,   oo. 
Worcester. 
Bunkers    Hill,    between    Moulton   and    Pitsford,    oo. 

Northampton. 
Bunkers  Hill,  East  of  Evesham. 
Bunkers  Hill,  two  miles  North  West  of  Alcester. 
Bunkers    Hill,   between   Catworth  and   Longstow,    oo. 

Huntingdon. 
Bungers  HiU,  co.  Kent. 
Bungers  Hill,  near  Denham,  co.  Buckingham. 

Bur;    very  common   as  a  prefix.      Celt.  A.  Sax.  buvy 
domus.     (See  p.  141.) 
Burcot,  CO.  Rutland. 

Burway;  Burley,  North  West  of  Ludlow. 
Burton,  or  Bourton,  near  Much  Wenlock.. 


245 

4  Burton  Hastings,  co.  Warwick. 
Burton  Latimer,  oo.  Northampton. 
Burbach,  on  the  Watling  Street,  near  High  Cross. 
Bubt;  in  its  primary  signification  this  word  denoted  a 
place  of  defence  whether  strong  by  nature  or  fortified 
by  art.  Urbes  atque  castella,  says  Vegetius,  aut  n»- 
turfi  muniuntur,  aut  manu.  Naturd,  aut  loco  edito 
▼el  abrupto,  aut  circumfiisa  mari  vel  paludibus  vel  flu- 
minibus.  Manu,  fossis  ac  muris.  (De  Re  Militari,  lib. 
iv.  cap.  2.)  From  these  places  of  defence  being  situated 
on  eminences,  so  that  the  approach  to  them  should 
be  more  difficult,  they  obtained  the  name  of  Burff9. 
In  the  first  place,  from  the  eminence  itself,  M.  Goth. 
bairg;  Franc.  Alam.  Isl.  Gelt.  Teut.  Belg.  Sw.  Oerm. 
berg;  A.  Sax.  beorg^  mons,  rupes,  upon  which  they 
stood.  The  mountain  hence  gave  name  to  the  strong- 
hold, which  in  a  secondary  sense  was  denominated  a 
Burg^  6r.  nvpyoiy  Lat.  Burgus  (Gastellum  parvulum 
quem  Burgvm  vocant.  Veget.  De  Re  Milit.)  The 
origin  of  this  word  is  to  be  sou^t  for  among  the 
Northern  languages.  Ptolemy  speaks  of  it  as  being 
in  use  among  the  ancient  Germans.  The  Burgundianet 
are.  placed  by  Pliny  among  the  five  principid  nations 
of  Germany.  ^^Germanorum  genera  quinque,  Vindili, 
quorum  pars  Burgundiones.^  Vindili  are  the  Vandals. 
Some  authors  suppose  the  Burgundiones  to  be  de- 
scended from  the  Scythians.  They  dwelt  under  tents 
which  were  joined  together,  for  the  sake  of  their  being 
able  to  act  in  concert  when  suddenly  attacked.  Hence 
the  body  was  called  a  Bargy  and  subsequently  through 
lat^r  channels  came  the  word  Baroughj  or  an  united 
assembly  of  people,  a  town.  M.  Gotili.  Baurgs;  Celt. 
Btorg;  Alam.  F.  Theot.  Sw.  Isl.  Belg.  Germ.  A.  Sax. 
bwg;  S.  Gt>th.  Dan.  Teut.  borg;  arx  munita,  civitas. 
Hence  the  A.  Sax.  Burh,  Buruh^  civitas,  borough  or 
bury.    Byrig^  urbs^  collis,  tumulus  quivis  e  terra  con- 


246 

gestuB.  Byriffon^  Bebyrffean^  sepdire.  Which  three 
laat  A.  Sax.  worcb  oome  firom  the  Northern  tongaee 
above  quoted.  A  Bury^  A.  Sax.  Urgency  a  place  of 
eepulture  under  a  Bwrg  or  mound,  or  artifi<rial  hiD. 
Numerous  phMsea  throughout  Enghmd  terminate  in 
Bwryy  and  near  such  are  ahnoet  invariably  found  some 
ancient  camp  or  earth-woric  which  gave  rise  to  the 
termination.  Charlemagne,  when  he  had  conquered  the 
SaxouB  decreed  that  the  bodies  of  the  Sax<m  CihristianB 
should  no  longer  he  interred  in  the  tumuli  of  the  Pagans, 
but  carried  to  churches.  Ebuby  Wood  (see  p.  177), 
near  Haughmond  Abbey,  and  Burt  Walls  near  Hawk- . 
stone,  PoNTBSBUBT  (see  p.  179),  Shbbwbbubt  and  Shaw- 
BUBT,  (A.  Sax.  Mtfo,  nemus,  and  bwrg^  civitas)  derived 
their  name  from  the  former  causes.  Shawiwy  will 
therefore  imply  a  camp,  or  place  of  defence  by  the 
side  of  a  wood,  and  marks  of  its  supposed  existence 
are  perceptible  close  to  the  village,  in  Witkyford  Wood, 
Shawbury  Park  Wood,  and  in  MaUkewi,  6riffin\  Daw- 
8on\  Green\  Hazhs,  &c.  coppices.  In  the  same  man- 
ner Tacitus  states  the  Angli,  Varini,  Suardones,  and 
other  inhabitants  of  ancient  Gennany  protected  them- 
selves, ^^fluminibus  aut  irfrlvis  muninntur.'"  (V.  de 
Morib.  German,  cap.  40,  p.  680,  edit.  Var.)  A  river  or 
wood  defended  them  on  one  or  more  sides,  whilst 
they  drew  a  trench  round  them  on  the  mde  exposed, 
and  most  obnoxious  to  attack.  Instances  of  places 
in  our  own  county  deriving  their  appellation  from  the 
latter  source,  that  is,  from  the  A.  Sax.  Birffone,  a  bury 
or  tumulus,  may  be  discovered  in  Rubhbubt  (see  pp. 
149,  150),  where  a  remain  of  this  nature  now  exists; 
to  one  or  other  of  these  reasons  must  be  assigned 
the  names  of  Onibury,  Oldbury,  Sidbury,  Beckbuxy, 
Diddlebury,  Chirbury,  &c.,  in  Shropshire. 

And  thus  the  name  of  Aldburgh  co.  York  and  Norfolk: 
Aldeborough,  co.  Suffolk;  Aldebury,  co.  Hertford  and 


247 

Oxford;  Alderbury,  oo.  Wilts,  with  Oldbuiy,  co.   Sa- 
lop, denote  their  antiquity  aa  a  fortification  in  general, 
for  our  Saxon  anoestors,  who  imposed  them  were  no 
antiquariee.    The  appearance  of  ancient  fortificationfl, 
Roman,   British,  or  of  their  own  progenitors,  as  Dr 
Whitaker  remarks,  excited  in  their  minds  no  distinct 
ideas :  they  were  buighs  alike.     Thus  they  denominated 
the  Tillage  of  Aldburgh,  co.  Richmond,  from  the  vast 
works  in  or  about  it,  which  are  indubitably  British; 
the  Roman  Isurium,  which  in  its  regukr  quadrangular 
walls  bore  an  appearance  altogether  different  fit>m  the 
last;  and,  thirdly,  the  camps  in  South  Riohmondshire, 
which  were  probably  the  workmanship  of  the  earlier 
Saxon.     All   were  Aldbuighs.      Buighs,    because   all 
were  fortifications,   and  Aid,  because  their  origin  was 
beyond  the  recollection  of  the  names. 
Bush.     From  the  frequent  recurrence  of  this  word  in 
the  neighbouriiood  ot  Roman  roads   and  stations,  it 
is  highly  probable  that  it  is  allusive  in  a  measure  to 
some    occurrence   or   scene    with   which   the    Romans 
were  concerned.      Perhaps   it   comes   from  the   Lat. 
Barb,  ambuadoy  or  an  ambuscade,  a  place  of  surprise 
or  ensnarement.     Thus  we  have  Bampton  in  the  Buth, 
and  Hinton  in  the  Hedges^  in  Oxfordshire.     Mordbn 
Bush,  (S.  Goth.  Mor^  sylva  densior)  near  Littlington, 
oo.  Cambridge,  near  two  Roman  roads.     Clay   Bush 
in  the  same  vicinity,  close  to  Harborouoh   Banks  in 
Hertfordshire.     Prnnt'^s  Bush,  close  to  Streatly  on  a 
Roman  road  in  Hertfordshire.      King^s  Bush,   a  mile 
and  a  half  South  EUst  of  Oodmanchester,  in  the  county 
of  Huntingdon,  upon  the  Ebminb  Strkbt,  and  Blagk- 
LAND^s  Bush  on  the  South   West    side    of  the   same 
station.     At  Radnaix  Bush,  in  Warwickshire,  are  indi- 
cations of  an  early  British  settlement.     (See  Mr  Blox- 
am'^s  excellent  account  of  the   British  Antiquities  in 
Warwickshire,  p.  184).     CiiOunssutT  Bush,  on  the  Fosse 


248 

Way,   a  mile  and  a  half  Soath  of  Bbconu.     CuoKdo 

BusHBs,  on  the  Roman  road  from  Nutahalling  to  WiSr 

Chester.     Sandt  Bush,  a  mile  North  of  Tilt  Bbidob 

Lank,  a  Roman  road  ifrom  the  EaMms  STRBsr,  North 

of  Lincoln  to   Littborough.      Barton   Bushes  on   the 

Roman  road  from   Winchester  through  Ogboum,    St 

George,  Chiseld^  &o. 
Butts.     Fr.  bout;  Lat.  Barb,  butta,  extremitas. 

The  Bouts,  North  of  Inkberrow,  co.  Worcester. 

The  Butts,  near  Higley.     The  Butts,  near  Norbuiy. 

ludas  Butts,  between  Shrewsbury  and  Uffington. 

Butts,  near  Tanworth,  oo.  Warwick. 
By.     a  termination.     A.  Sax.  bye,  pagus. 
Caldboot,  Caldioot,  Goldicot;  the  same  in  part  as  C!old 

Harbour;   instead  of   Harbour  we  have  cai,   for  the 

termination;  Celt.  A.  Sax.  eote,  domus;  C.  Brit.  cfcU; 

Isl.  kat;    S.  Goth,  kite,   tuguriolum.      Places  of  this 

name  usually  lie  contiguous  to  Roman  roads  or  stations. 

Can  this  word  col,   or  cold,  have  any  connexion  with 

the  Lat.  coUoco  or  colotdaf 

Coldicot,  one  mile  West  of  a  road  from  Monmouth  to 
Hereford,  presumed  to  have  been  a  Roman  communi- 
cation. 

Caldicot,  a  mile  and  a  half  South  of  Caerwoit,  oo. 
Monmouth,  and  midway  betwixt  this  Roman  station 
and  a  large  semicircular  encampment  at  the  month 
of  the  Severn. 

Caldecote  on  the  Watling  Street,  South  East  of 
Atherstone. 

Caldecot,  South  West  of  Stratford  and  Sandy,  (Sa- 
lens) on  a  Roman  way,  leading  from  Hertford  through 
Biggleswade  to  Godmanchester. 

Caldecote,  five  mQes  South  East  of  Biggleswade,  be- 
tween the  Roman  road  and  Harborongh  Banks. 

Caldecote,  between  the  Port  Way  on  the  North,  and 
the  Mare   Way  on  the  South ;    the   Ermine   Way 


I 


249 

•  two  miles  to  the  West,  and  a  Bonum  road  lead- 
ing to  Cambridge,  through  Barton,  from  the  same 
Street.  At  Arrington  Bridge,  on  the  Ermine  Street,  eo. 
Cambridge,  a  road  branches  off  to  the  West,  passes 
through  Tadlow  and  Wrestlingworth,  close  to  Biggles- 
wade, it  passes  BockI  Farm;  on  the  West  side  of  the 
town  just  below  Caldecote  Green,  it  is  called  ffitt 
Lane^  from  whence  it  proceeds  to  the  small  circular 
encampment  of  Old  Warden.  In  the  immediate  vi- 
cinity we  meet  with  the  well  known  accompaniments 
to  Roman  positions,  in  Warden  Street^  Lovm  Busk, 
Stanford^  Stanford  Bury. 
Caldecote,  between  the  Bullock  Road  and  Ermine 
Street,  a  mile  from  either,  and  five  South  of  Yaxley, 
CO.  Huntingdon. 

Caldecot,  one  mile  South  of  Newport  Pagnel;  and  on 
the  same  road,  betwixt  WaUon  and  Fewny  Straifard^  is 
Caleot.  This  road  I  imagine  must  be  a  Roman  line  of 
communication  from  the  Watling  Street  at  Fenny  Strat- 
ford^ through  Newport  Pagnel,  Olney,  four  miles  North 
of  which  it  leaves  a  Cold  Harbour  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
the  East,  from  thence  it  proceeds  to  Wollaston,  where 
are  traces  of  an  ancient  way  from  hence  to  iBCHEerBB, 
and  iBTHLiNaBOBOuoH,  and  terminates  at  Cotton,  be- 
twixt Addington  and  Ringstead,  co.  Northampton. 
Caldecote  Spinny,  betwixt  Husbands  Bosworth  and  Lut- 
terworth ;  on  a  branch  road  from  the  Watling  Street, 
which  crosses  the  road  from  Towcester,  through  North- 
ampton to  Leicester,  which  I  conceive  was  originally 
a  Roman  one.  There  are  three  or  four  places  by  the 
side  of  this  branch  road  which  are  compounded  with 
Wal.  The  Mere  Road,  which  begins  at  Cloudesley 
Busk  .on  the  Fosse,  bearing  betwixt  this  place  and 
Over  Claybrook  the  appellation  of  Woodway  Lane, 
.whence  passmg  by  CauldweU,  Gilmorton^  and  Sadding- 
ton,  must  be  an  ancient  way. 


250 

Galdeooie,  South  of  Uppingham,  oo.  Rutland.     From 

the  direct  line  of  the  turnpike  road  here  from  the 

South,  this  might  have  been  formerly  a  Vicinal  Way. 

Caldecote,  near  Upper  Shuokborough.     Might  not  the 

direct  road  from  Arbury  Banks  in  the  South  of  the 

CO.  of  Warwick,  have  paaied  by  this  place!     First 

of  all,    up    the    Wklshman^s    Road   to    Boddington, 

thence  to  Priors  Idarston  under  Beacon  Hill,  Lower 

Shuckborough,  Orandboroug^  Waloate  and  Lonodown 

Lank,  the   RmoswAT,   where  it  joined  the  Wailing 

Street  between  Crick  and  Kilsby. 

Galoot,  on  the    Ermine    Street,    South  of  Cricklade, 

CO.  Gloucester. 

Calcot,  midway  between  the  Fosse  and  Saltway,  South 

of  Northleaoh,  co.  Gloucester. 
Calcot,  three  miles  from   Shrewsbury  on   the   Welsh 
Pool  road.  North  West  of  Pa/fsemsni  Gate:  there  is 
every  reason  for  thinking  this  road  to  be  of  Roman 
origin.     (See  p.  148.) 
Calderwell,   on  a  road  that  looks  as  though  it  were 
of  Roman  origin,   beginning   at  Cainham    Camp,   oo. 
Salop;  it  is  seen  at  Huntingdon,  Little  Hereford  Bridge, 
Skneg  Cross,  the  Ford^  Stratford^  BiAury  Camp;  be- 
low it  we  find   Venm  Chremh^   Venm  Woody  and  Sdtton 
Walls,   co.    Hereford.     This,   by   a  slight  corruption, 
becomes  Cauldwell,  and  Caudwell,  the  latter  of  which 
words  is  found  at  the  end  of  the  Gabtbeb  RoAn,  and  is 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  several  other  parts  of  England. 
Caldt,  Caldy  Bank;  close  to  three  quadrangular  camps 

South  West  of  Mainstone,  co.  Salop. 
Callow.     Celt.  CW,  altus ;  A.  SaK.  eah ;  Franc*  ckalo, 
eahui.     (Vide  p.  155.) 

Callow,  North  of  Goodrich  Court,  co.  Hereford.     Cal- 
low, South  of  Hereford.      Callow  Hill,   North   West 
of  Ledbury.     Callow    Hill   South  of    Kenderchurch. 
Callow  Hill,  near  the   Forest  ^f   Wyre. 


251 


Callow  Hill,  West  of  Little  StrettoD.    Callow  Hill,  South 
of  Tardebigg,  oo.  Worcester.     CaQow  Hill,  near  Stone- 
field,  CO.  Oxford.     Callow  Hill  EntrendunentB,  North 
West  of  Blenheim  Park,  co.  Oxford. 
Oallow  Hill,  Bolam,  Northumberland. 
Gallywood  Common,  near  Chelmsford. 

Cant,  in  composition  means  the  head  or  top  of  a  thing 
that  is  winding  and  circular.     Celt,  eant^  caput. 
Cantlope  Cross,  East  of  Condover. 
Cantem  Bank,  North  of  Bridgenorth. 

Causeway.  Several  roads  originally  of  Roman  construc- 
tion have  degenerated  into  this  title.  Thus,  part  of 
the  Via  Dsvana,  South  East  of  Cambridge,  is  called 
Worths  Causkwat.  The  road  from  Wroxeter  to  Bush- 
bury  CO.  Salop,  is  called  in  one  part  the  Devil^s 
Cacsswat,  (see  pp.  134,  &c.)  Hobkbslet  Causeway,  three 
miles  North  of  Colchester^  the  road  leading  from  Great 
Horkesley  to  Colchester.  Thobley  Causeway  turns  to 
the  West  out  of  the  PEnDAB  Way  going  from  Bishop 
Stortford  through  Stanstead  Montfitchet,  Newport,  Aud- 
ley  End,  &o.,  to  Holme  on  the  sea.  Bridgend  Cause- 
way points  from  Donnington,  oo.  Lincoln,  to  the  Ermine 
Street,  which  it  joins  at  CM  Harbour  Tumpiie. 

CocKBHUT.  This  word  is  of  frequent  recurrence  in  many 
counties,  a  clear  indication  that  it  is  n6t  used  with- 
out having  been  acquired  from  an  early  source.  One 
would  expect  to  find  it  easy  of  explanation  in  con- 
sequoice  of  its  general  acceptance.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  case.  The  Celt.  Ooi^  elevatus,  caput,  is 
the  nearest  approach  we  can  make  to  the  prefix: 
and  in  the  same  language  Sffod,  Tsgod^  silva,  is  the 
best  word  which  explains  the  termination.  In  some 
eases  this  wiU  correspond  with  the  present  appearance 
of  the  places  where  the  word  is  applied,  amongst  others 
the  following,  though  it  does  not  hold  good  in  every 
instance  here  adduced. 


252 

Cookbank,  near  Adderley,  South  of  Audlem,  oo.  Stafford. 

Cockflhut,  a  bank,  near  Bitterley.     Cockahut,  between 

.   Elleflmere  and  Middle. 

Cockshnt  Bank,  near  Downton.  Cockahut  Lane,  Broae- 
ley,  CO.  Salop. 

Cockahoota,  near  Middleton  Scriven.  Gockaall,  near 
Aaton  Botterell. 

Codaal,  co.  Stafford. 

Cockalade  Rough. 

Cockbury  Farm,  North  of  Ghdtaiham,  on  Nottingham 
HiU. 

Cockahut,  South  of  Montgomery* 

Cockahut  Wood,  one  mile  North  of  Uak.  Id.  one 
mile  North  of  Chepatow.  Id.  one  mile  Weat  of 
Weat  Wycombe. 

Cockahute  Fur  Fira,  North  of  Wootton  Underedge, 
CO.  Olouceater. 

Cockahut  Hill  Farm,   South  of  Droitwich* 

Cockahoot  Hill,  near  Sheffbrd,  co.  Bedford. 

Cockley  Hill,  near  Thcnford,  co.  Northampton. 

Cockaheath,  Eaat  of  Skenfrith,  co.  Monmouth. 

Cockahed  and  Cockabrook  Wood,  North  Eaat  of  Keair 
church,  CO.  Hereford. 

Coxwall  Elnoll,  near  Brampton  Brian,  co.  Radnor. 
Cold.     A  moat  frequent   prefix  to  namea  of  plaoea  in 

thia  and  other  countiea.     It  aeema  to  predominate  near 

Roman  aettlementa.  Lat.  coUmiaf    Thua  we  have  Cold 

Camp,  on  Woodbury  Hilt,  a  mile  and  a  half  North  of 

Upper  Arley,  and  Cold  Camp,  a  amall  camp  two  milea 

North  of  Kidderminater. 
Cold  Baopath,  near  Kingacote,  co.  Glouceater. 
Cold  Batch,  South  Eaat  of  Biahop^a  Castle. 
Cold  Blow,  three  placea  in  Pembrokeshire  have  thia  name. 
Cold  Camp,  North  West  of  the  encampment  on  Wood- 
bury HiU,  CO.  Worceater.     Id.  North  of  Upper  Arley, 

CO.  Worcester. 


253 

Cold  Comfobt,  South  West  of  Aloester,  co.  Warwick, 
and  East  of  Weeton  upon  Avon. 

Cold  Comfobt,  four  miles  North  West  of  Glonoester. 

Cold  Kftcbbn,  co.  Surrey. 

Cold  KncnsN  Hill,  one  mile  East  of  Maiden  Bradeley, 
oo.  Wilts. 

Cold  Stockino,  near  Stokesay,  co.  Salop,  dose  to  the 
Watling  Street. 

Cold  End,  co.  Pembroke. 

Cold  Arboub.     The  former  word  must  not,  I  conceive, 
be  taken  in  too  literal  a  sense,  but  with  reference  to 
a  secondary  meaning,  as  cpen^  exposed.     M.  Gt>th.  told; 
S.Ooth.  ifcoS;    Isl.  ialdur^  Franc.  Alam.  ehaU;   Dan. 
laald;  Oerm.  kdld;  Teut.  Belg.  koude;  A.  Sax.  eeald^ 
frigidus.     Arbour  or  Harbour,   must  be  derived  from 
the  Franc.  Theot.  Hereberga^   munimentnm  castrense, 
receptaculum  exercitus.      Teut.  Oerm.  A^,  exercitus; 
Teut.  Germ,  bergen^  tueri.     A.  Sax.  hereJ>eorgan^  ma- 
nere.    Heire-berga^   static  militaris.     Lat.  Barb.  Heire-^ 
berga^  Hereburgumy  Heribwrgum.     Thus,    Cold  Harbcmr 
indicates  an  <^n,   unenclosed,   or  unfortified  military 
station,  and  as  the  term  perpetually  occurs  close  upon 
Roman  roads,  or  other  lines  of  early  communication,  # 
it  appears  to  be  a   very   natural  inference,    that  it 
denotes    either    a   halting    place,    or    the    temporary 
quarters  of  marching  troops.     From  Her  may  be  de- 
duced the  prefix  JTor,  and  Ar^  in  Harbubt  Banks,  a 
Roman  position  near  Chipping  Warden. 
Abbuby,  a  Roman  station  close  to  Cambridge. 
Habbobouoh    Banks,    a   mUe    South    of    Ashwell,    co. 
Hertford,  contiguous  to  the  Icknield  Street. 
Market  Harborough,   co.   Leicester,  where  Roman  re- 
mains have  been  found. 
Chaucer  uses  Herbente  and  Herbergage^  for  lodging. 
Oold  Harbour,  in  the  City  of  London^  is  mentioned 
as  a  tenement  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edw.  H.     In 


254 

1410,  Henry  IV.  grftnted  a  homie  on  thk  spot  to  his 
son,  Henry  Prince  of  Wales,  by  the  title  of  "quod- 
cUun  hospitium  siye  placeam  Tooatiun  le  Oddekerberykr 
See  Pennant^s  London,  p.  805,  and  Appendix  p.  33. 

.  Qnery!  Whether  this  be  the  Coldherbergh  mentioned 
in  the  Minutes  of  a  Council  held  at  Cold  Harbour, 
8th  of  February,  1410.  (See  Privy  Council  Proceed- 
ings, Edit.  Nicohis,  vol.  i.  pp.  330,  331.)  Sur  Thomas 
Vaghan  died  seised  of  the  Manor  of  Caldeherbergh : 
86th  Edw.  III.  (See  Manning  and  Bray,  Hist,  of 
Surrey,  vol.  iii.  p.  416.)  There  is  a  lane  at  Cam- 
foerwcJl  still  called  Cold  Harbour  Lane. 

AUied  to  this  is  Hare  Street^  so  prevalent  in  Hertford- 
shire and  Essex. 

Cold  Habboubs,  on  or  near  the  Akbman  Street. 

Cold  Harbour,  close  to  Chesterton,  co.   Oxford,  South 

of  Middleton  Stoney. 
Cold   Harbour  Farm,  two  miles  South  of  it,  close  to 

Brill,  CO.  Oxford. 
Cold  Harbour,   one  mile  East  of  it,  midway  between 

Tetbury  and  Mahnesbury,  co.  Wilts. 

Cold  Habboues,  <m  or  near  the  Ermine  Stbeet. 

Cold  Harbour,  four  miles  South  East  of  Cricldade,  co. 

Wilts. 
Cold    Harbour,    one   mile  East  of  it,    between   Ware 

and  Puckeridge. 

Cold  Harbour,  North  of  Ware. 
Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  from  it,  on  the  Bullock  Boad, 

North  West  of  Alconbury,  co.  Huntingdon. 

Cold  Habboub,  on  the   Fosse. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  East  of  it,  at  IKcheridge^  cd. 
Somerset. 


265 

Cold  Habbours,  on   or  near  the  Icknibld  Stbset. 
Cold  H«rbour  Farm,  two  mfles  South  East  of  it,  near 

Aldbuiy,  CO.  Bucking^iam. 
Cdd   Harbour,   betwixt  it  and  a  Roman  road,   about 

Harborough  Banks,  near  Ashwell,  oo.  Hertford. 

Cold  Hasboubs,  on  or  near  the  Pobt  Way. 

Cold  Harbour  Farm^  one  mile  East  of  Watlingford. 
Cold   Harbour   Bam,  between  it  and  Ickleton  Street, 
three  miles  South  East  of  Wantage. 

Cold  Harboubs,  on  or  near  the  WATLma  Street. 
Cold  Harbour  Farm,  close  upon  it,  three  miles  North 

West  of  Fenny  Stratford* 
Cold  Harbour,  half  a  mile  East  of  it,  at  Dunstable. 
Cold  Harbour,   (me  mile  North  West  of  it,   at  Stret- 

ford,  CO.  Hereford. 

Cold  Harbours,   on  or  near  other  Romak  Roads. 

Cold  Harbour,  on  the  road  from  Wallingford  to  Thame, 

one  mile  North  of  Stadhamptcm,  on  Ryeoie  Lam. 
Cold  Harbour,  three  miles  South  of  Droitwich  and  one 

mile  West  of  Trmhch  Lome. 
Cold  Harbour  Farm,   one  mile  West  of  Roman  road 

fiom  Bicester  to  Buckingham,  between  Barton  Harts* 

horn,  and  Cottisford. 
Cold  Harbour  Farm,  North  of  the  preceding,  betwixt 

Radston  and  Whitfield,  co.  Northatnpton. 
Cold  Harbour,  on  the  Roman  road  near  Tempisford, 

CO.  Huntingdon. 
Cold  Harbour,  on  Stone  Street,  South  of  Dorking.  (See 

Camden,  vol.  i.  p.  249.) 
Gold    Harbour,    between   Newington   and    BobbingUm, 

dose  upon  Roman  road  from  Dover  to  Rodiester. 
Odd  Hiurbour,  on  BaAam  Downs,  Kent,  North  of  the 

Roman  road  from  Dover. 


256 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  North  of  Biggleswade. 
Cold  Harbour,  South  of  Fordham,  eo.  Norfolk. 
Cold  Harbour,  two  miles  South  of  Lower  Wallop,  North 

of  Roman  road  from  Winohester  to  Old  Sarum,  oo, 

Wilts. 
Cold  Harbour,  near  Kingseote,   oo.   Gloucester. 
Cold  Harbour,   betwixt  Westbury  and   Bristol,  half  a 

mile  West  of  the  Ridgeway. 
Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Eltham  and  two  from 

the  Roman  road  fit>m  London  through  Dartford. 

Cold  Harboubs,  on  or  near  other  $i^opo$6d 
Roman  Roads. 

Cold  Harbour  Farm,  four  miles  North  East  of  Fenny 
Stratford,  on  a  presumed  line  of  ancient  road  between 
this  place  and  Salford:  there  are  entrenchments  to 
the  South  of  the  latter  place. 

Cold  Harbour,  half  a  mile  East  of  the  road  from  Deal 
to  Woodnesborough  and  Richborough  Castle. 

Cold  Harbour,  a  road  goes  due  South  from  Canter- 
bury to  Ljrmpne,  close  to  the  West  of  which  is  Cold 
Harbour.  Surely  this  must  be  a  Roman  road  fit)m 
the  peculiar  straightness  with  which  it  runs*  It  seems 
the  direct  road  from  Hythe  to  Canterbury. 

Cold  Harbour,  between  Harrold,  co.  Bedford,  and  01- 
ney,  co.  Buckingham,  one  mile  West  of  the  former, 
lying  contiguous  to  the  road  to  iBCHBffrsR,  South  of 
which  are  faint  indications  of  a  Roman  Way. 

Cold  Harbour,  between  (Jayhurst  and  Stoke  Goldingtoo, 
CO.  Buckingham. 

Cold  Harbour,  North  of  Newent,  co.  Gloucester,  on  a 
supposed  line  of  Roman  road. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  North  West  of  Glastonbmy. 

Cold  Harbour,   West  of  St  Briavels,  eo.  Gloucester. 

Cold  Harbour,  immediately  under  the  fine  camp  of  Ulxt 
BuBT,  near  Dursley,  co.  Gloucester. 


257 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Berkfaampstead. 

Cold  Harbour,  between  Watford  and  Stanmore. 

Cold  Harbour,  close  to  Boxford,  South. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  North  of  Great  Marlow. 

Cold  Harbour,  South  of  Hawkeshurst. 

Cold  Harbour,  between  Hitchendon  and  Oreat  Missenden. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mOe  South -East  of  Worth,  co.  Surrey. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Maldon. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Croydon. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Bignor. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  East  of  Havant,  co.  Hants. 

Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  North  East  of  road  ifrom  Seven* 

oaks  to  Tunbridge,  between  Upper  and  Lower  Trench. 
Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  North  of  Wrotham. 
Cold  Harbour,  between   Aylesford  and  Leyboum,  close 

to  the  road  from  Mudstone  to  Foots  Gray. 
Cold  Harbour,  between  Addington  and  Beckenham,  co. 

Kent. 
Cold  Harbour,  North  of  Bampton,  co.  Devon. 
Cold  Harbour,    one    mile    South    of   Ufculm    and    six 

North  of  CoUumpton,  co.  Devon. 
Cold  Harbour,  between  Westbury  and  Melksham,  co.  Wilts. 
Cold  Harbour,  two  miles  East  of  Modbury,  co.  Devon. 
Cold  Harbour,  dose  to  Trowednack,  co.  Cornwall. 
Cold  Harbour,  three  miles  South  West  of  Newark. 
Cold  Harbour,  two  miles  South  East  of  Louth. 
Cold  Harbour,  North  West  of  Purfleet,  co.  Essex. 
Cold  Harbour,  South  East  of  Croydon. 
Cold  Harbour   Farm,   one  mile   South  of   Deddington, 

CO.  Oxford. 
Cold  Harbour,  one  mile  South  of  Hungerford,  co.  Hants. 

adjoins  the  Akeman  Street  at  Stretton  St  Margaret. 
Cold  Harbour,  a  turnpike,  four  nules  North  of  Fareham, 

CO.  Hants. 

Cold  Harbour,  a  turnpike,  three  miles  East  of  Grant- 
ham, CO.  Lineobn. 

17 


258 


Ck>ld  Harbour,  between  Nottingluun  and  Chiaelhiirst, 
oo.  Kent. 

Cold  Harbour,  on  Bailey  Hill,  near  Knighton,  eo.  Radnor. 

Cold  Harbour  Pill,  one  mile  and  a  half  South  of  Caer- 
went,  on  the  Severn.  (C.  Brit.  Pt/,  a  small  inlet  of 
the  sea,  filled  by  the  tide.  Celt.  Ptff,  locus  munitus, 
locus  super.) 

Cold  Harbour  Keen,  on  the  Severn,  one  mile  and  a 
half  West  of  Berkeley,   co.  Gloucester.     (Celt.   rm. 
A.  Saxon,  tyne^  oursus  aquie.) 
CoNKTOABB,  CoNioBEB,  &c.     A  vory  usual  name,  which  may 

deserve  insertion  here,  as  various  conjectures  have  heea 

made  on  its  etymology.     It  seems  however  most  pro- 
bably nothing  more  than  a  corruption  of  the  old  word 

Connigrie,  a  rabbit  warren. 

"  Parkis  warrens  et  eanniffriee.'"    Stat.  13.  Bic.  H.  c.  18. 

"  na  man  take  out  eunninget  out  of  uthers  eunmnffoim. 
Stat.  Jac.  III.  Scot.  1475.  See  also  Stat.  Jac.  1. 1424. 
2  Jac.  VI.  1679. 

Nash  (I  think)  derives  that  at  Dudley  from  Cyning  a 
King;   but  the  spelling   C<mingte  is  obviously  to  be 
traced  to  the  old  spelling  of  the  word  con$y. 
Ccmingea  or  with  fine  vitaile.    Cbaucbr. 

Cougar,  North  of  Clevedon,  co.  Somerset. 

Oongre  Hill,  near  Toddington,  co.  Bedford. 

Coneygree  House,  South  of  Etwall,  co.  Derby. 

Conigree  Hill,  a  circular  artificial  hill  like  the  preced- 
ing one,  close  to  Bromesberrow,  co.  Worcester. 

Coningree  Wood,  two  miles  North  East  of  Worcester. 

Coneygree  Wood,  South  of  Ledbury,  co.  Hereford. 

Coneygree  Lane,  near  Middle  Hill,  co.  Worcester.  » 

Coningree  Whitehouse,  one  mile  South  of  Sutton  Coldfield. 

Coneygare  Copse,  near  Quenington,  co.  Gloucester. 

Coneygore  Copse,  South  of  Alfrick,  co.  Worcester. 

Coneygore  Farm,  near  Alveston,  co.  Somerset.  Coney- 
gore  Wood,  near  Wootton  Underedge. 


259 

Coneygore  Hill,  a  mile  East  of  Wincanton.  Id.  a  mile 
South  of  Dorchester,  co.  Dorset. 

Coneygore  Pill,  on  the  Severn,  West  of  Berkeley,  co. 
Gloucester. 

The  Coneygarth,  West  of  Amesbury.     A.  Sax.  geard  f 
Cot,  Cote,  a  termination  denoting  a  covered  spot,  house, 

building  or  Cottage.     Isl.  Tout.  Oeim.  Kot;  "Fm.coto; 

Lapp.  S.  Goth.  Kate ;  CeH.  Gael.  A.  Sax.  cot,  C.  Brit. 

ewt.  Lat.  Barb,  cota^  tuguriolum,  habitatio. 

Places  with  this  termination  are  not  so  abundant  with 
us  as  in  some  other  counties.  Among  instances  of  it 
however  are  the  following. 

Sibberscot ;  C.  Brit.  Bib^  that  tends  to  encircle.  (Owen 
Pugfae.)  Ber^  a  hill,  and  cwt^  a  cote  or  herd,  an 
enclosure ;  that  is,  an  enclosure  encircling  the  hill. 

Arlescot ;  C.  Brit,  arghogz^  a  lord  or  master,  and  ewt^ 
a  dwelling.  Arlescot  or  as  it  is  pronounced  AhMt  is 
written  in  the  earliest  record,  where  I  have  found  it 
mentioned  HduUeeeat ;  (Rot.  Hundr.  temp.  Hen.  III.) 
in  the  next  reign  Herleicote;  (Forest  Peramb.  of  Shrop- 
shire, temp.  Edw.  I.)  This  is  among  the  numerous 
instances  which  might  be  adduced  to  shew  how  con- 
stantly the  name  of  the  same  place  varied,  especiaDy 
after  the  Survey.  A  clear  proof  that  our  etymologies 
must  be  sought  for  antecedent  to  the  A.  Sax.  period, 
and  those  derivations  preferred  which  come  from  an 
earlier  source. 
SxETHooT.     There  are  three  places  of  this  name,    one 

South  of  Upton  Magna,  another  West  of  Hadnall,  and 

the  other  a  village  ten  miles  South   of  Shrewsbury. 

A.  Sax.  Stnitk,  faber,  and  cot.    (Hodiemo  nostro  ser- 

mone),  ''the  Smith's  Shop.'" 

Picclescot,  a  small  hamlet  nine  miles  South  of  Shrews- 
bury, near  Smethcot.  C.  Brit.  /»to,  (pid),  parvus 
and  cwt.  Afterwards  PighteTs  eoi,  or  the  dwelUng  in 
a  pyghtel,  which  Phillips  explains  to  be  'a  snudl  parcel 

17-2 


260 


of  land  enoloaed  with  a  hedge,  which  in  some  parte 

of  England  is  commonly  called .  a  pingle.'    Lat.  Barb. 

PideUum^  PigkkUum^  exigua  fundi  portio,  Sepimento 

conclusa.    Du  Cange. 
Dimoot ;  A.  Sax.  dim,  coUis,  and  cf^.     Besides  Waloot, 

Woodcote,  Lushcot,  Burcot,  Swancote,  &c.  &c. 
Coion,  Coion  End;  all  the  places  of  this  name  that  I 

know,  and  they  are  numerous,  entirely  agree  with  its 

derivation;  they  are  all  upon  a  stream  or  river,  usually 

in  the  suburbs  of  a  town.     Celt.  Gael.  A.  Sax.  Cki; 

C.  Brit,  ewt^  domus ;   Celt.  o»,  aqua,  fiumen. 
Coton,  South  East  of  Condover,  above  the  Severn. 
Coton,  betwixt  Bridgenorth  and  Kidderminster. 
Cotton,  near  Hodnet,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Ten. 
Cotton  Hill,  suburbs  of  Shrewsbury,  on  the  Severn. 
Coton  End,  suburbs  of  Northampton,  on  the  Nen. 
Coton  End,  suburbs  of  Leamington  and  Warwick,  on 

the  Avon. 
Coton  End,  in  the  village  of  Cooknoe   or  Cogoihoe, 

Northamptonshire,  where  this  is  penned,  is  on  a  small 

stream  which  falls  into  the  Nen. 
Coton,  South  of  Caldwell,  co.  Stafford. 
Coton  Bam,  North  of  Spaldwick,  co.  Huntingdon. 
Dane.     Th^re  seems  to  me  to  be  better  reason  for  as- 
signing the  name  of  all  those  spots  compounded  with 
Dan  and  Dans^  to  Danish  connexion,  especially  when 
the  work  is  found  in  the  vicinity  of  a  camp  or  fortress, 
than  to  the  A.  Sax.  Degn^  thanus.     Thus  near  Qitab- 
ford^  on  the  Severn,    (Celt.   Cwtt^  habitatio)  is  Danes- 
ford,  and  we  know  that  the  Danes  wintered  at  Cwat- 
bricge  in  the  year  896.    (See  p.  222.) 
Danes  Well,   near  the  irregular  encampment  of  Bury 

WaUs  near  Hawkstone. 
Danford,  near  Claverley. 

Danes  Ford,  between  Stone  and  Churchill,  co.  Worcester. 
Danes  Bank,  North  West  of  Alcester. 


261 

Danes  Oreoi,  near  Martin  Hiuingtree,  oo.  Woroester/ 
Danes   Buy,  near  Welwyn ;    Danes  End,  and  Danes 

Furi<»ig,  CO.  Hertford. 
Dane  Hill,    North   of  Ticehuist,   oo.   Kent;  North  of 

Folkingham ;  one  mile  South  of  Deddington,  co.  Oxford. 

Dane  Hill  Plantation,  two  miles  South  East  of  Minohin 

Hampton,  co.  Gloucester. 
Dane  Hills,  half  a  mile  West  of  Leicester. 
Dane  Holes,   South  of   Market   Harborough.      Danes 

Holes,  Ghadwell  and  Little  Thurrock,  Essex.     Caverns 

supposed  to  have  been  granaries. 
Dane  Bottom,  near  Minchin  Hampton.     Woeful  Dane 

Bottom,. entrenchment  South  of  Stroud,  Olouoestershire. 
Dane  Street,  co.  Kent. 
Danes  Field,   a   quadrilateral   Camp,   South   West  of 

Great  Marlow. 
Dane  Mill,  South  of  Broad  Hembury,  co.  Devon. 
Dane  Bridge,  half  a  mile  East  of  Much  Hadham,  Essex. 
Dat  House.  (See  Glossary  Sub  Voce.) 
This  appellation  frequently  prevails  in  many  counties :  I 

shall  only  notice  its  recurrence  in  Shropshire. 
Day  House,    near    Hanwood.      Day   House,   East  of 

Market   Drayton.      Day   House   Farm,    North   East 

of  Cmdgington.     Day  House,  near  Stottesdon.     Day 

House  Farm,  near  Wall. 
Does  not  the  name  of  Dyas,  or  Dayus,  originate  in  this ! 
Don,  Dun.  A  termination  denoting  an  eminence.  Celt. 
Bret.  Bas.  Gael.  A.  Sax.  Germ.  Dun ;  C.  Brit,  dm,  collis. 
It  forms  the  names  of  a  great  number  of  places,  in  those 
counties  which  were  inhabited  by  the  Gymry.  Hence  the 
DUNUM,  DiNUH  and  DiNiuM  of  the  Romans ;  the  tune^  don^ 
ion  and  town  of  the  English.  (Owen  Pughe.)  And  hence 
the  names  of  our  Shropshire  villages,  Longdon,  Sibdon, 
Stottesdon,  &c.  Grleedon  Hill,  Downton,  &c. 
DuD.  A  prefix  to  names  of  places,  that  appears  to  de- 
note  their  lying  on    th^  borders   of  some   particular 


262 

county.  Thus  Dadmaston  nesr  Bridgenorth,  on  the 
borders  of  Shropflhire,  vei^g  upon  Woroesterahire, 
and  Dudleston,  North  East  of  Oswestry,  on  the  oon- 
fines  of  the  same  county  and  Denbighshire.  Dudstone, 
near  Montgomery,  on  the  borders  of  Montgomeryshire 
and  Shropshire.  Celt,  tuedd^  extremitas,  fines!  With 
such  a  derivation  the  position  of  Dudley,  co.  W<»oe6ter, 
agrees.  So  does  Duddington  in  co.  Northampton.  Dud- 
cote  in  Berkshire,  hardly  suits  this  conjecture. 

DuNox.  The  word  occurs  simply  at  a  spot  one  mile 
South  of  Broseley.  In  a  composite  form  at  Dungary, 
betwixt  Bangor  and  Worthenbuiy.  Dungey  Comer,  on 
the  borders  of  Easton  Wood,  co.  Northampton.  S.  Goth. 
dunge^  parvula  ^ylva. 

Dtkks.  The  chief  Dykes  in  Great  Britain  are,  Offals 
Dyke,  Wattes  Dtkb,  Wansdykb,  Grimb*  Dtke,  Fleam 
Dyke,  Brent  Dyke,  Pampibfobd  Dtkb,  the  Dsvil^s 
Dyke,  co.  Cambridge,  Avebdykk,  Upper  and  Lower 
Short  Dyke,  and  the  Devil^s  Dykbb,  co.  Norfolk,  de- 
scribed under  the  first,    (q.  v.) 

Ford  ;  final  in  composition.  Celt.  Ffordd^  Yia,  transituB. 
C.  Brit,  forz^  a  passage,  a  road,  a  way.  Com.  fcrdy  id. 
M.  fert ;  S.  Gh>th.  foBrt ;  Alam.  ferii;  Germ,  farty  iter. 
A.  Sax.  fard^  vadum.  From  finding  this  word  so  ccm- 
tinually  on  Roman  roads,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is 
allusive  to  the  position  of  the  places  where  it  oconis, 
and  that  the  modem  acceptation  of  the  term  is  only 
employed  in  its  secondary  and  lowest  sense.  Nor  is  a 
word  having  this  termination  invariably  confined  to 
places  where  water  flows,  as  it  is  sometimes  found  where 
there  is  none  at  all,  as  at  Bwloh  y  Fford  on  the  Sabn 
Helen,  betwixt  Llanfachreth  and  Trawsfynedd ;  and  on 
the  summit  of  ffafen  Drum  Ddu^  co.  Brecon,  we  find 
Carnan  Cefyn-y-fordd,  three  tumuli  on  the  side  of  the 
Bidgway  road,  which  leads,  as  I  conceive,  from  Castdx 
CwRT  Llbohbhyd,  (Bulleum  Antonini)  to  some  Roman 


268 

station  in  Cardigamkire.  Thus  taking  the  Watuno 
SniBrr,  from  Wroxeter  to  Kenchester,  there  are  on  its 
line,  Pitchford,  Bentley  Ford  near  Longnor  Green, 
Frodedey,  (quasi  Fordidey)  Stretford  fridge,  Halford, 
(anngiinford!)  Stretford,  (Byford!)  and  Hereford,  a 
little  beyond  Kenchester.  Again  by  following  the  Wat- 
ling  Street  from  Richborough  to  Rowton,  seven  miles 
West  of  Shrewsbury,  we  successively  pass  through 
Dartford,  Glayford,  Deptford,  in  Kent.  Shefford  Mill, 
Hertfordshire;  Fenny  Stratford,  Stoney  Stratford,  in 
Buckinghamshire ;  Dodford  and  Watford,  Northampt<xi- 
shire;  Weeford  and  (Crateford!)  in  Staffoiddiire ; 
Stoneyford,  Mountford,  and  Ford  in  Shropshire.  The 
probiU>il]ty  of  there  having  been  a  branch  line  of  Vi- 
cinal way  from  the  Watling  Street  through  Newport  to 
Chester,  has  been  intimated  in  an  eariier  part  of  the 
volume,  and  if  its  assumed  direction  be  followed  from 
Stratford  Brook  under  the  walls  at  CHEflrrsBTON,  tiU  it 
reaches  the  borders  of  Cheshire,  it  wiU  be  found  run- 
ning Northwards  through  Whiston,  and  Tong,  after 
which  it  crosses  the  Watling  Street,  at  Stoney  Ford, 
thence  trending  by  Woodcote  and  Pave  Lane  to  New- 
port, leaving  Forton,  a  little  to  the  East,  when  it  passes 
by  Stanford  Hall,  Shackeford,  Losford,  Ashford,  Sand- 
ford  and  Deamford.  The  recurrence  of  this  termina- 
tion, coupled  with  other  facts  which  are  given  in  another 
part  of  the  volume,  induce  me  to  think  that  a  Roman 
road  formerly  went  from  Shrewsbury  by  Horton  Lane, 
iVoa?,  Stoney  Stretton,  Westbury,  Worthin,  Hailsford 
Brook,  Bladdbrd,  and  Chirbuiy,  to  Montgomery  and 
Caer  Fl66.  Taking  a  Northern  direction  still,  another 
road  would  pass  by  Little  Oxon,  Pavement  Oate,  Welsh- 
man'^8  Ford ;  soon  after  leaving  Rowton,  it  would  turn 
>  to  the  South  over  Stretton  Heath,  by  Hayford,  and  join 
the  road  just  mentioned,  at  Westbury.  Forden,  lies 
also  on  the  direct  line  between  an  entrenchment  called 


264 


the  Moat,  above  Nant  Cribba  Hall,  and  Caer  Fcdf. 
I  have  also  stated  elsewhere,  my  reasons  for  considering 
the  works  at  Rushbury  and  Nobdy  Bank,  as  Roman. 
On  the  direct  line  of  communication  between  these  two 
places,  we  pass  over  Roman  Bank,  Blackwood,  Hunger- 
ford  Plantation,  Hungerford,  and  Tugford,  to  the  latter 
Camp.  Ford,  a  village  midway  between  Ivinoton  Cakp 
and  RisBURY  Camp,  oo.  Hereford,  a  little  more  than  a 
mile  from  either.  When  the  names  of  places  on  other 
lines  of  Roman  road  are  investigated,  the  same  theory 
will  apply.     For  instance. 

On  the  Ermine  Street,  there  are,  Helensford,  Aberford, 
Castleford,  co.  York ;  Tuxford,  co.  Nottingham ;  Stam- 
ford, CO.  Lincoln ;  Coppingfoid,  co.  Huntingdon ;  Bun- 
tingford,  Hertford,  and  Tumford,  co.  Hertford;  and 
Burford,  co.  Surrey. 

On  the  IcKNiBLD  Street,  are  Thetford,  co.  Norfolk;  Pam- 
pisford,  CO.  Cambridge;  Ickleford,  co.  Hertford;  Water 
Stratford  and  Fringford,  co.  Buckingham ;  Gosford  and 
Stafford  Farm,  co.  Oxford;  Wallingford,  Moulsford, 
CO.  Berks.,  going  thus  through  Reading,  by  Calcot  to 
Silchester. 

On  the  Akeman  Street,  beginning  at  Godmanchester, 
we  leave  two  Offords,  Barford,  Tempsford,  and  Girtford, 
a  little  to  the  West;  thence  to  Stanford,  Shefford, 
Ickleford,  and  Lemsford  Mills  to  Hatfield.  On  that 
branch  which  runs  through  Oxfordshire,  we  have  Bar- 
ford  Farm  and  Langford  Farm. 

On  the  IcKNiELD  Street  or  Hayden  Way,  are  Bidford, 
Wixford,  and  Watford  Gap,  co.  Warwick ;  Round  Rad- 
ford and  Lifford,  co.  Worcester. 

On  the  Via  Dbvana,  which  runs  from  Godmanchester  to 
London,  there  are  Hemingford,  a  little  to  the  North 
East;  Shelford,  Stapleford,  Chesterford,  (Great  and 
Little,)  Orford  House,  Bishop  Stortford,  Woodford, 
and  Stratford  le  Bow. 


265. 


€hi  a  Raman  Way  from  Sheflbrd  to  King^s  Lynn,  there  are 
Langford,  oo.  Hertford;  Thetford,  (South  of  Ely,)  and 
Fordham,  co.  Norfolk. 

On  a  Soman  Way,  which  branches  from  the  Via  Db- 
VANA  at  Chesterford,  and  goes  to  Castle  Acre.  This 
road  is  called,  betwixt  Wangford  and  Mildenhall, 
Mabewat  Hnji,  and  Pobtwat. 

From  Mildenhall  it  branches  in  two  directions.  The  left 
passes  through  Wangford  to  Brandon^  Mundford,  and 
so  on  to  Castle  Acre.  The  right  goes  to  Thetford. 
East  of  this  latter  place  is  another  way  of  Roman 
origin,  which  is  called  Peddar  Wat,  and  runs  I  im- 
agine from  Hunstanton  on  the  North  West  coast  of 
Norfolk  to  Ipswich,  through  Sedgeford,  Castle  Acre, 
Stamford  Hall,  and  Bnunford. 

On  the  FossB  there  are,  Ditdhibrd  in  Gloucestershire; 
Halford,  Stanford,  Stoney  Ford  and  Bretford,  in 
Warwickshire ;  Shaniford  in  Leicestershire ;  Shelford, 
Bridgeford  and  Langford,  iii  Nottinghamshire. 

Fordgam  Helen  Luedhog,  at  the  end  of  Kraig  Yorwyn, 
CO.  Merioneth,  a  Roman  road.     (Reynolds,  p.  449.) 

An  inspection  of  the  whole  of  the  county  maps  of  Eng- 
land, where  the  districts  have  been  carefiilly  surveyed, 
would  readily  enable  a  person  to  explain  on  the  same 
principles,  nearly  all  other  names  of  places  which  ter- 
minate in  Ford.  Enough  is  shewn  here  to  prove  that 
this  word  has  quite  as  much  connexion  with  the  Roman 
period,  as  the  Strettons,  Streatleys,  Stratfords,  and 
the  Chesters,  are  reported  to  have.  Only  one  instance 
occurs  to  me  of  a  direct  corruption  firom  the  Latin 
Vaium^  which  is  Wadet  MiH,  on  the  Ebmine  Street. 
Feankton.     It  is  difficult  to  make  any  thing  out  satis- 

iaetorily  about  this  prefix.     Llywar9  Hen  in  his  Elegy 

4m  Cynddylan,  says, 

Ni  9ftfiEd  Franc  tanc  o'i  ben. 
From  his  mouth  the  Frank  would  not  get  the  word  of  peace. 


266 

Upon  which  passage  Owen  Pughe  aaks,  did  the  Framks 
emigrate  with  the  ScutarUy  in  such  numben,  as  to  cause 
the  introduction  of  their  name  into  this  island,  as  a  se- 
parate body  of  people!     I  confess  I  am  quite  unable  to 
account  for  it. 
Frankton,  in  the  suburbs  of  Shrewsbury.    Welsh  Fnmk- 
ton.  North  East  of  Oswestry.    English  Frankton,  and 
Frankton  Gbange,  North  of  Cockshut. 
Gabtbbb  Road;  South  East  of  Leicester.     It  runs  be- 
tween Great  and  Little  Stratton,  which  lying  close  upon 
it,  sufficiently  indicate  its  Roman  origin.  After  it  reaches 
Cross  Barrow  Hill,   its  course  is  uncertain.     It  here 
leaves  a  circular  and  a  square  encampment  about  a  mile 
to   the  North,  but  seems  to  point  uncertainly  to  the 
South.     I  conceive  it  took  its  name  from  the  Gelt,  ffar^ 
sylva,  and  tre^  vicus,  because  it  leads  to  the  villages  on 
the  borders  of  Rockingham  forest. 
GiuvB ;  more  frequent  as  a  prefix,  than  a  termination. 
M.  Goth.  Grabay  fossa,  fovea! 

Gravenor;  Bamet^s  Graves  near  Buildwas;  Hargrave, 
CO.  Salop ;  North  East  End  of  the  Long  Mountain. 
Comgreaves,  co.  Worcester. 
Graveley,  co.  Cambridge ;  Graveley,  co.  Hertford. 
Graven  Hill,  one  mile  South  of  Bicester, 
Graveney ;  Gravesend,  co.  Kent. 
Ghravenhurst,  co.  Bedford. 
'  Haoley.     Celt,  haga^  haij  Sylva. 
Little  Hagley,  and  Great  Hagley,  near  Presteign,  co. 
Radnor.   Hagley,  co.  Worcester. 
Halohton,  Hauohton;   Celt.  Hal^  collis:  hatiffj  and  au; 
M.  Goth,  hauhj  C.  Brit,  uehaj  altus. 
Haughton,  near  Willey;  near  Ellesmere;  near  Shiffiial. 
Halghton,  North  East  of  West  Felton.    Hence  Halston. 
Halghtoii  (four),  North  of  Ellesmere. 
Haughton  Moss,  and  Haughton  Thorn,  co.  Chester. 
Ham  ;  a  termination  implying  a  dwelling-place.      Some- 


267 


timeB  a  prefix,  but  mare  frequently  final  Celt.  Bret. 
A«  Sax.  S.  Gh>th.  Teut.  ham ;  Germ.  Aamm ;  Isl.  Dan. 
keim;  Flem.  hmn^  domus,  a  home  as  we  should  say. 
And  thus,  a  kame-stead ;  Hemel  Hempstead,  and  Berk- 
hamstead,  (A.  Sax.  bearff^  collis,  ham^  habitatio,  and 
Steady  loous)  are  names  referable  to  this  etymology. 
In  Shropshire  we  have  Atcham,  corrupted  from  Atting- 
ham,  and  this  again  from  Atingeham  (Domesday)  Gelt. 
Jt,  terra,  extremitas,  fines;  inff^  locus angnstus. 
Tbbntham,  &c.  the  seat  of  his  Orace  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland,  on  the  Trent. 
In  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  the  termination  is  abundant. 

Hatton.  The  aflBxee  of  Hat,  Had,  Hath,  Eath,  Eth, 
are  all  respectively  corrupted  from  Heaik. 

Hawkstonb;  there  must  be  some  engrafture  of  the 
A.  Sax.  here  upon  the  M.  Ooth.  ha/uh^  altus.  The 
C.  Brit,  has  im?,  altus.  In  Sussex,  near  Lewis  is  the 
Camp  of  WhUe  Hawk^  both  referable  to  the  same 
source,  as  are  most  composites  in  Ox,  such  as  Oxenton 
Hill,  North  of  Cheltenham,  &c. 
Hawkridge  Hill,  co.  Somerset. 
Hawks  Tor,  co.  Cornwall. 

Hat  ;  Celt.  Hai ;  Isl.  heide;  Gbrm.  hain^  Sylva.  Lat.  Barb. 

haia ;  A.  Sax.  haga^  agellus.   (See  Glossary,  sub  voce.) 

The  Hayes  near  Abberbury.     Hampton  Hayes,  North 

of  Worthin.    Albion  Hayes,  near  Preston  Oobbalds. 

The  Hay,  betwixt  Madeley  and  Coalport.     The  Hay, 

near  Chetton.     Horsehay,  South  of  Wellington. 

Hatden  Wat  ;  the  Icknield  Street  has  this  name  from 
Coughton  to  Studley,  co.  Warwick ;  betwixt  these  two 
places  it  passes  along  high  ground,  and  as  all  Roman 
roads  were  usuaUy  elevated  above  the  adjacent  soil,  it 
perhaps  took  its  name  from  the  Celt.  Aa«,  terra  ele- 
vata  supra  campum. 

Hope,  in  composition,  denotes  a  small  valley  between  two 
mountains.     Celt.  Hope.  id. 


268 


Wiih  thui  agrees  the  position  of  Hope  Bowdler,  Hope- 
aay,  Millichope,    Birchhope,  East  of  the   Stipentone, 
Middlehope,    Easthope,    Ratlinghope,  Hopton,   West- 
hope,  00.  Salop. 
HuBST ;  (See  Glossary,  sub  voce.) 
The  Hurst,  near  Worthin.     Mulhurst,  North  West  of 
Oswestry. 
EInaves   Castle,   Neves   Castle:    a  name   indicative  of 
position:   noft,  neb^  nef  in  Celt,  being  the  same,   and 
all  allusive  to  altitude ;  knave  and  nsvej  seem  to  come 
from  this  source.     Isl.  natff:    S.  Goth.  noM,  promon- 
torium. 

Knaves  CftsUe,  North  of  Presteign,  oo.  Radnor. 
Neves  Castle,  near  Buildwas. 

Knaves  Castle,  on  the  Watlinq  Street,  two  miles  West 
of  Etocetum  or  Wall. 
Lane;  several  Roman  Ways  have  this  appellation,  and 
whenever  lanes  run  straight  forward  for  a  considerable 
distance  and  are  of  uniform  width,  they  bear  evident 
symptoms  of  a  remote  formation.  Thus,  the  Ermine 
Street  in  the  North  part  of  Rutlandshire  is  called  Hobn 
Lane,  and  a  part  of  it  in  Richmondshire  Lemino  Lane. 
LoNODOWN  Lane  or  the  Ridge  Wat,  comes  from  the  South 
of  Warwickshire,  and  joins  the  Watling  Street  near 
Kilsby,  CO.  Northampton,  it  runs  betwixt  WiUoughby 
and  Grandborough,  Lower  Shuckburgh,  Boddington,  a 
mile  below  which  place  it  joins  the  Welsh  Road  or 
Welshman's  Road,  and  goes  thence  to  Wallow  Bank 
and  Arbuht  Banks. 

Banbury  Lane;  this  is  a  continuation  of  the  Welshman's 
road. 
Fenn  Lanes  ;  run  from  Manduessedum  on  the  Watling 
Street,  through  Fenny  Drayton  to  Cadeby.  Q!  if 
Roman. 
Coal  Prr  Lanes  ;  run  from  the  Fosse  to  the  Watling 
Street,  near  Lutterworth.     Q!  if  Roman. 


269 

HsREFOBD  Lank,  the  Watling  Street;  South  of  AymestTj, 
CO.  Hereford,  is  bo  called. 

Kycotb  Lane,  a  road  miming  from  Thame  to  Dorches- 
ter, 00.  Oxford,  with  a  Cold  Harbour  on  it. 

Tbench  Lane  ;  South  East  of  Newport,  co.  Salop ;  an- 
other leading  from  Droitwich,  South  East  to  Flyford 
Flavel,  CO.  Worcester ;  and  another  from  the  Watling 
Street  at  Wellington  to  Newport. 

Lxming  Lane  ;  a  name  which  the  Ermine  Street  has  in 
00.  Richmond. 

Salteb'*b  Lane;  a  road  leading  from  Cholmondeley 
Chapel  to  Holt,  North  of  Maiden  Castle,  co.  Chester. 
Salterns  Lane,  one  mile  and  a  half  South  East  of 
Tardebigg,  co.  Worcester,  leading  from  Besley  on 
the  Icknield  Street.  (See  Salter's  Road,  Salter 
Street.) 

Knab  Lane  is  a  Roman  road  running  from  Ixworth, 
through  Bamingham,   Gkisthorpe,   East   Harling,  and 
Attleborough,  to  Norwich. 
Little  Wobth;    a  hamlet,   or  little  village.      A.  Sax. 

wartk,  platea,  vicus.     (See  Worth.) 

Littleworth,  in  the  parish  of  Little  Wenlock. 

Littleworth,  North  of  Norbury, 

Littleworth,  near  Comfton  Wintate,  co.  Warwick. 

Littleworth,  close  to  Gretton,  co.  Gloucester. 

Littleworth,  West  of  Aylesbury. 

Littleworth,  South  West  of  Biggleswade. 
Let  ;    A.  Sax.  %,  leoff^  campus. 

Leighton,  Leaton,  Leegomery,  Hadley,  Kinnersley,  Daw- 
ley,  Broseley,  Madeley,  Astley,  Willey,  Linley,  Nor- 
ley,  Caughley,  Harley,  Henley,  Froddesley,  Langley, 
Sturchley,  Qaverley,  Cloverley,  Glazeley,  Billingaley, 
Minsterley^  Habberley,  Tasley,  Hughley,  Astley,  Ruck- 
ley,  Henley,  Pulley,  Bitterley,  &c. 
Low.     (v.  p.  92.) 

.Bedow,  Onslow,  Whittingdow  near  Acton  Scott,  Munn- 


270 

low,  Peplow,  near  Market  Drayton,  Brandow  East  of 

Buiy  DitcheB. 
Maidkn  Caotlb.  The  appellation  of  Maiden  as  applied 
to  castles  has  hitherto  been  a  diffioulty,  which  those  who 
have  tried  to  explain  it,  have  not  successfully  overcome. 
It  has  absurdly  enough  been  thought  to  be  a  castle 
that  was  never  taken :  in  this,  as  in  every  other  name 
of  a  place  where  we  are  able,  we  must  seek  for  the 
Etymology  in  the  Celtic.  Mad,  Med^  Mod^  Mct^  and 
Madien^  signify  an  eminence  or  elevation ;  thus  Maidm 
Ccuile^  will  mean  a  castle  on  a  height.  As  is  Maiden 
Bower,  near  Dunstable;  Maiden  Bower,  betwixt  the 
Akeman  Street  and  Staple  Barton,  oo.  Oxford; 
Maiden  Castle  in  Cheshire;  Maiden  Castle,  near  Dur^ 
ham;  Maiden  Castle,  near  Dorchester;  and  Maiden 
Castle  in  Stainmore,  Westmoreland.  The  three  last 
of  these  are  Roman  works,  and  I  believe  the  two 
others  likewise.  That  part  of  the  Watling  Street  (see 
the  second  Iter  of  Antoninus)  which  passes  through 
Vcrreda  (quasi  Ford)  or  Whelp  Castle,  in  Westmore- 
hmd,  to  Caer  Yorwyn,  Magna  (that  is,  C.  Brit,  mator, 
pronounced  wnrr,  magnus)  or  Thiriwall  Castle  in  North- 
umberland, on  the  Pict^s  or  Severus^  Wall,  is  still  called 
the  Maiden  Way.  It  derived  this  name  either  because 
it  was  a  raised  road,  as  the  Roman  roads  generally  are, 
or  else,  which  seems  more  likely,  from  its  passing  by 
Maiden  Castle  in  Westmoreland,  and  by  a  small  fort 
called  MxmENHOLD,  betwixt  Crackenthorp  and  Kiriiy 
Thorp,  on  the  same  line.  In  either  case  Maiden  Way 
is  synonymous  with  Highway,  On  the  same  principles 
may  be  explained  Casr  Vorwyn  or  Caer  Varran,  by 
the  side  of  the  river  Tippal  on  the  Maiden  Way,  in 
Westmoreland.  Dolforwyn,  a  ruined  castle,  built  by 
Bleddyn  ab  Cynvyn,  Cirdi  1065 — 1073,  above  the 
Severn,  between  Beriew  and  Newtown  in  Montgomery- 
shire, and  Cabb  Forwtn  a  large  circular  entrenchment 


271 

above  the  river  Alwen  in  Denbighahire.  Varuyn  or 
Marwyn,  aignifieB  in  C.  Brit,  a  maiden,  for  the  two 
wordfl  are  identical,  as  Y  is  never  initial  in  C.  British, 
though  often  pronounced  so,  as  in  the  instance  above, 
of  Vawr  for  Mawr^  where  in  such  cases  the  initials 
of  the  words  in  their  primary  sense  are  either  B  or 
M,  and  the  Y  consonant  is  governed  by  one  of  them. 
Thus  Caar  Vonoyn,  Caer  Foncyn^  and  Dolfaruyn  mean 
Maiden  Ciuth^  which  again  springs  out  of  tiie  Celt. 
M€ui^  McMm^  Med^  Mod^  Mor^  (C.  Brit.  Manoyn)^  and 
Mat:  so  that  the  words  are  synonymous. 
This  gives  us  a  clue  to  the  Etymology  of  Mobf,  a 
laige  tract  of  land  lying  very  high,  to  the  East  of 
Bridgenorth,  which  was  formerly  a  forest. 

Mark;  as  the  instances  where  this  name  occurs  are  at 
places  above  the  general  level  of  the  surrounding  country, 
it  is  most  likely  deduced  from  the  A.  Sax.  mere,  ex- 
celsus,  summus.      (v.  pp.  173,  174.) 
Maer  Way,  a  road  North  West  of  Maer,  and  Chapel 
Chorlton,  co.  Stafford. 
Mare  Ridges,  South  West  of  Englefield,  co.  Berks. 
Mare  Way   Hill,  on  Roman  road,   near   Eriswell,  co. 
Sufiblk. 
Meer  Bach  Hill,  co.  Hereford. 

Nkachlby  Hill,  East,  and  Nedge  Hill,  West  of  Shiffiial, 
CO.  Salop.  Netchwood,  South  of  Monk  Hopton.  Celt. 
iMMsA,  neck^  altus. 

Neen.  Celt,  nene^  nant^  and  plur.  ne&nej  rivus:  and 
Celt.  iMn,  altus.  It  is  a  choice  betwixt  the  two,  as 
either  will  suit  the  position  of  those  places  where  the 
name  occurs.  NeetUan,  Neen  Bwtage^  or  Upper  JV^m,. 
00.  Salop,  are  upon  the  river  Rea.  Neen  Sollers  lies 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  it,  between  this  stream  and 
Mill  Brook.  The  river  Nen,  in  Northamptonshire, 
hence  derives  its  name. 

Ocl;  in  composition,  denotes  a  dwelling-place  or  habi- 


A     I 


I 


272 

tation.     Gelt,   cut,  habitatio.      It  is  synonymotui  with 

the  C.  Brit.  Ue,  a  place,  spot,  or  utuation. 

In  Shropshire  there  is  Onlton,  North  East  of  Newport; 

Choulton,  near  Billing's  Bing;  Edgebouhon,  near  Shaw- 

buiy;    Soulton   Hall,  near  Wem;    Houleston,  North 

of  Middle. 

Pan;  either  simple  or  in  composition.     P(in  is  the  same 

as  Penj  according  to  BnUet  and  Baxter,  and  in  Celt. 

and  C.  Brit,  the  word  means  caput,  promontorium,  as 

it  likewise  signifies  in  Hebrew.     Any  high  place  will 

therefore  be  called  Pan.     Thus  there  is 

Pancom  Stone,  close  to  Shobdon,  co.  Hereford. 

Pan  Castle,  a  small  oval  camp  dose  to  Whitchurch. 

Pan  Pudding  Hill,  near  Bridgenorth. 

Pans  Hill,  close  to  Boarstall,  co.  Buckingham. 

Panson,  near  Hanwood,  co.  Salop. 

Panshington,  South  West  of  Hartlebuiy,  co.  Worcester. 

Penly,  near  Ellesmera 

Pendlestone  Rock,  near  Bridgenorth. 
PiH  Hnji,  quasi  PinhiUf  Celt,  pin^  summitas. 
Port  Wat  ;  this  is  a  very  usual  term  for  a  Roman  road, 

and  it  is  highly  probable  that  those  lines  of  communica- 
tion, in  all  places  where  it  occurs,  were  originally  formed 

by  the  Romans,  and  took  this  name  in  consequence. 

The  Watling  Street,  near  Bur^iill,  co.  Hereford,  has 
a  place  on  it  bearing  this  name. 

North  of  Kirtlington,  co.  Oxford,  the  Portway  crosses 
Wattlebank  or  Avesditch,  to  Ploughlet  Hill. 

Port  Way,  a  Roman  road,  North  East  of  Andover. 

Port  Way,  midway  betwixt  Leominster  and  Tenbury. 

A  little  North  of  Orleton,  co.  Hereford,  there  is  a 
Port  Way,  leading  from  the  Ludlow  and  Leominster 
road,  four  miles  and  a  half  South  of  the  former  place, 
down  Green  Lane  to  Cboft  Ambret  Camp. 

There  is  a  Port  Way  in  co.  Hants. ;  another,  oo.  Wilts. 
(Archaeol.  v.  viiL  p.  100,)  another,  co«  Norfolk.    A 


275 

Toad  in  Berkshire,  East  and  West  of  Wantage,  is 
oaUed  the  Port  Way,  it  continues  nearly  in  a  direct 
line  to  Wallingford,  and  I  conceive  it  to  be  of  Ro- 
man origin.     Id.  near  Aynho,  co.  Northampton. 

Port  Way,  betwixt  Tanworth,  co.  Warwick,  and  the 

.  Icknield  Street.    (See  Salteb  Street.) 

Port  Way,  in  the  parish  of  Hardwick,  co.  Cambridge. 

Port  Way,  on  the  road  from  Wangford  to  Eriswell, 
00.   Suffolk;  Roman. 

Port  Way,  two  miles  South  East  of  Dudley,  co.  Wor- 
cester, leading  by  Causeway  Chreen,  Harbome,  and 
SeUy  Oak. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  this  is  part  of  a  line  of 
Roman  conununication  from  the  Watling  Street  below 
Penkridge  to  Alcester,  passing  by  Crateford,  Standi- 
ford,  the  Ford  Houses,  Wolverhampton,  Cockshut 
Colliery,  Sedgeley  Beacon,  Sedgeley,  Cotwall  End, 
Dudley,  Portway,  Causeway  Green,  Harbome,  and 
Selley  Oak,  where  it  divided  into  two  branches,  one 
going  to  the  West,  through  Bromsgrove  to  Droit- 
wich;  the  other  taking  the  course  of  some  bye-ways 
for  ft  mile  and  a  half  to  King^s  Norton,  at  which 
place  there  is  a  straight  line  of  road  to  Forhill,  where 
it  joins  the  Icknield  Way,  coming  in  directly  from 
Alcester,  due  South. 

Sautbt,  Sawtbt  Wat;  I  conceive  this  began  at  a  more 
important  road  at  Thetford^  three  miles  South  of  Ely, 
on  the  Roman  way  from  Cambridge  into  Norfolk, 
and  went  ftt>m  hence  to  Streatham,  Wilburton,  Had- 
denham,  (betwixt  here  and  Earith  it  is  called  Had- 
dmham  Causeway^)  Needingworth,  leaving  St  Ives  a 
little  to  the  left,  and  Houghton.  At  this  place  its  title 
of  Sawtry  Way  begins,  and  continues  for  ten  or  twelve 
miles,  till  the  road  in  short,  joins  the  Ermine  Street, 
two  miles  North  of  Alconbury  Hill.  A  mile  beyond 
this  point  of  junction,  it  reaches  Sawlry  AU  Saints^ 

18 


274 

from  which  it  takes  its  name :  and  this  again  derives 
it  from  the  Celt,  sau^  parvus  collis,  from  being  placed 
on  a  superior  eminence  to  the  surrounding  villages 
above  the  Fens.  The  Sawtry  Way  appears  to  be 
an  early  line  of  communication. 

Shen,  Shine;  Celt,  yscenfij  km;  Celt,  and  Ir.  kin^  caput. 

Shineton,  eo.  Salop. 

Shenston,  near  Chaddesley  Corbet,  co.  Worcester. 

Shenston,  co.  Stafford. 

To  the  same  etymon  nuty  be  referred  Kinlet,  Rinver, 
Kinfare/  Elinnardsley,  &c. 
Pbddar   Wat.      There  are  two  Roman  roads  in  the 

county  of  Norfolk  of  this  name,   one  of  which  faUs 

into  the  other. 

The  chief  Peddab  Wat  is  ninety-six  miles  long,  com- 
mencing at  Stratford  le  Bow,  in  Essex,  and  termi- 
nating at  Holme  on  the  Sea,  in  Norfolk.  It  runs 
direct  from  station  to  station,  though  at  each  of 
them  there  is  a  certain  degree  of  angularity.  From 
its  commencement  at  Stratford  le  Bow,  through  Wood- 
ford and  Epping,  until  it  reaches  Harlow,  (where 
Roman  remains  have  been  found,)  its  courise  iff  very 
devious.  From  Harlow  till  its  termination,  the  line 
is  direct  from  town  to  town  and  from  village  to 
village;  but  the  chief  bearing  varies,  until  it  toudies 
Norfolk,  when  its  direction  is  quite  straight.  From 
Harlow  it  goes  to  Bishop  Stortford  and  Newport, 
thence  to  Great  Chesterford  and  Worstead  Lodge,  at 
which  latter  place  it  crosses  the  Via  Dbvana.  Cross- 
ing Balsham  Dyke,  it  thence  passes  through  New- 
market, Barton  Mill,  Lord^s  Hut,  North  of  MildenhaD, 
Brandon,  Mundford,  Hilborough,  SwafiPhain,  Castle 
Acre,  Fring,    Sedgeford,   and  ends  at    the   quadran- 

,gular  work  of  Holme  on  the  Sea. 

The  other  Peddar  Way  commences  at   Ixwoiih,   co. 
Suffolk,   and  passes  by   Stanton  St  JohnX  between 


275 

East  Wieetham  and  Illingworth  to  Tottmgton :  being 
clearly  traceable  for  thirteen  miles.     South  of  Swaff- 
ham  it  is  called  the  Walsinoham  Way,  and  here  it 
unites  ^th  the  preceding  Peddab  Wat.     Qf  Peddar 
Way.     PedeBtriif     Promp.   Pahy.     Pedde^  calathus; 
Peddar^  calathus  piscarius.      Ceh.  pedd^  pes!      Was 
the  chief  supply   of  fish  for  the  Romans  from  the 
Northern  seas  to  London  by  this  road? 
PniUET ;   Gelt.  Pwl^  locus  sylvestris,  uliginoBUs,  as  it  was 
temp.  Edw.  I.  1300,  being  included  in  the  Forest  of 
Lithewood.     Polelie,  Domesday.     PoUerdine,  North  of 
lUtlingfaope.     BuUerdine.     Polmere,  West  of  Hanwood. 
Rao;  a  prefix  denoting  something  small.    Celt.  Bag^  par- 
vus. BoffleA^  (or  the  Uttle  portion!)  near  Church  Stretton, 
from  the  preceding  root,  and  lethy  pars,  and  underneath  it, 
Bagdon  and  Ragbakh,    If  this  derivation  be  sound,  and  it 
must  be  confessed  it  is  scarcely  satisfactory  to  the  author, 
Ragleth  wiU  literally  mean  a  comparatively  small  part 
of  the  mountains  which  are  seen  in  this  part  of  Shrop- 
shire.    Hehneth  which  is  the  next  height  to  the  North, 
.  signifies  the  middle  hei^t,  or  rock  that  is  the  middle 
hiU  between   Caer  Caradoc,  and  Ragleth,  for  Hazier 
Hill  is  a  hill  of  insignificant  altitude. 
RiDDiNGs;   can  the  name  of  the  two  places,  one   near 
Broseley,  the  other  near  Ludlow,  which  are  similar,  to 
this,  be  derived  from  the  Celt,  and  C.  Brit.  Bhnddy 
ruber,    on   account    of    the  colour   of  their  soil!     It 
.18  ratiier   r^narkable  that   at  the   former  place,   the 
colour  of  the  land  suddenly  changes  to  this  hue.     Or 
do   they    take  their   name   from   the    A.   Sax.  hred- 
danj  liberare,  that  is,  land  cleared  of  wood,  redeemed 
from  forests!    There  is  Bidding  Woodj  near  Maer,  co. 
Stafibrd. 
Ridge  Wat  ;  so  called  because  it  takes  its  course  along 
a  rid^  ix  devated  land.    A.  Sax.  hrieg^  dorsum.    Thus 
the  Ridgeway  in  Warwickshire,  which  begins  two  miles 

i8-a 


276 

West  of  Aloester,  rpna  along  some  high  hmd^  parallel 
with  the  Hayden  Way,  past  the  Arbours^  to  Red 
Ditch  for  seyen  miles.  For  the  same  reason  Ridgeway, 
two  nules  South  West  of  Powick^  and  Ridgeway  be- 
tween Stanford  Bishop  and  Mathon,  oo.  Worcester, 
are  so  called.  And  the  Ridgeway  between  Edgeton 
and  Castle  Ring,  co.  Shropshire.  Rudge  Wood  near 
Broseley.  Rudge  Heath  on  the  borders  of  Shropshire 
and  StaflTordshire.  Ridgeway  joins  the  Fosse  in  Leices- 
tershire, North  East  of  Barkby.  The  Ridgeway  Road 
fix)m  Pembroke  to  Tenby. 
Road,  see  Gartree,  Bayden. 

Robin  Hood.  To  this  bold  out-law  are  attributed  many 
things  which  the  ignorant  cannot  otherwise  explain 
than  by  referring  them  to  his  agency.  Thus  we  have 
among  many  othe^  things  assigned  to  him  throughout 
England,   the  following: 

Robin  Hood^s  Chair,  NesscUff.     Robin  Hood^s  Butts,  on 
Wapley  Hill,  six  miles  North  East  of  Kington,  co. 
Hereford.      Robin  Hood^s  Butts,  co.  York.      Robin 
Hood'^s  Butts,  tumuli  on  the  Long  Myndd,  co.  Salop. 
Robin  Hood^s   Farm,   co.   Warwick.     Robin  Hood^s 
Stride,  co.  Derby.     Robins  Wood  Hill,  South  of  Mat- 
son,  CO.  Gloucester.    Robin  Hood  and  Little  John,  two 
upright  stones  near  Gunwade  Ferry,  Peterborough. 
Rush;   in  composition  is   most  naturally  derived  from 
the  A.   Sax.   nm?,  juncus,   implying  that  the  villages 
into  which  this  compound  enters  are,  or  at  least  were, 
upon  wet,  rushy  land. 

Rushmoor,  South  of  Longdon  on  Tern,  co.  Salop. 
Rushbury,  co.  Salop.     Rushton,  under  the  Wrekin. 
Rushden  South  East  of  Baldock,  co.  Hertford. 
Rushden,  co.  Northampton. 
Rushton,  Rockingham  Forest,  co.  Nottingham. 
Shelve;  simple,  and  in  composition.     Ir.  seea^j  a  diflEl 
Gael,  sffealbj  fragmentum   lapidis.      Shelve  under  the 


277 

Stiperstonea.  Shelf,  near  Betton.  Leaton  Shelf.  Shel- 
vodke,  near  OBwestry.  This  may  suit  as  the  ety- 
mon of  our  Shropshire  names,  though  I  fear  it 
is  quite  inapplicable  to  some  elsewhere,  such  as  Shel- 
ford,  CO.  Cambridge;  Shelton,  co.  Bedford,  and  some 
others. 
Slrap,  Slepb  ;  the  Eslepe  of  Domesday ;  it  lies  on  high 
land  South  West  of  Wem.  Ir.  sliav,  sleibh;  Oael. 
diabh^  mens. 

Spoon,  Spunhill;  (A.  Sax.  spoon^  cremium,  femes!) 
Spoonley,  near  Market  Drayton.  Spoonbill  Wood, 
near  Round  Acton.  Spunhill,  South  of  Ellesmere.  Spone- 
bed  Hill,  near  Painswick,  co.  Gloucester.  Spoonley,  in 
Wychwood  Forest,  co.  Oxford.  Spon  Lme,  West 
Bromwich,  co.  Stafford.  Spon  Lane,  betwixt  Grendon, 
€0.  Leicester  and  the  Watling  Street. 
Staple  Hill;  (for  its  Etymology  see  remarks  under 
MrrcHELL^s  Fold.) 
Staple,  CO.   Somerset. 

Stapleton,  vulgo  dictum  Steppitan^  co.  Salop;  id.  Cam- 
bridge; id.  Gloucester;  id.  Leicester. 
Stapeley  Hill,  under  Comdon,  co.  Montgomery. 
Staple  Hill,  South  of  Alcester.     Staple  Hill,  North  of 

Wellesboume  Hastings,  co.  Warwick. 
Stapleton  Hill,  North  East  of  Presteign. 
Stapleford  Park,  near  Melton  Mowbray. 
Stapleton,  the  encampment  of  Richard  IIL  before  the 
battle  of  Bosworth,  South  of  Market  Bosworth. 
Stapleford,  co.  Salop. 

Stapleford,  co.  Cambridge;    id.  Hertford;  id.  Lincoln; 
id.  Nottingham ;    id.  Wilts. ;    id.  Essex ;    id.  East  of 
Maer,  co.  Stafford. 
Stok,    Stoke,    Stocking;   a  prefix  derived  from  the   A. 
Sax.   8toe,  locus;   and  often  final,  as    Wood  Stocky  A. 
Sax.   Wude  StoOy  sylvarum  locus. 
Stokesay,  Stockton. 


278 

Stoke  St  Milborough,  a  place  celebrated  for  one  of 

Milbiirga'8   Miradefl,   (y.    Capgravii   Legenda  Nova.) 

where  they  are  fully  related. 
Stocking,  near  Onibury. 
Stocking^  near  Bitterley. 
Stocking,  near  Stokesay. 
Stocking,  North  of  CHibfford,  oo.  Hereford. 
Cold  Stocking. 
No  Stockings,   on  Roman  road,    between   Casterford, 

and  Stretton,  co.  Rutland. 
Stone,   Stonet;    this   epithet    is    incticatiye   of   Roman 
thorou^ifare.      The  proofs  that  migHt  be  quoted  are 
very  considerable.     The  following,  taken  casually,  will 
furnish  sufficient  illustration. 
On  the  Fosse.     Stony  Holds,  a  mile  North  of  Bbno- 

Nis.     Stoney  Ford,  below  Stretton  on  Dunsmore,  oo. 

Warwick. 
On  the  Watuno  Street.     Stoney  Stratford,  co.  Buck- 
ingham.    Stoney  Ford  on  Watling  Street,  oo.  Salop. 

Stoney  Stretton,  betwixt  Shrewsbury  and  Westbuiy. 
Middleton  Stoney,  co.  Oxford.     Stoney  Oate,  one  mile 

South  East  of  Leicester,  on  the  Oabtbbb  Road. 
Stone  Bridge,  on  the    Roman  road,   betwixt   Barton 

and  Cambridge. 
Stone   Cross,    half  a  mile   North   of   Hoiseheath,   by 

which  a  Roman  road  passes,  co.  Cambridge. 
Stonesfield,  on  the  Axeman  Street. 
Street;  it  would  be  an  unnecessary  labour  to  adduce 
all  the  instances  where  Streat^  Strety  and  Strat  enter 
into  the  composition  of  words  on  Roman  roads,  I  shall 
therefore  confine  my  remarks  to  places  little  known.  In 
Kent  and  Essex  ''Streets'^  constantly  occur,  which  I  con- 
ceive is  owing  to  the  lengthened  occupation  and  colonisa- 
tion of  the  Romans  in  these  two  counties.  Habb  Stbbet 
is  a  very  frequent  name  in  Essex,  and  may  be  referred 
to  the  A.  Sax.  here,  exercitus.      (See  Cold  Harbour.) 


B79 

Obebn  SiBSBa;;  North  of  High  Wycombe.  Near  Sand- 
wich. South  of  Teynliam,  on  Roman  road  to  Dovor. 
South  of  Crowhurst.  Green  Street  Green,  between 
Famboroagh  and  Chelsfield,  oo.  Kent.  Green  Street, 
on  Roman  road,  between  Bishop  Stortford  and  Braugh- 
ing. 

Kind  Street  ;  near  Midlewich,  oo.  Chester.  Condate 
has  been  placed  upon  it  by  some  writers,  (v.  Cam- 
den, Yol.  iii.  p.  57.) 

Kino  Street;  another  name  aOusive  to  the  Roman 
period.  Thus  we  have  King  Street^  a  branch  out  of 
the  Ermine  Street,  at  Castor  in  Northamptonshire; 
it  runs  due  North,  past  Ufford,  Greatford,  and  Cab 
Dtke  in  Rutlandshire  to  Bourn  and  Sleaford.  (See 
BuLLOGK^s  Road.) 

KisQ  Street  ;  the  road  from  the  Depot  at  Shrewsbury, 
to  the  Wailing  Street  at  Pitchford  has  this  name, 
three  miles  and  a  half  from  the  county  town,  which 
renders  it  likely  that  the  way  is  of  Roman  origin, 
especially  when  we  see  it  is  a  vicinal  road  from  the 
Watling  Street,  to  a  place  that  is  upon  one  of  its 
branches. 

Kino  Stbbbt;  two  miles  East  of  Woodcot  and  Pave 
Lane,  co.  Salop. 

Monksfath  Street;  a  road  in  Warwickshire,  direct 
from  Henley  in  Arden  to  Birmingham,  bears  this  name 
for  two  miles ;  when  it  is  changed  to  Shirley  Street. 

Salter  Street  runs  Southwards  from  Shirley  Street 
to  Ttbdrn  Lane  and  Tanworth,  two  miles  West  of 
which  is  Portway^  rather  more  than  midway  between 
this  village  and  the  Icknield  Way,  co.  Warwick.  (See 
Salter's  Lane.) 

Salter'^s  Road,  near  the  Ermine  Street,  oo.  Lincoln; 
it  has  been  supposed  to  have  been  used  by  the 
Romans  for  bringing  salt  from  Holland  over  Brigend 
Causey  to  Leicester,     (v.  Camden,  vol.  ii.  p.  359.) 


.  I 


280 


Under  this  head  may  be  noticed  a  Roman  road,  wbioh 
has,  I  believe,  hitiierto  escaped  the  obsenration  of 
topographers.  It  conmiences  at  Gloucester,  which  is 
by  the  unanimous  consent  of  antiquaries  supposed  to 
be  the  Glevum  of  Antoninus,  and  terminates  at  its 
junction  with  the  road  which  passes  by  Magna,  or 
Kenchester,  just  above  Ode  Pyechard.  From  Glou- 
cester, I  conceive  the  road  went  to  Newent,  a  mile 
North  of  which  place  it  leaves  a  Cold  Harbour,  to 
the  West.  Thence  to  Castle  Tump,  Dymock,  Hose 
Hill,  Little  Marcle,  Cromwell^s  Walls,  Stretton  Gran- 
dison,  after  which  it  joins  the  road  above-mentioned 
six  miles  and  a  half  North   East   of  Hereford. 

Besides  this,  another  undescribed  road  seems  to  have 
started  from  the  same  city,  and  have  gone  North- 
wards, keeping  the  Malvern  HiUs  to  the  West.  Six 
miles  North  of  Gloucester  we  have  Harridge  or  Haiv 
wich  Street,  on  the  West ;  Stonend,  Stonewall,  Buig- 
hill,  to  the  East,  and  Gadburt  Banks  an  irregularly 
quadrilateral  single-ditched  work,  through  which  the 
road  passes.  Higher  up  about  a  mile,  is  a  Port 
Way ;  afterwards  we  find,  close  on  the  left  or  West- 
ern side,  Keys  End,  and  Kaisend  Strbef,  (Caesar 
Street!)  The  Rye  Street^  Birts  Street^  and  a  mile 
to  the  right,  Roberfs-end  Street.  On  the  left..  Wain 
Street^  leading  to  Rilbury  Camp  above  Ledbury,  and 
thus  it  proceeds,  leaving  Poolrend  Street  to  the  East 
under  the  Malvern  Hills,  upon  which  are  two  re- 
markable entrenchments,  till  it  reaches  Great  Mal- 
vern. 

Silver  SrREirr.  Not  unusual  in  the  two  last  men- 
tioned counties.  Does  not  this  come  from  the  Lat. 
sylvaf  just  as  we  say  Wood  Street  at  the  present 
day!    Silver  Street,  North  of  Stowmarket. 

Stone  Street,  co.  Hereford.  This  began  at  Magna 
Castra  or  Kenchester,  and  went  to  Caer  Leon. 


281 

SroNB  Strbet,  00.  Surrey.     This  began  at  Kingston  on 
Thames,  and.  passed  through   Leatherhead,  Dorking, 
OoUey,     Slinford,     Billinghuist,     Pulborough,     Cold 
Waltham,  Bignor,  Cold  Harbour,  and  ended  at  Chi- 
chester. 
Stbeet  Fobeloo;   this  branches  to  the  Tforth  out  of 
the  Roman  trackway  from  Caeb  Sws. 
SwBKSY ;  Celt.  Stoiy  aqua,  fluvius  t    A.  Sax.  Swin^  por- 
.  eus!   as  both  of   the  examples  will  agree   with    the 
former  derivation,  it  seems  capricious  to  reject  it  for 
the  latter.     But  it  is  most   probable  that  these   two 
places  were  Stoinehaygy  or  enclosures  for  fattening  pigs, 
what   we    constantly    find    mentioned    in    Domesday. 
Sweeny  near   Oswestry,    on    a  small  brook;    Swinny, 
near   Broseley,  on  the  Severn. 

Ton  ;  a  termination  so  common  that  it  hardly  needs  ex- 
planation. It  is,  however,  desirable  to  ascertain  what 
degree  of  prevalency  it  has  among  us,  and  therefore 
I  shaU  set  down  the  names  of  those  places  where  it 
occurs. 

Cardeston  (vulgo   dictum,   Cc^son)^     Withington,   Up* 
pington,  U£Bngton,  Boddington,  Wellington,  Womer- 
ton.  Burton,  Leighton,  Woolstaston,  Edgeton,  Kuyton, 
Rowton,   Dorrington,   Kemberton,   Culmington,  Ship- 
ton,    Ticklerton,    Eaton,    Eyton,    Preston,   Shineton, 
Donnington,  Chesterton,   Burwarton,   Middleton,  Ac- 
ton, Stretton^  Neenton,  Weston,  Tibberton,  Moreton. 
TooTHiLL,  West  of  Chilworth,  co.  Hants. 
Toothill,  near  Rhuddlan.    At  Criccaeth.    Tothill  Fields. 
Tothill,  two  miles  North   West  of  Stovmiarket. 
Tothill,  CO.  Lincoln.     This  is  a  peculiar  military  earth- 
work, consisting  of  a  wide  deep  ditch  about  seventy 
yards  in  length,  close  by  the  side  of  which  is  a  very 
lofty  round  hill,  which  to  this  day  retains  its  ancient 
appellation  of  Tootehill,  and  from  which  the  name  of 
the  village  is  derived. 


282 

Toothill,  fiiifioial  Mount,  near  Cockermouth,  Comb. 

Faiiy  Toote,  co.  Dorset. 

Cafitle  Tute,  near  Gleobuiy  Mortimer,  oo.  Salop. 

Tutbury,  and  perhaps  Tettenhall,   (Teotaa-heale)    co. 
Stafford. 

Strictly  writing  ToothiU  means  a  speculatoiy,  from  the 
Gael,  tata  coUicnlus  exiguus;  or  the  A.  Sax.  Mian^ 
eminere.  TaiehyUe^  specula.  (Catholicon).  TatdkylU 
or  hey  place  of  lokinge,  conspectus,  teatrum.  (Promp. 
Part.)  TaUkyUj  Mmtaignette.  (Palsgraye.)  Hall  in 
his  Chronide  speaks  of  Tatynge  Holes,  or  pUces  of 
look  out.  Coles,  in  his  Dictionary,  has  Touiy  to  look 
out  or  upon.-  Q!  does  the  Toater,  or  Gad  to  an 
omnibus,  (Celtic  eady  garde)  derive  his  title  in  con- 
sequence of  being  a  looker  out  for  passengers,  and 
perched  on  a  speculatory  behind,  or  does  he  take  it 
from  the  Belg.  tuyten,  to  blow  a  little  horn.  The 
name  is  appropriate  either  way! 
Trench  ;   a  place  formerly  surrounded,  or  lying  upon, 

a  ditch,  fosse  or  trench.     Lat.  Barb,  trancheia,  tren^ 

keia;  Fr.  trenchee^  fossa. 

Trench,  (three)  North   of  Ellesmere. 

Trench  Lane,  Trench  Oreen,  Trench  Farm,  South  of 
Wem. 

Trench  Lane,  running  from  Droitwich  to  Flyford  Fla- 
vel,  CO.  Worcester. 

Trench   Lane,   a   communication  from   the    Ridgeway 

at  Almondesbury  to  Matford  Bridge,  co.  Gloucester. 

Vallbts;  according  to  its  derivation  from  the  C.  Brit. 

gwalj   it  means   strictly   a  place    shut  in,    fenced    or 

sheltered,  a  piece  of  cultivated  ground. 

ValletB,  in   the  North  part  of  the  Forest  of  Wyre. 

Vallets,  South  of  Presteign,  co.  Radnor. 

Castle  Vallet,  South  of  Pilleth,  co.  Radnor. 

Lye  VaOets,  East  of  Hope,  under  Dinmore,  co.  Hereford. 

Sallow  Vallets,  North  of  Coleford,  co.  Gloucester. 


283 

Step  Vallet  Farm,  North  of  Downton  Ciistle. 
Wall  ;  generally  in  composition,  both  initial  and  final, 
denoting  a  place  surrounded  with  a  wallf   or  agger, 
whether  of  British  or  Roman  origin. 
Eastwall,    Ghatwall,    Wall   under   Heywood,   Cotwall, 

Walls  Bank,  Walton  near  High  Ercall. 
Wabdinb;  a  termination   denoting  a  village,  corrupted 
from   Wofihin^  which  comes  fix)m  the  A.  Sax.  Worth, 
platea,   vicus,   and  is  used   both   as  a   prefix  and   a 
termination. 
Shrawardine,  Wrockwardine,  (see  remarks  under  Wbb- 

Km),  Fouswardine  near  Sidbury,   Stanwardine,  EUer- 

dine,  Pedwardine,  Bekwardine,  PoDerdine,  Ingardine, 

BuUwardine,  Llanvair  Waterdine. 
Wat;    see    remarks    under   Hatden,    RmoE,    Sawtbt, 

Batdon,  Pbddab,  Port,  &o. 
Wig,  Wik;  incipient  and  final.    M.  Goth.  toeUs;  Celt. 
Germ,  ank ;  A.  Sax.  me,  meus. 
Wigwig,  near  Much  Wenlock. 
Wiggin,  near  St  Martin;  Wigginton,  id. 
Wike,   North  East  of  Much  Wenlock.      The    Wike, 

and  Wykey  Moss,  co.  Salop. 


Note. — Blaekdavm.  A  long  range  of  hill  North  West  of 
Honiton  Down,  at  the  extremity  of  which  is  a  small  coni- 
cal mount  like  a  beacon,  which  looks  artificial,  but  is  I 
believe  not  so  ;  it  has  however  probably  been  occupied  as 
a  little  fort  or  speculatory,  and  is  known  by  the  name 
of  Morden  or  Mordle  Pen  Beacon  (Q!  Moridunum!) 
The  ancient  name  of  this  mount  or  beacon  is  preserved 
in  the  adjacent  hamlet  Blackhorongh  or  Blackhurgh, 

Blackdown  Hill,  near  Abbotsbury,  Dorset. 

Black  Gang  Chine,  Isle  of  Wight. 


WUutt  in  Slrop#|irr 

nMRtioiuU  ta 


•f^ 


Hundred  0/ 

Hundred  qf 

ALHODlStTRUL 

Fou>. 

Baschkrche. 

PiM  Hill 

Alherberie 

Alberbniy 

Barertone 

Boreatton 

AllwfATIA 

Arterley? 

Burtone 

Barton 

AIXVWMIC 

Hakton? 

Burtune 

Comestane 

Caideston? 

Celmeies 

EUesmere? 

Corfan 

Caune 

Chenbritone 

Menistrelie 

Minaterley 

Cheneltone 
Cleberie 

Colesmere 

Colemere 

Costeford 

Hundred  of 

Crugetone 

Cnickton 

Basche&che. 

PiM  Hill. 

Eldone 

Abretone 

Albrighton 

Eatone 

Achetone 

ABtley 

Etbretone 

Aitone 

Eyton 

Etbritone 

Albricstone 

Albrighton 

Faventrei 

Faintree 

Andrelau 

Foidune 

Forton 

Baschciche 

BaBchuTch 

Franchetone 

Fraokton 

Betford 

Bettiafidd? 

Gellidone 

Besfoid? 

Grivelesul 

GrinflhiU 

Bode 

HadeheUe 

HadnaU 

Bronfelde 

Broomfield 

Hantone 

286 


Hundred  qf 

Hundred  tf 

Baschsrche. 

PiM  Hill* 

COKDETEST, 

Stottesdsk. 

Healeie 

Dodentone 

Downtonl 

Hetone 

Yeaton 

Stochea 

Stokeeay 

Hoptone 

Hopton 

Burbingi 

Billingaley? 

Hordelei 

Hordeley 

Cateschealeie 

Cattealey 

Hachefor 

Chinlete 

Kinlet 

Hugelei 

Hnghley 

Dodintone 

• 

Iteahale 

Hhiflbal? 

Fech 

Lagedone 

Leaton 

Ferlan 

Farlow 

Lartune 

Ingmdine 

Ingardine 

Membrefelde 

Merrington 

Lei 

Alveley? 

MuUcht 

Mdela 

Meadowley? 

Nease 

Neaa 

Mulfltone 

Milson 

Newentone 

Nene 

Keen  Savage 

Odenet 

Hodnet 

Ovretone 

Overton 

Pectone 

Petton 

Setham 

Po8Betoni6 

Stantone 

Stanton 

Prestone 

Preston  Gobalds 

Steple 

RoadA 

RosHaU 

WaUe 

WaU  Town 

Rniton 

Rayton 

Waltbam 

Salenrdine 

Shnwaidme 

Waltone 

Walton 

Siadieberie 

Stanrdine 
Sadberie 

Stanwardine 

Saletane 

Satton? 

Udeoote 

Udefoid 

Hundred  of 

COXDOURE.                  COVDOTER. 

Waleford 

Walford 

Waltham 

Actone 

Acton 

Weahope 

WoUaaoot? 

detune 
Becheberie 

Beckbuiy 

Witeaot 

Begestan 

Belderves 

BuOdwaa 

Belleardine 
Betane 

Bekwardine 
Betton 

Botewde 

LeBotwood 

Hundred  of 

Brantune 

COLMKSTAir. 

CuLMivoToir  or 
Mum  SLOW. 

Biame 
Burtune 

Broomcioft 

AUedone 

HaUbidl 

Cantelop 

CanUop 

Aneberie 

Onibury 

Catewinde 

1 


286 


Hundf€dtf 

Hundred  iif 

COVDOURE. 

COKDOTEI. 

COVDOURK. 

COWDOVEE. 

Chenelie 

Kenley 

Umbnmtune 

Conendo^^e 

Condover 

Warentenchale 

Wrentnall 

Cristeaache 

Creasage 

Wigewie 

Wigwig 

Cuneet 

Cound     • 

Etone 

Etune 

Feltone 

Felton 

Hundred  qf 

Fineiner 

Fennymeie 

CULVESTAK. 

Proded^e 

Frodesley 

iElmundefltune 

Godestoch 

Bolledone 

Bolwardine 

Goldene 

Golden 

Cuham 

Old  Caynton 

Hach 

Cardintune 

Cardington 

Hantenetune 

Cerletone 

Harlege 

Harley 

Clee 

Huelbec 

aone 

Hugle 

Cortune 

Hundealit 
JAch 

The  Leech,  East 
of  Chad's  Ercall 

Eslepe 

Eflseford 

Estune 

Sleap 

Langeford 

Fordriteahopo 

Forton 

Languelege 

Langley 

Humet 

Lege 

LeyHiU 

Ledewic 

Ledwyke 

litl^^a 

LythHiUI 

Merstun 

Mertime 

Middeltone 

Middleton 

Mimete 

Mildehope 

Netelie 

NeUey 

Plesham 

Flush 

Nortune 

Poaaetom 

Ovie 

Scevintone 

Piceforde 

Pitchford 

Sudtelch 

FUyesdone 

Sadtone 

Sutton 

Polelie 

PuUey 

Polrebec 

Pulverbat4!h 

Rotelingehope 

Rattlinghope 

Schentnne 

Shineton 

Semebre 

Smerecote 

Smethcot 

Hundred  qf 

Stoche 

De&inlau. 

Ulestanes 

Lideberie 

L 


287 


Hundred  qf 

Hundred  iif 

Elnoelstrui..       Brivbtrkt. 

HoDEirsT  or 

North  akd 

Odenet.     i 

South  Bradford. 

Aldeberie 

Oldbmy 

EUeurdine 

Elleidine 

Beghesoure 

Badger 

Eetune 

Bispetone 

Bishton 

Grarehnngre 

Bn)ctoii 

Brocton 

Hatone 

Hatton 

Dehocsele 

DeuThill 

Harpecote 

Eldone 

Hilton 

Hetune 

Eaton  upon  Tern 

Estone 

Aston 

Hortone 

Etone 

Istefelt 

Faventiei 

Faintree 

Lai 

Lea 

FnlTordie 

Fulwardine 

Letone 

Leighton 

Gledei 

Glazeley 

Maicemealie 

Marchamley 

Ingoidiiie 

Ingardine 

Mortone 

Morton  Say 

Madolea 

Madeley 

Mortone 

Middelton 

Middleton 

Nortone 

Norton 

Nortone 

Norton 

Odenet 

Hodnet 

Pichetorne 

Pros 

Frees 

Rnitone 

Ruyton 

RohaUe 

Stochetone 

Stockton 

Sayintune 

Sadtone 

Satton 

Sponelege 

Spoonley 

Ulton 

Hilton 

Stanestone 

WiUt 

WiUey? 

Stantiine 
Stile 
Tireliie 
Uluretone 

Stanton 

Ollerton 

Ulwardelege 

Hundred  qf 

Walani^eslaa 

HoDEiTET  QT       North  and 

Wane 

Odeket. 

South  Bradford. 

Weme 

Wem 

Achetnne 

Acton  Reynard 

Westune 

Weston 

Alchetune 

Allcington 

Wicford 

Wixhall 

Anelege 

Witehala 

Boitime 

Bordestune 

Canralialle 

Cote 

Woodcote 

Dermtnne 

Hundred  of 

Dodetnne 

Lenteurde. 

PURSLOW. 

Dndtime 

Diayton 

Adelestune 

Edgton 

Eldiedelei 

Braotune 

288 


Hundred  if 

Hundred  of 

Lewteukde. 

PURSLOW. 

Mersete. 

Buchehalle 

BucknaU 

Haustone 

Cheney  Longae- 

Hauietesoote 

Harlescot 

Chenifltetiine 

vflle 

Heme 

Clen 

Clan 

Horseforde 

Nortune 

Norbuiy 

Languefelle 

Pedewide 

Bedstone 

Lidum 

PwU-Ue,  East  of 

Lopitone 

Loppington 

PoleUe 

Hyssington 

Meteurlei 

Llanvair  Water- 

Meiesbroc 

MaesbixMk 

Watredene 

dine 

Mortone 

Morton 

Wistaneston 

Wistanstow 

Nessham 

Ness 

Osulvestune 

Oswestty 

Quatford 
Sbemestune 

Quatford 

Sireton 

Soughton? 

Hundred  qf 

Stodesdone 

Stottesdon 

MER8ETE. 

Stratnn 

Stretton 

Achelai 

Tibetone 

Tibberton 

Aitone 

Tomeberie 

Archdow 

Tnmge 

Ardintone 

Eardiston,  East 
ofWest  Felton 

Udetone 
Urbetone 

Hudlingtont 

Berewic 

Berwick 

WaUtone 

Bolbec 

Westone 

Weston 

Catinton 

Kinton 

Westone 

Chenardelei 

Kinneiley 

Wiche 

Wykey 

Chenlei 

Wititone 

Whittington 

Chimerestun 

Wlferesforde 

Woolston 

Comintone 

Dalelie 

Demiou 

Dodintone 

Dudleston 

Donitone 

Hundred  <tf 

Edmendune 

Edgerly  ? 

OVRET. 

Edritnne 

Bureford 

Ellesmeles 

Ellesmere 

Claiberie 

aeobury 

Fdtone 

West  Felton 

Comelie 

Foide 

Ford 

Dodentone 

Furfcime 

Forton 

Mutone 

Halstune 

Halston 

Tedenesolle 

289 


Hundred  1^ 

RXCORDIVS. 

WROCKWARDIVX. 

BeteBlaii 

Betton,  North  of 

Hundred  of 

M.  Drayton 

Pativtuhs. 

F&AMCHisE  or 

Brochetone 

Brockley  Moor? 

Weklock. 

Bortone 

Bratton? 

Abetune 

Abdon 

Buterie 

Buerton? 

Beritmie 

Bemngton 

Cerlecote 

Charlton? 

Broctmid 

Brocton 

CerHtone 

Chariton  HiU 

Bachehale 

CesdiUe 

Cbeswell  Grange 

Cide 

aee 

CestuUe 

. 

Dodefort 

Chinardeecie 

Kinnersley 

Grodntane 

Gietton 

ConeUe 

Lotds 

Galkugbton 

Edeslai 

Ludecote 

Lutwych? 

Eiminatn 

Emstrey 

Luahoot? 

Etbretelie 

Madelie 

Madeley 

Etone 

Eyton?  Eton 

MeHoope 

MUUchope 

Constahtine? 

Mostiine 

Hanstune 

Hinstock? 

Oxibola 

Oxenbold 

Hatlege 

Hadley 

Petelie 

Peaton 

HoTtune 

Horton 

Ptbdo 

Prene 

Laneki 

Rueberie 

Ruahbaiy 

Langaedune 

Sdpetane 

Shipton 

LaveUe 

Lawley 

Staoeweie 

Lega 

Leegomeiy 

Stsntone 

Stanton 

Lestone 

Leaton 

9toche 

Stoke  St  Mil- 

Ofitone 

Uflfington 

borongh 

Opetone 

Uppington 

Stopch 

Papelaw 

Peplow 

TicheieTOide 

Tickwood 

Peventone 

Wenlock 

Wenlock 

Prestone 
Ptestone 

Preston 

Recordme 
Rocheoeetre 

Wiockwaidine 

Wroxeter 

Hundred  4(f 

Rodintone 
Sanford 

Boddington 
San^oid 

Recordixe, 

W&OCKWARDIllEr 

Sawesberie 

Shawbmy 

Aicalun 

HighEnsal 

Stocbes 

Stoke 

Aflnebrnger 

Sudtone 

Satton 

Atingeham 

Atcham 

Tetbzigtone 

Tibberton? 

Avochelie 

Uchintime 

Uckingten 

fierevdc 

Berwick 

Uptone 

Upton  Mafl^?'V 

19 


290 


Hw^ed4if 

Hundred  1^ 

RCCOEDIJTE. 

Wrockwaedine. 

RlXLAU. 

Uptime 

Waten  Upton  f 

Caatiine 

Widefoid 

Withyfoid 

Ghenpitone 

Wrenton 

Omie 

Clan 

auneberie 
Cluntiine 

Onnbniy 

annton 

Coaetune 

HumiMdqf 

Egednne 

£dgtown 

RUXSSXT. 

Hope 

Hope 

Bekalfii 

Obelie 

Benehale 

Benihal 

Opetane 

Hopton 

Ctotistiine 

Caidiaton 

Poaaelaii 

CSieberie 

Chizinuy 

Sibetane 

Sibdon 

Dantime 

Dadstone 

Wantenonie 

Wentnor 

Wineaiei 

Etmie 

Feniel^;e 

Hanewde 

Hanwood 

Langedune 

Hundred  CMiaiu  or  qf, 

LodehTiUe 

SciEOPE8BEEIE«      SbEBWSBUKT 

Lachetone 

Meme 

Aitone 

• 

Mease 

Edelactnne 

Panteaberie 

Ponteaboiy 

f.inlftglittllft 

Pole* 

Poulton 

Melam 

BiaoeMeole 

Preetnne 

Praton  Hall 

Saltone 

Rntone 

Rowton 

Scentune 

Udecote 

ScuDpesberie 

Snuewabiuy 

Udenertuiie 

Sadtone 

Sutton 

Weeberie 

Westbuiy 

WeteebuiK 

Wattlesborough 

Wibetane 

Wigemoie 

Hundred  9/ 

WiUamtnne 

WooUaaton 

WlTBlTTEBl* 

Bichetone 

Bicion 

Ciiealoc 

"I.VMW 

Hundred  qf 

Cotaxdicote 

Cotbeieot 

RlVLAtJ. 

Meritmie 

Androfllaae 

Mndetone 

Beriie 

Mvletime 

291 


Hundred  0/ 

Hundred  iff 

WiTSKTKEl, 

WiTSTEXU. 

Rifltone 

Gosfiford 

Roritmie 

RoTnngtoii 

Hoptune 

Rontone 

Rowton 

Lestone 

Westune 

Weston 

Manefora 
Meresberie 

MuUtone 

Almitiniiiicn 

Hundred  qf 

Roiitune 

WiTETEXU. 

Stantane 

Benehale 

Staimoota 

Cestelop 

Ulestanesmade 

Dadeftane 

Wadekstim 

Ekhitim 

Waleoot 

E^tone 

Weatune 

Etenehop 

Widine 

19-a 


Cedit  enim  winaa  novitate  eztrufla  Tetustas 

Semper;  et  ex  aliis  aliud  repanre  neoesBe  est; 

Neo  quidquam  in  bamtliniin  nee  tartan  deddat  atn* 

LucRsnus. 


1 


.J 


AUTHORITIES  CHIEFLY   CONSULTED  IN  THE 
FOLLOWING   PAGES. 


^Pbomptdabium  Parvulorom  Ave  Glerioomm.  Mantuoript 
in  the  Library  of  King^s  College,  Cambridge. 

*  Printed  by  Richard  P^nBon, 
foL  1499. 

*  —  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  4to.  1516. 

*  Vulgaria  Viri  Doctiasimi  Gulielmi  Hormani  CsaaariB  Bur- 

gensis.     Printed  by  Richard  Pynson,  fol.  1519. 
*LeBclarciflBement  de  la  langae  Franooyse  compofle  par 

maistre  lehan  Palsgraue  Angloys  natyf  de  Londree 

et  gradne  de  Paris.      Printed   by    lohan    HaukynB, 

Lond.  foL  1530. 
Cotgrave^B  French  and  English  Dictionarie,  Lond.  161 1. 
Oloflsaire  de  la  Langae  Romane,  par  Roquefort,  S  vols. 

8vo.   1808 — 1820. 
Diotionnaire  du  Vieux  langage  Francois,  par  Lacombe, 

2  vols.  8vo.  1766 — 1767. 
Dictionnaire  Royal,  {ran9ois-anglois,  et  anglois4Tan9ois, 

par  Boyer,  4to.  1783. 
Dictionnaire  de  la  langae  Francoise  ancienne  et  modeme, 

de  Pierre  Riehelet,  3  vols.  fol.  1759- 
Dictionnaire  Etymologique  de  la  langae  Fran9oise,  par 

M.  Menage,  2  vols.  fol.  Paris,  1750. 
Dictionnaire  de  Trevoox,  8  vols.  fol.  Paris,  1771- 
Dictionnaire  de  la  langae  Celtique,  par  M.  Bullet,  Besan^ 

con,  3  vols.  fol.  1750. 
Dictionnaire  de  la  langae  Bretonne,  par  Louis  le  Pel* 

letier,  fol.  Paris,  1752. 


296 

Archffiologia  Britannioay  by  Edward  Lhuyd,  fol.  Oxford, 

1708. 
Antiqiue   Linguae   Britanniose   ThesaoniB,    by  the  Bev. 

Thomas  Richards,  8vo.  Dolgelley,  1815. 
ArohflBoIogia  Comu-Britannioa,  or  an  Easay  to  preBonre 

the  ancient  Gomijsh  language,  by  William  Piyce,  M.D. 

4to.   Sherborne,  1790* 
GIoBsarium    Suio-Oothicum,    2   vok.    fol.     Upeal,    1769- 

(Ihre.) 
Lexicon  Lapponicum,  4to.  Holmis,  1780.    (Dure.) 
Olai  V^relii  Lidex  Linguae  veteris  Scytho-Scandicae  aive 

Oothicae  ex  vetusti  aevi  monumentis,  maximam  partem 

manuficriptifl,  collectus  atque  opera  Olai  Rudbecki  editus 

Upsalae  anno  M.DCXGL  foL 
Lexicon  Idandico-Latino-Danicum  Biomonis  HaldorBonii, 

4to.  Hauniae,  1814. 
En  Dansk  og  Engelsk   Ord-Bog.     A  Daniah  and  En- 

gliflh  Dictionary,  by  Ernst  Wolff,  4to.  London,  1779- 
^Outzen,  Glossarium  der  Freisischen  Sprache^  4to.  Ko- 

penhagen,  1837* 
Alt  Friesisches  Worterbuch  von  Tilemann  Dothias  Wiarda, 

8vo.  Aurich,  1786. 
Etymologicum  Teutonicae  Linguae  CorneUi  Kiliani,  4to. 

Trajecti  Batavorum,  1777* 
Sahlstedt,  Dictionarium  Suecicum,  4to.  Stockholm,  1773. 
Piipai,   Dictionarium    Latino   Hungaricum,    8to.  S  vob. 

Posonii  et  Cibinii,    1801. 
A  complete   Dictionary,   English  and   Dutch,  by   Wil- 
liam Sewel,  2  vols.  4to.  Amsterdam,  1766. 
Winkehnan,    Nederduitsch    en    Fransch    Woordenbock, 

Utrecht,  2  vols.  ,8vo.  1783. 
Wachteri  Glossarium  Gtermanicum,  fol.  Lipsise,  1737- 
Scherzii  Glossarium  Germanicum  Medii  ^vi,  2  vols.  fol. 

Argentorati,  1781. 
Haltaus  Glossarium  Germanicum  Medii  iEvi,  foL  Lipdie, 

1758. 


297 

A  Gaelic  Dictionary,  by  R.  A.  Annstrong,  M^.  4to. 

London,  1825. 
Diotionarium  Sooto-Celticum ;  published  by  the  Highland 

Society  of  Scotland,  2  vols.  4to.  1828. 
*  Etymological  Dictionary  of  the  Scottish  Language,  by 

John  JamicBon,  4  vola.  4to.  1808 — 1825. 
Minaheu^s  Guide  into  eleven  tongues,  foL  l6l7. 
Diotionarium    Saxonico    et    Gothico-Latinum ;    Lye   et 

Manning,  2  yols.  fol.  London,  1772. 
Somneri  Diotionarium  Anglo-Saxonicum,  fol.  Oxford,  1659. 
Junii   Etymologicum  Anglicanum,  Oxon.  fol.  1743. 
Skinneri  Etymologicon  Linguse  Anglicanse,  fol.  Lond.  1671. 
♦Spelmanni  Glossarium  Archaiologicum,  fol.  London,  1687. 
Baxteri    Glossarium    Antiquitatum   Britannicarum,    8yo. 

London,  1783. 
Du  Gauge ;  Glossarium  Manuale  ad  Scriptores  medise  et 

infimse  latinitatis,  Hate,  6  vols.  8vo.  1722. 
Bishop  Kennett^s  Glossary  to  explam  the  oripnal,  the 

acceptation,   and  obsoleteness  of  words  and  phrases, 

8vo.  London,  I8I6. 
Florio's  Worlde  of  Wordes,  4to.  London,  1598. 
BaUey'^s  English  Dictionary,  2  vols.  1735. 
Bullokar's  English  Expositor,  12mo.  1656. 
An  Alvearie  or  Quadruple  Dictionarie,  by  John  Baret, 

foL  1580. 
A  Dictionarie  in  English  and  Latine  for  Children,  com- 
piled by  John  Withals,  London,  8vo.  16O8. 
Blount's  Glossographia,  8vo.  1656. 
GoW  English  Dictiomuy,  8vo.  1713. 
.  Pickering^s  Vocabulary  of  the  United  States,  8vo.  I816. 
Nares^  Glossary,  4to.  1822. 
Phiffips'  World  of  Words,  fol.  1696. 
^The  Derbyshire  Miners^  Glossary,  by  James  Mander, 

Bakewell,  8vo.  1824, 
A  Glossary  of  North  Country  words,  by  John  Trotter 

Brockett,  Newcastle  upon  Tyne,  8vo.  I829. 


298 

The  Hallanmhire  Glossary,  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hunter, 

London,  8vo.  1829. 
The  Dialect  of  Craven,  London,  1828,  2  vols. 
The  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Tim  Bobbin,  Esq.  London, 

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An  attempt  at  a  Glossary  of  some  words  used  in  Ches- 
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The  Vocabuhuy  of  East  Anglia,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 

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Suffolk  Words  and   Phrases,  or  an  attempt  to  collect 

the   Lingual  Localisms  of  that  County,   by  Edward 

Moor,  Woodbridge,  1823,  8vo. 
Observations  on  some  of  the  Dialects  in  the  West  of 

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A   Dialogue  in  the  Devonshire  Dialect,  by  a  Lady:  to 

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1837,  8vo. 
Ancient  words  used  in  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire, 

communicated  to  the  Archaselogia  by  Dr  Willan,  toI. 

xvii. 
A   list  of  words  appended   to  collections  towards  the 

History  and  Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Hereford, 

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*  Not  in  the  author's  coUeetloD. 


undergoes  numerous  changefi  in  our 

pronunciation*     The   most  common 
is  that  where  it  takes  the  eound  of 
This   occurs  at  the  commence- 
ment, middle  and  end  of  syllables. 
Ex*    applet ^  for  apples :   pother:,   for 
gather :   ioteA,  for  catch :  mon^   for 
man :  con^  for  can :  nwttock^  for  mat- 
toek  :  Mo^-doT/^  for  May-day ;  woy, 
for  way:    hond,  for  hand.     (Wielire 
Nete   Test,  Luke  xv,) 
When  final  it  la  at  times  converted  into 
y  >'    Ex.  Ohinf,  for  China.     It  is  often 
doubled,  as  in  the  words  safe,  and  made; 
the   SalopianB  here  foUowing   WicUfian 
authority  say  saafey  and  maad£. 

'^  He  ftmnd  othere  men  aaaff  he  may  not 
tnake  himsilf  muf"  Tramhtimi  of  New  Tmt, 
Matt,  ch,  xxYiii,  and  John  ch.  x. 

In  some  words  it  is  omitted  altoge- 
ther; as  in  broad,  great,  they  say  brod^^ 
ffrHe^  but  in  these  inetanees  final  ^  ifl 
added. 


300 

Beches  and  brode  okes. 

P.  PLonBMAif*8  Fition,  80. 
And  streochet  hem  brode! 

P.  Plouhman^s  Crede. 
Of  heom  schon  the  brodf  feld. 
Kyng  AKmmnder,  y.  1606,  also  t.  3433, 6126, 6699 ;  Sir  Amadu, 
T.  862;  Qolden  Legend,  throdie. 
When  followed  hy  g  or  I  it  oooaaionally  takes  the  sound 
of  0,  and  the  g^  or  l^  is  silent,  as  cofe  for  calf:   hofe 
for  half. 

It  is  turned  into  e ;  Ex.  iomA  for  wash :  gMer  for  gather ; 
Wiclif,  Chaucer  and  our  Early  English  Romances  folly 
justify  this  usage. 

It  is  omitted  in  many  monosyllabics,  and  they  are  thus 
made  short,  as  mot^  for  moat.  When  it  would  neoes* 
sarily  be  short  if  it  were  not  lengthened  by  final  e^  it 
is  pertinaciously  made  short,  as,  '^He  stared  me  reet 
i'  the  feace^':  fnar^  for  mare:  tpar^  for  spare:  car,  for 
care :  bar^  for  bear,  and  bare :  dor,  for  dare : 

Til  bothe  hare  heredes  weie  Aor. 

P.  Plouhman»95. 
He  bar  acharpe  spere. 
Kyno  Alisaundbr,  t.  969,  also  ▼•  988,  2312,  &c.  &c 
Hon  he  dar. 

id.  T.  6515. 
Hound  no  best  dor  him  aaeayle. 

id.r.e666. 

When  others  make  it  short,  we  make  it  long,  as  in 
the  words  contrary^  after ^  farmert. 

When  long  and  broad  according  to  general  pronuncia- 
tion we  give  it  the  sound  of  ay  or  eg^  as  fegther^  for 
father. 

Where  it  has  by  custom  the  sound  of  short  o,  we  give 
it  that  of  short  a,  especially  in  those  words  where  it 
is  followed  by  f»,  as  wander^  auxm's  egg  par  (pear)» 
nxupisk^  &c. 

In  words  where  followed  by  «,  it  is  pronounced  like  the 
Scotch  at,  or  eg :  thus  dastardly,  nasty,  master,  &6.  be- 
come daisterdlg,  naigtg,  maimer.     Sir  Amadas  fomishes 


doi 

afli  Authority  for  this  use,    and  Jthb   ati   exmnple  of 
pure  Shropdiire  language. 

The  man  dyd  as  his  meygter  bad 

Bot  sQche  a  mmt  as  he  ther  hade.  ▼.  71. 

Au,  is  often  converted  into  o  short,  and  if  followed  by 

ghy  reoeives  the  sound  of  j^  as  loff^  for  laugh. 

And  then  the  whole  quiie  hold  their  hips,  and  Iqg^ 

Midsummer  Nights  Dream,  Act  ii.  Sc  1. 

and  into  a  short,  aapaneh^  for  paunch;  toffkt^  for  taught. 

A  is  often  used  for  they :  Ex.  "  Whire  bin  a  T  Instead 
of  several  prepositions,  on,  ^i#,  tn,  &o.  as,  ''  a  Wednes- 
day'" :  a  morwe,  (Chauoer^s  Canterb.  TaleSy  v.  824),  '^  a 
fire^  (id.  v.  6308,  and  Kynff  AUsau/nder^  v.  7549,  7552), 
as  "o-whoam^'i  as  "o-bed^  (Chauc.  CcMt.  TdleSy  v. 
5989,  6509,  &oO 

It  is  frequently  employed  for  the  verb  ham^  as  ^^  When 
shan  ^e  a  doneT  '^He  a  got  none.'" 

For  the  pronouns  he  and  ehe^  as  ^^  There  a  comes^.  In 
the  Metrical  Romance  of  Sur  Bevis  a  is  continually  used 
for  he.  It  is  also,  an  expletive,  as  '^a  buf" ;  for  but, 
or  Oh  I  but.  It  is  ap  useless  particle,  constantly  placed 
before  a  gerund.  For  instance,  o-coming,  o-doing,  a* 
making.  In  such  cases  Tyrwhitt  thinks  it  a  corruption 
of  on.  (See  his  Remarks  on  ^  Camterbwry  Tales^  v.  11884, 
1689.)  ^'I  go  o-fishing^,  John  xxi.  3:  and  our  best 
grammarians  deem  it  a  genuine  preposition  in  such  in- 
stances. (See  Lowth^s  JSnffUsh  Grammar^  p.  82 ;  Forby^s 
Oloesary^  p.  3.)  In  composition,  in  words  of  Saxon  origin, 
it  may  be  considered  an  abbreviation  of  at,  or  of,  of  on, 
or  in;  and  often  only  a  corruption  of  the  prepositive 
A.  Sax.  particle  pe  or  y.  The  former  of  which  pre- 
fixes subsequently  became  changed  into  y,  as  ''yheled 
with  lede^.  (P.  Plouhman.)  What  force  this  had  at  an 
earlier  period  cannot  now  with  accuracy  be  determined : 
if  it  evOT  had  any  power,  it  is  now  l<HSt  to  us,  and  the 
Towel  a  which  seems  to  be  equally  unmeaning  is  sub- 


302 

Btitnted  in  its  place.  In  words  of  Frenoh  origin  it  is 
generally  to  be  deduced  from  the  Latin  oi,  €id^  and 
occasionally  ex.  The  reader  desirous  of  learning  any 
thing  additional  on  these  points  may  consult  witii  ad- 
vantage, Chalmers^  admirable  Glossary  to  Sir  David 
Lyndsay^B  works,  and  the  first  article  in  Todd^s  edition 
of  Johnson^s  Dictiomuy.  Enough  has  been  said  here ; 
especially,  as  the  examples  quoted  cannot  be  considerod 
strictty  local. 

AoooN,  in  composition  with  the  name  of  several  places 
in  the  county,  as  Aooon  Scott;  Acoon  Retnard; 
AoooN  Burnbll;  Aooon  Pioot;  Round  Aooon,  &o.  It 
means  the  oai4awf^  from  A.  Sax.  eac^  ,ac^  quercns; 
and  ^flio,  villa.  (V.  Remarks,  at  p.  240.) 
Ads,  aid,  8.  1.  a  deep  gutter  cut  across  ploughed  land. 
I  imagine  it  means  simply  an  aid  for  the  water  to  escapa 
Isl.  cBd;  Swed.  cteder;  Teat,  adere;  Germ,  ader;  A.  Sax. 
(Bddrey  vena.  2.  a  reach  in  a  river.  Ex.  ^^  Boden^s  od^T, 
''  Preen's  ade^,  ''  Swinny  ode'',  near  Coalport.  This  sig- 
nification is  confined  to  Bargemen,  Owners  and  B(n^ 
holers,  (q.  v.) 
Adb,  «.  to  cut  a  gutter  of  the  above  description.     Ex. 

^^Adififf  down  in  the  follow.'' 
Adlands,  8.  more  common  than  Hadlande  (which  see) : 
those  butts  in  a  ploughed  field  which  lie  at  right  an^es 
to  the  general  direction  of  the  others,  the  part  dose 
against  the  hedges:  quasi  Headlands,  as  in  fact  the 
derivation  shews.  Isl.  Aau/ud;  A.  Sax.  heafod,  caput: 
A.  Sax.  lond,  terra.  In  old  deeds  termed  CapUaKa 
Agri,  ''  Canonici  concesserunt  hominibus  de  Wrechwyke 
duas  acraB  prati  pro  capUaKbus  suarum  croftarum."" 
(Kennet's  Paroeh.  Antiq.  p.  137.)  ''A  Headland^, 
says  this  learned  topographer,  ^^  now  commonly  called  a 
Hadland,  whence  the  Headryoay  or  HadAoa/g^ 
Afbard,  pa/rt*  paxb  of  verb  afraid.  This  can  scarcely 
be  considered  as  dialectical.     A.  Sax.  afaared^  territos. 


808 

It  is  of  oonstant  recarrence  in '  all  our  early  English 
writers.  Robert  of  Glo^ster,  aftrd^  afered.  King  of 
Tats,  afert.  Kyng  Alisaunder,  P.  Ploohman,  Emp. 
Octavian,  aferd.  Coer  de  Lion,  Oolden  Legend,  Chau- 
cer, aferde.  Chaucer,  afered.  Coer  de  Lion,  afere^ 
Spenser,  affeare.  Sbakspeare,  **  Be  not  affeard^ — Temp, 
iii.  2,  &c. 

Afore,  a(fe.  instead  of,  before;  and  also  thus,  ^^ afore 
lung^,  for  before  long.  The  ancient  form.  Chaucer. 
A.  Sax.  wt-foran,  ante. 

Aptbb-clap,  s.  the  consequence,  issue,  result,  generally 
received  in  mahun  partem,  and  this  was  its  significa- 
tion in  the  time  of  H^nry  VIII. 

From  lajnic  and  £roni  colde 
And  firom  laynning  of  rappes 
And  sache  mer-dappes, 

Skblton's  Pcmu,  edit  1798.  p.  84. 

The  confater  meant  to  be  fiunoua^  like  Poggins,  that  all-to- 

be-aased  Valla,  Tmpezontiiis,  and  their  dependents,  many  learned 

Italiana;   or  might  have  given  a  gaeas  at  some  .jpoaBible  after- 

dapi,  as  good  as  a  prognostication  of  an  after-wnter.-   Piero^s 

Supererogation,  by  Gabeiel  Haevey,  1693. 

Again,  Aoen,  prqf.  Used  by  the  Comavii  in  its  various 
significations  precisely  as  it  is  by  the  Iceni.  1.  against. 
Ex.  " Tm  totally  ayw  it.''  2.  contiguous.  Ex.  "Shut 
'em  offen  the  backside  o'  the  house."  S.  by,  towards. 
Ex.  "  Jpen  to  morrow  ownder."  4.  when.  Ex.  "  Affen 
a  men's  paid  for  iviry  thin  it  taks  a  dhell  o'  money." 

Aox,  V.  to  grow  old.  Ex.  ^^  Ages  a  pace."  A.  Sax.  a2- 
doffioMy  veterascere. 

AooNB,  adv.  for  ago ;  an  archaism  very  common  at  Wen- 
look  ;  and  the  worthy  Burghers  of  that  loyal  town  may 
fortify  themselves  with  black-letter  authority  for  their 
use  of  it. 

And  one  of  theym  sayd^  truly  we  have  noo  thynge  but  a  rye 
lofe  whyche  he  gane  to  Ood^  agenst  his  wyU,  bnt  iL  dayes  agone.^^ 
The  igfe  tf  Sayiu  Johan,  elematyner;   Golden  Legend. 

Aious,    AiGUBT  8.  a  spangle,  the  gold  or  silver  tinsel 

ornamenting  the  dress  of  a  showman  or  rope  dancer* 


304 

Ex.  ''  He's  aiffUd  all  o'er.""  Pbomp.  Pabt.  aglai,  acns. 
Fr.  aiguiUMe,  Naree,  like  some  others,  explains  our 
word  tiius,  ^^  the  tag  of  a  point,^  and  by  this  significa- 
tion perverts  the  sense  of  his  quotation  from  Spenser: 

Which  aU  aboTe  beBprinckled  was  Umraghout 
With  golden  ayguleU,  that  glistred  bright. 
Give  him  gold  enough  and  many  him  to  a  puppet,  or  an 
aiglet  baby.    Taming  qf  the  Shrew,  L  2. 

All  in  a  woodman's  jacket  he  was  dad 
Of  Linoolne  greene,  belayd  with  ailyer  laoe; 
And  on  his  head  an  hood  with  agl^  spread. 

Spbnssr's  Faerie  Queene,  ti.  iL  6, 

Akkbr,  «.  an  acorn.  Ex.  ^^  Ghrun  to  pike  up  the  aktert^: 
''The  pigs  gween  a  akkeringy     Corve  Dale. 

Akkobn,  Atchobn,  9.  an  acorn :  the  former  iambic,  the 
latter  trochaic  in  pronunciation.  My  late  friend,  Mr 
Roger  Wilbraham,  {umiahes  me  in  his  admirable  little 
Glossary  of  Cheshire  words,  with  the  prevalent  example 
of  our  use  of  this  word,  which  is  common  to  the  two 
counties.  Ex.  ^^  The  pigs  are  gone  o^  aitckoming^''  Ld. 
ahum;  Dan.  aggem;  M.  Goth,  airan;  Tent,  aeeker; 
Belg.  dker ;  Germ,  accem^  glans. 

All  along  of;  all  alunq  on;  aluno.  1.  through, 
owing  to,  in  consequence.  Ex.  ^^All  alung  6"  Conng 
Weetony  ^^  This  comes  alung  o  gween  wi^  sich  a  chap 
as  he  is.^  2.  uninterruptedly,  continuously.  Ex*  "This^ns 
all  almg^  A.  Sax.  ge-lang^  Tent.  geUmgan^  causa  cu- 
jusvis. 

Alley,  «.  a  taw,  or  favourite  marble:  a  white  aUeg^  is 
one  made  of  alabaster,  a  chamig  alley,  one  of  china.  Not 
local.     Lat.  albuaf 

Amaist,  adv.  almost.  Ex.  ^^AnuUst  clemmM.**^  Tent. 
Belg.  att-meesty  Swed.  aU^maeet^  ut  plurimum.  See  Maist. 

Amaisteb,  «.  1.  to  teach.  Ex.  ^Tll  amaieter  it  to 
you.^  I  insert  this  word  on  the  single  authority  of 
an  ingenuous,  and  apparently  honest  man,  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Cleobury  Mortimer,  who  assured  me* 
he  had  repeatedly  heard  it  in  the  above  sense.     As- 


305 


suining  that  my  simple  minded  informant  is  correct,  and 

I  eee  no  reason  to  doubt  his  testimony,  this  furnishes  an 

additional  link  to  the  chain  of  internal  evidence  which 

the  Vision  of  Piers  Plouhman  exhibits  in  proof  of  the 

author  being  a  native  of  our  county.    Ital.  ammaettrare  f 

docere. 

How  ich  myghte  amautren  hem  to  loyye  and  laboure 
For  here  Ijrftode. 

P.  Plouhman^  139. 
For  we  han  Mede  amaistrid, 

id.  32.  biB. 

Ampot,  8.  corrupted  from  hamper;  thus,  hamper,  hand- 
pannier,  hand  pot,  hampot,  ampot 
An,  8.  an  individual,  corrupted  from  one;  as  often  un; 
"  a  bad  an  :^  "  a  tidy  unJ*^    Not  peculiarly  dialectical. 
Anan,  nan,   a(fe.  What!  What  do  you  say?  an  answer 
to  an  address  not  perfectly  understood.     I  see  no  oc- 
casion to  seek  further  for  an  etymon  of  this  word,  than 
what  obviously  arises  from  it.     It  seems  to  have  origi- 
nated simply  in  one  of  those  common  methods  in  which 
the  lower  orders  delight.     Anan^  agan^  offain:  that  is, 
"say  what  you  spoke  before,  again.''''     "Again,''  agan^ 
anan^  nan. 
Anent,    anbnst,    anunst,    cute,    opposite,    over    againtt. 
On  the  score  of  provinciality  this  has  no  right  to  ad- 
mittance here.     Yet  for  the  sake  of  hazarding  a  new 
idea  on  its  etymology,  I  give  it  insertion.     At  the  head 
of  all  Glossarists  stands  Junius,  who  with  vast  stores  of 
learning  to  draw  from,  seems  always  to  give  the  pre- 
ference to  the  Greek.     That  language  will  do  but  little 
in  the  cause  of  etymological  truth  sb  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned.    It  has   its  advocates  among  the  readers  of 
classic  literature,  but  yet  they  can  scarcely  assert  that 
the  dialectical  owes  any  thing  to  that  tongue.     My  pre- 
decessors with  a  Grecian  reverence  have  assigned  the 
present  word  to  evavri.     With  an  humble  respect  for 
iheir  opinion,  I  am  nevertheless  disposed  to   question 

90 


306 

its  propriety ;  I  attribute  its  origin  to  Epenthesis,  from 
offainH^  agenst^  (Coer  de  Lion,  v.  S48,  2048,  2409)  and  by 
a  common  method  of  interchanging  n  and  ^,  g  and  n,  as 
signify,  into  sinrUfy^  it  becomes  anemt.  And,  surely,  it  is 
highly  improbable  that  the  common  people  picked  up 
this  word  from  a  classic  tongue,  seeing  that  in  scarcely 
any  instance  whatever  they  have  enriched  their  vocabulaiy 
from  it.  M.  Goth.  A.  Sax.  and;  Oerm.  Franc,  an/, 
contra.  Maundeville,  Wiclif,  anentit ;  Chaucer,  anemt ; 
Lyndsay,  anent. 

Anew,  ode.  enough :  inauh  is  likewise  used  in  the  same 
sense.  Are  they  not  corruptions  of  ewmgh  f  Ex.  ^^  Thire 
bin  anew  on  'em.*" 

Anioh,  ado.  near.  Ex.  ^^  Nivir  lets  no  body  come  amgh 
him." 

Anind,  Anbend  adv,  on  end,  upright.  Ex.  ^^  Right 
a/nindr     "  Mr  Jones'^s  hos  reared  aneefnd^  bout  uprit.*"  ' 

Apparn,   «.  an  apron.     This  does  not  come  from   the 

Fr.   nofercn^    as    Brockett   supposes,    I    presume    by 

crasis:   nor  as  the  Craven  Glossarist  opines,  from  the 

A.  Sax.   aforan:   but   from  the    Armoric  apparny   an 

apron. 

Chil  in,  Dicoon,  a  deene  aperM  to  take  a&d  set  before  me. 

Gammer  Gurton's  Needie. 

Appon,  8,  the  village  of  Abdon,  county  of  Salop. 

Argufy,  v.  to  import,  signify,  avail.  Ex.  "Whod  ar- 
gufies a  haggling  a  thisun.'" 

Argufication,  8.  dispute,  investigation. 

Argy,  8.  an  argument.     Ex.  "Getting  into  an  argy^' 

Argy,  8,  an  embankment  betwixt  Mdverley  and  Llamg- 
myneoh^  which  was  constructed  as  a  protection  against 
the  overflowings  of  the  Severn*  It  has  not,  however, 
always  this  effect,  as  a  considerable  quantity  of  back 
water  deluges  the  country  in  a  flood,  owing  to  a  want  of 
fall  in  the  bed  of  the  river.  This  embankment  is  five 
feet  wide  across  the  top,  and  varies  from  ten  to  twenty 


307 

feet  in  height  above  the  average  level  of  the  meadows 
on  the  water  side.  We  have  picked  up  this  very  appro- 
priate name  from  the  C.  Brit,  ardwjf^  government,  pro- 
tection. 

Gad  ardmy  rhad,  er  Daw  rhi, 

Rhwyr'ar  dwvyr  rh'ov  &  DyvL 

D.  AP.  GWILLYM. 

Arn,  it.  to  earn.  Ex.  "  Wunna  am  his  mate.'*'  Germ. 
amen;  Gr.  apvvficu^  acquirere. 

Arpit,  (Mdf.  quick,  ready.  Ex.  ^^  Arpit  at  his  laming, 
saying  as  how  he's  so  heavy  o'  hearing.''  If  this  word 
does  not  claim  affinity  with  the  A.  Sax.  geam  promptus, 
it  must  be  the  spurious  oflspring  of  some  tripping  tongue. 

Abth-staff,  8.  a  poker  used  by  blacksmiths;  this  in 
conjunction*  with  the  arth  (hearth)  shovel,  hearth-plaie^ 
and  hash^  make  up  what  may  be  termed  a  smith's  fire 
irons.     Earthy  Hollyband. 

As,  ret.  pron.  1.  Who,  which ;  Ex.  "  Those  as  liken." 
2.  As  a  redundant  particle ;  Ex.  '^  Saying  ae  how  he 
is  an  oud  mon."  3.  As  a  conjunction,  instead  of  for, 
on,  upon,  &c. ;  Ex.  *"*"  He'll  come  whoam  as  nest  Set- 
terday." 

AsiDEN,  ado,  oblique,  aslant,  out  of  the  perpendicular. 
Ex.  ^'  AH  asiden  like  Martha  Rhoden's  two-penny  dish." 
"  AD  addmg  as  hogs  fighting"  :  Baife  Proverbs. 

AsiNGs,  8.  casings,  of  which  this  is  an  evident  depra- 
vation.   A.  Sax.  e/ese^  margo. 

Isycles  in  evysynoM, 

P.  Plouhman. 

Aboal,  ASKBR,  8.  9k  ucwt  *.  (Laccrta  palustris,  Linn.)  Gael. 

iue.  Ft,  aecarahe. 
AssAUT,   B.  an  assault.     Ex.  ^'Patched  trouble  for  him 

for   an   oMati^."     Fr.    aaeaut^   oppugnation,    Lacombe. 

Robt.  of  Brunne. 

Held  his  atsawte  like  hard. 

CoBR  DB  Lion,  ▼.  1900,  and  vr.  3196, 4412,  6636. 
And  by  luaaut  he  wan  the  citee  after. 

Chaucer,  Knightes  Tale,  v.  991. 


308 


AssAUT,  V,  to  assault.  Ex.  ^'^  Atsauted  him  on  the  high 
road." 

AsflON,  in  composition  signifies  the  town  of  ashes,  or 
where  the  ash-trees  grow,  from  A.  Sax.  ««?,  fraxinus, 
and  ttm^  villus — and  not  from  the  6r.  a<nv*  Thus 
we  find   in   Co.  Salop,    Admaston,   Edgtaston,   AdbXs- 

TON,     WiLLASTON,     WoOLASTON,     WhEATEN     AsTON,      AsT- 

LEY  Abbots,    Bottebal   Aston,    &c.     (V.   Remarks  at 

p.  240.) 
AsT,  part,  past  of  verb  ask.     Ex.    "-4«f  him  for  it.** 
AsTEB,  8.   Easter. 
At,  prep,   invariably  used   instead  of  to.     Ex.    "  This 

road  ull  be  daingerous  jist  now,  if  a  dunna  doa  sonmiat 

at  it.**^     "^A  binna  yable   to  doa   anythin  at  him,  a 

conna  touch  him,  I  tell  ya."" 
Athubt,   adv    athwart,   across.      Ex.    "  Commed  athurt 

on   him.**'      A.    Sax.   thteeor^    thwurh^   perversus :    ofar- 

thtoeor,  ofer-thtcaer^  Wiclif,  Chaucer,  overthwart ;   Lynd- 

say,  overtkort. 

And  tmsse  it  overthwert  his  mane. 

RiCHABD  COKR  DE  LlON,  V.  6519. 

Atop-on,  prep,  upon  the  top  of.  Ex.  "  One  atop  o"  the 
tother.''     "^^  o'  the  house."" 

Attack'd-ed,  part,  pa^  of  verb  attack.  This  vulgarism 
is  neither  confined  to  us,  nor  yet  to  the  cockneys,  virho 
may  fairly  be  said  to  originate  the  chief  corruptions 
of  the  English  language.  In  Pickering^s  book  of  Ameri- 
camams^  it  is  stated  to  be  used  by  the  most  illiterate 
people  in  sea-port  towns,  and  sometimes  heard  in  the 
interior  among  persons  of  a  somewhat  higher  class. 

Attab,  prep,  after:  ater  is  not  provincial. 

AuD,  AULD,  ouD,  ouLD,  odj,  old.  (Sco  Remarks  under  L.) 

AuKEBT,  AUKUT,  ddj.  awkward.  This  is  a  syncopized 
form  not  unfrequent  among  us,  especially  in  such  words 
as  terminate  in  rcards.  (See  Toabts.)  Ex.  ^'A  meety 
auha  job."" 


309 

AuNDBB,  $.  the  evening:  rarely  pronounced  so^  being 
more  usually  ownder,  (which  see).    Ray. 

AusB,  OBs,  V.  to^try,  essay,  attempt,  promise  favourably. 
Ex.  "He  auses  well  saying  as  how  he''s  a  young  un.**^ 
"vltcM  at  it.*"  It  has  been  conjectured  to  spring  out 
of  the  Lat.  audeo:  austu. 

AussoN,  8.  Alcaston,  in  the  county  of  Salop. 

AuYE,  8.  the  helve  of  an  axe.  It  seems  like  a  vitiation  of 
idw  (which  see.)  Yet  the  Teutonic  gives  us  "hand- 
hauve^  capulus.'*^ 

AvEN,  8.  promise,  appearance.  Ex.  "  The  avm  of  a  fine 
cowt.'*'^  I  am  indebted  for  this  word  to  Thomas  Mytton, 
Esq.  of  Shipton  Hall,  who  says  he  often  hears  it  in  his 
neighbourhood.  It  must  be  confined  entirely  to  that 
district  I  imagine,  for  I  have  never  heard  it  elsewhere. 
Germ,  abentheur^  molimen  audax? 

Awhile.  1.  Substantively.  This  very  prevalent  word 
must  be  compounded  of  the  verb  Aave^  and  while ;  A. 
Sax.  iabban^  habere ;  and  while  spatium  temporis.  The 
phrase,  "I  can'^t  awhile'"^  therefore  simply  implies, 
I  have  not  time :  while  in  all  instances  betoking  time : 
thus  "stop  a  while'''',  stay,  a  short,  or  long  time,  as 
the  case  may  be :  "  done  awhUe  I  was  away"" :  in  the 
time  of  my  absence.  2.  As  a  preposition,  for  until ;  Ex. 
"  Thee  fettle  the  bosses  awhile  I  come  back  again  from 
the  lezzow'' :  "  Stay  awhile  I  goa  thire'^ :  the  whole 
period  of  absence  being  by  an  ellipsis  understood  in 
these  cases,  as  though  the  speaker  actually  said,  "stay 
here  during  the  time  of  my  going  and  returning.'*^  3. 
Instead  of  whilst^  the  particle  a  being  redundant.  Ex. 
*'  AwhUe'^^y  or,  "  awhilst  yo  bin  laazing  i'  bed  i^  th** 
mourning.'*''  The  second  signification,  not  very  dialecti- 
cal. M.  Goth,  hweila;  Belg.  Teut.  vnUe^  spatium  tem- 
poris;  Germ,  weil;   A.  Sax.  hwil^  donee. 

Ax,  t?.  to  ask.  This  word  is  perhaps  universal.  Yet 
though  now  deemed  a  vulgarism,  it  is  not  without  good 


310 


claims  to  a  higher  title,  for  at  all  events  it  is  an  ar- 
chaism, and  has  been  learned  from  our  forefathers.  Hoc- 
cleve,  Chaucer,  Sir  D.  Lyndsay,  Bale,  Wiclif,  B.  Jonson, 
and  numerous  others,  use  it.  A.  Sax.  txaian ;  Oerm. 
eiscon;  Belg.  eyschm^  interrogare;  Ghr.  a^iooi,  postulo. 

For  that  I  axe  is  dae,  as  God  me  speede. 

HoccLEVE^  (Chaknert'  Ghu.) 
Axe  not  why:  for  though  thou  axe  me. 

Chaucer,  Cant.  Takt,  y.  3557. 

Thenne  Joeephus  heynge  a  stronge  man  and  a  lyffht  caught  the 

Bwerde  to  him  and  axed  his  felowe  whether  hadde  lyuer  lyue  or 

deye.    The  lyfe  of  eaynt  James  the  laeee.    Golden  Legend,  W,  de 

Worde,  1612. 

And  the  Fariaees  camen  and  axiden  him.    Wiclif*s  New  TeeL 
Mark  c.  x. 

And  James  and  Jon  Zehedees  sones  camen  to  him  and  aeyden 
Maystir  we  wolen  that  what  evir  we  oxen  thou  do  to  us.    id. 

Ax^D  OUT,  part,  pcui:  having  the  bands  of  marriage 
published  for  the  third  time. 

Ayoh,  ahuh,  aumph,  adv.  awry,  aslant,  on  one  side. 
Ex.  ^'All  ayoh.''''  There  is  at  first  hearing,  a  sound 
of  provincial  vulgarity  stamped  upon  this  word.  Yet 
upon  investigation  it  turns  out  to  be  in  perfect  aooord- 
ance  with  the  tongue  from  which  our  language  is  chiefly 
derived.  Why,  then,  need  we  go  to  a  classical  one 
for  terms  to  express  our  ideas,  if  the  Anglo  Saxcm  is 
copious  in  terms  both  appropriate,  and  expressive! 
A.  Sax.  atoohy  torte. 


w 


<*5 


Ex. 


Ex.    "Goa   a  bit 


ACKKN  TJ.  1.  To  prevent  or  retard 
in  growth.  Ex.  "  This  caud  weather 
ull  backen  the  quern.*'  2.  To  back, 
or  push  farther  behind.  Ex.  ^^Biicken 
the  OSS  wunn  ''e.'*'' 

Backerlet,    €uih.  late,  as   applied  to 
seasons  and  harvest,  as  '^  a  haeierly 
harrast."" 
Backerts,  <idv^     1.    Backwards.     2.    Behind   hand. 

'^^  Ba>ekerts  in  his  work.*" 
Backeeteb,    eomp.   of   the   foregoing. 
hackerter  woot'eT 
BACKsms,  8.  by  this  word  the  retired  premises  of  a  house 
are  usually  designated.     Ex.  "  Hers  gwon  o'  the  ftaci- 
Mefe,  herl  be  back  anon.**' 

Backwater,  a.  water  not  wanted  for  turning  the  wheel  of 
a  water  com  mill,  what  is  superabundant  and  generally 
flows  down  a  channel  cut  for  the  peculiar  purpose. 
Badger,  «.  an  itinerant  dealer  in  poultry,  butter  or  fruit; 
one  who  buys  up  such  articles  in  open  market,  and  re- 
tails them  at  an  exorbitant  profit.  A.  Sax.  hycgean^ 
emere.  Bullokar. 
Bag,  tj.  to  cut  with  a  bill.     Ex.  "  Bdgging  pase**'  (peas). 

"  Bagging  fitches'"  (vetches).     Teut.  veghen^  radere. 
Baggage,  8.  a  term  of  contempt  applied  to  a  female  of 


i 


312 

bad  character.  Ex.  ''  Yah !  you  nasty  imperint  hoff- 
gager    Isl.  hagr^  protervuB. 

Bagging  Bill,  «.  a  curved  iron  instrument  used  in  trim- 
ming hedges,  as  well  as  for  various  agricultural  purposes. 
Teut.  fieghm^  radere;  JaUs^  securicula;  G.  Brit.  hmaU; 
A.  Sax.  6iff;  Belg.  lyl;  Dan.  H\l;  Swed.  &t2a,  securis. 

Bajonet,  b.  a  bayonet :  not  a  corruption  as  might  appear 
at  first  hearing  the  word,  but  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  Swed.  bajonett. 

Baolk,  «.  an  impudent  woman ;  an  opprobrious  term  for 
a  depraved  female.  Teut.  bagphden^  porcellus!  Fr.  bf- 
pueule,  terme  d'injure  populaire,  qui  se  dit  d^une  femme 
de  basse  condition  qu'^on  taxe  de  betise,  et  aussi  d^iine 
femme  folle  et  impertinente.  Ce  mot  est  compost  de 
ffumUe^  et  de  be(^  c^'est-a-dire,  ouverte,  comme  qui  diroit, 
une  femme  qui  a  toujours  la  gueule  ouverte.  Menage. 
Roquefort.  The  sense  in  which  Salopians  use  the  word 
is  precisely  that  adopted  by  the  French,  we  say  of  such 
a  character,  "Her  is  sich  a  lagU!'^  "  Voyez  oette 
begueule""  cry  the  French.     Richelet. 

Baileht,  8.  a  bailiff.  This  is  the  old  form  of  the  word, 
and  therefore  correct  enough :  see  Tales  and  Quicie  An- 
sweres^  p.  12.  RitsonCt  Anc.  Songs^  p.  S7.  In  the  mining 
districts  the  word  is  Doricised  and  pronounced  BoHy. 

Backstonb,  s.  a  stone,  or  plate  of  iron,  correctly  speaking 
it  should  be  the  former,  upon  which  oat  cakes  and 
pikelets  are  baked :  though  usually  made  of  the  latter  ma- 
terial, the  old  name  of  Bakestone  is  retained.  See  Sdec- 
tions  of  Articles  /ram  Gentleman's  Magazine  vol.  il.  p.  SOS. 

Balase,  v.  to  beat,  flog  X)r  whip,  to  castigate,  apply 
punishment  to  the  breech.  I  believe  this  to  be  a  ge- 
nuine Shropshire  word.  The  late  editor  of  Warton^s 
History  of  English  Poetry,  says,  that  excepting  in  the 
pages  of  Langland  he  can  find  no  record  of  it.  If  this 
be  the  case,  as  I  believe  it  is,  in  reference  to  its  ang^- 
cised  form,   we   are  furnished  with  another  reason  for 


313 


afiBerting  that  the  author  of  Piers  Plouhman^s  Vision 
was  a  native  of  our  county.  The  fact  will  also  lead  us 
to  attribute  a  high  degree  of  value  to  provinoial  glossa- 
ries, as  means  of  elucidating  obscure  words  and  phrases 
in  the  Earlier  English  Poets.  Dr  Whitaker  interprets 
Balyt^  a  strap,  and  thus  limits  its  meaning.  Notwith- 
standing his  restriction  of  the  word,  his  explanation  can 
hardly  be  deemed  unsound,  inasmuch  as  in  our  use  of 
it,  the  application  is  confined  to  corporeal  punishment 
with  such  a  material.  In  the  time  of  Matthew  Paris 
balejfae  had  a  different  signification,  denoting  a  rod. 
However,  whether  gtrof^  or  rod,  in  its  earlier  agnifica- 
tion  imports  but  little,  since  the  verbal  form  of  the  word 
represents  the  act  of  using  either.  ^'  (Abbas)  Vestibus 
igitur  spoliatus,^  says  the  monkish  Historian,  '^  cum  suis 
militibus,  similiter  indumentis  spoliatis,  ferens  in  manu 
viigam  quam  vulgariter  Baleis  appellamus,  intravit  ca- 
pitulum,  et  confitens  culpam  suam,  quam  ut  ait,  in  bello, 
sicut  tunc  decuit  dicere  perpetraverat  et  commiserat, 
k  singulis  fratribus  disciplinas  nuda  came  suscepit.'*^ 
(Matth.  Paris,  anno  1252.)  The  word  in  question  is 
thus  explained  in  the  Glossary  by  Watt.  ''  Baleis^  vir- 
gam  quam  vulgariter  Baleis  appellamus  a  Gallico  Baiaye 
scopa.  Ita  enim  et  adhuc  Norfolcienses  mei  vocant  vir- 
gam  majorem  et  ex  pluribus  longioribusque  viminibus; 
quali  utuntur  psedagogi  severiores  in  scholis.'**  It  has 
continued  with  us  down  to  the  present  time,  merely 
being  changed  from  its  nominal  to  a  verbal  form :  though 
I  suspect  its  circulation  is  confined  to  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Clee  Hills.  Ex.  "Gie  him  a  good  balasing^, 
^^  Bakue  him  weir\  and  thus  in  Piers  Plouhman, 

Yut  am  ich  chalenged  in  chapitel  hous  as  ich  a  child  were, 
And  Meysed  in  the  bar  era  and  no  breche  be  twyne.    05. 

Ich  putte  hvm  fente  to  booke 
Aristotle  and  other,  to  arguen  ich  tauhte 
(trammere  for  gurles,  ich  gart  furst  (to)  wryte 
And  bet  hem  with  a  baleyse,  bote  yf  thei  wolde  leme.     IBl). 


314 


Balamc,  9.   to  ballast.     The  old  fonn.     Bullokar. 

With  some  gall'd  trank,  baUae'd  with  straw  and  stone. 

Bp.  Hallos  SaHrei. 

Balatb,  «.  by  prosthesig  for  blaii^  q.  v. 

Baldooot,  8.  a  water-hen,  the  ooot,  Fuliea  altta  of  Jenyns. 

And  they  appear  like  hM  oooies,  in  the  nest 

Ktughi  of  MaUa, 

Balk,  «.  to  disappoint,  baffle.     Ex.  '^  BalPd  in  his  fancy.'" 

Balk,  s.  1.  a  log  of  timber.  Teut.  btUck;  S.  Goth. 
ifwUe;  Belg.  balk;  Swed.  bielia;  Isl.  biaOha;  Franc. 
haleo;  Fris.  Oerm.  balhy  trabs.  2.  a  small  brass  orna- 
ment fixed  at  the  top  of  a  wand,  usually  carried  by 
members  of  a  benefit  club.  3.  a  little  piece  of  land 
where  a  plough  escapes  whilst  ploughing.  Hence  as  it 
lies  fallow  has  arisen  the  proverb  that  ^^a  two  year 
old  bali  is  as  good  as  a  ruck  of  muck.^  4.  ridges  of 
ploughed  land.  Ex.  '^Toert  the  end  o'  th'  balhr 
Promp.  Pabv.  BaUe  on  lond  ered.  Pakgrave,  Baulie 
of  lande,  separaison.  Bullokar  recognizes  the  third 
sense,  and  Minsheu  the  first  and  last. 

Ball-stone,  it.  1.  a  measure  of  iron-stone  which  lies  near 
the  surface.     2.  a  kind  of  limestone  found  near  Wenlock. 

Ball-rib,  «.  that  part  of  pork  which  lies  nearer  to  the 
neck  than  a  sparenb. 

Ballt,  8.  the  belly.  We  seem  to  retain  the  earlier  pro- 
nunciation from  the  Teut.  balgh;  G«rm.  Belg.  baig^ 
venter.     A.  Sax.  bcelig;   C.  Brit,  hol^  id. 

Ballt,  v.  to  grow  distended  or  become  abdominal.     Ex. 

"  The  sow's  well  baOied:' 

Sym  that  was  halyd  lyke  a  kow. 

The  HunUyng  ^  the  Hare,  v.  187. 

Ballyful,  «.  1.  a  litter  of  pigs.  Ex.  ^^  A  good  ballyful 
o"*  pigs.**^  2.  repletion,  sufficiency.  Ex.  "  A  ballyful  o' 
mate  and  drink.''^ 

Ballys,  8.  a  pair  of  bellows.  Ex.  ^^  If  the  fire  unna  tind, 
tak  the  ^a%«  to  it."''     '^Wos  and  wos  like  oud  San- 


315 

flom's  balfys.'"  M.  Goth.  balff$;  Belg.  balgh;  Germ. 
Tent,  balff,  uter. 

Bammbl,  v.  to  chastifle ;  one  of  the  numerous  synonjans 
for  manual  punishment.  The  word  appears  to  have 
aflSnity  with  pommel;  the  interchange  of  B  and  P  being 
common.     C.  Brit,  puyo^  ferio. 

Band,  to  work  in  the  ;  pkr.  or  to  write  the  word  as  it 
is  usually  spoken,  to  work  €  tK  bcn^  signifies  the  employ- 
ment of  a  collier  when  he  labours  an  entire  day  in 
stocking  coals  down.  Occasionally  the  phrase  runs, 
*•*'  worts  f  tic  twm.'^  Tent.  Germ,  iofkfe,  sodalitium,  id 
est,  omnis  multitude,  quae  communi  quodam  nexu,  sive 
utilitatis,  sive  jucunditatis,  in  unam  societatem  coUigatur. 

Banes,  «.  the  Banns  of  Marriage.  Pbomp.  Pabv.  Bame 
of  a  Play  or  marriage.     A.  Sax.  abcmnan^  publicare. 

Bang,  v.  1.  to  excel.  Ex.  '^Thisn  hamffi  yom.^^  2.  to 
slam  a  door  to.  Ex.  '^  Bcmgi$i^  the  dwre^  S.  to  punish, 
beat,  strike.  Ex.  ^^  Gie  hhn  a  good  banffingJ"  Isl.  S. 
Goth,  banpa ;  Tent,  bangden^  percutio. 

Banger,  «.  1.  a  hard  blow.  Ex.  '^  Fat  him  a  banger  uv 
his  yed.""^  2.  any  thing  inordinately  large,  especially  a 
female.     Ex.  "Molly's  a  bangerJ'* 

Bank-hook,  e.  a  large  fish  hook,  which  derives  its  name 
from  being  laid  baited  in  brooks  or  running  water,  and 
attached  by  a  line  to  the  bank. 

"Also  you  may  bait  many  hooks  over  night  with  wonns 
and  fasten  them  on  the  Bank-Mes*'  Upon  wmch  passage  is  a 
maigioal  explication,  ^^Bamk  Hooks.*'  Worlidob's  Systema  Agri^ 
cuUurcB,  fol.  1675. 

Banks  Man,  e.  a  collier  who  remains  ^^  on  the  Bank**^  to 
attend  to  the  coals  as  soon  as  drawn  to  the  top  of 
the  pit:  generally  called  a  Bonks  Mon. 

Bannering,  «.  an  annual  custom  of  perambulating  the 
borders  of  a  parish.  On  which  occasion  a  number  of 
boys  headed  by  the  inferior  parochial  authorities,  walk 
round  its   boundaries,  for  the   purpose   of  maintaining 


316 

the  local  jurisdiction  and  privileges.  The  practice 
took  its  origin  from  a  monastic  custom  that  was  some- 
what similar.  A  body  of  people  under  a  Monk,  as 
leader,  walked  round  the  outskirts  of  the  Batdeuea^ 
which  was  a  tract  of  land  about  a  league  in  circum- 
ference, over  which  the  order  had  power  of  punishment, 
or  the  right  of  including  its  inhabitants  under  their 
bann.  (See  Du  Cange  sub  Banhuca),  Municipal  char- 
ters in  various  cities  on  the  continent  recognize  this 
power.  (See  Haltaus  Gloss,  sub  Bann-i^aun).  Wachter 
in  his  invaluable  Glossary  furnishes  us  with  authority  for 
the  use  of  the  verb  which  we  employ  to  describe  the 
custom.  Germ,  bannen^  finibus  indudere.  Hence  bann 
comes  to  signify  the  boundary  of  any  place,  town  or 
parish,  as  in  the  Saxon  charter  of  Canute  in  Spelman, 
ware  ure  ban  rested^  where  our  territory  ceases.  Hence 
also  come  the  words,  bounds  boundaty^  bound-shney  &c. 
The  reader  desirous  of  further  information  may  advan- 
tageously consult  Mons.  Menage  under  BanUeue. 

Bannutb,  «•  walnuts  of  a  peculiarly  large  kind. 

Bar,  v.  to  bear.  This  according  to  ancient  pronunciation 
is  spoken  without  sounding  the  former  vowel.  Ex. 
^*- 1  wunna  bar  no  sich  tratement.*"  See  the  metrical  Ro- 
mance of  R.  C.  de  Lion,  P.  Plouhman,  Emperor  Oc- 
tavian,  v.  95S, 

And  whanne  Jhesus  hadde  seyn  hem  he  bar  hevy  and  aeid 
to  hem  suffre^  &c    Wiclif's  New  Testament,  Mark  c.  x. 

Bare,  Bear,  s,  a  mixture  of  molten  iron  and  sand, 
which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  a  furnace.  It  is  veiy 
difficult  to  draw  out,  and  when  this  is  the  case,  the 
iron  is  said  to  be   "*»  tlie  Bear!''' 

Barfut,  adj.  by  elision  from  barefoot:  bare  in  its  simple 
as  well  as  in  its  compound  form,  is  invariably  pro- 
nounced bar.  Germ.  Dan.  Swed.  A.  Sax.  bar;  lel. 
for,  nudus.  Hence  the  Germ,  barfuss;  and  the  A. 
Sax.  barfot^  nudipes. 


317 

Bark  hm  shins,  phr,  to  knock  the  skin  off  the  legs  by 

kicking  or  bruising  them.      A  phrase  evidently  taken 

from  barking  a  tree.     The  metaphor  is  at  least  an  old 

one,  as  I  find  it  in  Ane  baUat  of  Matrinumie 'puhlxshed 

in  Mr  Laing^s  highly  curious  and  valuable  collection  of 

Ancient  Pcpular  Poetry  of  Scotland.    Swed.  barJta ;  Teut. 

barcienj  decorticare. 

Berding  her  seUfe  to  hym  a  pace. 
She  cryed  him  mersy  then 
And  pvlled  the  barke  even  of  hys  face 
With  her  commanndements  ten. 

Neist,  Sanderson  ^tch'd  wid  a  hay-stack. 
And  Deaviflon  flight  wi'  the  whins; 

Smith  Leytle  fell  out  wi'  the  cobbles. 
And  peetd  aw  the  bark  off  h%»  shing. 

AifDBRsoif's  Cumberland  Ballade,  p.  ez. 

Barm,  s.  yeast.     Not  a  dialectical  word,  yet  frequently 

supposed  to  be  so  by  new  inhabitants  of  the  county. 

Com.  burm:  A.  Sax.  beorm;  Dan.  bcermee;  Germ,  berm; 

Teut.  Sicamb.  Belg.  barm^  fermentum.     S.  Ooth.  berma ; 

Hib.  borra^  fsex. 

And  sometime  make  the  drink  to  bear  no  harm. 

Mideummer  Nig^e  Dream, 

Babnacles,  «.  1 .  a  formidable  pair  of  iron  tweezers  which 
are  placed  upon  the  nose  of  an  unruly  horse,  so  that  he 
may  be  held  quiet  whilst  shoeing.  Minsheu  deduces  the 
word  from  gvbernaculum^  quasi  bema^vm :  quia  os  equi 
gubemat.  Though  I  am  generally  averse  to  seek  for  ety- 
mologies in  a  Greek  or  Latin  quarter,  believing  that 
the  humble  classes  have  enriched  their  vocabulary  but  in 
a  trifling  degree  from  the  learned  languages,  I  feel  dis- 
posed in  the  present  instance  to  vary  from  usual  practice, 
and  agree  with  the  Lexicographer  just  cited.  His  view 
is  much  more  plausible  than  that  taken  by  Skinner,  who 
with  reference  to  the  Gr.  eTrurroMfVy  conceives  the  word 
corrupted  from  Bear  and  Neck.  3.  spectacles.  This 
sense  is  a  metaphorical  usurpation  from  the  former. 
And  as  epectadee  are  derived  from  epecto^  by  the  same 


318 


prooeflfl  we  have  bemaeleB^  aphseretioally,  to  use  mioh  a 
word,  from  gvbemaeiUwm.  Forby  says,  and  no  better 
or  surer  aathority  can  be  cited,  that  the  word  is  in  its 
first  sense  oorrect,  and  was  in  use  two  centuries  ago. 
Babnagk,  Babnish,  «.  a  very  expressive  and  well  known 
word.  It  is  the  one  of  all  others  whioh  conveys  to  a 
Salopian  ear  its  own  peculiar  and  forcible  meaning. 
Without  this  in  his  vocabulary,  a  farmer  would  fruit- 
lessly try  to  describe  to  his  listener  the  improved  ap- 
pearance, the  lusty  and  athletic  character  of  his  son 
just  slipped  out  of  youth,  and  entering  upon  nuwhood. 
Without  it,  the  old  domestic  would  vainly  strive  to 
describe  the  impression  made  on  his  mind  by  his 
young  master^s  altered  appearance  since  he  left  home 
for  school.  Would  he  say  he  was  got  fatter,  or 
taller!  These  would  be  feeble  expressicms  compared 
with  this,  which  is  both  more  descriptive  of  his  opinion, 
and  also  more  complimentary.  ^^  You  \m  bravely 
hamUhed  Measter.*^  Here  we  have  natural  defini- 
tion; nay,  it  may  be  said  there  is  music  in  the 
term.  Simply  applied,  it  signifies  increased  in  bulk; 
adding  corpulency  to  stature ;  filling  up  by  plumpness ; 
or  as  the  Salopians  occasionally  say,  ^*' coming  on^ 
But  looking  at  the  significancy  of  the  word  in  its 
more  usual  extended  meaning,  it  implies  the  lusty 
bearing  of  a  young  fellow,  the  vigor,  strength  and 
robustness  of  his  frame :  it  indicates  more  than  mere 
growth,  or  fatness  in  proportion  to  increased  height, 
and  conveys,  at  least  it  does  so  to  a  Shropshire  ear, 
the  idea  in  conjunction  with  this  signification,  of  manli- 
ness and  courage ;  similar  in  fact  to  the  acceptation 
it  has  in  the  Romance  of  Florimond, 

Qa'il  avait  grand  pris  de  Bamage, 
De  prouesse  et  de  vasselage. 

But  how  did  we  imbibe  it !     I  suspect  its  origin  is  with 
the  Latins.    According  to  numerous  examples  brought 


319 

forwiurd  by  Du  Cange,  Baro  meaas  simply  a  man.    An 
author  quoted  by  him  is  expressly  to  the  point. 

Baroy  batonisy  gravis  aut  aathenticos  est  vir. 
It  is  frequently  placed  in  contradistinction  to  foBmina. 
A.  Sax.  haem^  denotes  both  a  child  and  a  man.  Sp. 
haron ;  M.  Ooth.  Franc.  Oerm.  Isl.  Swed.  Dan.  lam^ 
though  commonly  explained  by  puer^  have  an  extended 
meaning.  Junius  assigns  the  period  of  Bamage  to  the 
time  of  youth  first  bearing  arms,  foUovnng  the  autho- 
rity of  Oawane  Douglas,  who  translates  jueentus  by 
this  representative. 

Neqnicqumm  oheei&BL  jwmU'iUy 
he  renders 

The  remanent  of  Trojane  hamaget  besegeit  in  vane. 

jEneld,  x.  390. 

Barn  POOR  Savaob,  8.  a  clodhopper:  an  agricultural  la- 
bourer; in  the  Worcestershire  dialect  a  chavhbaean. 

Babr,  9.  to  choose,  debar.  Must  we  from  the  latter 
sense  consider  it  a  corruption  introduced  by  the  ju- 
veniles, who  in  playing  together  use  the  phrases  ^^Bar 
me  that,""  "I  bar  that,^  which  import  that  by  thus 
speaking  first,  they  debar  any  of  their  playmates  from 
the  chosen  possession!  or  must  it  be  reputed  a  pure 
verb,  for  which  authorities  are  producible  from  writers 
of  the  Elizabethan  age!    The  reader  shall  decide. 

''Only  I  bar  those  same  whoreson   nnlawfid  tenns^   steeped 
in  cisterns  of  aqoa-fortis  and  gunpowder." 

Pierce's  Supererojfatkm,  1593. 
Peace,  ho!  I  bar  confusion. 

A*  You  Like  It,  i.  1. 
Heaven,  and  fortune,  bar  me  happy  hours. 

RidL  III.  iv.  4. 

Bass,  9.  1.  a  cushion  for  kneeling  on  in  church,  mat- 
ting manufactured  from  rushes.  2.  a  collar  for 
cart  horses  made  of  the  same  material.  ^'  In  tri- 
bus  coleris,  uno  basse,  cum  tribus  capistris,  emptis 
apud   Sterisbrugge.'^      Kenneths  Paroch.  Antiq.  p.  574. 


320 

This  flense  gives  origin  to  the  preceding.  (See  Du  Gauge 
sub  Baste.)  Isl.  Swed.  Oenn.  batiy  philyra.  Tent,  batty 
cortex.  3,  a  slaty  piece  of  coal  which  bums  white, 
usually  known  among  Oeologists  under  the  titles  of 
Stigmaria,  and  Cakunites. 

Basset-end,  s.  that  direction  of  a  mine  where  the  coal 
or  iron  stone  inclines  upwards,  ^  crops  out.**  The  same 
sense  prevails  among  Derbyshire  Miners. 

Baste,  «.  1.   to  sew.     Tout,  betten^  leviter  consuere. 
With  a  thnd  boHing  my  sleTia 

ROKAUNT  OF  THK   ROSB^  104. 

The  body  of  your  discourse  is  sometime  guarded  with  frag- 
mentB,  and  we  guaxds  are  but  slightly  boHed  on  neither. 

Mudi  Ado  about  Nothing,  L  1. 

2.  to  beat,  chastise.     Ex.  ^^Gie  him  a  good  laMeing.^ 

Isl.  heyskb ;   Dan.  hegteTf  concutio.    Swed.  basa^  flagellare. 

C.  Brit,  baeddu ;  Brit,  bassa ;  Gr.  fiarevw.    Lat.  baiuerey 

verberare.    Com.  Armor,  bazata^  to  strike  with  a  stick. 

He  paid  good  Robin  back  and  side, 
And  baist  him  up  and  down. 

Robin  Hood:  EdU,  RUson,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 

And  how  they  scarcely  could  win  home^ 
Their  bones  were  baste  so  sore. 

id.  vol  i.  p.  lid. 

Dro,    I  think  the  meat  wants  that  I  have. 

Ant.    In  good  time.  Sir,  what's  that? 

Dro.    Basting.  Comedy  of  Errors,  iL  2. 

Batch,  s.  1.  as  much  bread  as  an  oven  will  conveniently 
hold  for  bakeiog :  a  batch  of  com  implies  enough  for 
one  bakeing.  Ex.  '^  Hers  gwon  to  tak  the  batek  to 
be  gron.*"  C.  Brit,  baichy  a  burden.  Palsgrave,  Bateke 
of  breddsy  foumee  de  pain.  Pbomp.  Parv.  BatekSy  or 
baiynge.     Bullokar. 

Thou  core  of  envy^  thou  crusty  batdi  of  nature. 

TroUus  and  Cressida, 
This  111  tell  ye  by  the  way. 
Maidens  when  ye  leayens  lay, 
Crosse  your  Dow,  and  your  dispatch 
Will  be  the  better  for  your  Batd^ 

Hekkick's  Hesperides. 


321 

2.  a  game,  or  batch  at  play :  a  turn,  or  bout  of  drink- 
ing. 

Batbtaff,  9.  a  wooden  instrument  used  in  washing. 
Pbomp.  Pabv.  hatstaff^  vexillum. 

Batt,  9.   a  pat  on  the  back. 

And  each  of  you  a  good  ta<  on  his  neck. 

Dodblxt's  CoUectumym.4!Z. 

Bait,  «.  to  beat  gently,  to  tap.  Ex.  ''^  Batt  him  on 
the  baok.*"  If  not  by  metathesis  for  pat^  it  has  con- 
nexion with  the  Germ,  hatkvk;  C.  Brit,  lasddu^  and 
A.  Sax.  leatan^  verberare. 

Battlbtton,  9.  a  wooden  instrument  used  by  washer-women 
in  beating  linen.  Lat.  hcOiUum. 

Bauson,  adj.  swelled,  pendant.  An  epithet  applied  to 
a  hog  or  sow  when  their  bag  or  belly  hangs  down,  none 
of  the  accustomed  operations  of  the  knife  havii)g«4>een 
performed  on  the  former.  Germ,  hauch,  yenter ;  lau9my 
inflare :.  havM^  turgidus.  Coles  has  '^  a  great  hamm^  yen- 
trocnis.**^  Salopians  speak  of  a  hamon  pig.  Nares  quotes 
Peace>  yon  &t  hawiony  peace. 

Bkant,  17.   are  not.     A.  Sax.  heOy   esse. 

Ye  heand  dum,  and  can  pronnnce  na  thing. 

Sir  D.  Lyndsay's  Worksy  vol.  IL  pp.  232,  dl5. 

BxABD,  «.  to  trim  or  cut  a  hedge  at  the  top,  that  it 
may  grow  strong  at  bottom.  In  other  parts  of  the 
county  the  term  hreaxt  is  used. 

BsASTiNGs,  Bbastunos,  BiBfimNO,  9.  the  first,  milk  -  giyen 
after  the  birth  of  a  calf,  quasi  BreagUng9,  says  Minsheu. 
The  word  is  not  local,  being  found  in  Ben  Jonson,  Bul- 
lokar,  Nares  and  Ash,  and  is  also  of  general  circulation 
in  Norfolk,  Cheshire,  and  other  counties.  Cotgraye 
says  that  it  is  accounted  dangerous  food  for  calyes  for 
three  or  four  days,'  but  Shropshire  fanners  dream  not 
of  such  a  hazard,  anxiously  wishing  their  calyes  to 
suck  as  soon  as  possible.     A  pudding  made  from  this 


322 

milk  18  well  known  for  its  peouliar  richneBS.  A.  Sax. 
bysting;   Germ.  Uenst;  Belg.  Teut.  Ueti;  oolostmm. 

Bed  of  Beef,  «.  an  infiarior  part  of  the  oow,  somethii^ 
cut  from  the  belly. 

Beetle,  8.  a  large  hammer  made  of  wood,  and  bound 
at  each  end  of  the  head  by  a  ring  of  iron.  It  is 
commonly  used  for  driving  wedges  in  cleaving  wood, 
or  for  agricultural  purposes.  In  a  quarto  vol.  printed 
by  Pnrfoote,  entitled  a  Dictionarie  for  children,  the 
word  is  thus  explained:  ''a  haouner  to  break  the 
cloddes  with  in  the  com  field.**^  The  hedle  mentioned 
by  Shakspeare,  was  a  formidable  implement  and  re- 
quired more  than  single  strengtii  to  wield  it.  A. 
Sax.  ijftl^  malleus.  Pabgrave,  BetyU  to  bete  dothes 
with,  battoyr.  H^ice  also  the  compounded  form  of 
a  ftathinff  beetle.     Golden  Legend. 

If  I  do  fillip  me  with  a  three  man  beetie, 

2  Benry,  IV.  i.  2. 

Have  I  liy^d  thus  k«g  to  be  knocked  o'  th'  head 
With  half  a  washing  beetk. 

BxAUK.  and  Flstcr.  Tamer  Tamed,  iL  6. 

Beggar,  9.  to  impoverish.  Farmers  talk  of  certain  crops 
beggaring  their  land. 

Bbggably,  adj.  poor,  as  applied  to  land.  Ex.  ^^  a  beg- 
garly bit  o'  groun.'" 

Begum,  Begummies,-  Btoom,  &c.  a  profane  oath  or  aeh 
severation  corrupted  from  By  ihem^  in  allusion  to  the 
Trinity.  It  generally  stands  the  first  word  in  a  sen- 
tence. When  the  individual  in  speaking  is  either  ig^ 
norant  of  the  subject  referred  to,  or  unable  to  answer 
the  question  propounded,  he  usually  cuts  off  the  en- 
quiry by  saying,   ^^  Bygvm  I   dunna  knoa.^ 

Behappen,  prep,  perhaps.     Ex.  '^  Behappen  it  ul  nun.*" 

Beholden,  Beholding,  part,  poet  obliged.  Ex.  ''  I  amnod 
beholden  to  thee  yit.**^ 

For  Bmtiu'  sake,  I  am  beholden  to  you. 

JuUu9  Casar,  iii.  2. 


323 

Ab  the  world  goes, 

Debton  aie  yeiy  alayes  to  thoee  to  whom 
They're  been  bdioidina. 

Bkaum .  and  Flstch.  Laws  of  Candy,  iv,  2. 

Bblb,  Beuno,  $,  a  boQ  or  pustule.  A.  Sax.  hyl^  car- 
bunculuB. 

Bblike,  (uh.   perhaps.    Ex.  ^'  Belike  yo  uima.**^ 

Bell,  v.  to  make  a  noise,  roar,  bellow.  Ex.  '^8top 
your  Idling^  as  the  impatient  sometimes  say  to 
children.  Henoe  also  the  phrase,  '^  a  hettaMng  eratur^ 
applied  to  cattle.  IsL  heKa ;  Teut.  A.  Sax.  hdkm ; 
Cterm.  Idlen ;   Swed.  Icla^  boare. 

BsLLocK,  Bullock,  and  Blvckn,  the  last  pronounced  very 
short.  1.  to  bellow.  Ex.  '^Yore  builds  a  leUdkin 
cratur.**  2.  to  roar,  cry  or  blubber.  Ex.  "  Whad 
bin  '^e  a  heUaiin  about!  Why  d'*s  na  come  to  thy 
fittleT 

Bkllt  Vbnobancb,  $.   poor  small  beer. 

Bblt,  v.  to  beat,  castigate.  This  must  be  an  old  word 
though  its  origin  is  hidden.  It  is  twice  employed  in 
the  copious  vituperation  of  Montgomery. 

Hell  sparky  scabbed  dark !  and  thou  bark^  I  sail  heU  thee. 

The  Flyting, 
Whether  thou  wilt  let  heU  thy  bawee» 
Or  kiflB  all  dofles  that  stands  besides.       id, 

BsMmLs,  17.    to  dirty   with  mud.       Shakspeare    chiefly 

uses  the  word  hemoU. — Tom.  of  tie  Shrew,  iv.  1.    Teut. 

iemuOen,  aspergere  pulvere. 
Bbnow,  adff.  by  this  time.    Ex.  '^  I  thought  as  how  heM 

a  bin  back  again  benow.'*^ 
Bknsel,  17.  to  castigate,  chiefly  with  a  stick.    Ex.  ^^Bensd 

his  hide.'"     S.  Gfoth.  hengd;   Germ,  lengel,  fustis. 
Bent,  s.  1.  a  name  given  to  some  places  in  the  county,  as 

HayUnCs  Bewt,  &c.  from   S,  the  brow  of  a  hill.     Ex. 

'*  Just  o\t  the  lewt  of  the  hill.^     Isl.  henda,  curvatura. 

A.  Sax.  lendan,  inclinare. 

And  downward  from  an  hill  under  a  bent. 

Chattcbr,  Knighteg  Tale,  1963. 

M— 2 


324 

We  aaw  a  biuteoiu  bene  cum  orir  the  bent. 

Sir  D.  Lyicdsay's  Dreme,  yoL  i.  p.  237. 

Qtthat  bainiiB  are  you  upon  the  bent.       uL 

Then  spake  a  heme  upon  the  Jfent. 

Pkrct'8  RMiq.  L  22. 

Then  a  lightsome  bugle  heard  he  blowe 
Over  ihe  bente  m>  brown. 

id  L  46.  and  ii.  76. 

And  hence  comes  the  metaphorical  application  of  the 

word,  by  Shakspeare, 

They  fool  me  to  the  top  of  my  bent. 

Hamlet,  iiL  2. 

3.  bent,  or  bent-grass,   "  a  hay  bent,"'  the  Spiea  venii^ 

quasi  epioa  benii^  of  Linnaeus.      Bent-grass,  sometimes 

signifies  a  blade  of  coarse  hay  or  grass.     Teut.  biniz^ 

juncus. 

He  cared  not  for  dint  of  sword  or  speere 

No  more  than  for  the  stroke  of  straws  or  bente. 

SPBlfSBR. 

''  Some  in  English,  much  agreeing  to  the  Latine  name,  call  these 
Windle  straws.  Mow  I  take  this  hut  to  be  the  Grasse  with  which 
we  in  London  do  usually  adome  our  chimneys  in  Sommer  time; 
and  wee  commonly  call  the  bundle  cf  it,  handsomely  made  up 
for  our  use,  by  the  name  of  Bents." 

Gerard's  Herbai,  Edit.  1633. 

These  bundles  of  grass  made  up  for  fire-places  in  the 
time  of  Gerard,  are  still  in  summer-time  to  be  seen 
adorning  them  in  Shropshire  houses,  but  with  QuaUfig 
fffuse^  or  Quaien^  the  Briza  of  Linnseus. 

Bbos,  Bwbb,  Bweast,  e.  the  general  name  for  cattle. 
Ex.  "The  young  hwes  bin  gotten  into  the  Wheat.*** 
"  A  took  reet  down  for  the  btoee  fawr  f  th'  Abbey 
Forhed,***  i.  e.  He  took  right  for  the  beast  fair  in  the 
Abbey  Foregate. 

Berrtn,  Bbrryino,  8.  a  burial,  fimeral.  This  is  neither 
a  corruption,  not  used  as  a  participle,  but  the  old 
English  word.  Mr  Hunter  adopts  a  reasonable  conjec- 
ture, when  he  says  it  ought  to  be  derived  rather  from 
the  verb  to  bear^  than  from  to  bury,      A.  Sax.  beanm : 


325 

M.  Ck>th.  bairan;^  Alam.  beran;  Dan.  bofn;  Belg.  beuren^ 
tollere.     Hence  Barbow  :  and  Bearers. 

MesByngen  were  sent  to  Rome 
After  the  pope^  and  he  oome  aone 

To  here  terement. 
Whan  cudynales  heid  thia  tidynges, 
Thei  oome  to  hir  ber}ftng$. 

Sir  GowoHTBRy  y.  697. 
And  saide,  ''Gentil  haiounl  here  my  cry. 
On  me  that  thou  hare  mercy. 
And  grannte  me  aoche  heryng, 
So  fiolith  for  a  kynge." 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  v.  4621. 
Of  his  heoryng  nothyng  no  dredith. 

id  ▼.  8000. 

Bbslobbbb,  17.   to  render  wet,  moist  or  dirty  by  spilling 
over  the  breast*  Teut.  ledcMeren^  laxum  sive  flaccidum 

Tho  cam  Sleathe  al  hyMtered^  wit  to  alymed  eyen. 

PiBRS  Plouhman,  110. 

BflSMOiTKB,  o.   to  stain^  dirty,  daub.     It  is  a  good  old 

word,  bnt  nearly  extinct.     There  are  synonymous  terms 

nearly  symphonious  in  the  M.  Ck>th.   S.  Ooth.   A.  Sax. 

and   Belg.    tongues.      The   Teut.  betmodden^  maculare, 

comes  nearest.     Kersey. 

Of  iiistian  he  wered  a  gippon 
Alle  beimottered  with  his  nabergeon. 

Chaucbr,  Knightei  Prolog,  76. 
And  eke  for  she  was  somdel  smoterKdk 
She  was  as  digne  as  water  in  a  diche. 

Reon'  Taie,Y.9d6l, 

Bbsmudgb,  9.  to  dirty  or  splash  with  mud,  a  corruption 

firom  bemwiUch.  A.  Sax.  beamitan^  inquinare. 
Bbyil,  8.  a  kind  of  square  used  by  masons  and  carpenters, 

moveable  on  a  center,  that  can  be  set  to  any  angle ; 

hence  the  expression,  ^'  the  benil  on  ii^  the  angle  of  it. 
BsyiL,  8    1.  to  cut  to  an  angle.     Ex.  ^^'BevU  it  off.^ 

2.  to  slope.     Ex.  ''  Lay  the  road  on  a  bevU^'*''  that  is,  so 

that  the  central  part  be  the  highest. 
Brzzle,  i>/  to    drink    sottishly.      Ex.    "Drinking    and 

bezzlinff.^     Hence  the  phrase  of  a  bezzlinp  feUow. 


i 


326 

but  thflir  deep  bauSng^ 
Their  booie  caroow,  and  their  Beere  buttering. 

Marston's  Sewnd  Satire. 

And  the  swoni  bemeel  at  an  ale  house  t^>. 

Hall's  Saitref. 

tb  now  become 
The  shoeing  hone  of  Bwda^e  disoouxse. 

Jwk  Drum't  EntertabimaU. 
Yonden  the  most  hard-fiivoured  news  walks  the  streetesy  seaTen 
men  goeing  to  their  grares  that  dyed  with  drinking  and  bueHng. 

Every  Woman's  in  her  Humour, 

BiEflTED,  8.  the  same  as  BeaatUngSy  q.  v. 

BiLB,  B.  a  boil.  Ex.  ^^As  soar  (sore)  as  a  bUe^  Al- 
most as  invariably  pronounced  by  us,  as  it  is  written 
without  the  o,   in  all  the  Early  English  Poets. 

Brukis^  6y/t9,  blobbis  and  bleisteris. 

The  curekng  qf  Sir  John  Rowke. 
Ane  byiO  new  brokin  on  his  thie. 

Sir  D.  Lykdsat's  MonarMe. 

Bin,  v.  You  are  ;  they  are.  Ex.  ^'  They  &m  bad  uns, 
they  bin.*"  How  frequently  this  ooours  in  common  con- 
versation it  is  unnecessary  to  say ;  let  it  be  sufficient 
to  add,  that  it  is  the  usual  form  of  salutation  among 
the  lower  orders  generally  when  introduced  thus,  *^  How 
binna  f  How  Inn  yo  !^  The  reader  or  hearer  who  feeb 
disposed  to  laugh  at  us  for  what  he  fancies  to  be  a 
vulgarism,  may  learn  that  we  have  not  superinduced 
the  word,  if  he  wiU  look  to  the  Franc,  and  Gemu  &{», 
or  the  A.  Sax.  heo  sum.  Besides  are  there  no  poetic 
authorities ! 

When  that  ye  bin  stabult  up. 

The  Huntyng  of  the  Hare,  v.  109. 
With  every  thing  that  pretty  Ww. 

CymbeHne, 

Bin,  Bino,  s.  1.  a  receptacle  for  fodder ;  part  of  ^*  a  bay,^^ 

S.  a  depository  for  wine.     3.   a  com  chest.     A.  Sax. 

binnSy     prsesepe.    S.  Goth.    Swed.    binge;    Dan.    binp, 

acervus  granorum. 

But  now  he  let'st  wear  ony  gate  it  will  hing. 
And  casts  himself  dowie  upo'  the  com4nng. 

Herd's  Seott,  Songe,  ii.  110. 


327 

Binds,  $.  shale,  stone.  Ex.  ''  The  Hue  iinds^^  a  measure 
well  known  among  miners. 

BiNNA,  BiNNOD,  BiNNOT,  V.  third  person  plural,  present 
tense  of  the  preceding ;  when  used  in  a  negative  sense  it 
means,  are  not. 

Bishop,  «.  to  produce  artifi<nal  marks  on  a  horse's  tooth. 

BisHOPBD,  pari,  pott  confirmed.  Ex.  ^'My  lickle  un^s  gween 

to  be    bishoped.'"      The    term   has   remained    with    us 

since  the  days  of  Langland,  I  know  not  how  lately  other 

counties  have  picked  it  up.     A.  Sax.  hieeopod^  confirma- 

tus.     Bishopped,   Somner.      Palsgrave,    Byuihoppyng  of 

children,  confirmation. 

And  baptiaede  an  fruMAmods. 

P.  Plouhman^  300. 

BisHOP^s  Foot,  pkr.  When  milk  is  burned,  or  as  we  more 
commonly  say,  grewd  in  the  pot,  it  is  said  the  Bishop 
has  put  his  foot  in  it.  The  phrase  is  an  old  one,  and 
as  it  appears  to  have  been  learned  in  a  singular  manner 
I  shall  requote  firom  the  supplement  to  Jamieson^s  Die- 
tiiMiaiy,  an  apposite  illustration  that  has  been  found  for 
it  in  Tyndale^s  Obedyence  of  a  Chyrsten  man.  '^  When,"^ 
says  this  venerable  writer,  ^^  a  thynge  speadeth  not  well, 
we  barowe  speach  and  saye,  the  Biahape  hath  blessed  it, 
because  that  nothynge  speadeth  well  that  they  medyll 
with  alL  If  the  podech  (pottage)  be  burned  to,  or 
the  mete  ouer  rosted,  we  saye,  the  byshope  hath  put 
kis/ate  in  the  patte,  or  the  byeehope  hath  played  the  cokey 
because  the  byschoppes  bum  who  they  lust  and  whoso- 
ever displeaseth  them.'" 

Bwr,  «.  art  thou.  Ex.  "  How  btstf"  and  "  how  bist'er 
the  second  person  of  the  A.  Sax.  beo  ;  byst.  Alam.  Franc. 
Glerm.  bi^. 

Brr,  s.  the  broad  part  of  a  spade.  This  may  be  derived 
metaphorically  from  the  iron  biting  the  ground,  in  sup- 
port of  which  idea  there  are  numerous  synonyms  in 
the  Northern  languages.     The  Isl.  bit^  acies  ferri,  and 


328 

biti^  buooea,  oome  nearer  than  any  other  etymon  with 
which  at  present  the  writer  is  acquainted. 

Black  Bass,  s.  a  measure  of  coal  lying  upon  Ae  FkMons 
(q.  V.) 

Black-Bess,  s.  a  beetle,  any  coleopterous  insect.  In  my 
Entomological  pursuits,  I  have  found  that  the  term 
beetb  was  rarely  or  ever  comprehended ;  under  the  title 
of  Blaci-BesSy  nearly  every  species  of  creeping  thing 
or  small  horror  being  included. 

Blade,  v.  to  trim  or  lop  off  that  part  of  a  hedge 
which  grows  too  luxuriantly,  to  cut  off  the  young 
shoots  or  blades.  Promp.  Parv.  Bladen^  or  take  away 
the  blades:  depampino. 

Blait,  Blatb,  v.  to  bleat,  or  bellow.  .  Tout,  bldm ;  A. 
Sax.  i&9ton,  balare.     Dunbar  has  blait^numAed. 

Blanks  and  Prizes,  s.  beans  with  boiled  bacon  chopped 
up  and  mixed  together ;  the  vegetable  being  termed  a 
blanks  and  the  meat  a  prize. 

Blast,  9.  1.  to  blow  up.  Hence  the  metaphor  of  blasting 
rocks  with  gunpowder.  2.  as  a  phrase :  to  pui  on  tie 
hkuft ;  when  an  iron  furnace  is  for  a  brief  time  quiescent, 
and  the  liquid  ore  running  out,  the  hkui  is  off:  to  fuse  the 
new  ^  mine^  it  is  put  on  again.  Dan.  A.  Sax.  UoBtt ;  Id. 
Uou^ ;   Teut.  blaes ;  Germ,  blast ;  Belg.  blaett^  flatus. 

Blast  Furnace,  8.  an  iron  fomace  worked  by  bkui.  The 
Islandic  has  blastfjam^  rude  ferrum  e  chbano,  which 
shows  that  the  word  has  not  been  superinduced. 

Bledder,  Blefher,  $.  a  bladder  A  good  old  word 
whose  adoption  is  sanctioned  by  Regal  authority.  See 
BuFT.  Promp.  Parv.  bledder;  A.  Sax.  bledder;  Dan. 
bhere  ;  Germ.  bhUer ;  Belg.  blader  ;  Alam.  platar ;  Id. 
bladra ;  C.  Brit,  pledren^  vesica. 

And  found  in  a  freitourei  a  here  on  a  benche, 
A  greet  chorl  and  a  giym,  erowen  as  a  tonne. 
With  a  face  so  &t,  as  a  frill  bleddere, 
Blowen  bretfiil  of  breth^  and  as  a  bagee  honged. 

P.  Plouh man's  Crede. 


329 

Blait-mowit  bludy  ekan,  with  bledder  ehedts, 

Dunbar's  ComjdairU. 
Quhat  and  I  fied,  than  I  will  biak  my  bledder. 

Sir  D.  Lyndsay's  SaHre  of  the  Tluree  EetatU. 

Blbthbb,  «.  1.  to  Bob,  cry.    Ex.  "  Crying  and  bhtA&rinff,^ 

probably  a  corruption  from  bhMering.     2.  to  talk  non- 

aensically.     Ex.  "A  bhtheHng  fellow.''     Tent.  Maffiaert, 

blatarator.     S.  Gbth.    bladdra;     Swed.   bladra;    Tout. 

bUjBterm^  garrire. 

She  taold  thee  well  thou  wast  a  Skellnm^ 
A  blethering,  blustering,  drunken  blellum. 

Burn's  Poems,  iii.  238. 

Blind,  adf.  abortive,  unfruitful.  Ex.  ^'This  blow's  a 
blind  VLar 

Bund  Buzzart,  «.  a  cockchafer.  MdcUontAa  vulgaris. 
Linn. 

Blind  Ball,  $,  a  fungus,  such  as  the  Lyccperdan  lamtta 
of  Linnseus.  It  is  believed  that  the  brown  dry  powder 
which  it  contains  will  affect  with  blindness,  and  hence 
the  name. 

Blind  worm,  s,  a  snake  known  among  Naturalists  under 
the  designation  of  the  Slow  worm,  Anguis  fragilis. 
An  epithet  derived  from  the  G.  Brit  %»,  pestilens, 
indicative  of  its  noxious  bite.  Germ.  Li^  wurm^  ser- 
pens quidam  alatus.     (See  Wachter  sub  voce). 

Blissomino,  Blassomino,  jMTt  The  former  is  the  correct 
word :  the  latter  its  corruption.  They  have  the  same 
signification  as  rutting^  and  are  applied  to  ewes  in  a 
state  of  eaitvliency.  The  Cheshire  farmers  give  to  it 
an  opposite  meaning,  referring  its  application  to  the 
vigor  of  a  ram.     Isl.  blcsmnaj  salax. 

Blob,  s,  a  drop,  or  globule  of  any  liquid.  Ex.  '^  The 
swat  fell  down  on  his  buzzum  in  great  blobs,""  ^^  A 
blob  of  ink.*"  Palsgrave,  Bhber  upon  water,  bou- 
teiUis. 

Gif  thi^  be  handillit,  they  melt  away  like  ane  hkb  of  water. 
Bkllkndknus,  Deeeription  of  Albion. 


380 

Blockinq  Axb,  8.  an  axe  from  eight  to  nine  pounds  in 
weight,  used  for  squaring  timber.  In  the  Cniven  Dia- 
lect, tkBlodter.  Teut.  Noeim^  tnmoare. 

Blood  Suck,  «•  a  short  heavy  stick  used  by  farriers  to 
strike  their  lancet  when  bleeduig  a  horse. 

Blooms,  8.  masses  of  iron  which  have  passed  a  second 
time  through  a  furnace,  (the  cupolo,)  and  undergone 
the  action  of  the  forge  hammer.  Teut.  UoemSy  men- 
struum. A.  Sax.  bloma,  metallum.  Bulldsar  has 
^^  Blotnary^  the  first  forge  through  which  the  iron 
passeth,  after  it  is  once  melted  out  of  the  myne.'*^ 
Bhma  f&rri^  Domesday.  It  is  very  singular  that  so 
few  notices  should  occur  in  the  Domesday  Survey  of 
the  mineral  productions  of  the  country.  No  menticm 
whatever  of  Tvn  occurs  in  that  part  of  the  Survey 
which  relates  to  Cornwall.  But  ircm  is  mmtioned  in 
four  places  in  Somersetshire,  and  at  Ahemiune  and 
MercMoai  in  Herefordshire,  and  in  one  place  in  Glou- 
cestershire, Cheshire  and  Lincolnshire.  Yet  no  mention 
of  any  minerak  or  metals  in  Shropshire  and  Staflford- 
shire.  The  Lead  Works  menti<med  in  the  Survey  are 
ahnost  all  upon  the  King's  Demesne  in  Derbyshire. 
Yet  that  lead  was  smelted  in  Shropshire  long  anterior 
to  the  compilation  of  this  record  is  sufficiently  noto- 
rious. The  iron  mines  in  the  Forest  of  Dean,  near 
Gloucester  are  mentioned  by  Giraldus:  '' Nobilemqne 
Danubiffi  Sylvam,  quae  ferinam  ferrique  copiam  Glo- 
vemise  ministrat.*"     Itinerar.  Comb.  lib.  i.  c.  5.  p.  856. 

Blother,  Bluther,  v.  to  make  a  great  noise  about 
nothing.  Ex.  ''  Whad  bin  'e  a  tk*hering  about  T  See 
Blether. 

Blow,  8.  more  commonly  Blou  ;    a  blossom,  flower. 

Blow,  19.  to  blossom.     Ex.  "  When  the  pase  bin  hhwed.^ 

Blow-bellus,  8.  a  pair  of  bellows.  Ex.  '^  Fache  the  hhw- 
hdim  to  the  fire  or  yone  nivir  tind  it.^^ 

Blunge,  v.  to  blend,  or  break  whilst  in  a  state  of  mace- 


331 


ration.  A  term  used  by  potters.  They  bhrnge  the 
clay,  to  dissipate  all  its  inherent  fixed  air,  to  make 
it  pliant,  and  cohesive  in  itself.  A.  Sax.  Umdian^ 
misoere. 

BoAB  Sao,  s.  a  pig  kept  as  a  '  brawn^  for  three  or  four 
years.     A.  Sax.  bar^  aper ;  100,  aeger ! 

BoBBEB,  9.  a  familiar  term  applied  good  naturedly  to 
any  one.     Ex.  "Well  boUer  how  bin  'eT 

Bobbish,  €uif.  1.  smart,  pert,  well.  £x.  "  Pretty  boiUsk 
ehr  2.  not  quite  sober,  verging  upon  intoxication. 
Ex.  "Oetting  on  quite  boibish.'*^  Fr.  bdbancey  mag- 
nificence, profusion.  Menage  derives  the  word  from 
the  Lat.  pompcmtia.  This  and  the  preceding  word 
are  wrested  in  their  meaning  from  that  which  they 
originally  had  in  the  ensuing  quotations,  though  evi- 
dently they  are  of  the  same  complexion. 

YteUe  on  for  BOthe,  for  al  huere  Maimo0. 

Ritson's  Anc.  Song*. 

The  Soudan  made  bobaunce  and  best 

OcTAYiAir  Impsratok.  y.  1691. 

For  oertamly,  I  say  for  no  bobance. 

Chaucee,  Wifi  0/ Bathe,  v.  6161. 

Bout  Clout,  $.  a  piece  of  iron  which  adjoins  the  body 

of  a  ^tumbrer,  and  its  wheels. 
BoisTBB,  «.  to  prop  up  or  support;   used  also  in  the 

sense  of  lying  together  or  thrown  up.     EIx.  ^^  Bolder 

^em  up  in  a  ruck  anenst  the  wall.^ 
BourrBB,  «.   the  ^  bed^  of  a  timber  carriage,   otherwise 

called  the  Bauiters. 
BoLTDTG,  BouLTiNo,  BouTiN,  8.  a  buudlc  of  straw.     Ex. 

^^Fach  a  b<nttin  6"  straw.^     The  two  last  are  varied 

forms  of  the  first  word.     (See  remarks  under  ou.)    Bd 

in  many  kindred  languages  signifies  what  is  round ;  thus 

in  the  Qerm.  we  have  the  adj.  boUy  rotundus.     Swed. 

boBj  sphsBra.     Fr.  baule.     6r.  iroKely^  vertere. 
Bon,  Bono,  «.  a   band.     The  tie  used  by  reapers  for 

binding  up  a  sheaf.     Tent,  bond^  vinculum. 


332 

Caiuiow  terven  he  aeide,  oth'  syng&i  in  a  churche 
Oth'  loke  for  my  cokers,  oth'  to  the  carte  picthe 
Mowe  oth'  mowen,  oth'  make  bond  to  flhevee 
Repe  oth'  be  a  repereyve. 

P.  Plourman,  76. 

Bone-lazy,   dk^*.    an    elliptical   expression    appEcable   to 

those  who  are  fearful  of  overworidng  themselves.     Not 

peculiar  to  Salopian  servants,  nor  dialectical. 
Boos,  i.  boughs ;  the  g  is  entirely  silent. 
BoosET,   s.  a  stall  for  cattle;   tlie  trou^  from  out  of 

which  they  feed,     Pbomp.  Pabv.  Som;    A.  Sax.    b<mffy 

preesepe. 
BoosEY   PAfirruRB,    8»    the   common    pasture   into    which 

cows   run. 
Bore,  s.  an  iron  mould  in  which  nails  are  manufactured. 
BoR8EN-BALUED,Bo6EN-BALLiED9|>arf./M»^  ruptured.  A.  Sax. 

barsteny  ruptus.     Teut.  horsten^  rumpi,  and  ia^A,  venter. 

C.  Brit,  barsy  hernia.     Germ,  bont^  ruptura. 
Boss,  8.   1.  a  cushion  to  kneel  upon ;  it  ought  to  be  iow. 

(q.  V.)     2.  a  tufb  of  silk.     Fr.  basse. 

Whoee  bridle  rang  with  golden  balls  and  boues  brave. 

Spxnsrr's  Faerie  QtMen«,  i.  iL  13. 

Boerr,  BoBsrr,  9.  1.  to  burst.  Ex.  '^  111  double  yon  up 
and  bosi  you."^  2.  to  break  open.  Ex.  *^If  a  dunna 
open  it  basi  the  dure.^^  A.  Sax.  beanian^  rumpere. 
Swed.  bosta^  fortius  incutiendo  aperire  velle.  Teut.  ioMM, 
pulsare.  Fr.  baueer^  frapper  avec  force,  Roqf.  Gloss. 
3.  a  denunciation;  thus,  a  poor  widow  who  had  been 
oppressed  by  a  man  whose  professional  character  should 
at  least  have  taught  him  better  notions  of  charity, 
under  the  natural  excitement  which  harsh  and  un- 
christian conduct  provokes,  said  to  the  vniter,  whilst 
mentioning  the  treatment  she  had  received,  ^^  Bott  him 
but  I  gid  him  a  good  ragging.^ 

BosT,  BoRST,  Busrr,  s.  a  loud  noise.  Ex.  *'The  bas^  of 
a  gun.**'     The  first  of  the  three  is  most  common,  and 


has  remained  with  us  since  the  days  of  Piers  Plouhman. 
Teut.  bortieny  crepare. 

lasBe  booH  hit  maketh 
To  breke  a  begga/s  bagge^  than  an  yie  boonden  cofre. 

P.  Ploithhan's  Fuion,  p.  267. 
He  spake  thise  wordes  boH. 

Pbt.  Lanotoft,  Chran.  v.  276. 
The  Fiensche  gunne  blowe  bo8L 

Rich.  Cobr  db  Lion,  t.  5626. 

Oiet  boit  he  gan  to  blawe. 

Amis  and  Ahiloun^  y.  1203. 

He  cnked  boH,  and  swoxe  it  na'as  not  so. 

Chaucer,  Reoe's  Tak,  y.  9d99. 

BoflTEDEN,  «.  to  boast.  Ex.  ^'  They  latUden  as  how  they 
ooulden  come  o^er  us.^  (For  this  practice  of  termi- 
nating verbs  in  Ef^  see  remarks  mider  En.)  G.  Brit. 
boitioy  gloriari.  The  substantive  hoti  is  common  in 
the  Early  Metrical  Romances,  Chaucer,  Sir  D.  Lind- 
say, &c. 

Alle  therjr  boHodifn,  mnche  and  lyte, 
Alisaun^res  hed  of  to  smyte. 

Kyko  Alisauitdxr,  y.  2697* 

BoTHAM,  8.  the  bottom.     A.  Sax.  ba^n,  fundus. 

BoTTOHiNG-TooL,    8.    a   uarTow,   concave  shovel   used   by 

drainers. 
BouK,  «.    1.  a  barrel  used  in  coal  pits  for  drawing  up 

water.     2.  the  trunk  or  body  of  a  tree.     S.  Goth,  bolk ; 

Teut.  leucky  truncus  corporis.     3.  the  belly.     Isl.  buir^ 

troncus,  corpus.     Swed.  huk^  venter. 

The  dotered  blood,  for  any  leche-ciaft 
Corrompeth,  and  is  in  his  bouke  ylaft. 

Chauceb,  Kni^Uet  Tale,  y.  2748. 

4.  an  upright  piece  of  wood  pointed  at  the  lower  end 
which  falls  into  the  socket  of  a  trough  or  wooden  chan- 
nel though  which  the  water  from  a  pond  issues;  a 
miniature  kind  of  bolt.  5.  the  box  of  a  wheel. 
BouN,  BwoN,  BwoND,  part,  past  bound  for,  prepared  to 
go  to.  Ex.  "  Whire  bist  'e  Aoow  for?"*"  A.  Sax.  abwnden^ 
expeditus. 


384 

The  knights  that  weren  wise 
A  forward  £Eurt  thai  bond. 

Sir  Tristrxh^  Fjftte,  i.  r. 

Bout,  s.  1.  two  furrows  of  ploughed  land,  one  being  up, 
the  other  down  the  ridge,  an  about,  as  it  were.  Ex. 
^'  An  eight  baui  butt,*"  that  is,  sixteen  furrows  to  the 
whole  ridge.     2.  a  set  to,  or  encounter.     Ital.  batta. 

Se'en  boutt  and  tnina  these  heroes  had. 

Duel  of  Wharton  and  Shtart,  SwUk  Mkutteky. 

3.  a  turn.     4.  a  game  of  pby. 

Ladies  that  have  their  toes 
Unplagned  with  corns,  will  have  a  howt  with  you. 

Romeo  and  JuUetf  L  6. 

BowKRT,  8.  a  bower ;  1.  an  arched,  bawedy  or  shady  i^cess. 
2.  a  place  ornamented  by  children  with  bits  of  broken 
glass  or  earthen-ware. 

BowHAWLER,  $.  a  man  acting  in  the  place  of  a  horse  to 
draw  barges  or  small  vessels  along  the  Severn.  By 
dissecting  this  word,  we  shall  find  that  it  comes  im- 
mediately from  the  Belg.  boge^  arcus,  and  halm  trahere, 
and  whether  its  component  parts  were  received  from 
the  Greeks,  or  as  Menage  supposes  from  the  Hebrew,  I 
am  not  concerned  to  enquire.  Seeing  that  men  are  con- 
stantly following  this  occupation  having  a  bow  of  wood 
on  their  breasts,  against  the  concave  side  of  which 
they  press,  inserted,  as  it  were,  between  a  b<no  and 
its  string,  the  ends  of  the  bow  communicating  with  a 
rope  to  the  mast. 

BowK-iBON,  8,  a  circular  piece  of  iron  which  lines  the 
interior  of  a  cart  or  waggon  wheel.     (See  Bouk,  supra.) 

Bowl-dish,  8.  a  large  round  dish,  chiefly  used  for  lava- 
tory purposes;  for  its  derivation  see  BoLTma. 

Box-BARBOw,  8.  a  barrow  having  two  sides  and  carried 
by  two  men,  one  at  either  end,  chiefly  used  by  waters 
men  to  load  and  unload  their  freight. 

Bradawl,  8.  an  awl  adapted  for  brcub. 


3S5 

Bbads,  «.  small  nails,  without  heads,  used  by  shoemakers. 

Braqgablb,  adj.  indifferent,  poorly,  not  much  to  boast  of. 

Bran  ^bbi,  by  metathesis  and  contraction  for  Bum  them, 

Branduts,  s.  four  wooden  arms  affixed  to  the  throat  of 
a  spindle  in  an  oatmeal-mill.  A.  Sax.  hrcmd-red^  sus- 
tentaculum ferreum. 

Bran  new,  o^'.  shining  new.  It  does  not  come  from 
the  old  English  verb  to  hrcmdith^  which  according  to 
Minsheu'^s  interpretation  means,  to  make  to  shine  or 
glisten  by  gcjnile  moving;  but  from  the  Tout.  Iran- 
mewD^  a  foUibus  calens.  The  same  language  supplies 
us  with  tier-nieuto. 

Bran  tail,  s.  the  Redstart.  MataeiUa  phameurue  of 
Linnaeus. 

Brash,  s.  1.  the  refuse  boughs  and  branches  of  fallen 
timber.  Oerm.  ira8;  C.  Brit,  irau;  Teut.  broo$eky 
fragilis.  2.  a  rash,  or  eruption  upon  the  akin.  The 
word  is  frequently  applied  to  cutaneous  disorders  inci- 
dental to  children,  as  the  nettle-brashj  an  eruption  re- 
sembling that  produced  by  the  stinging  of  nettles.  In 
Scotland  Broth  has  a  more  general  signification,  and 
means  sickness. 

As  gin  she  had  taken  a  sadden  frrtusft 
And  were  about  to  die. 

The  Gay  Gou  Hawk,  SeoU^  MtMtrehy, 

Brassy,  adj.  impudent. 

He  should  be  a  bnuier  by  lus  &ce. 

Henry  VIII.  y.  a 

Brassy  faced,  a^.  impudent  looking.     Shakspeare  meant 

the  same  when  he  wrote, 

What  a  hroMenr-facei  varlet  art  thou. 

Can  any  fiu»  qf  Itomb  hold  longer  oat 

Love't  Laboui^t  Lo9t,  v.  2. 

Brat^  s.  1.  a  coarse  pinafore  worn  by  little  children.  A 
Sax.  hraUt^  panniculus.  2.  a  name  given  to  young  child- 
ren, as  Mr  Wilbraham  thinks,  from  wearing  them. 


336 

Brawn,  i.  a  boar.  Ex.  ''  Has  a  took  the  imvm  yit  T 
(See  Brockett^B  OIobs.)  This  is  not  looaL  ae  ail  the 
OloflsarieB  nearly  have  it.  I  find  it  lued  by  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  and  repeatedly  occurring  in  Shakgpeare. 
2  ffmuy  IV.  i.  1.  Cariol.  iv.  5.  Trail,  and  Orm.  i.  3. 
Bick.  II.  i.  3. 

Percy,  and  that  damn'd  brawn 
Dune  Mortimer  his  wife. 

1  Henry  TV.  ii.  4. 
A  blinded  pig  will  make  a  good  brawn  to  breed  on. 

Ray's  Prowrbi. 

Brazil,  8.  iron  pyrites,  sulphate  of  iron.     Derbyshire. 

Breast,  see  Bbard. 

Brevet,  i^.  to  examine,  search  for.  Ex.  ''^Brewting 
about.'*^  It  implies  a  degree  of  restless  enquiry.  C. 
Brit,  ftavaf^  conatus,  experimentum.  Gr.  ir^ipaQ^^ 
tento. 

Bridoenorth  Election,  fh/r,  ^^  All  o^  one  side  like  Bridge- 
north  Election,^  Either  the  popularity  of  some  par- 
ticular Candidate,  or  the  obsolete  mode  of  nomination 
to  a  seat  in  the  Borou^,  have  furnished  our  oommcm 
people  with  this  simile.  From  the  obvious  import  of 
the  phrase,  they  have  drawn  a  metaphor,  and  trans- 
ferred its  first  adaptation  to  whatever  is  oblique  or 
standing  out  of  the  perpendicular.  Were  they  to  say 
''all  on  one  side  like  Bridgenorth  Castle,^  the  compa^ 
risen  would  be  too  literal,  but  to  say  that  a  rick,  or 
a  house,  or  any  thing  moveable  is  awry,  or  ''all  on 
one  side  ^  like  Bridgenorth  Election^  sounds  rather 
poetical !  I  once  heard  in  the  vicinity  of  London,  a 
stage  coachman  very  properly  rebuke  an  unenlightened 
passenger  for  wresting  our  simile  from  its  true  locality, 
when  he  said,  "all  on  one  side  like  Redboum  fair.*" 

Brief,  adj.  prevalent,  general,  common.  Ex.  "  Colds 
are  Iriejf  about.'"  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  this 
is  not  a  legitimate  word,  but  corrupted  from  rife. 
Often  as  Shakspeare  uses  it,  there  is  only  one  passage 


837 

>¥her8  it  approaches  the  present  signification,  and  there 
the  import  is  by  no  means  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  sense  we  make  it  bear. 

A  thousaiid  buaineaBes  are  brief  in  hand. 

Kmg  Johfiy  iv.  3. 

Pickering  in  his  excellent  volume  upon  Americanisms 
tells  us  that  it  is  much  used  in  New  England  by  the 
illiterate,  in  speaking  of  a  rumour  or  report,  as  well 
as  of  Epidemic  disefUBes.  In  the  Northern  States  and 
Virginia  it  has  the  same  application.  Baily  explains 
the  word,  ''common  or  rife,'*''  and  neither  notice  it  as 
being  antiquated  or  provincial.  Grose  places  it  among 
the  provincialisms  of  the  North  of  England,  and  re- 
marks, that  it  is  there  'spoken  of  a  contagious  dis- 
temper.^ Its  admission  into  his  classical  collection,  will 
at  once  stamp  its  vulgarity. 
Bbimjono,  part  a  sow,  when  Ma/ris  ofpetens^  is  said  to 
be  irimminff.  A.  Sax.  bryney  ardor.  Isl.  irmny  ardere. 
Teut.  irwMtighy  lasoivus.  Cterm.  brwut^  de  impetu  in 
venerem:  inde  hirgchbruiut  catulitio  cervorum.  (See 
Waohter.)  BuDokar  has  Brime  in  our  present  sense. 
Hence  come  the  adjectives  Ireme  and  hrim.  Chaucer 
uses  the  word  in  the  sense  of  furious ;  Oa/ni.  Tales^  v. 
1701,  and  so  does  Sir  D.  Lyndsay  and  the  Early  Ro- 
mancers. 

The  lionn  bremly  on  them  blist. 

YwAiKE  Axo  Gawiv,  v.  3168. 

He  come  lyke  a  breme  bare. 

Sir  Auadab,  v.  171. 

Bbimmlb,  s.  a  briar  or  bramble.  Ex.  "F  th**  irimmle 
bush.'*^  A.  Sax.  bremd^  vepres. 

'' Junp'd  into  the  brimmle  bush." 

Bbimstonb  B — .  The  epithet  must  be  derived  from  the 
foregoing  word  Brim;  though  the  Teut.  hrmnttigk,  ar- 
dens  desiderio,  is  not  unsuitable. 

Snora,  €df,  broad. 


d 


338 

Bron,  Brampton  Brian.     Ex.   ^'  Owon  to  Bron  fawhr.*** 

Broody,  adj,  a  hen  wanting  to  sit.  Ex.  *^  She^s  broodf!^ 
A.  Sax.  brodige  hewM^  gallina  incubans. 

Broodle,  9.  a  hen  broodies  her  chickens  when  she  gathers 
them  under  her  wings  to  keep  them  warm.  Gterm. 
bruddn ;  A.  Sax.  bredan,  fervere.  Tout,  broedmiy  inca- 
bare  pullis. 

Brosbley,  $.  a  pipe.  Ex.  '*•  Wmi  ^e  tak  a  Bratdef  r* 
This  is  a  very  common  name  among  smokers  in  various 
parts  of  England  for  a  tobacco  pipe.  For  upwards  of  two 
centuries  the  little  town  of  Broseley  has  been  the  chief 
seat  of  manufactory  for  this  brittle  ware.  The  vmter 
has  seen  many  broken  ones  that  were  fabricated  here 
as  early  as  the  year  1660,  bearing  their  maker^s  name 
stamped  upon  the  spur  of  the  bowl.  These  when 
dug  up  in  old  gardens,  or  turned  over  in  ploughing, 
are  called  by  the  lower  classes  Faibishes  Pipes,  (q.  ▼.) 
and  if  we  may  form  a  safe  judgment  from  the  small- 
ness  of  their  size,  men  did  not  formerly  consume  to- 
bacco so  recklessly,  or  at  such  a  wholesale  rate,  as 
they  do  in  our  time.  It  is  remarkable  that  a  manu- 
factory of  this  nature  should  have  been  placed  in  such 
a  locality,  as  neither  the  clay  to  form  them,  whidi  in 
fact  comes  from  Cornwall,  or  any  article  used  in  their 
manufacture,  excepting  fuel,  is  found  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Under  these  circumstances  fancy  leads  us  to 
believe  that  the  worthy  citizens  were  originally  such 
inveterate  lovers  of  the 

Innoouos  calioes,  et  amicam  vatibaB  herbamj 
Vimque  datam  folio:  et  Iseti  miracula  fhmL 

that  they  established  the  manufactory  of  pipes  for  their 
own  peculiar  use,  without  an  eye  to  commercial  inter- 
course with  remoter  parts,  or  of  creating  a  trade,  which 
was  like  unto  the  town,  flourishing  at  one  period,  but 
is  now  much  decayed! 
Broths,  Brother,  8,  broth.     The  former  word  is  recorded 


339 


merely  for  the  sake  of  noticing  the  general  plurality  of 
its  use.  Ex.  "A  few  h^ha;'  "a  juggle  o'  brothr  It 
ifl  not  very  provincial.  Germ,  brat^  frustum:  Teut. 
brwden^  in  minimas  micas  frangere.  A.  Sax.  bnut ;  Germ. 
brod^  jus.  Fr.  br(m$t^  which  again  comes  from  the  Latin 
brodium. 
Bbous,  9,  the  rough  parts  of  a  hedge.  Fr.  hrcusies, 
broussailles. 

This  was  no  bourdone  to  brown  hill 
That  gatt  betwene  the  hrwois. 

Symmie  and  Mi  Brviher. 

Bbousb,  «.  the  young  shoots  of  trees.  Fr.  bro8$e^  broust^ 
▼ergette.     Lat.  brusius.     Cotgr.  brougt^  browzwood. 

Bbown  Gbobge,  8.  a  coarse  sort  of  bread. 

Bbown  Shblleb,  8.  a  ripe  hazel  nut,  which  readily  leaves 
the  firuit  sheath. 

Bbuk,  a.  a  brook. 

Bbubttoiv,  8,  Brookhampton,  near  Shipton. 

Brummack,  8.  a  short  curved  knife  set  in  a  wooden  han- 
dle used  by  hedgers,  wood  cutters,  and  amateur  pruners : 
quasi,  a  bnxm  hook. 

Bbi^mmaoem,  8.  a  bad  sixpence,  or  coin  of  any  kind  that 
is  counterfeit. 

Brummagem  Brass,  8.  1.  some  of  the  copper  money 
coined  at  Birmingham  bearing  on  the  reverse  a  view 
of  the  Hospital.  2.  provincial  tokens  of  Staff(»dshire, 
which  about  twenty  years  ago  were  issued  by  many 
of  the  Iron  masters. 

Buck,  «.  1.  to  wash  linen  or  coarse  cloths  with  lye. 
As  they  are  never  Imcked  without  the  aid  of  wood 
ashes,  the  Fr.  bu^e  helps  us  in  ascertaining  whence  the 
word  is  derived.  Both  the  practice,  and  the  word 
denote  it  was  prevalent  in  the  days  of  Langland, 
Shakspeare,  Ben  Jonson  and  Massinger.  Palsgrave, 
Bo/uk  of  clothes,  buee.  Germ,  beuckm ;  A.  Sax.  byken  ; 
Fr.  baer ;  Lat.  6fio,  macerare,  lixivio. 


i 


340 

And  IftTeth  hem  in  the  laTandiie^  laboniTi  m  gemitu  meo 

And  hauketh  hem  at  hu8  bKst,  and  beteth  hit  ofte 

And  whit  whanne  water  of  hna  eyen,  worketh  hit  he  white. 

P.  Flovkmav,  t.  281. 

You  were  beat  meddle  in  hude^woMng. 

Merry  Wwm  of  Wmdtor,  liL  d. 

If  I  were  to  beat  a  bade,  I  can  strike  no  harder. 

Massinobr's  Virgin  Marifr, 

She  washes  budct  here  at  home. 

2  iJ«i.VI.iv.2. 

2.  to  beat,  push  with  the  horns.  Ex.  ''Tak  care,  or 
hell  buck  you.'*^    Oenn.  bodteHj  poehmj  comu  ferire. 

BuoKiNo,  $.  "to  give  a  hoise  a  good  buekinf^  means 
having  ridden  him  hard,  and  brought  him  into  the 
stable  thoroughly  reeking  and  splashed.  Does  the 
phrase  arise  from  the  preceding,  or  from  the  Isl. 
bucka,  subigere! 

Bucking  Stone,  Buckstone,  a.  a  stone  up<m  which  linen 
is  bucked,  or  beaten  with  a  battlehn^  hiMaff^  or  hMd. 

Buffer,  «.  1.  a  foolish,  mischievous  fellow.  2.  a  good 
natured  form  of  address.  Ex.  "  How  bist  oud  trnffmrr" 
"  A  pretty  buffnr  yo  bin  T     Fr.  bouffiard. 

Buffing  Knife,  8.  an  instrument  used  by  Shoemakers 
for  scraping  the  bottoms  of  soles,  so  as  to  make  them 
white.     Fr.  buffiBter,    Cotgc. 

Buffle  headed,  adj.  heavy,  stupid.  Fr.  bmfffle:  from 
having  a  large  head  like  an  ox,  such  being  reputed  by 
Physiognomists  as  indicative  of  dullness.  Buffalo  in 
Italian  in  one  acceptation  denotes  a  man  who  is  stu- 
pid, '^  as  we  say  a  gull  or  loggarhead.'"  Florio^s  Worlde 
of  Wordes.  BvU  headed  is  taken  in  the  same  sense. 
Ex.  ''abuOrheadedchapr 

BuFT,  $.  1.  to  stammer.  Fr.  buffsr.  Cotgr.  Bimffar^  ore 
vehementer  flare,  iopuff  as  we  should  say,  in  either  case 
some  colloquial  impediment  exists.  2.  to  rebound.  Teut. 
Fris.  Belg.  bqffm^  a  contractu  resilire.  This  is  an  an- 
cient and  royal  word,  and  is  used  in  the  same  sense  as 


341 


our  appIicati(Mi  by  James  V.     We  say,   '^  it  bufimi  up 
like  a  blether.'"     The  royal  author  writes, 

It  baft  like  any  bledder. 

Chme»  Kirk  m  the  Green. 

BuFTEB,  $,  a  stammerer. 

BuLCHiNy  $,  more  usually  pronounced  beUekin ;  of  limited 
currency.  It  is  common  in  the  dramatic  writers  (See 
Nares  sub  voce),  for  a  young  bull-calf;  always  used  as 
a  diminutive,  expressive  at  the  same  time  of  strength. 
We  have  adopted  it  as  a  term  for  a  young  child  that 
is  unusually  stout.  Ex.  '^  Mrs  Chose  has  got  a  young 
balekinr 

I  was  at  sapper  last  night  with  a  new-wean'd  hnkhm. 

Marston's  Dutd^  Courtee,  ii.  1. 

BuLLABD,  «.  a  bull  herd,  or  man  who  takes  care  of  a  bull 

when  being  baited. 
'BvLLDHQ,  part,    a  cow  is  sud  to  be  ehbuUinp  when  she 

anxiously  expects  the  bull.    G«rm.  bulen^  procari.    Swed. 

Ma,  scortari. 
BuLUNs,  ••   sloes.     The  btdlace  of  Phillips,  a  word  for- 

meriy  more  in  use,  unless  we  have  corrupted  it. 
Notes,  aleis,  and  bolae. 

ROMAUNT  OF  THX  ROSB,  V.  1977. 

Bull  knob,  «.   a  bull  head.     Gobio,  Linn. 

BuLURAG,  BALLmAo,  V.  to  vituperato  in  a  hectoring, 
contemptuous  way.  At  first  hearing  it  this  word  sounds 
like  a  thorough  vulgarism,  but  it  is  neither  this,  nor  yet 
very  dialectical  Etymologists  have  proposed  as  its  root 
the  Isl.  My  divBB,  and  baul^  maledictio,  and  raegia^  de- 
ferre,  but  ragna^  imprecari  alicui  vindictam  deorum, 
seems  to  approach  closer,  especially  as  we  hear  of 
'*  Gieing  a  mon  a  good  ragging.'^  Shakspeare  has. 

What  says  my  huOy  rookf 
which  seems  to  be  the  same  word  used  substantively. 

Bullock,  «.  to  hector,  abuse.  Ex.  ^^  A  good  buUockmg?^ 
Isl.  buUa^  ebuUire.     Hence  the  term  buUy. 


342 


Bulls,  #.  transverse  bars  of  wood  into  which  the  heads 
of  Harrows  are  set. 

BuLL^s  ETK0,  s.  a  coarse  sweetmeat  mixed  with  flour,  and 
streaked  yarious  colours,  greedily  devoured  by  children. 

Bull  chain,  s.  a  chain  which  slides  up  and  down  a 
Booiey, 

Bum,  s.  a  contraction  from  Bomb  bailiff. 

Bum,  «.  1.  to  dun.  2.  a  mode  of  punishment  practifled 
by  schoolboys  upon  the  younger.     Com.  bomfm^  a  blow. 

Bunt,  v.  to  push  violently  with  the  head,  or  horns. 
Perhaps  allied  to  the  C.  Brit,  pwyo^  to  beat,  or  knoek. 

Burl,  v.  to  take  such  wool  from  lambs  as  is  dirtied,  or 
liable  to  additional  deterioration  from  their  laxity  of 
body. 

BuBLiNos,  8.  the  tails  and  other  parts  which  are  taken 
frx>m  lambs  when  sheared.  The  Fr.  baurre^  offered  by 
Skinner  only  applies  the  signification  to  '  lockes  of  wool!.'* 
Cotg.  Ours  is  correctly  diverted  from  the  original  mean- 
ing under.  Burling  Wool. 

BuRLiNG-wooL,  «.  wool  which  is  burled.  From  its  in- 
ferior quality,  it  is  sold  at  a  lower  price,  chiefly  to 
Sadlers,  who  use  it  fo^  stuffing.  (See  Richelet  under 
Bimrdlier.)  Formerly  garments  were  made  of  this  par- 
ticular kind,  which  was  termed  Bourre^  and  hence  the 
appellation  baurraSy  for  any  coarse  habit. 

Son  habit  en  surqaanie, 
Honneste  et  sans  yilonie, 
Mais  elle  ne  fiit  de  bourras. 

Roman  db  la  Rosb. 
Vestue  ot  une  sorquemie 
Qui  ne  fut  mie  de  bourrax,       id. 

Du  Cange  says  that  Barra  is  that  which  is  taken  fit>m 

the  cloth  when  under  the  hands  of  the  dresser,   (the 

Burler).      Ausonius   has   made   the  word   classical  in 

the  following  lines. 

At  no6  illepidum  rudem  libellum^ 
Bumuy  quisquilias,  ineptiasqae, 
Credemus  gremio  cui  fovendum. 


343 

.  Serviufl  thinks  that  Burra  comes  from  /3oo9  oi//oa,  bovis 
Cauda;  SoaUger,  that  it  is  an  ancient  word  in  the 
Guienne  dialect,  the  greater  portion  of  which  nation 
call  quisquilise,  hirra.  Proven,  bouras;  Langued. 
bowrtuso ;    Lat.  Barb,  bortumm^  bcrra^  baurra. 

Burr,  8.  1.  sweet  bread.  2.  a  coarse  whetstone,  '^  a  ruft- 
ber^'*''  from  which  it  is  probably  contracted.  Ex.  ^^  A 
Brister  ftmr/''  that  is,  one  from  Bristol,  generally  fiat 
on  either  side.  S.  the  prickly  s^ed  of  the  Burdock ; 
LappOy  of  Liiftiaeus.  This  sense  frequently  occurs  in 
^lakspeare,  Meamre/ar  Measure,  iv.  3.  TroU.  and  Cress. 
iii.  2.     As  You  Like  It^  i.  3. 

Hang  o£F,  thou  cat,  thou  burr,  vile  thing  let  loose. 

Midsummer  Nights  Dream,  iii.  2. 

Buss,  s.  a  kiss.  Gterm.  buss ;  Armor,  boueh ;  Ir.  Gael. 
C.  Brit,  bus;  osculum.  Lat.  basium.  A  young  lady 
asks  for  one,  according  to  a  well-known  conundrum,  in 
a  single  word,  circwnbendibuSy    Sir,  come  bend  a  buss ! 

Buss,  «.  to  kiss.  Germ,  bussen ;  Tent.  Belg.  boesen ; 
Armor,  bowser ;  Fr.  baiser ;  8p.  besar ;  Ital.  basiarsy 
OBCulari.  When  the  word  was  used  by  Shakspeare  it 
was  of  good  repute,  but  in  the  succeeding  reign  was 
used  only  in  an  impure  sense,  as  we  gather  from 
this  passage  in  Herrick,  quoted  by  Nares. 

Kissing  and  bussing  differ  both  in  this. 

We  busse  our  wantons,  but  our  wives  we  kiase. 

Thy  knee  bussing  ihe  stones. 

Cariohnus,  in.  2.  and  TVoil,  and  Cress,  iv.  6. 

Burr,  s.  a  certain  number  of  furrows  in  ploughed  land, 
which  are  separate  by  regular  inclination  from  those 
contiguous.  ''  Viginti  acras  in  Heile  furlong  et  buttes 
apud  Ymbelowsmere.*"  Kennett^s  Parochial  Antiq.  pp. 
186.   187.  402. 

Butter  finobrbd,  adj.  incapable  of  holding  any  thing  hot, 
as  though  the  mandibles  were  melted  by  the  heat  of 
what  they  touched.     A  metaphor  similar  to  that  which 


344 

IB  employed  for  designating  a  person  who  is  not  very 
scnipulouB  in  appropriating  to  his  own  benefit^  any 
thing  entrusted  to  his  chai^  :  ''  a  sKfpery  /ngered  fd- 
law  r  and  the  light  fimgerei  gmUrjf^  are  epithets  as  po- 
etical as  the  roeg-fingered  mom. 

Buttered  alb,  $,  ale  boiled  with  lump  sugar,  butter,  and 
spice.  Old  people  recommend  the  solution  as  efficadous 
in  curing  colds.  Marston  in  one  of  his  Satires  talks 
about  Beer&iuttering, 

Butter-MIT,  s.  a  small  tub  in  which  newl^  made  butter  is 
washed.     A.  Sax.  mito,  mensura. 

BumNG  iBON,  «.  an  instrument  used  for  peeling  bark 
from  trees. 

Button,  «.  1.  a  small  cake.  Ex.  ''A  gingerbread  InA- 
tony  2.  a  small  round  mushroom,  the  bud  of  a  mush- 
room as  it  were,  such  as  is  used  for  pickling.  Bdg. 
botte ;  Fr.  bouton^  terme  de  jardiniere.  3.  a  Imot  upon 
the  laniards  of  a  barge.  Like  the  Italians  we  have 
learned  from  the  word  those  terms  of  contempt  or 
depreciation,  ''  not  worth  a  button  r  and  ^^  a  Brum- 
magem button  tickler;*"  which  latter  phrase  is  applied 
in  a  Catholic  sense  to  any  one  who  comes  from  that 
flourishing  burgh.  BotUmeggiare^  SboiUmarBy  to  quip, 
scofie,  mock.     Florio. 

BuTTBicE,  8,  an  iron  instrument  used  by  blacksmiths  for 
paring  horses^  hoofs.  Dan.  bryttia^  disecare.  Isl. 
britia^  fhistatim  scindo. 

A  buUrioe,  and  pincen^  a  hammer  and  naiL 

TussxB,  p.  10. 

BuTTY,  8,  a  companion,  fellow  labourer.  Not  veiy  pro- 
vincial, for  I  hear  the  word  in  Cheshire  and  Stafibrd- 
shire.  How  deficient  the  vocabularies  of  those  counties 
must  be,  into  which  this  expressive  word  is  not  ad- 
mitted !  In  the  pure  sense  of  the  primitive,  it  per- 
petually occurs  in  Chaucer,  v.  426.  1S396.  &c.  in 
Minot^s  Poems,  R.  of  Glo'*ster,   R.  of  Brunne,   Sir  D. 


346 

Lyndsaj,  Bitson^s  Met.  Romanoee,  Shakspeare,  bo.     A. 
Sax.  bak;    Belg.  Teut.  boete^  auxilium. 

Trew  king,  that  sittes  in  trone, 

Unto  ihe  i  tell  my  tale. 
And  unto  the  i  bid  a  bone 

For  thou  ert  hute  of  all  my  bale. 

MiNOT,  p.  1. 15. 23.  &0. 

I  wi9  it  18  no  bote. 

Adam  Bbl. 

Now  he  that  is  M  of  bale. 

Sir  Amadas,  v.  186. 

For  now  this  day  thou  art  m  v  bale 
My  boate  when  thou  ahold  bee. 
•  Robin  Hood  and  Guy  of  Gisbornb,  v.  72. 

BuTTTy  «.  to  cohabit  with.  Ex.  *'  Her  inna  married, 
her  buUies.'"  M.  Goth,  botjan^  juvare.  Teat,  boetm^ 
explere  libidinem. 

Buzz,  9.  to  fill  a  glass  brimful,  in  defiance  of  the  chance 
that  if  some  is  left  in  the  bottle,  the  drinker  must  also 
tosB  off  a  second.  Thus  the  phraae  ^^  Fll  buzz  if^  is 
tantamount  to  a  bet  of  a  bumper,  that  if  the  glass 
will  not  hold  all  that  is  in  the  bottle,^he  whose  turn 
it  is  to  drink  next  must  fill  to  the  brim:  or  ac- 
cording to  the  previous  rendering,  buzzing  always 
means  to  take  the  last  wine  out  of  the  bottle.  This 
cannot  be  called  a  local  custom,  nor  yet  a  very  mo- 
dem one,  for  Erasmus  in  his  Adagies  has,  ^'Ex  am- 
phitheto  bibisti,^  to  designate  a  tippler,  which  two- 
handled  vessel  is  called  by  the  Dutch  sailors  buaa.  In 
the  Lat.  of  the  middle  ages  Buaa  denotes  a  large 
vessel,  (See  Du  Cange  sub  voce) :  in  Teut.  buyse  sig- 
nifies poculum  utrinque  ansatum,  quod  ob  magnitudi- 
nem  ambabus  toUitur  ac  reponitur  manibus :  from 
drinldng  out  of  so  capacious  a  measure  originated  the 
verb  buysen^  cothonissare,  largiter  potare,  as  well  as  the 
jovial  term  of  busoi.  Menage  has  Busae  and  Bussart, 
vdsseaux  de  vin,  courts  et  gros.  The  word  Buzz  is 
a  more  gentle  one  for  boase^    which  comes  from  the 


346 


same  quarter.      As  the  word  is  recognised  by  Grose, 
its  damcality  is  established  in  the  Boozin-ien, 
BwiLiNos,  8.  boilings. 

Sire,  he  said,  bi  God  in  heuen, 
ThiBe  boihuns  that  baUen  seuen. 

The  Sbuyn  Sacks,  v.  2488. 

BwiLE,  8.  a  boil.  Dan.  bylcke ;  Teut.  Belg.  bt^le ;  Germ. 
bud ;  Swed.  bula,  tuberculum.  From  hence  it  appears 
that  the  more  modem  and  refined  pronmiciation  of 
6ai7,  is  a  wresting  from  the  legitimate  one  preserved 
by  the  vulgar. 

BwiLE,  V.  to  boil.     Fr.  bowUer. 

BwoN,  8.  a  bone.     Ex.  '^  My  poor  bw<me8  yaaked  ag^^ 

or  as  the   more  highly  educated  express   themselves, 

^^my  poor  bones  ached  again.*^     This  interposition  of 

a  to  in  words  terminating  in  oim  is  extremely  frequent 

among  the  vulgar.     See  further  remarks  under  Gwon. 

His  hwme8  thou  do  grave. 

Sir  Amadas,  v.  241. 

Then  schall  howndes,  that  men  may  see^ 
^Wastare  bwona  gnawe. 

id.  v.  247. 

By  blow,  8.  a  child  illegitimate. 

Bt  gorsh,  Bt  gosh,  intery,  a  profane  corruption  in  both 

instances;    in  the  former  from  God  cra88^  and  in  the 

latter  from  Go(P8  house. 
By  tail,  8.  the  right  handle  of  a  plough. 


O^ 


\r^ 


is  often  transmuted  into  q^  as  in  com, 
cord,  coil,  &c.    Salopians  respective- 
ly pronounce  these  words  like  quem^ 
querd^  qtdle,  but   in  all  such   cases 
where   o    follows    c,    the   vowel  is 
changed  into  u. 
Cade-lamb,  8.  a  young  lamb  brought 
up  by  hand  or  within  the  house.     Fr.  ccuid^  a  casteling,  a 
starveling,  one  that  hath  need  of  much  cockering.    Gotg. 
Cadblt-rear''d,  part,  past  tenderly  brought  up,   whether 
it  be  children  or  chickens.     Fr.  cadeler. 
Cady,   adf,   addled,   foolish,  betra}ring  signs  of  decayed 

intellect.     Ex.  ^'  He^s  grown  quite  eady,'*'' 
Cagmao,   s.  inferior  or  bad  meat.     Ex.  ''Kills  nothing 
but  cagmag,'^ 

Cake,  b.  a  contemptuous  appellation  for  any  one.  Either 
a  chastened  form  of  expression  from  the  A.  Sax.  coc, 
as,  ''a  cake  of  a  feller,^^  or  else,  which  seems  to  me 
more  probable,  a  corruption  of  the  Fr.  cag(4^  or  caqueuas, 
caeostu^  a  race  of  people  who  were  regarded  with  great 
aversion,  under  the  idea  that  they  were  a  remnant  of 
the  Jews,  or  as  others  say,  of  the  Saracens,  who  were 
infected  through  each  succeeding  generation  with  leprosy. 
They  usually  followed  the  occupation  of  rope-making. 
So  strong   a  prejudice   existed  against  them,  that  the 


348 


Caiholio  BishopB  partaking  of  the  popular  feeling,  or- 
dered that  when  they  came  to  mass,  they  Bhould  confine 
thenuelvoB  to  the  lower  end  of  the  church,  and  not 
kigs  the  Pax  until  all  others  present  had  done  so,  nor, 
under  a  certain  penalty,  touch  the  vessels  of  the  altar. 
In  the  Registers  of  the  Chancellerie  de  Bretagne  1475, 
exists  an  order  that  the  Caqusi  should  be  prevented 
from  travelling  in  the  Duchy  without  having  a  piece 
of  red  cloth  upon  their  garments,  to  apprize  people  of 
the  danger  they  would   incur  from  coming  in  contact 
with  them.     They  were  placed  under  various  harassing 
restrictions    in   their   intercourse   with   those   around; 
debarred   any  participation  in  civil  honors;    forbidden 
to  pursue  any   craft  except  that  of  rope-making,   or 
labour  in  any  other  way  than  in  cultivating  their  gaiv 
dens,  under  the  penalty  of  confiscating  all  they  poft- 
sessed.     Some  French  Antiquaries  who  have  made  re- 
searches into  the  history  of  this  singular  race,  have 
conjectured  that  they  were  descendants  of  those  Sara- 
cens who  remained  in   Qascony  after  Charles  Martel 
defeated  Abdirama,  and  that  their  lives  were  spared 
on  condition  of  their  becoming  Christians.     They  were 
nevertheless  still  looked  upon  with  the  same  aversion. 
Popular  odium  ascribed  to  them  all  the  infectious  dis- 
eases which  are  supposed  to  be  engrafted  constitutionally 
on  Eastern  nations.     Hence  they  were  shunned  for  their 
ofibnsive  smell,  and  strong  breath.     And  this  was  not 
solely  out  of  hatred  for  the  tyranny  of  the  Saracens; 
for  tiie  Italians  urged  a  reproach  similar  to  this  against 
the  Lombards,  as  we  read  in  an  epistle  addressed  to 
Charlemagne  by  Pope  Stephen,  who  in  order  to  divert 
his  marriage  with  Bertha,  daughter  of  Didier,  king  of 
the   Lombards,  represented  to  him  that  not  only  in- 
variably a   bad   smell  accompanied  all  the  race,  but 
also,  because,  as  my  authority  further  saith,  the  Sara- 
cens smell  disagreeably,  and  exhale  a  rank  odour  from 


349 

their  body.  At  the  dose  of  the  seventeeth  century, 
Hevin,  a  learned  advocate  in  the  Parliament  of  Bre- 
tany,  obtained  the  abrogation  of  the  several  enactmraits 
which  injuriously  affected  the  Caqueux.  It  is  not  my 
present  object  to  enquire  into  the  difference  between  the 
Ciiffcia  and  the  Caqueuw;  the  reader  curious  upon  that 
point  will  find  it  investigated  under  those  heads  in  Mo- 
reri,  and  Menage.  But  descending  io  a  later  time,  the 
Cagots  of  the  Pyrennees  are  usually  supposed  to  be 
similarly  afflicted,  as  the  Cretins  of  the  Valais  and 
Alps  of  Switzerland,  of  whom  many  are  still  met  with 
at  Martigny,  Sion  and  other  places  on  the  course  of 
the  Bhone  "through  the  Canton  des  Valais  and  adja- 
cent parts.  Previous  to  the  French  Revolution  these 
poor  wretches  were  very  numerous,  whole  families  ex- 
isted among  which  there  was  not  an  individual  to  be 
found  who  was  not  Cretin.  They  were  endued  with 
instinct  just  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  provide  the 
bare  means  of  existence,  and  the  evil  became  perpe- 
tuated to  successive  generations.  Napoleon  took  effec- 
tual measures  for  the  remedy  of  this  horrible  evil, 
by  ordering  all  the  Cretins  of  the  Valais  to  be  con- 
fined in  a  hospital  at  Sion,  the  chief  town  of  the 
Canton,  and  provided  for  at  the  public  expence.  This 
hospital  exists,  but  the  regulations  have  been  subse- 
quently relaxed,  and  the  traveller  occasionally  encounters 
the  fearfid  and  disgusting  figure  of  a  Cretin,  especially 
at  Martigny.  They  seem  to  find  the  same  indulgence 
which  has  been  shewn  by  various  nations  to  those  afilicted 
with  fatuity.  The  Baron  von  Buch,  well  known  for 
his  scientific  researches,  particularly  of  a  Geological 
nature,  devoted  a  considerable  time  to  the  valleys 
adjacent  to  the  Bhone;  he  observed  that  in  certain 
confined  recesses  of  the  hills,  hail  had  never  been 
known  to  fall ;  a  fact  the  more  remarkable,  as  in 
those  countries  the  hail  is  unusally  frequent  and  de- 


350 


struotive.  In  these  particular  valleys  he  noted  that 
GretiniBme  especially  prevailed,  and  it  waa  his  opinion 
that  some  atmospheric  peculiarity  which  thus  strangely 
prevented  the  formation  of  hail,  contributed  mainly  to 
occasion  the  disease  of  Cretinisme;  it  has  been  sup- 
posed also  to  be  induced  like  the  Goitre  which  is 
found  to  accompany  it  both  in  the  Alps  and  Pyren- 
nees,  by  the  use  of  snow-water.  It  seems  highly 
probable  that  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  these  people 
have  originated  a  phrase  which  is  invariably  applied  as 
one  of  reproach. 

Calf,  8.  a  term  of  contempt  for  any  one  who  is  stupid. 
Ex.  *'  A  calf  of  a  fellow.*"  Suetonius  says  that '  the 
Gauls  called  Servius  by  this  title,  on  account  of  his 
stupidity.  Besides  being  classical  in  its  authority,  the 
word  is  in  analogy  with  the  Teut.     Kalf,  homo  obesus. 

Gall,  «•  occasion,  necessity.      Ex.  ^'  IVe  no  call  to  do  it.^ 

Call,  v.  to  abuse,  vilify  ;  the  exact  terms  of  reprobation, 
we  may  presume  through  delicacy,  being  omitted  by 
the  narrator.  Ex.  '^  She  eaUed  me  all  to  pieces.'"  ^^  She 
called  me — ashamed  to  be  heard.^^  The  word  seems 
allied  to  the  Isl.  kalsa,  irridere.  Yet  a  Salopian  lady'^s 
knowledge  of  rhetoric  would  readily  lead  her  to  speak 
by  a  figure,  termed  an  apasicpesis,  that  is,  a  form  of 
narration  or  address  in  which  a  person  breaks  off  the 
discourse,  yet  so  artfully  that  the  meaning  may  be  con- 
veyed to  the  hearers  without  being  actually  expressed. 

Camerade,  8.  a  companion.  An  old  word.  I  find  it  in 
Dr  Bullokar^s  Expositor,  and  therefore  it  is  not  a  cor- 
ruption of  comrade.  And  its  etymology  says  as  much, 
Swed.  kamrat;  Germ,  camerad;  Sp.  camarada;  Fr. 
camerade^  sodalis.  Du  Cange  and  others  have  sup- 
posed that  the  word  takes  its  origin  from  soldiers  or 
others  sleeping  together  in  the  same  tent  or  chamber : 
whilst  Wachter  and  another  class  of  investigators  assign 
the  word  to  the  C.  Brit,  eymmar^  socius  :   and  this  again 


351 

to  the   Armor,  ckam^   simul  morari;    hence  then  the 

modem  collegiate  term  chum. 

His  camerade  that  bare  him  company. 

Grebn's  Quip  far  an  Upgtart  Courtier, 

Canary,  «.  1 .  a  sovereign,  so  called  from  the  similarity  of 
color.  2.  a  glass  of  gin,  rum,  or  any  other  ardent 
spirits.  When  men  have  drank  ale  till  they  are  tured 
of  it,  some  one  amongst  the  crew  of  tipplers,  proposes, 
"a  drop  o'  canary.'^ 

Canary  Bird,  giyb  a  cat  a;  pAr.  a  simile  betokening 
incredulity  or  improbability;  as  it  is  unlikely  in  the 
last  degree  that  any  possessor  of  one  of  these  songsters 
should  dispose  of  it  to  a  cat,  so  when  there  e^eems 
small  chance  of  gratifying  the  hopes  of  a  solicitous 
claimant,  we  draw  a  metaphor  from  the  bird  fancier, 
and  say,  ''Give  a  cat  a  canary  bird,  ehf^ 

Can  bottlb,  8.  the  bottle  tip,  long-tailed  titmouse.  Icarus 
eaudatm,  Linn. 

Cancrams,  Tantrams,  8.  antrims  (from  which  it  is  changed), 
whims,  peevishness,  ill-humour. 

Cank,  f).  to  cackle  like  a  goose.     A  word  which  manifestly 

derives  its  origin  rather  from  similarity  of  sound,  an  ono- 

matopeia,  than  deducible  from  a  fixed  and  regular  root. 

And  at  the  cairlis  to  kekUl, 

PebUg  to  the  Play. 

Cankered,  adf.  ill-tempered.     Ex.  ^'  The  missus  is  grow^d 

meety  cankered  like  in  her  temper,  oerts  as  whad  a  wuz 

used  to  be.**^     A  temper  that   is  cankered,   makes  its 

possessor  a  nuisance  to  all  around. 

The  beggar  answered  cankardly, 
I  have  no  money  to  lend. 

Robin  Hood^  toI.  i.  p.  99. 

Can  ye  do  anything,  phr.  a  challenge  to  subscribe  for 

something  to  drink. 
Capling,  8.  part  of  a  flail;  the  eye! 
Careyn,  «.  1.  a  ticrm  of  reproach  for  a  female  of  doubtAil 

reputation.     Ex.  "  Yah  f   you  nasty  cartynT^   "  Sich  a 


352 

earejfn  of  a  cratur/^  2.  carrion,  dead  carcases.  Isl.  har^ 
squalor.  Fr.  earoigne^  earogne^  charoyne^  cadavre ;  de  earo 
et  de  rodmi.  Roqf.  Gloss.  Oi»ci  yapdpia^  loca  quaedam 
terrarum  appeUant,  quae  ezhalant  foedos  odores. 

Whether  not  to  hem  that  ^ynnyden  whos  earei/nB  weren  cast 
down  in  desert 

WiCLir^s  New  TetL  EbinvwU,  c  iiL 

Carbiaob,  $.  a  belt  which  carries  a  whetstone  behind 
the  mower. 

Case,  ^<mj.  because.  Ex.  '*  Ctue  as  how  ye  sin  he  wninia 
yable;  he  wunna  yable  to  do  it.""^ 

Cabbltt,  Casertlt,  (idf.  casual,  accidental,  bad,  uncertain. 
Ex.  '' CtM0{^y  weather.''     Fr.  casud;   Lat.  ea8U9. 

Casp,  $.  the  cross  bar  at  the  top  of  a  spade.  Randle 
Holmes  in  his  Academy  of  Armorie,  calls  it  a  ITaspe. 
In  Cheshire  (See  Mr  Wilbraham's  valuable  little  Glos- 
sary) it  is  termed  a  Catp.  Shovels  are  commonly  made 
with  a  T  casp^  and  spades  with  a  D  ea$p. 

Cast,  s.  a  second  swarm  from  a  hive  of  bees  in  the  same 
year.  Swed.  kcut,  abjicere.  Sp.  ea$trar^  to  take  a 
hive.     Isl.  kastj  missio. 

Cast,  v.  1.  to  be  thwarted,  defeated.  Ex.  ^^  Cati  in  a 
trial  at  Soesbury  Sizes.''  Palsgrave,  ea$t  in  love, 
amouree.  In  an  Inscription  at  Rome,  relating  to  the 
success  of  Claudius  in  Britain,  we  find  the  same  phrase 
"  ahsque  uUa  jacturcT.  V.  Camd.  Brit.  fol.  Lxxix.  2.  to 
vomit.  Ex.  "  Cast  his  stomach."  Isl.  hjutcL^  evomere. 
3.  to  be  delivered  prematurely,  as  cows  or  other  beasts. 
Ex.  ''  Cherry  has  cagt  her  calf." 

Castkb,  8.  a  cow  who  casts  her  calf. 

CAfirruNG,  8,  a  calf  bom  before  the  usual  time. 

Cat  and  Doo,  a  game  which  in  some  parts  of  the  county^ 
and  in  other  parts  of  England  is  called  Tip  eat.  To 
a  certain  extent  it  resembles  trap-ball^  the  ball  being 
substituted  by  a  piece  of  wood  which  is  about  six  inches 
in   length,   and   one  or    two   in   diameter,   diminished 


353 

from  the  middle  to  each  end,  in  the  form  of  a  double 
cone;  it  is  made  of  box  or  yew,  and  when  laid  on 
the  gromid  and  smartly  struck  at  either  end,  it  will 
rise  high  enough  for  the  striker  to  hit  it  away  from 
him  as  it  descends.  The  Dog  is  the  stick  with  which  it 
is  struck.  Strutt,  in  his  Sports  and  Pastimes,  p.  1 10.  edit. 
1833,  enters  into  a  description  of  the  different  methods 
by  which  the  game  is  played.  Nares  borrows  from  the 
Cambridge  Phrase  Book,  '*'  to  play  at  cat,"^  cato  ligneo 
ludere ;  baculo  et  buxo  ludere.     (See  Sioipple  and  Trib.) 

Cat-bbain,  $.  a  clayey  sort  of  soil,  little  softer  than  stone, 
and  not  much  better ;  a  rough  kind  of  gravel,  ^*  roch^. 
Swed.  Caigully  mica  membranacea. 

Cat-oallows,  8.  a  game  played  at  by  children,  which  con- 
sists in  jumping  over  a  stick  placed  at  right  angles 
to  two  others  that  are  fixed  in  the  ground. 

Catshead,  8.  a  hollow  square  box  made  of  wood  to  collect 
wind  at  the  top  of  a  pit  shaft,  which  is  conveyed  by 
a  pipe  downwards  so  as  to  increase  the  subterranean 
ventilation.     In  Derbyshire  called  a  fforsehead. 

Cat-tail,  g.   Horse  tail.     Equisetum.  Linn. 

Caud,  Cowd,  (uif.  cold.  Tout,  kaud;  M.  Goth,  kald;  A. 
Sax.  ceald ;  Dan.  kacM ;  Germ.  kaU ;  Franc.  Alaman. 
eketU ;    Belg.  kaud^  frigidus. 

Cauimthisel,  Code-chisel,  Coud-chisel  8.  a  hard  chisel  used 
for  cutting  cold  iron. 

Caufs-cot,  Cauve-skit,  8.  a  place  where  cfClves  are  kept. 
Evidently  vitiated  from  A.  Sax.  ciU/^  vitulus;  and  cote, 
tugurium.  Swed.  Teut.  kcU/;  Isl.  kcU/r;  Germ,  cfdb^ 
vitulus.     Isl.  kata;    Teut.  kat^  tugurium. 

Cave,  9.  1.  to  tilt  up,  as  a  cart,  and  consequently  to 
empty  or  to  unload  it.  Ex.  "  Cave  up  the  tumbrel.'"  2. 
to  fall  in.  Ex.  ^'  The  bank  coo^  in,^^  from  being  eawu, 
hoUow  or  undermined. 

Ray  inserts  the   former  sense  amongst  words  peculiar 
to   Cheshire,  but   Mr  Wilbraham   disowns  the  specific 


354 

loeality.     Wackier   says  the  root  lies   in  eaw.     Oerm. 

catt ;  C.  Brit,  and  Armor,  eauy  cavua. 

Ceout,  v.  to  bark  as  a  cur  or  cottager's  dog.     Hence  a 

Cbouting-do6,   or  little  Ceoui.  $.  a  sharp,   vigilant   dog. 

Mr  Wilbraham  derives  the  word  from  Skaut  or  Kaui^ 

signifying  Scottt.     But  I  fancy  the  word   is  corrupted 

thus,    a  Ceouiing  dog,   a  cutinff  dog,    (which  we   hear 

the   brute   called  as   often  as   by   any  other   title),    a 

ciUe  dog,  an  acute  dog;  that  is,  a  vigilant  and  sharp 

dog.     Another  derivation  may  be  obtained  from  coBey^ 

a  word  common  in  Scotland  for  a  shepherd's  dog,  as  it 

also  is  in  some  parts  of  England.    (See  Orose).     We 

then  get  the  word  colting  dog ;  and  according  to  the 

custom  of  changing  Col  into  Cow  or  Cou  we  at  once 

get   the   form   of  a    Couting  or   Ceouting  dog.      That 

this  transformation  and  transposition  is  not  rare,  may 

be  seen  under  remarks  upon  /,  and  cm.     The  Pbomp. 

Parv.  has  KewHnge  as  cattes. 

Ceout,  Cowt,  b,  a  colt.     If  poetry  will  protect  this  word 

from  the  reproach  of  vulgarity,  there  is  sanction  for  its  use. 

There  was  Wattie  the  Muirland  laddie. 
That  rides  on  the  honnie  grey  cowL 

Herd's  Scottish  Songs,  vol.  ii.  p.  170. 

Chaff,  v.  to  teaze.     A  low  word  now,  though  in  better 

repute  formerly.     Not  local. 

Whom  as  soone  as  Tytus  had  heholden  he  began  to  choice 
and  to  be  merueylous  angry  for  anguysshe. 

Golden  Legend,  foL  cxzvii. 

Chall,  Choul,  $.  the  jaw.  Ex.  "  Hit  him  in  the  ckoul."^ 
"  Broke  his  chall  bwon.''  "  A  chaU  of  bacon."'  A.  Sax. 
ceolas^  fauces.  It  was  a  word  formerly  in  better  re- 
pute, and  used  by  the  earlier  translators  of  the  Bible. 
See  Ezek.  xxiv.  4.  xxxviii.  4. 

Of  an  ape  he  caught  the  ckauk  bone. 

BocHASy  FaU  of  Ptineei. 

Chamble,  t.  to  champ;  to  bite.  Ex.  ^^  CkanMcM  the 
bit.**"     Applied  to  a  horse.     Fr.  ekampayer. 


365 

Charm,  $.  noise  of  a  gentle  kind,  sueh  as  whispering, 
and  munnuring,  or  the  low,  buzzing,  drawling  sounds, 
uttered  by  a  body  of  children  whilst  learning.  Ex. 
"What  a  charm r  A.  Sax.  cyrm;  Arm.  C.  Brit. 
garm;  clamor.  6.  Douglas  ehirme.  Whether  we 
adopt  these  roots  or  not,  and  I  see  no  reason  for  re- 
jecting them,  it  is  quite  evident  that  an  intimate 
connexion  subsists  between  our  word  and  others  of 
northern  origin  which  have  the  same  import  and  ten- 
dency. The  Teut.  karieny  which  betokens  a  soft  and 
suppressed  noise,  such  as  is  uttered  to  sooth  children, 
and  the  Isl.  korra^  infanti  nsenias  canere,  fix  it  as  a 
legitimate  word,  and  prove  that  it  is  neither  superin- 
duced, nor  yet  tralatitiously  usurped  from  charm^  an 
enchantment;  this  word  being  in  fact  under  the  sus- 
picion of  having  been  borrowed  from  the  other,  by  a 
figure  of  speech  known  among  Rhetoricians  under  the 
name  of  Metonymy.  The  dramatists  afford  additional 
evid^ice  by  almost  invariably  placing  the  word  in  such 
a  position,  that  it  bears  reference  exclusively  to  a 
noise  or  clamour. 

Go  to  duirm  your  tongue. 

Othelh. 
Peace,  wilful  boy,  or  I  will  charm  your  tongue. 

Henry  VI. 

Charm  your  skipping  tongue. 

Cynthia's  Reveii. 

He  is  the  man  must  charm  you. 

Bartholomew  Fair. 

That  well  could  charm  his  tongue,  and  time  his  speech. 

Faery  Queen,  v.  ix. 
Here  we  our  slender  pipes  may  safely  charm. 

Shepherds'  Calendar, 
Hark!  Flora,  Faunus,  here  is  melody, 
A  charm  of  birds,  and  more  than  ordinary. 

Arrai^ment  of  Paris, 

What  tharm  of  earliest  birds. 

Paradise  Lost,  iv.  641. 

He  touched  the  strings  which  made  such  a  charm. 

Pbrcy's  ReRq.  ii.  170. 

M— 2 


356 


Chartebtmabter,  i.  a  man  who,  having  undertaken  to  get 
ooals  or  uron-Btone  at  a  certain  price,  employs  men 
under  him. 

Chaotisb,  v.  'to  give  good  instruction,"  forewarn.  Ex. 
^'Diden'e  ehcuiite  him  on  itP  a  sense  peculiar  to 
Corve  Dale. 

Chats,  8.  small  fagots,  broken  sticks.  Ex.  '^Pikeing 
up  a  feow  ckaU.^  ''Lotc  of  lads  and  fire  of  dhaU  is 
soon  in  and  soon  out.*"  Ray's  Proverbs^  p.  42.  Swed. 
butwed^  ligna  csesa  ad  usum  in  fornacibus.  Isl.  kUxtr^ 
res  rejectanese.     A.  Sax.  eeatt^  res. 

Chattt,  adj,  small.  Ex.  '^  Chatty  iron-stone."'  The  deepest 
strata  of  Ume-stone  is  called  ehattystaney  from  being  small. 

Chaunce  Child,  «.  a  child  illegitimate. 

Chavin  Riddle,  $.  a  large  coarse  riddle  which  is  worked 
by  the  hands  along  a  wooden  horse,  to  sift  grain  from 
the  straw  and  larger  kinds  of  chaff.  A  vitiation  from 
chajffmg-riddk.     A.  Sax.  ceaf^  palea:  hriddle^  cribrum. 

Cheath,  8.  a  sheath.  Ex.  "  A  knitting  cheath.'"  In  some 
of  the  rural  and ,  remote  parts  of  the  county  the  two 
vowels  e  and  a  when  they  come  together  are  very 
distinctly  articulated,  as  in  whe-at,  she-af,  &c. 

Chem,  Tehem,  8.  a  team  of  horses. 

Chesvit,  8.  a  cheese-vat. 

Chiooin,  inter;,  an  address  to  horses,  bidding  them  go 
again,  corruptly  obtained  thus,  Chs-fin;  gee-gin;  ge- 
(igain;  go-ngain. 

Childer,  8.  Children.  The  termination  plural  of  A.  Sax. 
eUdy  infans.  Not  of  frequent  occurence  in  the  central 
parts  of  Shropshire ;  chiefly  confined  to  the  Hereford- 
shire and  Cheshire  outskirts.  The  word  repeatedly 
occurs  in  the  Metrical  Romance  of  Amis  and  Amiloun. 

Full  blithe  was  Sir  Amis  tho: 

Ac  for  his  chiider  him  was  full  wo. 

For  fairer  ne'r  non  bom. 
Wei  loth  him  was  his  diUder  to  do. 
▼.  2202-^.  2212.  2234.  2271.  2814.  2326.  2369.  2381.  &c.  &c. 


867 

Childkbbn,  Childbrin,  i.  Children.  Though  the  preced- 
ing word  be  not  general,  thia  ia,  and  it  is  as  fre- 
quently met  with  in  the  Early  English  Poets. 

Ther  as  the  diUderin  lay. 

Amis  and  Amiloun.  y.  2405. 
And  bar  her  to  chylderen  euen. 
Up  to  the  sky. 
OcTAviAN  Impbrator,  V.  101. 197-  301.  307.  720,  Ac 

Chill,  9.  to  warm  any  kind  of  liquid  in  frosty  weather. 
Ex.  "Will  you  have  your  drink  trilled T  This  is  a 
very  nice  distinction  between  extreme  cold,  and  the 
next  degree  to  it. 

Chimlat,  $,  a  chimney.  Ex.  "  Up  i^  th^  ehimlay  cornel.'*^ 
There  is  a  vulgar  tradition  at  the  curious  old  man- 
sion of  Plush,  that  the  beautiful  chimneys  there  were 
built  by  a  mason  whom  Judge  Leighton  had  con- 
demned to  be  hung,  but  who  was  reprieved  under 
the  promise  of  building  for  the  Judge,  "  Sich  ehimlays 
as  had  nivir  bin  sin  at  no  time  nod  a  fore."^ 

Chip  o^  the  oud  block,  phr.  a  phrase  denoting  family  like- 
ness or  propensities.     Grose. 

Choak  Pear,  $.  a  large  hard  pear,  only  used  for  baking. 
Palsgrave,  CAoke  pear^  estranguillow. 

Chow,  9.  to  chew.  Ex.  "  H**  ^as  lost  his  tith  and  canna 
chaw."*^     A.  Sax.  eeowan,  ruminare. 

Chow,  s.  a  quid.  Ex.  "A  ehatD  6*  bacco."'  A.  Sax. 
ceowring^  ruminatio. 

Christian,  $,  it  may  seem  unnecessary  to  write  down  a 
word  in  such  common  acceptation,  and  it  may  justly 
be  said  to  be  superfluous,  if  the  notice  of  it  were  not 
remarkable  for  the  peculiar  distinction  which  it  has 
received :  an  acceptation,  however,  not  confined  to  our- 
selves, but  in  all  probability  familiar  to  the  lower 
classes  throughout  England.  It  is  an  appellation  which 
marks  not  so  much  the  difference  between  believer  and 
infidel.  Christian  and  Jew,  as  the  distinct  characteris- 
tics betwixt  man  and  beast.     Thus  the  owner  says  of 


368 


his  sagacious  dog,  ^^he  knows  almost  as  much  as  a 
OAristianr  or  a  farmer  describes  a  mischievous  pig 
by  likening  his  powers  of  climbing  to  those  of  a  man, 
"  he  will  get  o'er  a  style  just  like  any  Christian.'*^  Forby 
says  it  obtains  the  same  usage  in  Norfolk,  and  anti- 
cipates me  by  the  following  apposite  quotation  from 
Shakspeare. 

And  the  boy  tliat  I  gave  Falstaff:  he  had  him  finom  me 
Chrutum;  and  look  if  the  fat  villain  have  not  transformed  him 
ape.  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  2. 

Or,  to  illustrate  the  peculiar  application  of  the  word, 
as  it  was  used  in  the  hearing  of  an  esteemed  friend, 
who  lives  honoured  amongst  all  who  know  him  for  his 
public  spirited  conduct,  his  intelligence  and  domestic 
virtues,  '4  seed  a  pair  o**  stotes  reared  up  o'  their  hind 
legs,   and  feyght  as  nataral  as  two  CAristiansr 

Chuck,  v.  to  throw.  Ex.  "  Chuck  the  ball  o'er  the  waU.*" 
Lat.  jacto  f  Hence  the  North  Country  game  of  chucki^ 
and  our  own  rustic  one  of  chuck  farthing.  (See  this  more 
fully  described  in  Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes,  p.  SSG.) 

Ghundering,  part,  dissatisfied,  abusive.  Ex.  "a  eh^mdering 
feUow.'' 

Churl,  $.  the  wallflower.  Cheirawthvs^  Linn.  ^^  In  the 
Arabicke  tongue'*'*  writeth  Gerard,  "  it  is  called  Keyri  ;^ 
our's  is  but  a  trifling  deviation  from  the  more  learned 
synonym. 

Clack,  «.  1.  a  clapper  of  a  mill.  2.  a  sucker  or  valve 
of  a  pump,  a  piece  of  leather  which  prevents  the  water 
from  falling  down  ^  the  trees'. 

Clam,  fj.  to  ring  a  bell  irregularly,  or  out  of  time  and 
tune.  Ex.  '^  Clamming  the  bells.'*^  Swed.  klamma^  com- 
primere  modo  violento.  Klamtning^  pulsatio  campanae. 
Teut.  klemmen^  pervellere. 

Clam,  Clbmm,  v.  to  starve  with  hunger.  Ex.  ^^  Maist 
dmmCd  for  want  o'  fittle;'  "  Welly  clemm'd:'  This 
word    has   been   commented   upon   by   most   lexicogr»- 


S59 

phers,  and  cannot  therefore  be  so  choice  and  dialectical 
as  Salopians  usuaUy  account  it.  From  the  bowels  of 
a  hungry  man  being  supposed  to  be  clammed  or  stuck 
together,  it  has  been  derived  from  words  having  that 
meaning.  S.  Goth.  Swed.  ilamma ;  Dan.  klemme ;  Isl. 
klemma;  Teut.  Belg.  Gterm.  Idemmen^  coarctare.  Ray, 
Coles,  Grose,  Nares,  Craven  Gloss.  N.  C.  Ches.  Gloss. 
HaUams.  Gloss.  Norf.  Gloss.  Tim  Bobbin.  Stafford.  Heref. 
I  cannot  eat  stones  and  tniis,  say,  what  will  he  ckm  me  and 
my  followers?  ask  him  an  he  will  ofem  me. 

Bbn  Jonson's  Poetaster. 
Hard  is  the  choice  when  the  valiant  must  eat  their  arms,  or 
clem.  Every  Man  out  of  hie  Humour. 

— and  yet  I, 
Solicitous  to  encreaae  it,  when  my  entrails 
Were  ckmm'd  with  keeping  a  perpetual  fast 
Was  deaf  to  their  loud  windy  cries. 

Massinobr's  Roman  Actor. 

Clank,  r.  to  make  clean,  wash  and  dress,  arrange  the 
toilet.  Ex.  ^'  I  mun  gda  now  and  dane  mysilf.^  See 
remarks  under  ea.     A.  Sax.  done;  daman^  purificare. 

Clap,  8.  Skinner  says  this  word  is  peculiar  to  the  English, 
and  explains  it  as  the  lip.  Jamieson  in  his  Etymolo- 
gical Dictionary  of  the  Scottish  language  gives  a 
quotation  which  refers  the  word  to  the  uvula.  '*  If, " 
says  his  authority,  ^'a  person  be  thrown  dead  into 
the  water,  when  the  dap  of  his  throat  is  shut,  the 
water  cannot  enter.""  The  sense,  however,  in  which 
Salopians  use  the  word,  refers  it  to  the  tongue,  or 
faculty  of  speech,  as  "  Hand  your  dap,'"  and  so  we 
find  it  employed  by  Chaucer. 

The  Reve  answerd  and  saide.  Stint  thy  dappe. 

MiUer'e  Prohgue. 

Clap,  v.  to  squat,  either  to  kneel  or  sit.     Ex.   ^*  CUxpH 

herself  down."*^ 
Clat,  «.  to  propagate  ridiculous  and  false  tales.     Belg. 

Uaddm,  maculare. 
Clats,  s.   idle   stories,   gossip.      Germ,   kledc,   probrum ; 

kUjBteohereiy  garritus,  delatio;    Teut.  klepe,  gamilus. 


360 

CtAvn,  «.  to  impose  upon,  humbug.  Ex.  ^^He^s  got 
guch  a  tongue,  he^U  claver  ^em  out  o'  any  thing.^  (See 
Olaver.) 

Claw,  9.  1.  to  snatch  or  seize  with  the  ohiw.  2.  to 
take,  to  take  away  violently.  Elx.  ^^  He  clawed  hout 
on  it.""^  Germ,  ktateen^  manus  hominum  rapacium  et 
habendi  eupidorum,  ob  similitudinem  cum  unguibus 
aquilinis  aut  milvinis,  qui  non  facile  dimittunt  pnedam. 
Wachter.  A.  Sax.  clawian^  scalpere. 
For  age  with  steling  steps 
Hath  dawde  me  wiUi  his  crowch. 

Percy's  ReUq.  vol.  L  p.  187. 

Clba,  Clsy,  8,  a  claw.  A  good  old  word.  Minsheu  has 
deduced  it  from  the  6r.  xf/XaU  forfices. 

In  hus  dees  clawen  us,  and  in  hys  cloches  holde. 

P.  Plouhman,  p.  9. 

Cleach,  9.  to  snatch  hold  of.     A.  Sax.  geUBccan^  arripere. 

Cleachino  Net,  8.  a  hand  net,  with  a  semicircular  hoop 
and  a  transverse  bar ;  used  by  fishermen  on  the  banks 
of  the  Severn.     Heref. 

Clean,  <idv.  entirely,  quite.  Universal  in  this  sense, 
though  rarely  pronounced  by  the  Comavii  as  now 
written,  the  former  vowel  being  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  word.  Ex.  "  Clane  gwon.*^^  The  A.  Sax.  dane 
fully  justifies  our  method  of  pronunciation,  and  Shaks- 
peare  by  using  the  word  adverbially  furnishes  us  with 
sufficient  authority  for  doing  the  same. 

I  found  my  bow  ckne  cast  on  one  nde. 

Abcham's  TosMfhUuMj  p.  7. 

Clear  and  Shear,  phr.  this  is  applied  to  closely  and  well 
sheared  sheep. 

Cleat,  v.  to  strengthen  with  a  plate  of  iron.  Ex.  ^^  Put  a 
deai  on  the  wheel.''  A.  Sax.  cUot;  C.  Brit.  dwU^  pitta- 
cium.  Fland.  Uessen ;  Belg.  klisse  ;  M.  Ooth.  Uaddra;  C. 
Brit,  chfttiany  adherescere.  (See  Du  Cange  sub  voce  CUia.) 

Clent,  9.  when  grain  is  cut  and  begins  to  harden,  or 
when  hay,  or  the  straw  of  ^^lent  tillin*\  becomes  seasoned 
by  the  influence  of  the  sun,  it  is  said  to  cUnt ;   and 


361 


as  it  then  begins  to  aasume  a  bright  appearance,  the 
word  may  be  from  the  Teut.  glanUen^  fulgere. 

Clbw,  Crew,  Crewring,  $.  a  ring  at  the  head  of  a  scythe 
which  fastens  it  to  the  Sned.  (See  Sned.)  A.  Sax.  cUaw ; 
Oerm.  kleud;  Teut.  klouwe,  glomus. 

CucKET,  V.  to  fasten  as  with  a  link  over  a  staple.  All 
the  English  authorities  into  which  I  have  looked  for 
this  word  derive  it  from  the  Fr.  and  they  explain  it 
by  'a  key\  Where  they  found  this  etymology  it  is 
difficult  to  conjecture.  Cotgrave,  Miege,  Richelet  and 
Menage  at  all  events  do  not  recognize  it.  Roquefort 
who  wrote  since  these  authors,  though  he  mentions  the 
word,  does  not  tell  us  where  he  picked  it  up.  The 
mistakes  of  Tyrwhit,  Skinner,  Johnson,  Ash.  &c.  afford 
me  the  opportunity  of  disclaiming  for  it  aU  connexion 
with  the  Gauls,  and  of  giving  the  Welsh  the  honor  of 
having  introduced  it  into  our  language.  C.  Brit,  diccied^ 
the  latch  of  a  door,  the  bolt  of  a  door.  This  derivation 
renders  the  ensuing  passages  from  P.  Plouhman  intelli- 
gible, adopt  another  and  they  become  pleonastic. 
Hue  hath  a  keye  and  a  dykett. 

p.  124. 
— and  the  dore  closea 
Ykeyed  and  yelykeded.  id. 

Promp.  Parv.  clyket.  Chauc.  Merch.  Tale,  v.  9991-6-7. 

Clink,  «.  a  smart  blow.  Ex.  **  Gie  him  a  clink  V  tV  feace.''' 
Teut.  klineke^  Colaphus. 

Clinker,  «.  1.  large  nails  which  turn  up  over  the  toes 
of  strong  shoes,  a  word  corrupted  from  dinekers.  2. 
a  bad  sort  of  coal.     3.  cinders  from  an  iron  furnace. 

Clip,  i?.  1.  to  embrace.  Ex.  ^^  Clipped  her  round  the 
neck,^  Shakspeare.  2.  to  hold  together  by  means  of 
a  screw  or  bandage;  for  instance,  a  blacksmith  will 
put  a  piece  of  iron  upon  a  wheel  to  clip  tV,  lest  it 
fall  to  pieces. 

A.  Sax.  ehfppan ;   Germ,  kleihen ;  Or.  itXckw.  amplecti. 
3.  to  shear,  cut.    Swed.  Isl.  klippa;  Dan.  klippe^  tondere. 


362 

His  meanest  gannent  that  ever  hath  but  eUp'd  his  body. 

CymMine, 

Clipping,  8.  as  much  wool  as  is  cut  off  one  sheep.  Isl. 
Idippingr^  pellis  tonsa. 

Clip  the  Church  ;  There  prevails  a  custom  amongst  the 
younger  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Wellington,  of  annu- 
ally going  on  Shrove  Tuesday  to  the  Parish  Church, 
and  by  joining  hands  together  endeavouring  to  encircle 
it.  What  is  the  origin  of  this  custom  it  is  difficult 
to  say ;  but  it  is  evidently  a  remnant  of  a  juvenile 
pastime  which  boys  have  for  years  been  accustomed 
to  indulge  in  on  this  particular  day. 

Clod  coal,  s.  a  species  of  coal  lying  above  the  ^crawstone^ ; 
so  termed  because  it  lies  between  two  measures  called 
clods;  it  is  reputed  the  best  for  manufacturing  iron. 

Clod  maxl,  b.  a  wooden  hanuner  which  peasants  use  to 

break  clods.    Teut.  kht^  gleba,  and  mceleny  molere. 

Then  everv  man  had  a  maU, 
Syche  as  thei  betyn  chttyi  withall. 

The  Hunttyng  of  the  Hare.  r.  91. 

Clog,  t?.  to  pickle  or  prepare  wheat  for  sowing.  The 
important  knowledge  of  preventing  Smut  or  Pepper 
Brand  in  wheat  has  not  been  generally  understood  in 
this  country  more  than  half  a  century.  Steeping  the 
seed  in  a  mixture  of  quick  lime  and  herrin^  (q.  v.), 
is  found  an  effectual  brine  for  destroying  the  uredo 
foetida,     Teut.  klotteren,  coagulari. 

Cloir  as  cloir,  phr.  this  means  that  a  liquid  is  perfectly  trans- 
parent, as  clear  as  possible,  "  Cloir  as  Cloir^^''  *'  Cloir  as 
waiter^ ;  it  is  certainly  more  correct  than  "  clear  as  mud,'^ 
a  comparison  frequently  heard.  ^' Clear  as  clear^  and  ^^hard 
as  hard***  are  terms  often  used.     Also  ^^  clire  as  clire.**^ 

Clout,  s.  a  blow.     Ex.  "  Fatch  him  a  clout  Y  th'  mouth.^ 

Com.  chtdy  a  blow. 

The  kynges  sone^  kene  and  proud, 
Gaf  kyng  Richard  swvlke  a  ner  dout 
That  the  fyr  of  hys  heyen  sprong. 

Richard  Coer  de  Lion,  t.  768. 


S6S 

And  ndly  nght  hym  a  dowte. 

The  HunUyng  of  the  Hare,  v.  174. 
He  gaTe  her  than  so  many  a  great  chute. 

The  Wife  lapped  in  Morete  Skin,  v.  977. 
ClaverB  and  his  Highland  men 

Came  down  upo'  the  raw,  man 
Who  being  stout^  gave  mony  a  clout. 

GiUierankie.  Hbrd.  i.  p.  182. 
Did  Sandy  hear  ye, 
Ye  wadna  miss  to  get  a  chut. 

Ritson's  English  Songe,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 

Clout,  «.  1.  to  weld,  patch.  Ex.  "  CUmt  theee  shoeB.'** 
2.  to  beat,  strike ;  Ex.  "  Chut  him  in  the  face.''  Teut. 
kloUen;  Germ,  klopfen;  Belg.  kloppen ;  Franc,  doppen; 
Swed.  klappa^  pulsare. 

Yf  thou  com  more  inward 
It  schall  thd  rewe  afterward, 
So  I  schall  thd  chwght. 

Sir  Clsoes,  ▼.  261. 
— ^Baxter  lads  hae  seal'd  a  vow. 
To  skelp  and  chut  the  guard. 

Ferousson's  Poeme. 

Clout  nails,  s.  1.  large  nails  used  for  the  tire  of  waggon 
wheels.  Palsgrave,  daut  of  yron,  platin  de  fer.  2.  short 
nails  with  large  heads  for  the  soles  of  strong  shoes. 

Cloutei>-8Hoe8,  s.  shocB  which  may  properly  be  termed 
clouted,  are  such  as  are  patched,  or  mended.  In  the 
rural  districts  they  say,  ''put  a  elouit  on  the  toes.**' 
Colliers  however  who  think  there  is  more  virtue  in 
iron  than  in  leather,  talk  of  having  clout  naih  driven 
into  their  shoes,  with  clinkers  turned  over  the  front. 
There  can  be  no  dispute  about  the  correctness  of  the 
former  application.  Promp.  Parv.  elowte  of  a  $ho : 
clawted  as  shone  or  other  thingis  of  lether.  Palsgrave, 
douie  of  a  sho.  ung  talon.  A.  Sax.  dut^  lamina.  Lat. 
Barb.  deta.  Du  Cange. 

His  hod  was  full  of  holes,  and  his  heare  oute. 
With  his  knoppede  ehon  douted  ful  thykke. 

Perbs  Ploughman's  Crede. 
And  put  my  chuted  brogues  from  off  my  feet 

Cymbeline,  iv.  2. 


364 

And  no  man  ^uttith  a  chut  of  boistouB  cloth  into  an  olde 
clothing,  for  it  doith  away  the  fulneoM  of  the  doth  and  a  wone 
brekyng  is  maad. 

WicLirx's  New  TeUatnent,  Matt  c  iz. 
Neatea  leather  shall  ckmi  thy  «Ao0fi. 

K.  Edw.  and  the  Tanner  qf  Tamwarth,  y.  184. 
But  what  if  dancing  on  the  green. 
And  skipping  luce  a  mawkin. 
If  thev  should  see  my  douiei  ehocn 
Of  me  they  will  he  tanking. 

Hbrd's  Scottieh  Songs,  iL  67. 
And  old  shoes  and  clouted  upon  their  feet 

Jo^  ix.  y.  6. 

Clouts,  8.  thin  pktes  of  iron  which  are  fastened  along 
the  extremity  of  an  axle-tree.  (See  Cleat  and  Clout.) 
Palsgrave,  daut^  of  yron,  pktin  de  fer. 

Clunches,  8.  a  measure  of  indurated  earth,  nearly  as 
hard  as  stone.  Germ.  khM;  Belg.  khiU,  massa  con- 
creta. 

Cluts,  s.  1.  the  small  wedges  which  go  under  the  d&w 
or  serett  of  a  scythe.  C.  Brit.  dttt.  2.  wedges  gene- 
rally. Swed.  klots,  frustulum  ligneum  vel  ferreum  fabrile 
alicubi  applicandum. 

Cob,  8.  the  chief,  head.  Ex.  ''He's  cob.'^  Belg.  kop, 
caput. 

Cob,  «.  1.  to  conquer,  excel,  beat.  Ex.  ''This  eobe  all.^ 
2.  to  pull  the  hair,  a  punishment  applied  by  school- 
boys to  those  who  offend  the  olfactory  senses  of 
their  playmates.  The  penalty  consists  in  having  the 
hair  pulled  whilst  the  offender  whistles,  counts  ten  and 
touches  wood.  It  has  nearly  the  same  signification 
among  the  Roxburgshire  shepherds.  Belg.  kop ;  Oerm. 
kopt^  caput. 

Cobbles,  5.   1 .  small  pieces  of  coal.      Ex.   "  Put  a  feow 

cobbles  a  top  o'  th"*  fire.*"    2.  small  pebbles.     Ex.  "Paved 

with  cobble  stones.'*'*    Not  very  local. 

With  staves  or  with  clubs  or  els  with  cohble  stones. 

Gammer  Chirton's  Needk, 

Cobnobble,  t.   to  beat   on  the  head.      Belg.  Teut.  eop^ 

caput.  Teut.  HoU.  Fris.  Sicamb.  Fland.  knotken^  tundere. 


365 

Cob-nut,  «.  1.  a  large  nut  with  a  hole  bored  through 
it,  and  through  which  runs  a  piece  of  string.  A  game 
played  by  boys  upon  the  top  of  a  hat,  when  one  with 
his  cob-nut  tries  to  break  the  nut  of  the  other.  This 
is  not  a  local  amusement,  or  a  provincialism :  yet  it 
has  been  deemed  by  preceding  gloesarists  sufficiently 
dialectical  to  have  obtained  a  place  in  their  vocabu- 
laries. They  all  follow  Minsheu,  and  assign  the  origin 
of  the  word  to  the  Belg.  lop-nci^  nux  capitalis,  which 
he  explains,  'a  great  nut,  such  as  boyes  play  at  cob- 
nut withal\ 

CocKABs,  8,  short  woollen  socks.     A.  Sax.  eoeer^  any  kind 

of  case.    Somner.   Isl.  koklaz^  segre  per  invia  evadere. 

Teut.  ioler^  theca. 

Other  loke  for  my  cohort, 

P.  PlOUHM AN,  p.  75. 
— Hub  oockreM  and  hus  cuffes. 
id.  p.  131. 
And  his  patch'd  cotkert  now  despised  been. 

Hall's  SaHref,  iv.6. 
His  mittens  were  of  bauzen's  skinne. 
His  ookert  were  of  oordiwin. 

Percy's  Rdiq.  voL  i.  p.  324. 

Cock  a  meg,  «.  a  piece  of  timber  about  half  a  yard  long, 
which  is  fastened  on  the  reepU  in  a  coal  mine  to  support 
the  roof. 

CocKET,  CocKT,  CoxT,  oc^'.  Bwaggeriug,  pert,  supercilious. 

Ex.  '^  Grown  quite  cocky P    Ck)les  has  cockei.    Coxy  must 

be  a  corruption  from  coxcomical^  in  which  sense  it  is 

generally  taken.     Fr.  coqueti :  Cotgr.  C.  Brit,  cocwyo^ 

to  bear  rule. 

And  now  I  think  I  mav  be  cocky, 
Since  fortune  has  smurtl'd  on  me. 

Jeanny  Graden,  Ritson's  Scott.  Songt,  i.  246. 

CocKHBAD,  «,  a  piece  of  iron  which  falls  into  the  branr 

duU  of  a  mill.     Another  informant  teUs  me  that  the 

oockhead,  is  that  part  of  a  mill  ''which  is  fixed  into 

a  stave  of  the  ladder,  the  ladder  being  what  the  hopper 

rests  upon.*"      I  confess  I  do  not  understand  precisely 


366 


what  I  here  repeat,  but  as  it  oomefl  from  a  miller  it 
is  preemned  to  be  correct. 

Coo,  8.  that  particular  part  of  a  scythe  which  is  held 
whilst  mowing;  the  short  handle. 

Goggle,  e.  to  move  unsteadily  backwards  and  forwards, 
to  become  shaky.  Teut.  hikghlen ;  Germ,  kugdn^  rotun- 
dare. 

CooGLETT,  CocKLETT,  od^.  apt  to  shakc  about. 

Coin,  Quins,  «.  an  architectural  term,  the  comer  of  a 
building.  Various  etymologies  have  been  offered  for 
this  word,  as  the  Or.  ayKwv — and  yovia — Lat.  cuneui  : 
Ft.  coinff. 

Cold  Comfort,  «.  unwelcome  intelligence,  disagreeable  in- 
formation. 

I  do  not  ask  you  much,  I  beg  cold  eor^fori. 

K,  John.  V.  7. 

CoLLOGUEiNG,  part,  scheming  or  plotting  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  another.  Kersey  says  it  means  to  "decoy 
with  fair  words,  to  flatter  or  sooth  up,^^  but  not  so  in 
Shropshire.  Minsheu  admits  the  participle  as  well  as 
the  verb.  The  verb  is  common  in  our  Early  English 
Dictionaries,  see  Baily,  Cole,  Skinner,  Cocker  and 
Blount.  Forby  agrees  with  me  in  asserting  that  it 
has  a  sense  of  its  own  quite  different  from  flattering. 
Lat.  eoUoquor. 

Colly  Weston,  Conny  Weston,  phr.  In  the  first  sense 
in  which  we  use  this  phrase  it  implies  any  thing  awry, 
or  on  one  side;  if  a  garment,  a  bonnet  or  a  shawl 
is  awkwardly  put  on,  it  is  all  conny  wesson :  if  things 
are  contrary,  ill-timed  or  go  amiss,  the  evil  genius 
eonny  wesson  is  the  cause,  and  we  lay  all  the  blame 
to  him,  ^^its  all  alung  o  conny  wesson.^''  And  the 
same  characteristics  of  perverseness  accompany  its 
meaning  when  any  thing  is  uneven,  crooked,  out  of  a 
straight  line,  or  obstinate.  Thus  a  shuffler  partakes 
of  the  bad  spirit  of  conny  wesson^  '^he  inoMT  we  say. 


367 

^^  itrai'ii  forad^  his  all  canny  tDeuon^  What  connexion, 
or  whether  it  has  any  at  all  with  the  village  of  CoUy- 
wesUm  in  Northamptonshire  lies  out  of  my  power  to 
determine. 

CoLLEB,  CoLLT,  $.  the  black  incrustation  of  smoke  and  soot 
which  adheres  to  the  outside  of  a  pot  or  kettle.  Kersey 
recognises  the  word  in  his  Dictionary.  A.  Sax.  ccl ; 
Isl.  Swed.  Germ,  kol ;  Dan.  kul;  Tout,  lole^  carbo. 

Colly,  v.  to  dirty  with  coUy^  to  smut.     Ex.  ^^  CoUied  his 

face  all  o'^er.'*^ 

He  made  foule  chere, 
And  bicoUede  is  swere. 

Gb3tb  of  Kino  Horn,  v.  1071, 1072. 

He  lokede  aboute, 
Myd  is  caUede  snoute. 

id.  V.  1007,  looe. 

Brief  as  the  lightning  in  the  ootiy'd  night. 

Mids.  Nights  Dream,  L  1. 
And  passion  having  my  best  judgement  coUied, 

OtheBo,'±S. 

Come  on,  c.  1.  to  grow,  improve.  Ex.  "  The  tillins  come 
an  apace."^  2.  to  impose,  encroach.  Ex.  '^  Coming  an 
in  his  charges.*"  3.  to  succeed,  follow.  Ex.  "  A  coming 
an  tenant.^^ 

Come  out,  or  Come  ett,  an  address  offensive  to  a  dog, 
which  bids  him  either  '^blin  of  his  barking,^  or  get 
away. 

CoMEiNG  Floor,  «.  that  part  of  a  malthouse,  where  the 
barley  lies,  after  it  vegetates,  grows,  or  acrespires.  Isl. 
keima ;  Germ,  kiemen ;  M.  Goth,  keinan;  Franc.  Alaman. 
ckinen,  germinare. 

CoMB-THY-wAYs,  WITH  THEE,  phr,  Au  endearing  kind  of 
address  to  children.  Not  entirely  dialectical.  See  ex- 
amples and  illustrations  of  its  use  in  the  North  Country 
and  Craven  Glossaries,  from  one  of  which  works  the 
foOowing  one  is  requoted. 

While  Aire  to  Calder  calls^  and  bids  her  come  her  ways, 

Drayton's  PoUy-olbim. 


368 

GoMMANDflMKNTS,  $.  Commandments.  The  interposition  of 
the  vowel  is  very  common  also  in  the  Early  English 
writers;  see  Wiclif,  Chaucer,  Spenser,  King  Cambises. 
The  worlde  and  the  Chylde,  Apius  and  Virginia,  &c. 

And  pylled  the  barke  even  of  hys  fooe 
Withe  her  cammandemenU  ten. 

Ane  BaBtU  of  Mairimonie. 

CoMM^D,  pcut  part.   1.  common  for  came.     Ex.  ^^  Afore  I 

eomm^d  he  raught  thire  ye  sin."" 

The  righte  aire  of  that  cuntre 
Es  eumen, 

Minot's  Poenu,  p.  14. 

Quhaie,  troaist  ye,  I  sail  find  yon  new-cumde  kinr. 

'Sir  D.  Lyndsay,  yoj.  ii.  p.  35. 

2.  became.     Ex.  ''  Jack !  the  measter  toud  me  to  ax 

yo,    whad   yone   done   a  th'   groui   bitch!      Begum  I 

dunna  knoa — the  last  as  I  sid  on  her  was  down  i^  th' 

bwes  fawhr,   and  whad  comm'd  on   her  ater,   I   conna 

justly    say.""      A.  Sax.   cuman ;    Teut.   komen ;    Oerm. 

iommen;    Swed.  iomma^  venire.    R.  of  Gloster,  R.  of 

Brunne,   P.  Plouhman  and  the  Metr.   Romances  have 

eum^  and  com  in  the  A.  Sax.  form. 

CoMB-MOoB,  CuMMuooiN,  ifitefj.  Au  address  to  the  leading 
horse  of  a  team,  when  he  is  required  to  turn  to  the 
left,  to  come  nearer  or  turn  round.  They  are  varied 
inflections  formed  thus  by  elision,  from  come  over  again, 
come  again,  commegpin;  as  Come-moge  and  com-mother 
are  deduced  from,  come  over,  and  come  hither. 

CoMMiN,  $.  a  common,  waste  land.  Ex.  **Kip  yo  rit 
strai-it  forat,  across  the  commin.'^  Those  Salopians 
who  are  roost  simple  and  pwre  in  their  language  usually 
employ  the  imperative  in  lieu  of  the  indicative  with  an 
auxiliary,  as  in  the  example  just  given,  in  which  case 
the  more  educated  would  say,  ''  You  m/iut  keep  right 
straight  forward/**  &c. 

CoMMiN  Justice  o'  the  Pace  :  phr.  Ex.  "  Minded  me  no 
moor  than  if  Td  bin  a  commin  Jtutice  o*   the   PaeeT 


36» 

Company  keeps,  phr.  This  is  the  usual  method  of  ex- 
preseing  that  a  young  person  receives  the  addresses  of 
a  lover.  It  is  in  analogy  with  the  idiom  of  the  early 
English  and  French.  "  Gtrnpagner^  etre  en  commerce, 
ou  en  familiarite  avec  quelqu^un,  avoir  commerce  avec 
une  femme.'^  Roquef.  Glossary.  In  the  East  window 
of  St  Mary's  Church  Shrewsbury,  (See  Blakeway  and 
Owen'^s  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  318)  is  an  inscription  which 
beseeches  the  reader  to  pray  for  John  de  Charlton 
who  caused  the  glaring  to  be  made,  and  for  Dame 
Hawise  his  companion.  At  that  period  the  appellation 
was  honourable,  and  even  savoured  of  Royalty.  Edw.  II. 
in  a  letter  to  his  son  speaks  of  nostre  treschere  covnpaigne 
la  royne :  and  the  statute  of  treasons,  25  Edw.  III.  de- 
clares it  to  be  treason  to  compass  the  death  of  the 
king,  or  of  Madame  sa  compaigne.  The  old  Spanish 
law  has  the  same  phrase.  (See  Barrington'^s  Observa- 
tions on  the  Statutes,  p.  245.)  Indeed  our  modem 
word  *  queen,  is  in  its  primitive  sense  nothing  more 
than  a  woman.  (M.  Goth,  quino ;  Isl.  ktiennu ;  A. 
Sax.  cteen ;  Dan.  quinde ;  Teut.  quena ;  Gr.  71/1/1?, 
mulier.)  The  term  of  companion^  gradually  got  lower, 
and  in  1484,  we  read  of  a  lady  who  was  daughter 
of  Monsieur  John  de  Poictiers  an4  Madame  Isabeau 
sa  compaigne^  who  was  descended  from  the  kings  of 
Portugal.  (See  Palaye  Mem.  Sur  Tanc.  Chevalrie,  vol. 
ii.  p.  183.) 

Comparative  and  Superlative  double.  In  common  with 
other  counties,  the  language  of  the  lower  orders  in 
Shropshire  abounds  with  pleonasms  of  this  nature. 
How  often  do  we  hear,  more  painfuUer^  more  tidyer^ 
more  industrier^  most  konestest^  most  quickest^  most 
nearest?  I  suppose  these  must  be  considered  in- 
correct, examples  however  do  exist  which  may  tend 
to  shield  these  apparent  irregularities  from  the  critic^s 
censure. 

24 


870 

Ne'er  from  France  arrived  mare  happier  men. 

Hen.  V.  iv.  4. 

More  sharper  than  your  sworda. 

Hen.  V.  iii.  5. 
Contain  your  spirit  in  more  stricter  bounds. 

Every  Man  out  of  hie  Humour. 
Thev  saw  the  Cardinal  more  readier  to  depart  than  the  rem- 
nant ;  for  not  only  the  high  disnity  of  the  Civil  Magistrate,  but 
the  most  basest  hiandicraft  are  noly,  when  they  are  directed  to 
the  honour  of  God.    Sir  Thomas  More. 

Besides  meeting  with  similar  pleonasms  in  Jul.  CsBsar, 
the  Tempest,  and  the  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  we 
have  a  criticism  on  the  foregoing  quotation  from  Sir 
Thomas  Moore  from  the  pen  of  Ben  Jonson,  who  says, 
''  that  this  is  a  certain  kind  of  English  Atticismy  or  elo- 
quent phrase  of  speech,  imitating  the  manner  of  the  mast 
ancimtest  and  finest  Grecians,  who  for  more  emphasis 
and  yehemency''s  sake  used  so  to  speak.*"  Again,  for 
other  examples. 

After  the  most  straitest  sect  of  our  religion^  I  lived  a  Pharisee. 

Acts  xxvi.  6, 
Whosoever  of  you  will  be  chiefest,  shall  be  servant  of  all. 

Mark  x.  44. 
The  most  coldest  that  ever  turned  up  all. 

Cymb.  ii.  3. 
Oh,  'tis  the  most  wickedest. 

Women  Pleased. 
But  first  and  chiefest  with  thee  bring 
Him,  that  yon  soars  on  golden  wing. 

H  Pensierosa 
That  on  the  sea's  extremest  border  stood. 

Addison's  Tratxk. 

C0N9AYT,    Conceit,  s.    1.  good   opinion.      Ex.   "Fve  no 

great  cotifayt  on  him.''     2.  opinion,  simply.     Ex.  "  But 

a  poor  confayt  as  how  he'll  do  it." 

John  Anderson  my  Jo,  John 
Ye  were  my  first  conceii. 

Scotch  BalkuL 

C0N9ATT,  V.  to  conceive,  imagine.  In  this  sense,  ac- 
cording to  Tyrwhitt,  the  word  is  used  by  Chaucer  in 
his  Translation  of  Boethius.    Fr.  Cancevoir. 


371 

Concernment,  s.  concern,  business.  Ex.  "No  canesm- 
ment  6*  youm.'' 

CONNA,    CONNOD,  V.    CSH   TkOt. 

CoNSARN,  V.  to  concern.     Ex.  "I  dunna  cansam  mysilf 

wi"*  sich  nonsense.'^ 
Consarn;    a  kind  of  threat.     See  Sarn. 
Consort,  v.  to  associate  with.     Ex.  ''^Consorting  together."" 

Lat.  consoeio. 

And  afterwards  consort  with  you  till  bed  time. 

Comedy  qf  Errors. 
And  must  for  aye  consort  with  black-brow'd  niffht. 

Mids.  Nighfs  Dream,  iii.  2. 
Thou  consort'st  with  Romeo. 

Romeo  and  JuRet,  iiL  1. 
And  some  of  them  believed  and  consorted  with  Paul  and  Silas. 

Acts  xvii.  4. 

CooTH,  $.  a  cold.     Ex.  '^  Kotched  a  cooth  Y  his  limbs."*^ 
Cop,  «.  the  top  or  middle  of  a  Butt  in  ploughed  land. 

A.   Sax.    Cop ;     C.  Brit,  coppa ;     Germ,   koppel ;     Fr. 

eaiipeau^  apex. 

Tho'  can  I  on  this  hill  to  gone, 
And  round  on  the  coppe  a  wone. 

Chaucer's  House  of  Fame,  iiL 

CoppET,  (ndj.  pert,  saucy.  Craven  Glossarist  rightly  refers 
the  origin  of  this  word  to  the  Belg.  lop^  caput. 

CoppY,  «.  a  coppice.  Ex.  "Gwon  to  the  eoppy  for  a 
bum  o^  hetherin.'*'*  Gr.  kowtw^  scindo.  Fr.  copp^^ 
cut.  Cotgr. 

CoPtiL,  CopsAL,  8,  a  piece  of  serrated  iron  which  ter- 
minates that  extremity  of  a  plough  at  which  the  horses 
are  attached,  sometimes  called  the  Aear  of  a  plough, 
or  the  cop  rail.     Ex.  ^^Shut  'em  to  the  copgil  rail.'*'' 

CoRACLE,  8.  a  small  boat  formed  with  broad  hoops  and 
covered  with  tarpauling,  so  light  that  a  fisherman 
easily  carries  it  on  his  back.  This  little  vessel  is  not 
confined  to  the  Severn,  being  used  also  on  the  Wye. 
I  suppose  we  are  indebted  to  the  Welsh  for  intro- 
ducing it  on   our  river.     Camden  speaks  of  it  as  pe- 


372 

«uliar  to  Shropshire  in  his  time.  ^'  The  Shrewsbury 
fiflhennen,''''  says  he,  ^^use  a  vessel  caUed  a  coracle 
which  they  row  with  one  hand  while  they  fish  with 
the  other.  It  is  about  five  feet  long,  and  three  broad, 
almost  oval,  with  a  round  bottom,  made  of  sallow  twigs 
or  osiers  covered  with  horses'  hides,  and  so  light  as  to 
be  carried  on  a  man'^s  back.  These  vessels  seem  to 
be  the  remains  of  the  curraghs  used  anciently  between 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  and  similar  to  the  canoes  of  the 
Americans.^'  (Gough'^s  Edition  of  Camden,  vol.  iii.  p.  35,) 
The  word  has  been  derived  by  some  one  from  corivm, 
which  would  suit  it  well  enough,  provided  coracles  were 
covered  with  hides,  but  as  they  are  not  I  conceive  with 
more  certainty  the  origin  of  the  word  wiD  be  found  lurk- 
ing under  the  C.  Brit,  cwrwgle^  one  of  the  singularly  few 
words,  considering  our  constant  intercourse  with  and 
proximity  to  the  Welsh,  which  we  have  acquired  from 
their  language.  S.  Goth,  korg ;  G^rm.  karb,  corhis.  Fr. 
carbeiUe.  A.  Sax.  cuople^  navicula.  Celt,  ctiruca^  navis 
coriacea.  Sidonius  Apollinaris  says  that  the  Saxon 
pirates  in  his  time  frequently  crossed  the  British  seas 
in  these  boats. 

Quin  et  Aremoricns  piratam  Saxona  tractiis 
Sperabat,  cui  pelle  salum  sulcare  Britannum. 

Cartnina,  viL 

Armor,  crochen ;  Bret,  croc'hen^  peau  de  quelque 
animal.  Gael,  curach^  a  small  boat  of  wicker  covered 
with  hides. 

Corking,  «.  the  turn  up  bits  on  the  toe  of  a  horse^s  shoe. 

Corked,  part,  past ;    offended. 

Corncrake,  Corndrake,  s.  Ralius  Crex^  of  Linnseus: 
it  is  also  frequently  called  by  the  several  titles  of 
Com  craker^  Oraker;  Landrail^  Landrake,  To  write 
the  word  in  an  orthographical  way,  it  ought  to  be 
Corn  Creke,  It  receives  this  appellation  from  creaking, 
or  making  a  hoarse,  grating  noise  in  the  com  or  long 


373 

mowing  grass.     C.  Brit,    crech^  a  scream.     In   a   rare 

little  volume  entitled,  ^^  Avium  Prsecipium  quarum  apud 

Plinium  et  Aristotelem  mentio  est  per  Gul.  Tumerum, 

Colon.    M.D.    xLiv:     we    find   it   thus    described,  and 

get  at  the  derivation  of  the  word  from  ornithological 

authority.       '^  Est   avis   qusedam   apud   Anglos,    lon^s 

cruribus,  csetera  cotumici,  nisi  quod  major  est,  similis, 

quse  in  segete  et  lino,  vere  et  in  principio  sestatis  non 

aliam  habet  vocem  semper  ingeminet,   quam  ego  Aris- 

totelis  crecem  esse  puto.     Angli  avem   illam   vocant   a 

dcJcer   hen ;    Germani   ein  Schryk,   nusquam   in   Anglia 

nisi   in    sola  Northumbria   vidi   et  audivi.**'     White,   in 

his  History  of  Selbome,  says  the  bird  was  rare  in  his 

district.     Martin,  in  his  account  of  the  Western  Isles, 

calls  the  bird  a  corn-craker ;  Lyndsay  has  com  craik. 

He  gart  the  Emproure  trow,  and  trewlye  behald, 
That  the  comcraik,  the  pundare  at  hand. 

Holland's  Buke  of  the  Howlat, 

Corned,  part, past ;  intoxicated  by  ale.  Ex.  "He  was 
pretty  well  corned.''''  Germ.  Kornen^  inescare  granis. 
At  first  hearing  we  should  say  that  this  was  meta- 
phorical, but  when  we  recollect  the  magical  powers  of 
malt  liquor,  we  shall  rather  cry  out  as  moral  philo- 
sophers, in  the  ballad  of  Sir  John  Barleycorn, 

He'll  change  a  boy  into  a  man, 

A  man  into  an  ass; 
Hell  change  your  gold  into  silver, 

Your  silver  into  brass. 

Cornel,  *.  a  comer.  Ex.  "Clos  up  i^  th**  cornel^ 
C.  Brit,  comei^  angulus. 

Clement  stode  in  oo  kemeU, 

OCTAVIAN  ImPERATOR,  V.  1115. 

Wei  flourished  with  comeilei, 

R.  CoBR  DB  Lion,  v.  1842. 
Florence  lay  in  a  comett. 

Lb  Boxb  Florence  of  Rome,  v.  806. 

Corner,  s.  a  point  at  whist.  The  Iceni  use  this  word. 
(See  Fbrby.)      Its  circulation  with  us  is  confined  to  the 


i 


374 

very  inferior  grades  of  card  playing  people.      Ex.  "I 
reckon  ''a  'mun  play  three  yappence  a  cohmt.'" 
Corny,  adj.  strong,  tasting  of  the  malt.     Ex.  ^^  Pretty 
corny.'"     Just  in  the  sense  it  has  in  Chaucer. 

Or  elles  a  draught  of  moist  and  eomy  ale. 

Cant.  Taieg,  r.  12249  and  12380. 

Cos,  conj.  because.     Ex.  "  Cos  a  coudna."*^ 

Cosh,  adj.  quiet,  still.  Ex.  ''  Quite  eoA.'"''  Mush  and 
Hush  are  words  of  the  same  import,  and  have  their 
root  in  the  final  letters,  which  it  will  be  se^i  con- 
tinually enter  into  words  which  imply  sound,  or  betoken 
silence. 

CoerrERiNG,  part,  swaggering,  blustering.  Ex.  ^'  A  eatter- 
ing  fellow.''^     Teut.  kosteren^  obgannire. 

Costly  colours,  a,  a  game  at  cards. 

CoerrREL,  8.  a  small  wooden  bottle  used  by  labourers  in 
harvest-time.  A  word  little  understood  in  the  interior 
of  the  county,  confined  in  great  measure  to  the  Cambro- 
Britannic  side.  C.  Brit,  costrel^  a  bottle.  Fr.  eosteret^ 
sorte  de  mesure  de  vin  ou  d^  autre  liqueur.  Lat.  cos- 
treUua^  costerellum,  costerez.  (See  Du  Cange  sub  voce.) 
Bailey,  Coles. 

And  withall  a  coHrell  taketh  he  tho 
And  sayd,  "  Here  of  a  draught  or  two." 

Chaucbk's  Legend  of  Good  Women,  v.  2665. 

Cot,  a  common  termination  to  the  names  of  several 
places  in  the  county  of  Salop :  as  Smethcot,  Picdescot, 
Sibberscot^  Harcot^  Hencot^  Wookueot^  Woodeot^  JSeffbot^ 
Arlescoty  &c.     See  p.  259. 

Cote,  s.  a  hovel  or  shed  for  cattle.  A.  Sax.  cote ;  Isl. 
Belg.  cot;  Lat.  Barb,  cota,  turgurium. 

Thevr  housbondiy,  but  leteth  theyr  come  rote, 
Theyr  hey  to  must,  theyr  shepe  dye  in  the  cote. 

The  Hye  Way  to  the  Spyttett  hotu,  v.  642. 

Cotter,  «?.  to  repair,  mend,  patch.  Ex.  "  Cotter  "'em  up  a 
bit,  and  mak  'em  sarve  a  trifle  lunger."*'  Thus  frofh  things 


876 

being  repaired  in  an  inefficient  way,  by  those  who  may 
not  have  the  pecuniary  means  to  do  the  work  better, 
the  word  perhaps  comes  from  the  Fr.  cottier^  rusticus ; 
Lat.  Barb,  ccteria^  tenementum  rusticum. 

Cotter,  Cotteril,  a.  an  elastic  thin  piece  of  iron  passed 
through  the  end  of  an  iron  pin  or  bolt  that  is  inserted 
in  a  window-shutter,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
pin  from  falling  out,  and  the  shutters  from  being 
opened  externally. 

Cotton'*s  neck,  phr,  ^^  All  attry  like  CoUorCa  neck.'"  A 
simile  applied  to  any  thing  that  is  warped  or  twisted. 

Couch,  Cooch,  s.  a  bed  of  barley  when  germinating  for 
malt.     Teut.  koeate ;  Fr.  cauche^  sponda. 

Couch,  Cooch,  ©.  to  squat.  Ex.  "  Coached  down  like  y' 
sin,  and  sda  missed  on  him.'*'* 

Coulbourn'^s  eye,  phr.  ''  Clane  gwon  like  OouRxmnCa 
eye.'"  A  common  simile,  of  whose  origin  we  must  con- 
tentedly remain  in  refined  ignorance.  Sometimes  the 
infirmity  of  a  different  person  is  noted,  and  we  hear 
of  Dcmd'a  eye^  ould  WrigMs  eye^  or  the  ladPa  eye.  They 
all  bear  the  same  mark  of  provincial  vulgarity,  un- 
relieved either  by  wit,  or  the  sanction  of  antiquity. 

CouLiNG-AXE,  B.  au  instrument  used  to  stock  up  earth. 

Coupe,  «.  a  wooden  box  or  receptacle  where  poultry  are 
kept  to  fatten.  Purfoote'*s  Dictionarie.  Palsgrave, 
cfyupe  for  capons  or  other  poultrie  ware,  caige  aux 
chappons. 

CouRDEL,  CouRDLiNG,  s.  a  Small  cord.  Teut.  koordeken, 
funiculus.     Fr.  courdel.     Roquef.  Gloss. 

Courted,  Courting  Keards,  «.  court  cards. 

CouTBR,  8.  a  coulter,  or  ploughshare.  Teut.  k(niter ;  Corn. 
coUer ;  Fr.  catdtre ;  Lat.  cuUer. 

And  heipe  my  cuUer  to  kerve. 

P.  PlOUHM AN,  p.  131 
My  daddy  left  me  gear  enough 
A  couteTf  and  an  auld  beam  plough. 
Wyllie  Wtnkies  Testament,  Herd's  Songs,  vol.  ii.  p 


376 


Cow,  «.  to  feel  afraid.  Ex.  ^'  Duiina  be  cowed  at  such 
a  feOow  as  that."''  There  is  no  doubt  of  this  being  a 
correct  word,  though  Glossographers  are  at  variance 
as  to  whence  it  comes. 

It  is  the  oowi9h  tenor  of  his  spirit. 

Leavy  iv.  2. 
For  it  hath  cowed  my  better  part  of  man. 

Macbetk,  ▼.  7. 

Cow  sHARNy  8,  cow-dung.  Teut.  sharn ;  S.  Goth.  Swed. 
sham;  A.  Sax.  sceam^  stercus.  Philemon  Holland,  in 
his  translation  of  Pliny,  declares  that  it  is  good  as  a 
cosmetic  !  (See  Brocketf's  Gloss.)  Few  of  our  present 
belles  would  try  its  virtues  in  that  respect;  though  it 
is  still  used  by  the  lower  orders  as  a  cataplasm  for 
bruises  and  sprains,  being  applied  to  the  parts  affected, 
as  hot  as  the  patient  can  bear  it.  In  fact,  whilst  these 
lines  are  written  I  am  told  that  a  similar  poultice  has 

just  been  laid  upon   Miss  J 's  leg.     The  word 

is  not  very  common  with  us.  It  is  much  more  so  in 
the  North.  Shakspeare  has  shard  and  shard  bam 
beetle.     (See  Craven  Gloss.)  • 

They  turned  me  out,  tliat's  true  enough 
To  stand  at  city  bar. 
That  I  may  clean  up  ilka  sheugh 
Of  a'  the  sham  and  glaur. 

Galloway's  Poems. 

Taft  play'd  the  priming-heels  owr  hither. 
They  fell  in  shaim, 

Maynb's  Siller  Gun. 

Crabvarges,  8.  verjuice,  vinegar  made  from  crabs.     Ex. 

"  As  sour  as  crahvargesr 
Crab-windlass,  8.  a  windlass  which  stands  on  the  deck 

of  a  barge  and  is  used  by  hand.     Swed.  hrabh^  instni- 

mentum     quo    qusevis    ex    fundo    aquarum    eruuntur: 

winda^  trochlea.     (See  Paul-windlass.) 
Cracht,    adj,    old,    dilapidated,    tumbling    down.       Ex. 

"  An  oud  cra>chy  consam  ov  a  plaace.^'' 
Crake,  v,  to  confess,   say,  declare.     Ex.  *'  He's  too  oud 


377 

a   bond   to   crakes      "Nivir  crated  a    word.**'     Teut. 

krayeren^  comicari,  proclamare.     Chauc.  v.  9724. 

Then  is  she  mortall  borne,  how  bo  ye  crake. 

Fakrie  Qijkknb,  vi.  vii.  60. 

Cranch,  Crunch,  Scranch,  9.  1.  to  crush  any  thing  gritty 
under  the  feet.     2.  to  grind  with  the  teeth. 

To  cranchen  ous  and  al  ooie  kynde. 

P.  Plouhman. 
Slie  can  cranch 
A  8ack  of  small  coale !  eat  you  lime  and  hur. 

Ben  Joxson's  Magnetick  Lady. 

Cranny,  adj.  quick,  giddy,  thoughtless.  Teut.  schrand^ 
vafer. 

Crap,  «.  a  crop.  The  Promp.  Parv.  furnishes  a  well 
known  illustration,  Crappe  of  come,  2.  an  inferior 
piece  of  beef.  Ex.  "  Nothing  but  a  bit  o'  th**  crap.'^ 
Teut.  hrofpe^  offiila.  3.  the  back  part  of  the  neck. 
Ex.  "The  crap  6'  i\^  neck.**"  Gr.  Kopviprj,  vertex; 
Germ,  kropt;  Teut.  kropj  vesicula  gutturis.  4.  the 
dregs  of  beer  or  malt  liquor.  Ex.  "  Crap  6*  tV  barrel.'" 
Isl.  irapy  nix  semiliquida. 

Crap,  v.  to  yield  a  plentiful  crop.  Ex.  "  The  taturs 
crappen  well.'' 

Crapping  time,  s.  the  period  when  grain  or  vegetables 
are  gathered. 

Crappins,  $,  1.  where  the  coal  crops  out.  2.  the  name 
of  a  place  in  the  parish  of  Dawley,  county  of  Salop, 
whence,  since  the  coal  there  crops  out,  it  may  reason- 
ably be  said  to  take  its  name. 

Crap  out,  «.  Geologists  sanction  the  correctness  of  this 
phrase,  though  they  must  not  be  considered  responsi- 
ble for  the  change  of  the  vowel. 

Cratch,  8.  1.  a  rack  for  holding  bacon.  Few,  if  any 
of  our  Shropshire  farm  houses  are  without  this  kitchen 
accompaniment,  which  invariably  is  suspended  in  a 
horizontal  way  close  to  the  fire.  2.  a  rack  for  holding 
hay.     Fr.  creicche. 


378 

And  I  found  Jesus — bom  into  the  world  poor,  laid  in  a  oraUelL 
Wiclif's  Pore  Caitif,     Relig.  Tract  Society,  Reprint,  p.  113. 

And  this  is  a  tokene  to  you,  ye  schulen  fynde  a  yonge  child 
wlappid  in  clothis,  and  leyd  in  a  craedie. 

Wicuf's  Tramlation  of  the  New  TeHament,  Luke  eh.  ii. 

But  the  Lorde  answerde  to  him  and  seyde,  Ypocrite,  wher 
ech  of  you  untieth  not  in  the  Saboth  his  oxe  or  aaae  fro  the 
eraedte,  and  ledith  to  watir  ?    id,  Luke  xiii. 

Cratch,  f>.  to  eat  as  a  horse,  generally :  to  eat  or  feast 
with  appetite.  Ex.  ^'  He  cratches  well,  and  nivir  slights 
his  fittle."*^  Hence  the  phrase  of  *^  a  good  cratcher'^  for 
man  or  beast,  when  their  stomach  is  constant. 

Crate,  «.  a  large  wicker  basket,  generally  used  for  holding 
glass  or  china.  Fr.  cretin,  Teut.  Belg.  Germ.  A.  Sax. 
kratte^  corbis ;  Teut.  Germ,  kretae^  corbis  vimine  textus. 
^^  Fiebant  autem  primum  craterce  a  connexionibus  virgu- 
larum.'*''     Isid.  Orig.  (See  Du  Cange  sub  voce  Craiera.) 

Craw-stone,  s,  the  lowest  measure  of  iron-stone  at  present 
discovered  in  the  Ketky  Coal  Field.  It  is  reported  that 
a  measure  even  lower  called  the  Lancashire  Ladies  has 
been  foimd  near  Coalport.  The  name  originates,  I  am 
informed  by  an  intelligent  friend,  from  the  stone  "  lying 
in  crawB  in  the  rock,  like  a  fowl's  craw!"  Between 
Aries  and  Marseille  there  is  a  stony  district  called  Crau^ 
and  this  word  has  been  derived  from  the  Celtic  crag^ 
which  signifies  a  rock.  It  would  be  travelling  too  far 
to  fetch  the  origin  of  the  word  from  thence. 

Crazed,  part.joast;  china  in  the  biscuit  state,  ^  short  fired." 
When  it  has  passed  through  the  glaee  kiln  the  evil  is 
corrected.     Coal  Port. 

Crazy,  adj.  dilapidated.     £x.  ^'  An  oud  crazy  consam.^ 

Cress,  8,  a  curved  tile  used  for  capping  the  roofs  of  houses. 
Teut.  tries;  Germ,  kreis^  circulus ;  Swed.  krissa^  circulare. 

Crewe,  s.  a  coop  for  geese. 

Crib,  «.  1.  a  lock  up  house.  (Wellington  and  Bridge- 
north.)  Isl.  kreppa,  coarctarc.  9,  a  rack  holding  hay 
or  any  kind  of  fodder  for  cattle.      Teut.    Belg.  Germ. 


379 

hribbe;  Dan.  krybbe;  Swed.  krvbba;  Franc,  crippa; 
A.  Sax.  cryhbe^  prsesepe.  Ital.  greppia. 

Cricker,  «.  a  man  who  drives  a  pack  horse  with  any 
kind  of  burden. 

Crigkettino,  part,  a  term  betokening  the  oatuliency  of  a 
ferret.     Grose. 

Cricking  Horse,  $.  a  horse  used  by  a  Cricker^  and  from 
being  usually  small,  the  appellation  evidently  comes 
from  the  Fr.  criquet^  une  petit  cheval. 

Crinkling,  s.  a  small  precocious  apple.  Swed.  skrynila^ 
corrugare ;  A.  Sax.  skrincan^  arcare,  debilitare ;  Teut. 
9chrinkenj  contrahere. 

Ciusfi-CRoss,  «.  the  cross  or  mark  of  such  as  cannot  write. 
From  the  earliest  period  since  the  introduction  of  Christ- 
ianity, it  has  been  customary  for  those  who  were  unable 
to  sign  their  names,  to  affix  the  mark  of  a  cross  instead. 
Witred  King  of  Kent  decreed.  Anno  694,  that  no  deed 
was  valid  unless  it  bore  this  stamp.  It  is  constantly 
observable  in  the  charters  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Spanish  Kings,  and  in  all  those  documents  which 
recite  property  bequeathed  for  ecclesiastical  purposes. 
Numerous  proofs  still  remain  which  testify  that  royal 
and  noble  personages  were  not  ashamed  to  confess  their 
ignorance  of  letters.  Witred  acknowledges  in  a  charter 
printed  in  Spelman^s  Concilia,  p.  1.Q3,  that  on  account 
of  his  ignorance  of  letters,  he  had  confirmed  what  he 
had  dictated  by  the  signature  of  a  cross.  (See  Du 
Cange,  under  Cruce  suiscriiere.) 

Crit,  Crut,  a.  a  hovel,  a  small  hut  built  upon  a  pit 
bank  for  the  accommodation  of  colliers.  Teut.  krufte; 
A.  Sax.  cruft^  crypta. 

Crock,  «.  an  earthen  vessel,  a  porringer  cup.  Teut. 
kroegh;  Celt,  croth;  A.  Sax.  crocca;  Dnxi^krukke;  Alam. 
cruoh;  Belg.  kruycke;  Germ,  cruch;  Fr.  eruche;  C.  Brit. 
orochan;  Gael,  crogom ;  Isl.  krucka,  seria ;  Lat.  Barb. 
area ;   Gr.  Kpwcrtroa^    croceus. 


380 

And  lerede  men  a  ladel  bygge  with  a  long  stele 
That  cast  for  to  kele  a  crockke, 

P.  Plouhman,  380. 

When  that  dronken  was  al  in  the  cr&uk. 

Chaucbr.  Reves  Tale,  v.  248, 

Croft,  8.  a  small  field.     A.  Sax.  cro/iy  agellulus. 

For  thei  comen  to  my  croft,  my  com  to  defoule. 

P.  Plouhm  AN^  129. 

Croodle,  f>.  1 .  to  bend  over  the  fire  in  cold  weather ;  to 
herd  together  like  fowls  in  the  wet.  The  same  word 
used  in  Cheshire  has  a  difierent  meaning.  2.  to  feel 
cold,  experience  the  want  of  animal  warmth.  Ex. 
'^  Chickens  as  bin  wek,  gwun  croodling  about  for  want 
o"  th"  hen  to  broodle  "em."  And  in  the  former  sense, 
"  Uz**^  (that  is  to  say,  he  is)  "  Uz  a  raon  as  ud  lifier 
croodls  and  starve  than  tak  to  work/'  Fr.  eroupirf 
Cotgr. 

Crop,  ».   the  craw  of  a   fowl.      S.   Goth,   kropp ;    Teat. 

krop ;  A.  Sax.   crop^  ingluvies. 

Bv  niffht  and  day,  that  shouldest  vex  thee, 
\^hich  sore  would  sticke,  then  in  thy  crop. 

The  Wife  lapped  in  Morete  ekin. 

Crop  the  Causey,    phr,    a   person   is   said   to   crop   the 
causey  when   he  unyieldingly  walks   down    the   center. 
Fr.  chausie.     Jamieson. 
Crope,  the  old  pret,  of  the  verb  to  creep.     Ex.  "  Crepe 
into  a  hole.*" 

In  the  erthe  they  wolde  have  crope. 

Richard  Coer  db  Lion,  v.  3472. 

Crope,  the  old  per/,  tense  of  the  verb  to  creep. 

As  thou  right  now  were  crope  out  of  the  ground. 

The  Frankeleinee  Tale,  v.  11018. 

Crossgrained,  part. past ;  perverse,  ill-tempered.  Not  local. 

Crosswind,  v.  to  become  crooked,  warped,  or  twisted. 
Ex.  ^^  This  glass  crosswinds  soa  that  I  conna  mak  a 
good  job  on  it."''  S.  Goth,  itinda;  Teut.  winden;  Isl. 
Swed.  vinda^  torquere. 

Cross  won.  Cross  woun.  Cross  wovndeDj  part  pcut ;  uneven, 


381 


irregular,  contorted,  when  the  surface  is  not  as  a  Sa- 
lopian would  define  it,   ^^  palarel  (parallel)  with  itself.''' 

Croup,  s.  a  disease  incidental  to  poultry;  not  the  same 
as  the  pip. 

Crowder,  phr.  "  As  cunning  cu  Crowder."^  Ray  in  his 
list  of  proverbs  has   Oraddoch  in  lieu  of  Crowder, 

Crown,  «.  to  hold  an  inquest.  Ex.  "  A  conna  be  buried 
yet,  for  a  inna  crownedr" 

Crowner,  $,   a  coroner. 

Crowner'*8  Quest,  «.  a  coroner's  inquest.  These  three 
terms  are  neither  local  or  modern.  (See  Shakspeare, 
Hamlet,  v.  l.) 

Crowson's  Mare,  phr.  Ex.  "Here  a  comes,  limping 
along  like  oud  CrowsofCa  Mare^ 

Crud,  v.  to  curd.     Promp.  Parv.  crudded. 

See  how  thy  blood  crutUUes  at  this. 

A  King  and  no  King, 

Cruds,  8.  by  metathesis  for  cu/rds,  Promp.  Parv.  crudde^ 
coagulum. 

Crudly,  cuij.  crumbling.  By  a  transposition  not  unfre- 
quent  it  makes  curdly,  which  form  assimilates  in  mean- 
ing to  our  word,  though  some  may  prefer  fixing  its 
etymology  at  once  in  the  C.  Brit,  cryd,  trembling. 

Cruk,  8.  a  bend,  or  shoot.  Ex.  "  The  cruk  6"  the 
maut.'" 

Crump,  v.  to  break  any  thing  of  a  brittle  or  crusty 
nature  betwixt  the  teeth.  Teut.  krimpan;  Swed.  krym- 
pa  ;  Belg.  krimpen ;  Germ,  krtmpen^  contrahi.  A.  Sax. 
ocTttman,  in  micas  frangere.  Hence  the  commoner  words 
cramp  and  crumpet. 

Crumple,  Crunkle,  v.  to  rumple.  Teut.  kronckelen^  in- 
torquere. 

Cub,  8.  a  chest  for  com  or  grain  of  any  kind.  Germ. 
iubd^  cupa.     Kersey. 

CucKoo-FooT-ALE  I  Who  will  say  that  our  Shropshire 
colliers,    generally  supposed    to   be    insensible    to    the 


382 


charms  of  nature  and  the  '^song  of  earliest  birds  ^,  lie 
deservedly  under  the  reproach,  or  that  they  can  be 
s^d  to  have  their  minds  untouched  by  the  soft  influence 
of  poetic  feeling,  when  we  find  them  annually  welcoming 
the  cuckoo,  by  libations  quaffed  in  honor  of  his  re- 
turn. They  greet  this  pleasing  harbinger  of  spring 
by  a  meeting  "to  drink  his  foot-ale'^  or  first  arrival. 
The  custom  is  invariably  celebrated  out  of  doors,  and 
a  fine  levied  upon  the  person  who  proposes  to  deviate 
from  the  usual  practice  and  drink  within. 

CuNoiT,  8.  a  road  under  the  surface  to  ^the  face^  of  a 
coal  work,  by  which  a  horse  can  go;  more  recently 
termed  'the  leveP. 

Cupola,  s.  a  reverberating  furnace,  a  building  constructed 
in  an  arched  form,  tapering  towards  the  top,  in  which 
pig  iron  is  smelted.  Bailey  has  eupely  copd^  and  cup- 
pd^  as  a  term  amongst  chymists,  a  furnace  made  of  ashes 
and  burnt  bones,  to  purify  and  try  gold  and  silver. 
Ital.  cupo ;  Phillips  has  coppd ;  Coles  cupula^  cupolo^  a 
round  tower.     (See  Richelet   under  eaupelle.) 

CuRLSTONB,  a  shale  belonging  to  the  coal  formation,  which 
on  exposure  to  the  air  hardens  and  assumes  a  peculiar 
form,  sometimes  called  "  cone-upon-cone'\ 

Cut,  8,  a  canal.  Derbyshire.  Ex.  "  The  cuf,  "  the  eui 
side.""  Three  different  grades  of  society  designate  it 
by  the  several  titles  of  the  canal ;  the  ncmgation  ;  and 
the  cut. 

Cut  and  run,  phr.  Not  a  provincial  mode  of  express- 
ing that  a  person  has  absconded.  To  use  this  phrase 
correctly,  the  verbs  ought  to  be  transposed,  and  then 
the  phrase  would  be  in  perfect  analogy  with  any  of 
those  which  emanate  from  what  is  deemed  proper  au- 
thority. C.  Brit,  cuddio ;  Germ,  kutten ;  6r.  ^eJdoi, 
abscondere,  occultare,  explain  the  idiom  thus,  "  he  ran 
and  hid  himself.''^ 

Cut  up,  v.     1.  to  be  disappointed,  labour  under  distress 


383 

of  mind.  Ex.  ^'  Desputly  ctU  up  hy  the  dheath  on  his 
feayther.'*^  2.  to  die  poesessed  of  ample  property.  Ex. 
^^A  sen  as  how  th"*  oud  mon  cut  up  well  at  the  last.'^ 

Cute,  adf.  expert,  quick,  clever.  Ex.  "a  cute  chap,''  "a 
cute  dog.''  Some  of  my  predecessors  have  very  properly 
rejected  the  Lat.  (xcutua  as  the  origin  of  this  word, 
and  referred  it  to  the  A.  Sax.  ctUh,  expertus. 

Cyther,  8.  cider.  The  d  is  often  converted  by  the  lower 
classes  both  among  ourselves  and  in  Herefordshire,  into 
th.  Wiclif  employs  the  word  in  his  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  for  strong  drink,  which  it  signified  in 
its  original  application,  coming  from  the  Heb.  secctr; 
Gr.  aUepa^  ncera^  omnis  potio  quae  extra  vinum  ine- 
briare  potest.  (Isidor.  xx.  3.  Poli  Synops.  in  Lucam. 
i.  15.  vol.  iv.  p.  856-7.   Edit.  1674.   Du  Cange  sub.  Sicera,} 


^ 


when  final  is  frequently  suppress 
ed,  particularly  in  the  verbs,  send^ 
tindy  lend^  &c.  and  always  com- 
muted into  t  in  the  perfect  tense, 
as  helt^  for  held,  aiii  for  ailed. 
This  habit  is  not  unusual  with  the 
Scotch. 

I   wat  richt  weill,  ye  vaW  baith  gif,  and  len  me. 

The  Satyre  of  the  Three  Rstatis. 

When  double  it  is  not  unfrequently  converted  by  me- 
taplasm  into  th^  and  it  may  be  remarked  that  this  is 
the  most  common  mutation  which  any  letter  undeiv 
goes.  A  great  number  of  those  words  derived  from 
the  Teutonic,  Belgic,  A.  Saxon  and  C.  British,  which  are 
in  universal  circulation  among  the  upper  classes,  may 
strictly  be  called  corruptions  of  this  nature  from  the 
primitive  languages,  as  in  the  instances  of  brother^  wear 
ther^  father^  smithy  &c.  In  proof  of  such  a  termina- 
tion being  unnatural  we  need  only  refer  to  the  diffi- 
culty experienced  by  children  and  foreigners  in  overcom- 
ing its  pronunciation. 
Dabb,  dabbing,  8.  1.  a  pinafore.  2.  a  small  legacy  or 
gift.  Ex.  "  Laft  him  a  lickle  dah  o*  money.  3.  a  blow, 
generally  confined  to  one  in  the   face,   given  with  the 


38S 

list.      Ex.  *'  Fatch  him  a  dab  Y  th^  feace,*'  or  the  mouth, 
or  the  cAcps^  whichsoever  serveth  him  beet. 

Philot  him  gaf  anothir  ddbbe. 

Kyng  Alisaunder,  t.  2906. 
Bytweone  you  delith  hit  with  dabbe; 
Ajud  with  spere,  and  sweordis  dunt! 

id,  V.  7304. 

As  he  was  recovering  himself,  I  gave  him  a  dab  in  the  month 
with  my  broken  swoi^d,  which  very  much  hurt  him;  but  he 
aiming  a  second  thrust,  which  I  had  likewise  the  good  fortune 
to  put  by,  and  having  as  before  given  him  another  dab  in  the 
mouth,  he  immediately  went  off  for  fear  of  the  pursuers. 

Memoirs  of  Capt.  Creichton,  p.  82,  as  quoted  by  Jamieson. 

Dabb,  v.  the  act  of  striking,  or  giving  a  daib.  Ex. 
"TU  daib  your  mouth  up.""'     Teut.  dcMen^  subigere. 

The  flemmisshe  hem  dabbeth  o'  the  hed  bare. 

A  BaUad  against  the  French.  (Ritson.) 

Dackt,  8,  a  sucking  pig,  "  a  dacky  pig"*'.  Ex.  ^^  Jack  f 
goa  yo  an  fat  up  the  dackies.^''  From  what  people 
can  we  have  learned  this  word?  And  where  did  we 
pick  up  the  kind  invitation  for  pigs  to  feed,  which  is 
conveyed  in  calling  out  at  the  trough,  D&k,  D&k^  D&k^ 
DSi,  I  can  imagine  the  apellative  SUt,  SUs^  SUs,  SUs^ 
as  conveyed  directly  by  the  Latins,  but  whence  we  have 
derived  Iktk^  Dak^  it  is  difficult  to  say. 

Daddlb,  8.  the  fist,  hand.  Ex.  "  Tip  us  your  doddle^ 
A  low  salutation,  or  request  to  shake  hands.     Grose. 

Dadino  Strings,  «.  strings  by  which  children  are  sup- 
ported whilst  learning  to  walk.     A.  Sax.  teogan^  ducere. 

Daff,  90.  to  put  a  daff  on  a  person  means  to  make  him 
afraid.  If  there  be  such  a  word  in  the  Islandic  tongue 
as  daffe^  stupor,  which  Junius  alleges  there  is,  though 
such  an  one  is  not  recognised  by  Andreas,  Haldorson  or 
Verelius,  it  exactly  accords  with  the  general  application 
which  we  give  the  word.  It  seems  to  have  been  used 
oontinuously  in  the  same  sense  from  P.  Plouhman  to 
Chaucer.  Bullokar  explains,  Daff^  a  dastard.  Ray 
has  daff  to  daunt,  . 


386 


Thou  doted  dafft^  quath  hue,  doUe  aren  thy  wittes. 

P.  PlOUHM  AN. 

Beth  not  bedaffed  for  your  innocence. 

But  sharply  taketh  on  you  the  govemaille. 

Cant.  Tak9,  v.  9067. 

Daffish,  adf.     1.  shy,  modest.      Ex.    "He's  growM   bo 

meety  daffish.'^    2.  low  spirited. 
Daoged,  Daggled,  part,  past ;  wet  or  splashed  with  dirt. 

Isl.  deiga^  madefacere. 

Furtherover,  if  so  be  that  they  wolden  yeve  swiche  pounsoned 
and  dogged  clothing  to  the  poure  jpeple. 

Chaucer's  PenoneB  Tak,  p.  44. 

Daqgle-tailed,  part,  past;   wet  or  dirtied  in  the  skirts 

by  mud. 

Never  sorry  lass  so  pitifully  aweanr  of  her  ragged  petticoat 

and  daggled  tail,  that  tattered  fivery  of  the  confuting  gentleman. 

Pibrck's  SupererogtUion  ;  or  a  new  praite  of  the  old  Ae9»  4to.  1593. 

Daggly,  adf.  humid,  wet.  Ex.  *^  A  daggly  day.^ 
^^  Meety  dagglg  weather  like.'*"  Swed.  daggig^  roecidus. 
Isl.  deigr,  madidus. 

Dandt  Cock,  Dandy  Hen,  s.  one  of  the  Bantam  breed. 

Dang,  $.  to  throw  down,  or  strike  with  violence.  Though 
more  commonly  used  as  the  prseterite  of  ding^  it  is  oc- 
casionally heard  as  a  present  tense,  as  **  Dang  my  but- 
tons,^ and  ^^  m  dang  it  down  if  y"*  sen  another  synnable.*" 
In  this  case  the  prseterite  becomes  dinged^  as  '*  He 
ding'^d  it  smack  o"*  th'  yeath.""  Olossographers  think 
this  is  the  legitimate  praeterite  of  dang^  and  Nares 
quotes  the  Spanish  Tragedy,  and  Marston,  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  rule. 

Brought  in  a  fresh  supply  of  halherdiers, 

Whidi  paunch'd  his  horse^  and  ding'd  hiin  to  the  ground. 

Old  Plays,  iiL  133. 
Is  ding'd  to  hell,  and  vultures  eat  his  heart. 

Marston's  Satiree, 

The  assumption  of  dang  as  a  present  tense  is  not  borne 
out  by  any  example  that  I  am  aware  of  in  the  earlier 
English  writers ;  though  as  a  prseterperfect,  instanceB 
are  innumerable.      It  occurs   repeatedly   in   Sir   David 


ssr 

Lyndflay,  and  besides  the  ensuing  quotation,  it  is  met 
with  in  one  volume  alone  of  his  works  in  half  a  dozen 
phioes.     See  vol.  ii.  pp.  250.  262.  265.  270.  300.  SOS. 
Than  set  my  fais  for  to  fang  me^ 
And  every  bouchour  dog  doun  dang  me. 

The  Complaynt  of  Bag9d^,  p.  109. 
And  dang  all  donn^  in  powder  small. 

Hie  Monarchie,  vol.  iii.  p.  66. 
With  his  tayl  the  erth  he  dang. 

YvMine  and  Gatoin,  v.  3167. 
With  that  sa  derflie  on  thame  dang, 
That  lyke  ane  worthie  campioun^ 
Ay  at  ane  straik  he  dang  ane  doun. 

Squire  MeUrum,  v.  662-4. 

Dano  it  ;  phr,  an  expression  betokening  disappointment, 
or  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  oath,  as  in  the  example  of 
^'  dcmff  my  buttons.'^  In  this  instance  however,  we  must 
designate  the  phrase  ^s  low.  The  vulgarity  of  its  use 
IS  not  confined  to  ourselves,  being  universally  recognised 
under  the  form  of  "  d<uh  my  buttons,^  "  chsh  my  wig,^ 
&c.  and  such  like  elegancies  of  diction  ! 
Dark,  adf.   blind.     Ex.  ^^  He  has  been  dark  upputs  o** 

twenty  year  come  next  Newyus  day."" 
Darksome,  iidf.    an  archaism  for  dark. 

The  fight,  the  prease,  the  night  and  darksome  skies. 
Care  from  his  heart  had  tane,  sight  from  his  eies. 

Fairfax's  Tasso,  ziL  48. 

Dash  boards,  s.  1.  moveable  sides  to  a  cart  or  waggon 
phiced  round  the  natural  body,  so  that  the  upper  part 
is  enlarged,  and  capable  of  holding  an  additional  quan- 
tity.    2.  the  beaters  of  a  barrel  chum. 

Dater,  Dahter,  Douter,  s.  three  several  methods  which 
the  lower  classes  have  of  pronouncing  daughter.  The 
Dan.  datter^  daatter^  filia,  approaches  near  in  sound  to 
the  two  first  words.  Brockett  gives  the  last  to  the 
A.  Sax.  and  Oerm.  dohter^  to  which  may  also  be  added 
the  Isl.  do^r,  and  Swed.  fl.  dottrar. 

She  found  hireeelf,  and  eke  hire  dmightren  two. 

Cant.  Take,  v.  14836. 

And  namely  sin  thy  daughter  was  ybore. 

id.  T.  8360,  8366,  &c. 

as-a 


B88 


Daunt,  v.  to  dare,  provoke  to  the  performance  of  some 
deed  which  a  person  is  naturally  afraid  of  executing. 
Ex.  '^daunted  him  to  it.**"  Swed.  danta,  per  invidiam 
male  loqui  vel  alicui  quid  objicere.  Fr.  danter^  denter, 
dompter.     Roquef.  Gloae. 

But  he  can  chorlee  dautUen. 

Rom  AUNT  OF  thb  Rosk. 
That  ne  with  love  may  daunted  be. 

id. 
And  ferthermore^  for  as  moche  as  resen  of  man  wol  not  dauni 
sensualitee  when  it  may,  therefore  is  man  worthy  to  have  shame. 
The  pereonea  tak,  p.  24,  ed.  Tynckitt, 

Daunted,  part,  past ;  afraid,  alarmed.  Ex.  *•"•  Nothing 
dawnied^     ^"^  Daunted  and  dardna  try  again."'* 

Davto^s  Etb  ;  phr.     See  Coulbourn's. 

Day-House,  «.  pronounced  Dayus :  a  title  bestowed  upon 
several  farm  houses  in  the  county  of  Salop,  which  sig- 
nifies a  dairy  house.  There  is  a  Day  house  near  Stot- 
tesdon,  and  another  near  Tibberton.  Marshall  in  his 
Rural  Economy  of  Gloucestershire,  derives  it  from  dey^ 
an  old  word  for  milk,  and  house^  the  miOt  house.  (See 
Jamieson.)     Consult  p.  26l,  before. 

Dat-work,  s.  when  a  laborer  is  employed  by  the  day, 
paid  according  to  time,  his  undertaking  is  called  day- 
work^  in  contradistinction  to  piece-work^  or  job-work^ 
or  Grit^  as  they  say  in  Northamptonshire.  Masters 
have  a  decided  preference  for  the  latter.  A.  Sax. 
dasg-weare^  day-work.  Isl.  doffs-verk ;  Teut.  dagh-4cerck ; 
Swed.  da^gs-werke^  pensum  diumum. 

Dat-me:  a  mitigated  form  of  an  oath,  far  two  weU 
known.  Ex.  "  PU  be  dayd  if  I  do."  "  Day-me  if  I  do 
though.""  Which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I'll  be  d — d 
if  I  do;'  "  D— me  if  I  do.''  Or  if  we  are  to  regard 
the  phrase  lightly,  we  must  consider  it  merely  as  an 
archaism  for  destroy :  thus,  "  may  I  be  dead  first."" 
In  the  Glossary  to  Peter  Langtofb'^s  Chronicle,  dayet 
is  interpreted,  cursed,  ^^dayet  that  thereof  rouht;'' 
that   is,    cursed  be  he    that   occasioned  this :    "  dayet 


S8» 

who  the  kyme,^  that  is,  oonfounded  be  he  that  en- 
tertains thee.  Deie  is  also  exphiined  to  kill,  as  *'do 
thise  Scottis  tleie^'^  that  is,  kill  these  Sootts.  Verel. 
in  Indie,  deia^  mori. 

Dbaf-nut,  adf,  a  nut  whose  kernel  is  rotten*  S.  Goth. 
dau/,  sterilis.  Teut.  doaw-^iatj  nux  vitiosa. 

Deauw,    8.    dew.      Ex.    "  The   deatq   innod   gwon    uv 

the  grass  yet.''     The  orthoepy  is  peculiar,  and  rather 

difficult  to  convey  to  the  ear  of  an  alien.     It  is  very 

similar  to  the  method  of  writing  it  in   early    English 

poetry.    Teut.    HoU.    Sicamb.  clouw^  ros.    Isl.   dauffff ; 

pluvia.     A.  Sax.  deau;    Alam.  </bu,  toH^   ros.    C.  Brit. 

dw/ry  aqua.     Gr,  Seuo). 

Deawes  donketh  the  dounes. 

Ritson's  Ancieni  S(mg$,  p.  32. 
My  Lucia  in  the  deaw  did  go. 
And  prettily  bedabbed  so. 

Hbrrick's  Hetperides,  vol.  ii.  p.  69. 

Deaitw,  v.  to  rain  slightly,  pronounced  ^^jomo*8  o  raain.**" 
Teut.  dampen  rorare.      Isl.  doffpvar ;  Dan.  duffffer^  pluo. 

Dbck  o'  cbords,  8.  a  pack  of  cards.     Common  in  Cheshire 

and  the  North  of  England.     '^  Sweeping  the  deck'''*  means 

clearing  the  table  of  all  the  stakes,  gaining  all  the  tricks. 

The  announcement   in  shop  windows  in  Shrewsbury  of 

*^  decks  of  cards''  for  sale,  has  often  puzzled  people  who 

were  not  natives.     (See  Nares.)     Shakspeare. 

If  I  chance  but  once  to  get  the  deck 
To  deal  about  and  shuffle  as  I  would. 

SOLIMUS. 

Deep  end,  8,  that  side  of  a  mine  where  the  coal  or  iron 
stone  strikes  below  the  general  level  of  the  work. 

Delf,  i.  a  pit ;   the  name  of  a  stagnant  piece  of  water 

in  the  center  of  the  town  of  Broseley ;  it  has  probably 

been  a  spot  from  whence  minerals  were  formerly  obtained. 

Brockett  says  that  in    the   North,   €lel/8   are   pits   out 

of  which  iron  stone  has  been  dug.     Teut.  dehe^  fovea. 

He  drew  me  doun  deme  in  del/  by  ane  dyke. 

Gaw.  Douglas,  i^n.  xii.299. 


390 

The  fint  friend  quhil  he  woe  laid  in  dtff, 

PriesU  qf  PddU, 
Guyon  finds  mammon  in  a  deive, 

Spenser. 

Delve,  «».  to  dig,  go  deeper  than  a  spaders  graft.  This 
is  a  thorough  old  English  word,  and  as  may  be  ex- 
pected, occurs  perpetually  in  the  earlier  poets.  Tout. 
Belg.  dehm ;   A.  Sax.  del/im ;  Fris.  deha^  fodere. 

Masons  and  minours^  and  many  other  craftes; 
And  dyken  and  delf3er$,  that  don  here  dedes  Ule. 

P.  Plouhman. 

Dykers  and  deivers  diggeden  up  the  halkes.        id. 

And  tok  ten  men  o  ther  twelve^ 
And  het  hem  in  the  grounde  delue. 
Thai  deden  ase  here  louerd  hem  het. 
And  doluen  aUe  ther  ful  sket. 
Thai  ne  had  dolumi  hut  a  stounde,  &c. 

The  Seuth  Saoes,  t.  2470. 

He  wolde  thresh,  and  thereto  dike,  and  deioe, 

Prolog,  to  Cant.  Taleg,  y.  538. 

The  byschop  made  to  delve  down  to  the  rote. 

Hartshorne's  Ant.  Met.  Taleg,  p.  141. 

My  Daddy's  a  ddver  of  dykes. 

Slighted  Naney :   Herd's  Collection,  vol.  ii.  p.  82. 

Demath,  8.  a  small  portion  of  land,  ^  a  scouU  o* 
ffraun*  as  my  informant  describes  it.  The  late  Mr 
Wilbraham,  with  that  degree  of  scholarship  and  acu- 
men for  which  he  was  remarkable,  thus  explains  the 
word :  "  A  daymath^  or  a  day'^s  mowing,  generally  used 
for  a  statute  acre,  but  erroneously  so,  for  it  is  pro- 
perly one  half  of  a  Cheshire  acre,  which  is  to  the  sta- 
tute acre  in  the  proportion  of  64  to  30 -J- :  consequently 
the  Demath  bears  that  of  32  to  30-|-  to  the  statute 
acre.  JXematy  Deymaih^  Daymath^  is  common,  as  I  am 
told,  in  East  Friseland.  Wiarda  explains  it  as,  '^  a  piece 
of  land  containing  400  square  yards.""  Deymathy  day- 
maih^  ein  stuck  landes  von  400  Ruthen.  (See  Wiarda 
sub  voce.)  "Sa  suere,""  quotes  Mr  Wilbraham,  "hi 
tuene  ethan  fire  thet  de  mat"":  so  let  him  swear  two 
oaths  for  the  deymat.    (LL.  Brockmanorum.)      Toffmai^ 


891 

as  much  as  a  labourer  can  mow  in  one  day.  ^^  Demote 
Deimaty  Dmnt,  Diemi^  all  mean  the  same  thing.''"  The 
word  is  of  unusual  occurrence  among  us,  and  known 
only  to  old  agricultural  labourers.  It  is  frequently 
found  in  terriers  or  other  writings  of  an  ecclesiastical 
nature.  The  Teut.  daghrmctd^  quarta  pars  jugeris,  is 
about  the  same  quantity  of  land  as  is  comprehended 
at  the  present  time  by  a  Demath. 

Denial,  «.  detriment,  injury,  drawback.  Ex.  "  His  lat- 
ness  o"  speech  was  a  sad  denial  to  him.''^ 

Deuce,  8.  The  common  phrase  of  ''  the  Deuce  ie  in  it^^ 
or  ^^the  Detuce  taie  you^  &c.  are  specimens  of  vul- 
garity not  confined  to  Salopians.  The  Oauls  called  all 
those  divinities  Dueii^  (a  Celtic  word  with  a  Latin 
termination,  formed  from  Teua)  which  appeared  and 
vanished  in  a  moment.  They  also  bestowed  this  title 
upon  certain  dsemiMis,  Incubi,  who  correspond  with 
the  modem  night-mare.  St  Augustin  compares  them 
with  Sylvans  and  Fauns.  ^^Silvanos  et  Faunos,  quos 
vulgo  Incubos  vocant,  improbos  ssepe  extitisse  muli- 
eribus,  et  earum  appetisse,  et  peregisse  concubitum; 
et  quosdam  Deemones,  quos  Dusios  Galli  nuncupant, 
hanc  assidue  immunditiam  et  tentare,  et  efficere,  plu- 
res,  talesque  asseverant."'  (De  Civ.  Dei.  xv.  23.)  From 
such  an  intercourse  it  has  been  fabled  that  the  gi- 
gantic race  who  were  imagined  by  mythologists  to 
have  originally  peopled  Briton,  sprung.  (Keysler,  Antiq. 
Select.  Septentrion,  p.  214.)  A  passage  in  the  Origines 
of  Isidore  of  Seville  seems  to  be  grounded  upon  that 
of  the  Latin  Father  just  quoted.  '^  Unde  et  Incubi 
dicuntur  ab  incumbendOy  hoc  est,  stuprando.  Ssepe  etiam 
improbi  existunt  mulieribus,  et  earum  peragunt  con- 
cubitum, quos  dffimones  Oalli  Dtuios  nuncupant,  quia 
assidue  hanc  peragunt  immunditiam."''  (Keysler,  p.  457.) 
Bulian  has  Teut.  vet.  duyse,  concubina.  The  Romans 
who   have   borrowed  many   religious    rites   and    terms 


392 

from  the  Celts,  called  those  Deities  Fatms^  which  the 

Gauls  called  Du$e8.   Germ.  Sclav.  Ihmi ;  Sorab.  dusehi; 

Bohem.  dusse^   manes.     Wormius  has  the   Runic   dm^ 

spectrum  montivagum.     Bret,   teia;   Bas.  Bret,  deua; 

A.  Sax.  Dues  (though  not  in  Somner,  Junius  or  Lye) ; 

Lang.  Rom.  dumn^  spectrum.     Com.  duyse^  a  goddess. 

Gr.  TfjoviTiOi^  inanis.     C.  Brit,  tysmwy^   horror.     For 

additional  information  on  this  subject  the  curious  reader 

is  referred  to  the  annotations  upon  1  Sam.  xii.  21.  in 

Poli  Synopsis    Critica,  vol.  i.  part  2.  p.  125:    to   those 

upon  Jerem.  l.  39.  vol.  iii.  p.  981.    Isaiah  xiii.  21.  p.  144: 

to  Pelletier  Diet,  de  la  langue  Bretonne  under  Teits ; 

Du  Cange  Gloss,  under  Dusius ;   Noel,  Diet,  de  la  Fable, 

under  Dusiens ;  Bullet,  Diet,  de  langue  Celtique,  &c.  &c. 

Dever,  8.  duty,   best  endeavour,  from  which  latter  word 

Junius  supposes  that  it  is  derived.     Ex.    ^^  Fll  do  my 

d&oer  at  it."*'     Fr.  devoir  which  in  the  earlier  editions 

is  printed  dever.   Gierke's  Tale,  v.  8842.    Knighte^s  Tale, 

V.  2600. 

Weile  thei  stode  and  did  ther  devere. 

Pet.  Lanotoft's  Chron,  v.  331. 

Dibs,  s.  money.  Ex.  ^'  Down  with  the  dihs^"  As  this 
word  is  recognised  in  Somersetshire  (See  Jennen'^s  West 
of  England  Gloss.)  it  can  neither  be  called  very  local, 
or  tralatitious.  ^'  Down  with  the  dust^  is  another 
elegancy  of  the  same  kind. 

DicKEN,  8.  the  devil.  A  common  corruption  from  Nicken^ 
a  title  given  by  the  Danes  to  an  evil  genius  who  pre- 
sided over  the  water.  (See  much  curious  learning  on 
the  point  in  Keysleri  Antiq.  Select.  Septentrion,  pp. 
261-5.) 

Dicky,  8,  an  apron,  generally  of  leather.  Ex.  "A  lea- 
then  dicky.'" 

Dickens  to  pay,  phr.  the  result  of  some  bad  conduct, 
or  ill  luck:  ''tkere'U,  be  the  Diek&ns  to  pay  J*"  Whilst 
on  the  other  hand,  to  play  the  dickens^  means  to  punish 


893 

an  offender,  to  play  the  dickens  with  him.  The  Scotch 
isay  ^^  I  shall  catch  my  dickali^  (See  Jamieson  sub  voce) 
but  our  word  is  distinct  from  theirs,  and  unable  to 
lay  claim  to  the  title  of  such  decided  provinciality. 

DicK^s  Hatband,  phr.  This  is  one  of  those  phrases  which 
set  philologists  and  antiquarians  at  defiance.  Mr  Wil- 
braham  says  it  must  be  very  local,  and  he  might  very 
reasonably  conclude  that  its  circulation  was  extremely 
limited.  Yet  upon  enquiry  it  is  found  general,  not 
only  throughout  the  whole  of  Shropshire,  but  it  has 
travelled  even  to  Craven.  In  Cheshire  they  say,  ^^  as  fine 
as  Diei'*8  Aatband,""  We  are  unaccustomed  to  use  the 
phrase  in  such  a  commendatory  way,  for  we  only  ap- 
ply it  as  a  comparison  for  what  is  obstinate  and  per- 
verse. Ex.  "As  curst  as  DicFs  H(Uh<md^  which  will 
come  nineteen  times  round  and  wont  tie  at  last."^ 
"  As  contrary  as  Dick^a  Haibcundr  "  As  fause  as 
IHcJcs  Ha^ndr  "As  cruckit  as  DicFs  Hatbcmdr 
"  As  twistit  as  Dick's  Hatband^  "  All  across  like  DicVs 
ffatband.^^  "  As  queer  as  DicFs  Hatband'^  &c.  &c. 

DiDDEN,  V.  did ;  and  Diden,  imperf,  of  v.  to  do.  An 
archaism,  repeatedly  occurring  in  Chaucer  and  other 
early  writers.  (See  Cant.  Tales,  vv.  7073.  12901,  &c. 
See  Remarks  under  En.) 

Diddeneh!  did  you,  or  ye. 

DiDDY,  s,  1.  the  nipple  or  teat.  Ex.  "The  cow's  got 
a  sore  diddy^*  2.  milk  from  the  breast,  mother's 
milk.  Ex.  "Gie  th'  lickle  un  a  drop  o'  the  diddy^ 
Isl.  tita^  res  tenera  in  specie  acus  capitata.  C.  Brit. 
fUden ;  Germ.  diUte ;  Hib.  did ;  Lat.  Barb,  dida^ 
mamma.     (See  Titty.) 

Dibden,  «.  per/,  of  verb  to  die.  "  Lest  that  they  dieden^ 
Cant.  Tales,  v.  7483.     A.  Sax.  dydam^  mori. 

DiNDEBs,  «.  small  coins  of  the  lower  empire  which  are 
constantly  being  turned  up  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Uriconium.     They  bore  this  appellation  when  Horsley 


394 


wrote  his  celebrated  Rritannia  Romana,  as  he  mentions 
them  under  the  same  title.  A.  Sax.  dinar ;  Lat.  denarim, 
DiNo,  V,  1.  to  teach,  instil  into  a  person^s  mind, 
a  metaphorical  sense  deduced  from  2.  to  beat.  Ex. 
"For  the  life  on  me  I  coudna  ding  it  into  him.'^  S. 
Ooth.  daenga ;  A.  Sax.  dmsgan^  tundere.  Swed.  danga^ 
nisu  omni  vel  adhibita  vi  percutere.  Isl.  dangla^  pul> 
Bare.  Gael,  dingam^  impellere.  Coles. 
Other  Y  schall  thd  bete  and  tfynge. 

Ktko  Alisauvdes,  y.l732. 

Now  Bweir,  be  thy  brynt  schinis,  the  devill  ding  thame  fra  the. 
Sib  U,  Ltndbay's  Satyre  of  the  Three  EeUtHi. 
Oat  of  hell,  the  devill  scho  wald  dirtg  out    u/. 
Even  twenty-four  of  mv  next  cozens^ 
Will  help  to  ding  him  downe. 

Old  Robin  of  Portingale,  (Pebcy's  Reiig.  iii.  49.) 

Dip,  adf,  cunning,  crafty.  Ex.  "As  dip  as  Garrick."' 
"  He's  too  dip  a  hond  to  mak  anytfain  on.**^  "  As 
dip  as  the  North  Star.**^ 

DiPNBss,  atif,  depth.    A.  Sax.  deopnyste^  profunditas. 

Disannul,  «.  1.  to  disturb,  dispossess,  turn  out.  If  a 
poor  person  is  a  tenant  for  life,  he  expresses  it  by 
saying,  "  he  'shall  nivir  be  disannulled.'"  2.  to  molest, 
interfere  with :  in  this  sense  the  common  people  say, 
when  speaking  of  a  person  of  quiet  and  orderly  habits, 
"he  nivir  disannuls  no  body.**^     Fr.  desoMMuUer. 

Dish,  t;.  to  make  thin.  A  term  used  by  wheelwrights 
and  coopers.  By  these  it  is  applied  to  a  hoop  on  a 
barrel,  expressive  of  making  it  thinner  on  one  side 
than  the  other ;  by  those  to  the  tii*e  of  a  wheel ;  and 
confined  by  each,  to  the  inward  edge. 

Dismals,  «.  melancholy,  an  atrabilious  feeling.  Ex.  "He's 
got  a  fit  o^  the  dismals  on  him."^  Isl.  des^  mala  for- 
tuna.  It  is  among  the  disorders  which  are  imprecated 
by  Montgomery  upon  Polwart. 

The  doit  and  the  dismail,  indiiFerentlle  delt. 

Dither,  Dtdder,  «.  1.  to  shako.  Ex.  "  Dithers  it  out  o' 
th'  hopper  into  the  jigging  sieve."''    2.  to  shake  from 


396 

the  effects  of  cold.  A  good  old  word.  Pbomp.  Pabv. 
"  Dyderinge  for  cold.*"  Isl.  tUta ;  Teut.  Gezm.  Sicamb. 
Belg.  A.  Sax.  mUeren^  tremere. 

Brecheles,  bare  foted^  all  stynkyng  with  dyrt^ 
With  M.  of  tatters,  drabblying  to  the  skyrt, 

Boyes,  gyrles,  and  luskysh  strong  knaues 
Dydderyng  and  dadderyng,  leaning  on  their  stames. 

The  H^  way  to  (he  Spyttell  Rous.  v.  30. 

Dithering,  8.  a  trembling  motion  of  the  eye.     In  Cheshire 

dithvng.  . 

DiviL^s  DicHE,  «.  Offals  Dike  near  Bishops  Castle.    (See 

Opfa'*8  Dikb  in  the  Archaeological  portion  of  the  work.) 

The  vulgar  belief  is  that  the  Devil  ploughed  it  up  in 

one  night  with  a  gander  and  a  turkey. 
DiviL,   8.   a  dibble   or  setting  stick.     I   find  Dibble  in 

Withals,    Purfoote,    Blount,    Ray,    and   Coles.     Teut. 

dipffel^   fodibulum. 

rU  not  put  the  dXbble  in  earth  to  set  one  slip  of  them. 

Winter' 8  Tale,  iv.  3. 

DoLLT,  «.  a  washing  beetle.  A  heavy  piece  of  wood 
circular  at  the  base,  where  it  is  about  a  foot  long, 
having  a  handle  inserted.  The  lower  part  has  two 
transverse  grooves.  This  instrument  is  turned  or  worked 
round  upon  coarse  clothes,  to  save  washerwomen'^s  hands, 
to  the  manifest  injury  of  the  linen.  From  the  Fr. 
dolerf  or  the  Teut.  doUe^  dole? 

Don:  a  termination  to  the  name  of  several  places  in 
the  county,  which  implies  that  they  are  placed  on  an 
eminence,  from  the  A.  Sax.  dim^  collis.  Thus  we 
have  SiBDON,  Abdon,  (Appan)^  Lonqdon,  Stottesdon, 
&c.     (See  p.  261,  before.) 

Dong,  part,  pcut;  of  verb  dang:  and  sometimes  as  a  present 

tense,  imperative,  as  in  the  petulant  exclamations,  ^^Dong 

it,'*  "  Dong  my  buttons  C  in  the  nature  of  part,  past 

it  often  occurs  in  early  writers. 

1  sai  zow  lely  how  thai  lye, 
Dongen  doon  all  in  a  daiince. 

Minot's  Poeme,  p.  29. 


i 


396 

Double,  v.  I.  to  olench  or  shut  the  fists.  Ex.  ^^  He 
dofiMed  hk  fisses.'*''  2.  to  shut.  Ex.  "  Double  up  your 
knife.'' 
Double  Coal,  $.  a  carboniferous  measure  i3ring  upon  the 
'  Queises  Neck\  It  is  a  good  sale  coal :  frequently  five 
feet  in  thickness. 
Douce,  douse,  8.  a  blow  in  the  face.  Ex.  '^  A  douse  in 
the  chops.'' 

And  gave  the  draeon  such  a  douie. 
He  knew  not  what  to  think. 

Dragon  of  Wantky. 
Douce,  Douse,  «.  to  strike,  give  a  blow.     Teut.  dousen; 
Belg.  dousen^  pugno  percutere. 

They  douce  her  hurdles  trimly 

Upo'  the  Stibble-rig; 
As  law  then,  they  a'  then 
To  tak  a  douce  maun  yield. 

A.  Douglas'  Poenu,  p.  128. 
Dough,  s.  pronounced  duf.     1 .   the  stomach.     Ex.  ''  Peg 
him   in   his   dough.''''      2.   the   legitimate   sense   with   a 
varied  pronunciation. 

Douk,  Duck,  v,  to  drop  the  head,  incline  it  towards 
the  ground.  A  Ute  sheriff  for  Staffordshire  upon  being 
reprimanded  by  a  judge  for  not  keeping  order  in  court, 
endeavoured  to  enforce  his  authority  over  the  refrac- 
tory by  the  threat  contained  in  the  following  dialogue, 
which  ensued  between  him  and  his  javelin  man.  ^eriff. 
"  Whoy  dost  na  mak  'em  kip  quoyot  ?  Officer.  "  I 
CO,  they  wo  moind  me."  Sheriff.  "  Then  louk  ""em, 
louk  'em."  Officer.  "  I  co,  they  doukenr  S.  Goth. 
ducka ;  Teut.  dw/ekm ;  Germ,  dudcen ;  Belg.  duiken, 
inclinare  caput.  Swed  dyia ;  A.  Sax.  ffedurfian^  urinari. 
Gar  douk,  gar  douk,  the  king  he  cried. 

Gar  €louk  for  gold  and  fee ; 
O  wha  will  douk  for  ErI  Richard's  sake, 
Or  wha  will  douk  for  me? 

They  douked  in  at  ae  weil-head 

And  out  aye  at  the  other; 
We  can  douk  nae  mair  for  Erl  Richard 

Although  he  were  our  brother. 

Scottish  Mirutrebjf,  vol.  iii.  p.  187. 


397 

DouK,  9.     1.  a  dip.    2.  the  quantity  of  ink  usually  taken 

up  by  a  pen. 
DouKER,  «.  the  Grebe;  Colymbus   Urinator,  Linn. 
DouL,  s.  a  nail  sharpened  at  each  end.    C.   Brit,  hod; 

6r.  ^\os,  olavus. 
DouL,  s.    1.   down,   feathers,   an  archaism.     Shakspeare 

makes  Ariel  say  in  the  Tempest, 

One  dowle  that's  in  my  plume. 

isl.   dun^  pluma  molissima.     Belg.   Teut.   douse;    Dan. 

duun^  lanugo  plumaram. 
Dour,  V.  to  extinguish,  do  out.     Ex.  "  Dotit  the  candle.''' 

I  cannot  bring  myself  to  consider  this  in  the  light  of 

a  corruption.     The  commentators  upon  Shakspeare  have 

been  much  perplexed  about  the  following  passage  where 

it  is  found, 

—the  dram  of  baae 
Doth  all  the  noble  substance  often  daut. 

it  is  not  found  in  the  early  quarto  edition  of  l605, 
nor  in  the  first  folio.  In  the  edition  of  l6ll  we  find 
it  thus, 

Doth  all  the  noble  substance  of  a  doubt, 
Malone,  by   his   adoption   of  the   former  reading,  has 
made   the  passage  intelligible,    and   furnished   us   with 
an   authority  for  using  the  word.     Nares  quotes  Syl- 
vester for  it.     Grose. 

First,  in  the  intellect  it  douts  the  light. 

DoDTER,  9,  an  extinguisher.     Ray. 

Dowel,  s,  an  architectural  term  akin  to  dove-tail.  Fr. 
domlle^  ^'il  se  dit  de  la  coupe  des  pierres  propres  k 
faire  des  voutes.*^  Richelet.  Dowels  are  pins  of  wood 
or  iron  with  which  flooring  is  fastened  together;  the 
pins  being  driven  half  their  length  into  the  edge  of 
each  plank,  and  corresponding  holes  pierced  in  the 
edge  of  the  adjacent  plank  to  receive  the  projecting 
pins.  This  mode  of  compacting  a  floor  is  termed 
JDoweUing, 


398 


Down,  «.  to  knock  down.  Ex.  ^'He  downed  him  with 
his  fisses  in  double  quick  time.''^ 

D0WNE8,  f.  A  name  which  will  be  readily  identified 
with  many  given  to  our  farm  houses.  Dissimilar  to 
most  of  those  which  are  bestowed  upon  modem  erec- 
tions, it  has  a  local  meaning.  Having  built  their 
houses  upon  a  hill  or  rising  ground,  our  Saxon  an- 
cestors chose  their  name  from  the  circumstances  of 
their  situation.  Unlike  architects  of  the  present  day, 
they  were  content  with  any  simple  title  that  was  con- 
nected with  the  locality,  though  there  might  be  little 
of  novelty  in  it  to  please  the  ear.  The  BeBe-Vuet 
and  Paradise  Rousiy  which  so  frequently  constitute  the 
meaner  suburbs  of  a  town,  are  as  dissonant  from  truth 
in  their  application,  as  the  nomenclature  is  at  variance 
with  the  idiom  of  the  English  language.  A.  Sax. 
Germ.   Fr.  (Roq.  Gloss.)  dun^  collis. 

Downfall,  8,  a  fall  of  snow.  Ex.  "  We  shan  ha  no- 
thin  but  caud  weather,  I  reckon,  till  a  comes  a  down- 

faur 

Downhkakhed^  part,  jpaet ;  melancholy,  dispirited.  A  re- 
fined expression  for  being  doten  f  tK*  mouti. 

Drag,  8.  an  instrument  used  by  wood  colliers  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  timber  from  dangerous  places.  Isl. 
dra^i;   Dan.  last-drager ;  Swed.  drag,  tractor. 

Draughts,  8.  a  pair  of  forceps  used  for  extracting  teeth: 
draw  outs,  as  it  were. 

Draw,  v.  to  take  cattle  out  of  pasture  land,  that  the 
grass  may  grow  for  mowing.  Ex.  "  It  should  be 
floated  afore  the  meadow'^s  d/rawed,'^  "Nivir  drawed 
the  lond  till  the  middle  o'  May."*" 

Dressel,  Dresser,  s,  a  piece  of  furniture  that  holds  in 
its  upper  part  rows  of  earthen-ware,  and  in  its  lower, 
those  articles  which  are  most  generally  wanted  for 
household  purposes.  It  is  the  chief  embellishment  of 
a  Shropshire  labourer's  house,  and  is  commonly  aocom- 


399 

panied  by  a  clock  in  an  oaken  case,  a  round  deal 
table,  and  a  comer  cupboard.  The  internal  arrange- 
ments of  our  poor  men^s  cottages  present  a  striking 
contrast  by  their  superior  degree  of  comfort,  and 
greater  abundance  of  chattels,  to  those  of  the  East- 
em  part  of  England.  The  same  marks  of  an  im- 
proved condition  are  visible  in  the  quantity  and  quality 
of  their  wearing  apparel.  S.  G-oth.  dressel^  gazophy- 
lacium,  aut  ubi  res  pretiosse  conservantur.  Fr.  dressoir^ 
esp^ce  de  buffet.    Germ,  dresmr;  Teut.  dressaor^  id. 

Dresser,  8.  an  axe  used  in  pits,  to  wrench  the  coal 
down  after  it  is  loosened  by  a  jpiie.  Teut.  dre/el, 
dolabra. 

Drifter,  8.  a  sheep  that  is  'overlaid'  in  a  drift  of 
snow.     Isl.  dri/i,  syrtis  nivalis. 

Drink,  8.  1 .  small  beer.  Ex.  "  A  small  jug'le  o'  drinks* 
"  Fond  on  a  drop  o*"  drink.'*'*  See  Fresh  Drink,  Pipe 
Drink.  2.  a  draught.  Swed.  drici^  bibendi  haustus. 
Isl.  dryekia;  Dan.  drikken^  potatio.  A.  Sax.  drmk^ 
haustus. 

After  a  drink  of  main. 

SiK  T&isT&XM^  Fytte,  ii.  40^  48. 

Swete  Ysonde,  the  fre, 
Afiked  Bringwain  a  drink. 

id.4Q. 

Yit^  or  I  die,  gif  me  one  dnnk, 

Satyre  of  the  Three  EsUUU. 

Drinkmeat,  8.  boiled  ale  thickened  with  oatmeal  and 
bread,  generally  administered  to  a  person  suffering  form 
a  cold.  A  comfortable  kind  of  caudle,  both  meat  and 
drink,  yet  strictly  speaking  neither  one  nor  the  other. 
It  is  analogous  to  the  old  words,  Fleshmmt  and  Mylk- 
mete^  which  latter  is  explained  in  the  Promp.  Parv. 
as  meat  made  of  milk.  Our  drinkmeitt  corresponds 
with  the  bieren-brad  ^'  une  soupe  a  la  bierre,'"  drank  in 
Saxony. 

Dhippinos,  8.    the  last   milk  afforded  by  a  cow.      Isl. 


i 


400 

dreypa;   Swed.  drtfpa ;    Dan.   drypper ;  Teut.  trieffm; 

A.  Sax.  driopan,  stillare. 
Dboppino  time,  8.  showery  weather.    Ex.  "  If  thire  should 

come  a  dropping  time^  ul  be  a  fairish  crap  like."^    Swed. 

droppe^  regn&^oppe :  A.   Sax.  dropiend,  stillans. 
Droupen,  V,  to  droop,  look  sickly.     Ex.  "They  draupm 

their  yeds.'*'     Isl.  driupa^  caput  demittere. 

For  hire  lone  y  cake  and  care, 
For  hire  loue  y  draupne  and  dare. 

Ritson's  Ancient  Songs,  p.  29. 

Droot,  Drouth,  s.  drought.  Ex.  "  The  quern  unna 
grow  as  lung  as  this  drouth  lasseB.**^  Pronounced  ac- 
cording to  our  custom  of  dropping  the  g  when  followed 
by  ht.  (See  remarks  under  Length  and  Strength.) 
Teut.  drooghte ;  A.  Sax.  drugoths^  siccitas. 
Drink  and  drouth  come  sindle  together. 

Scotm  Ptov, 

Drub,  v.  to  beat,  chastise.  Ex.  "  Drub  him  soundly."'* 
S.  Goth.  Swed.  drahha^  confligo.  Cimb.  drihay  per- 
cutere. 

Drubbing,  %.  a  beating.  Ex.  '^Yo  desarven  a  good 
drubbing  for   it.*""     Swed.  drubbning^  conflictio. 

Drudger,  8.  a  flour  sifter,  or  tin  box  used  by  cooks  to 
sprinkle  flour  over  meat,  called  in  Cheshire  a  drudge- 
box, 

Druv,  part,  past ;  of  drive.  Ex.  "  Drue  clane  afore  the 
wiind ""  "  The  bwes  wun  o'erdruv!^  (See  Remarks 
under  uv.) 

Dryp,  v.  1.  to  take  the.  last  milk  from  cows.  Isl. 
drypa^  guttatim  stillare.  2.  to  beat,  chastise.  Ex. 
"2>ry^  him  well.''  S.  Goth,  drypa;  Teut.  trej^; 
Isl.  drepa^  verberare. 

Ducks  and  Drakes  ;  a  game  played  by  children,  in 
which  there  seems  to  be  but  little  meaning  or  point. 
A  writer  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  August,  1821, 
as  quoted  by  Jamieson,  gives  a  diflerent  description 
of  this  juvenile   sport   to   ours,   and   I    will   therefore 


401 


explain  tHe  amusement  as  it  is  practised  in  Shropshire. 
The  duck,  with  us,  is  a  large  stone  supporting  a 
smaller  one  called  the  AraJce,  The  children  playing, 
endeavour  to  knock  off  the  drake  by  flinging  a  stone 
at  it,  which  is  called  the  duckgtans,  crying  at  the 
same  time, 

A  duck,  and  a  drake, 
And  a  white  penny  cake. 
And  a  penny  to  pay  the  baker. 

There  is  another  game,  which  has  the  same  name,  but 
yet  quite  diflerent  in  its  character.  It  is  equally 
silly,  but  has  the  recommendation,  to  notice  at  least, 
of  being  known  among  the  ancients.  Julius  Pollux, 
(lib.  ix.  cap.  7-)  mentions  it,  and  so  does  Eustathius  in 
his  commentary  upon  Homer.  I  find  it  thus  referred 
to  by  Minucius  Felix.  "  Pueros  videmus  certatim 
gestientes,  testarum  in  mare  jaculationibus  ludere.  Is 
lusus  est  testam  teretem,  jactatione  fluctuum  levigataro, 
legere  de  littore ;  earn  testam  piano  situ  digitis  compre- 
hensam,  inclinem  ipsum,  atque  humilem,  quantum  po> 
test,  super  undas  inrotare :  ut  illud  jaculum  vel  dorsum 
maris  raderet,  vel  enataret,  dum  leni  impetu  labitur ; 
vel  summis  fluctibus  tonsis,  emicaret,  emergeret,  dirni 
assiduo  saltu  sublevatur.  Is  se  in  pueris  victorem  fere- 
bat,  cujus  testa  et  procurreret  longius,  et  frequentius 
exsiliret.''''  Minucius  Felix,  p.  51,  edit.  Davisii.  Cant. 
1707.  Even  to  the  present  time  the  game  continues 
precisely  the  same.  We  have  frequently  seen  boys 
in  very  playfulness  throwing  oyster  sheUs,  or  "  tile 
pieces,*"  or  pieces  of  broken  earthenware,  so  that  they 
may  lightly  skim  the  surface  of  the  water;  and  their 
jay  would  be  proportionate  to  the  frequency  with  which 
the  missiles  rebounded  from  it. 

We  have  hence  the  phrase  of  a  man  moMiig  ducks  and 
drakes  with  his  money,  denoting  that  it  is  foolishly 
squandered  away. 

26 


402 

ray  ai 
have  bought  some  five  thousand  capons." 

Green's  7Vf  quoque. 

What  figur'd  states  are  best  to  make 
Or  watry  snrfoce  duck  or  drake, 

Hudibras,  Part  ii.  cap.  iii.  301. 

DuFHous,  B,  a  dove  house.  Pbomp.  Pabv.  du/Aows.  Pals- 
grave, du/house^  columbier.  Isl.  du/na-hus;  Swed.  duf- 
htis,  columbarius. 

DuMBLE  HOLE,  8.  &  pit  of  Water  partially  choked  up 
with  mud  and  vegetable  life.  Its  application  invariably 
is  confined  to  a  piece  of  stagnant  water,  in  a  wood 
or  dell.  In  Cheshire,  Dwmble  means  a  dingle.  Ours 
is  a  better  word,  that  is  to  say,  its  meaning  is  more 
analogous  with  the  cognate  tongues  to  which  the 
English  is  allied.     C.   Brit,  tomlyd^  dondydy  lutulentus. 

DuMMiL,  8.  a  slow,  stupid,  worn  out,  jaded  horse.    G«rm. 

dumba^  stollidus.     I  fancy  we  have  the  same  word  in 

the  following  quotation : 

"  Is  it  not  impossible  for  humanity  to  be  a  spittle  man,  rhe- 
tone  a  dummereil,  poetry  a  tumbler,  history  a  bankrupt,  philo- 
sophy a  broker,  wit  a  cripple,  courage  a  jade." 

Gabriel  Harvey's  Pierces  Supererogation. 

Dung,  part,  pagi  of  the  verb  Ding  or  Dang.  Ex.  "HeM 
ha^  chmff  it  down.'^ 

They  war  dung  down  with  speid. 

Montgomery's  Cherrie  and  the  She. 
Be  not  fear'd,  our  mayster. 
That  we  two  can  be  dung. 

Robin  Hood  and  the  Beggar,  p.  105. 

DuNGE,  8.  the  name  of  a  place  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Broseley,  evidently  given  to  it  from  the  S.  Goth. 
dwiffe,  parvula  sylva. 

DuNOEviL,  8.  a  dung  fork.  The  former  part  of  the 
compound  is  common  to  various  European  languages, 
but  the  latter  remains  a  stumbling  block  to  the  Ety- 
mologist, who  meets  with  it  under  the  varied  forms 
of  Evil^  Shdrifml,  Shdrevil  and   Yilve. 

DuNNA,  DuNNOD,  fj.  do  uot :  and  Dunneh  ?  for  do  ye. 


408 


DuNNocK,  8.  a  contraction  from  dung  hook. 

DuNNY,  adf.  deaf.     Teut.  tugnen^  sepire! 

Durst,  9.  to  dare.  Ex.  '^I  durstna  do  it  if  it  wuz 
ivir  sda.'^  In  polite  discourse  this  is  the  perfect  tense 
of  dare,  but  with  the  vulgar  it  is  the  present :  their 
perfect  is  dare,  and  their  present,  clurgt.  Ex.  ''They 
dursm  say  whad  their  betters  nivir  dar:^  and  "they 
dardm  whad  their  betters  hanna  durgten^  Now  this  I 
suspect  is  purely  Salopian  language,  and  not  unlike,  nor 
yet  much  worse  granmiar  than  what  the  natives  of  the 
county  spoke  a  few  centuries  ago,  at  least  if  dictionaries 
are  capable  of  bringing  sufficient  proof.  M.  Ooth. 
gadawnta^  audebat.  A.  Sax.  ffethrisiian ;  Germ,  dwnten; 
Teut.  darrm;  Swed.  dHMa^  audere. 

Duerr  toub  jackbt,  phr,  a  formula  expressive  of  castiga- 
tion.  It  may  be  referred  to  the  Isl.  dugta^  verberare: 
as  to  hUk  up  a  dw^  may  be  to  the  S.  Groth.  dttsi^ 
<^«^,  tumultus.  Isl.  dyst^  equestre  certamen.  Swed. 
ti^,  tempestas.     Not  local. 

DwiNB,  «>.  to  gradually  waste  away,  decay.     Ex.  "Dtrii^- 

ing  away  fast  into  a  decline.*"     Teut.  dioynm^  attenu- 

are.     Swed.  ttoina^  tabere.     A.  Sax.  dwinan^  tabescere. 

Promp.  Parv.  diffyne. 

All  woxen  was  her  bodv  imwelde 
And  drie  and  dwined  all  for  dde. 

ROMAUNT  OF  THE  ROSB,  V.  300. 

Dtch,  v.  to  cut   a   ditch:    invariably  pronounced   long. 

Ex.  "  Hedging  and  dychingT    Swed.  dXka^  fossas  agere 

in  pratis.     A.   Sax.  dician ;  Teut.  diicken,  lacunare. 

To  delve  and  dike  a  deop  diche. 

P.  Plouhman,  p.  386. 


O^ 


s6-a 


is  sometimes  lengthened  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  word,  where  according 
to  the  usual  method  of  pronouncing 
it,  it  would  otherwise  be  short:  thus 
emd  for  end ;  eentry  for  entry.  The 
second  vowel  being  changed  into  y  or 
i  furnishes  another  method  of  pro- 
nunciation equally  common  with  us:  thus  occasionally 
we  hear  eynd^  dthd^  aind  for  end :  eyntry^  eintry,  aintry 
for  entry.  Either  practice  is  borne  out  by  poetical 
sanction. 

Ne  weore  accountis  at  the  bordis  eynde* 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  v.  7362  and  8016. 
It  is  often  doubled  in  these  words,  and  in  others  where 
the  same  vowel  begins  a  word,  as  eempty  for  empty ; 
ewery  for  every : 

Clothis,  eyghtis^  withoutyn  «ynde. 

irf.  V.  1673. 
It  is  omitted  before  a,  as  in  amest,  for  earnest :  (Promp- 
tuarium  Parvulorum)  :  ach  on  ''em,  for  each  of  them ; 
asy  for  easy  ;  awn  for  even.  Its  rejection  from  mono- 
syllables is  extremely  conunon  in  that  part  of  the 
country  which  lies  between  Wenlock  and  Ludlow.  In 
treat,  seat,  beat,  meat,  it  is  rarely  or  ever  sounded ;  as 
*'  Gie  th'  bwes  their  mater  "  Whoot  stond  a  traie  r 
"  Tak  a  gaie^'  &c. 


405 


When  final  it  is  not  unfrequently  suppressed,  and  the 

preceding  vowel  if  naturally  long,  made  short,  as  yok  uv 

a  heg,  for  yoke  of  an  egg ;  yet  even  this  abbreviation  has 

a  precedent  in  WiclifiTs  Translation  of  the  Testament: 

*'  Now  thanne  what  tempten  ghe  god  to  putte  a  gkcik  on  the 
necke  of  the  disciplis." 

Tha  Dedig  of  ApogtaUs,  c.  xv. 

It  is  sometimes  omitted  in  the  middle  of  words,  and 
placed  at  the  end  of  them  instead,  as  swates  for  sweats ; 
a  chating  fellow,  for  a  cheating  fellow;  the  youngst  o 
ten,  for  the  youngest  of  ten. 

Frequently  it  is  turned  into  i  short,  as  in  rilf^  for  self. 
(Leche  heele  thi  sUf,)  Widifi  New  Testament,  Luke, 
ch.  iv.  A.  Sax.  eilf,  ipse ;  di^eer  chap,  for  clever  chap  ; 
nivir,  for  never. 

It  is  frequently  converted  into  a,  as  yaUow  for  yellow, 
though  more  commonly  yaUer ;  this  from  its  derivation 
may  be  considered  the  more  correct  expression,  besides 
having  poetical  precedent. 

Al  so  yahw  so  any  gold. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  v.  6496. 

Ea  takes  the  sound  of  short  t,  as  fither  for  feather ;  and 
also  of  short  ^  or  a,  as  wekly  for  weakly;  twake  for 
tweak;  spake  for  speak. 

Ea  is  sounded  like  short  a ;  as  lam  for  learn ;  am  for 
eah) ;  amest  for  earnest ;  and  very  often  it  assumes 
the  sound  of  he,  as  dhd  bwoard  for  deal  board  ;  dJief  d* 
hearing  for  deaf;  a  dhed  mon,  for  a  dead  man.  And 
when  in  a  monosyllable,  each  letter  is  pronounced,  as 
gtre-am  for  stream ;  te-iim  for  team,  &c.  &c. 

Ee  is  often  changed  into  short  i,  as  wik  for  week. 

Ei  is  turned  into  long  a,  and  has  the  sound  of  open  a,  as 
console,  for  conceit;  desate,  for  deceit;  nather,  for  neither. 

£i  is  converted  also  into  oi,  in  the  same  words,  as  in  con- 
scit,  desaUj  neither.  This  broad  pronunciation,  however,  is 
entirely  confined  to  the  mining  district,  and  partakes 
more  of  the  Doric  dialect  of  Stafibrdshire  than  of  our 


406 


regular  Atticiflm.  Wiclif  furnishes  us  witii  authority 
in  his  Transbtion  of  the  New  Testament: 

**  Which  man  hadde  an  hous  in  biiielis  and  noiiker  with  cheynes 
now  mighte  ony  man  bynde  him." 

Mark,  ch.  v. 

It  is  continually  changed  into  at,  in  the  foregoing  words, 
a  practice  sanctioned  by  our  early  writers,  by  Wiclif, 
Oawane  Douglas,  Sir  David  Lyndsay,  and  others.  See 
also  Golems  Dictionary. 

Eam,  $,  an  uncle.  This  good  old  word  is  all  but  extinct. 
A.  Sax.  earn ;  Germ,  ohdm ;  Belg.  own ;  Fris.  iem^  avun- 
culus; R.  of  OWter,  erne;  R.of  Brunne,  earn.  Me- 
trical Romances,  edited  by  Ritson  and  Weber,  eem  and 
erne.  Lyndsay,  Spenser,  Drayton,  Fairfax,  Coles. 
Now^  my  good  erne,  for  Godes  lore  I  prey. 

ROMAUNT  OF  THE  RosE,  v.  261, 162, 906. 

Easiful,  adj.  quiet,  complacent,  forbearing.     Ex.  ''  Mr 

Smith  is  very  easiful  under  his  troubles.'*^     Not  peculiar 

to  us,  nor,  I  imagine  are  any  of  those  adjectives  of  a 

like  nature,  as  ioMyfvl^  hurri/tt^,  &c. 

£re  he  attain  hU  etuefiU  western  bed. 

3  Henry  VL  v.  S. 

Easing  ^parbow,  s.  the  common  house  sparrow.  Frin- 
gilla  domestica. 

Ebus,  Ebey,  a.  an  abbreviation  for  Ebenezer. 

Eecle,  Ickle,  8,  an  icicle.  Not  a  corruption,  as  it  might 
at  first  hearing  seem,  but  an  old  word,  being  met  with 
in  the  Promp.  Parv.  ikyU,  stiria.  Isl.  w,  glacies ;  Tent. 
iekel,  stiria. 

East  Melched,  adj.  applied  to  a  cow  who  readily  yields 
her  milk.  Swed.  mjolka;  Tent,  mekkm;  Isl.  nUoEka; 
Dan.  malie;  Germ,  milchen ;  A.  Sax.  mdcan;  Belg. 
mdken ;  C.  Brit,  armeilio ;  Ital.  rndgere  ;  Gr.  afxeXyeiVy 
mulgere.  The  phrase  '^  mild  as  mother^s  milk,^  which 
is  in  general  circulation,  is  not  far  removed  from  the 
Gr.  /i6iXc;(09,  mitts.  Milch,  at  one  period  was  used  for 
mild^  as  in  Hamlet  ii.  2 : 


407 

Would  have  made  mUdi  the  burning  eyes  of  heaven. 
And  horn  to  his  hous  he  it  brought^ 
And  tok  it  his  douhter^  and  hir  besought. 
That  hye  schulde  kepe  it  as  sche  can. 
For  sche  was  melche  and  couthe  theran, 
Sche  bad  it  souke  and  it  nold. 

Lay  lx  Frkinb  v.  193-7. 
Edder,  Esther,  3.  an  adder ;  and  of  general  application 
for  any  kind  of  snake.  Promp.  Parv.  sdder^  eddyr^ 
neddyr^  serpens.  A.  Sax.  c^her^  nceddre;  Dan.  eder ; 
Belg.  adder^  nater;  Tout.  Fris.  Cimb.  edder;  Grerm. 
oder;  C.  Brit,  neidr ;  Isl.  nadur;  M.  Goth,  nadrs ; 
Lat.  natrixj  vipera.     Lyndsay. 

Quhair  dragonisi  lessertis,  askis,  edderit  swatterit 

Paiice  of  Honour. 
Eddish,  9.  after-grass.     This  genuine  Word   is   not   un- 
frequently  used  adverbially,  with  much  the  same  mean- 
ing.   In  speaking  of  the  springing  after-grass,  the  lower 
orders  say,  "  It  looks  pretty  eddish  like.''     The  term  is 
by  no  means  peculiar  to  us.     It  may  be  seen  in  Wor- 
lidge's  Systema  Agriculturse,   Skinner,   Coles,    Phillips, 
and   of   course   Kersey,    Forby,    &c.      A.    Sax.   edisc^ 
gramen  serotinum.     Tusser  has  wrested  the  word  from 
its  primitive  signification  in  his  doggrel. 
Seed  first,  go  fetch, 
For  edM,  or  etch. 
Soil,  perfectly  know 
Ere  edish  ye  sow. 
Edob,  9.  a  ridge,  or  side  of  a  hill ;  well  known  in  Shrop- 
shire under  the  compound  form  of  Benthal-j^e^^,  Wen- 
lock'Edffe^  &c. ;    that  magnificent   range   of  secondary 
transition,  which  runs  without  a  break  from  the  former 
parish  as  far  as  St  Clears  in  Caermarthenshire.     Our 
native  historian   Ordericus   Vitalis,   gives   a   particular 
account   of  the  latter  under  the  name  of  Hwnd-hege^ 
Hunelge-hege^  when   describing   the   passage   of  Henry 
the  First's  army  to  Shrewsbury,  after  the  capture  of 
Bridgenorth.     "  Hunelge-&s^^  is  the  English  name  for 
a  certain  passage  through  a  wood.     In  Latin  it  may 
be  called  malm  eaUis^  or  mcus^  for  it  was  a  hollow  way 


408 


of  a  mile  in  length,  full  of  great  sharp  stones,  and 
BO  narrow  9S  scarcely  to  admit  two  horsemen  abreast. 
It  was  overshadowed  on  each  side  by  a  dark  wood, 
wherein  were  stationed  archers  in  ambuscade,  who 
greatly  annoyed  the  army  with  arrows  and  other 
missile  weapons.  But  as  the  King  had  more  than 
60,000  men  in  his  army,  he  detached  large  parties  to 
cut  down  the  wood,  and  make  a  wide  road  which  should 
endure  for  the  use  of  posterity.'*''  Lib.  xi.  p.  808.  From 
this  period  it  has  been  reasonably  conjectured  by  my 
late  valued  friend  Mr  Blakeway,  in  the  History  of 
Shrewsbury,  p.  57,  that  we  may  probably  date  the 
existence  of  a  road  over  this  steep  ridge,  which  has 
since  been  rendered  more  commodious,  and  has  laid 
aside  most  of  its  primitive  horrors.  Many  of  the 
passes,  however,  down  this  ridge  retain  all  their  ancient 
ferocity;  one  in  particular,  termed  Blakeway  Hollow, 
from  the  little  hamlet  adjoining,  is  nearly  as  im- 
penetrable now,  as  it  could  have  been  in  the  days  of 
Henry  I.  We  have  also  the  Hoar  Edge,  and  in  the 
North,  there  is  Biddlestone  Edge^  and  SharperUm  Edge. 
(See  Brockett.)  Isl.  hegni^  circumsepire. 
Eeke,  v,  to  increase;  and  consequently  ^Ho  eeke  out 
any  thing'*''  is  to  make  some  addition  by  which  it  may 
answer  the  desired  purpose.  Isl.  eyk;  Swed.  oka; 
A.  Sax.  eacan^  augere. 

Now  wol  the  kynff  eche  his  ost 
Feorre  aboute,  and  eke  acost. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  v.  0026. 

With  true  observance  seek  to  eke  out  that. 

Alts  WeU,  iL  5.  and  ^  You  Like  it,  i.  2. 

I  pray  to  heaven  baith  nicht  and  day. 
Be  eiked  their  cares  sae  cauld. 

Percy's  ReUq.  voL  iL  p.  77- 

EiLD,  «.  1.  to  be  sickly.  Ex.  "He  is  but  eUding  like.'^ 
2.  to  grow  old,  give  way  imder  the  weight  of  age, 
yield:    not  I   imagine  another  form  of  this  last  verb, 


409 

but  from  the  A.  Saxon,  ealdian,  Swed.  aldraSy  senes- 
cere.     Id.  <dldr;  Dan.  €Udery  setas.     Lyndsay. 

The  time  that  eldeth  our  auncestours 
And  eldeth  Kingis  and  Emperonrs. 

RoMAUNT  OF  THE  RosE,  V.  391.  2,  and  y.  395. 

It  is  not  provincial  as  a.  substantive.  Herd's,  Ritson^s, 
and  Pinkertotfs  Scottish  Poetry,  Percy,  &c. 

Whoee  graver  years  would  for  no  labour  yield. 
His  age  was  full  of  puissance  and  might ; 
Two  sons  ne  had  to  guard  his  noble  eibi, 

Fairfax's  Tosm,  iii.  35,  and  vii.  80. 

Now  leave  we  Robin  with  his  man. 

Again  to  play  the  child. 
And  learn  himself  to  stand  and  gang 

By  halds,  for  all  his  eild. 

Riston's  Robin  Hood,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 

3.  by  aphseresis  for  yield.  Ex.  *^The  wheat  dunna  eUd 
well.^     A.  Sax.  gUdan^  prsestare, 

Gramarsey,  seyde  the  weyffe, 
Sir,  god  eylde  het  the. 

Robyn  Hood  {arid  the  Potter),  v.  244. 

EiLT,  imp.  of  old  verb  eilen,  to  ail.  Ex.  "  Whod  eik 
him.^     A.  Sax.  adlian^  segrotare. 

What  eikth  you  to  be  weary  thus  soone? 

TroUue  and  Creseida,  ii.  v.  161. 

Ellabalu,  Hullabaloo,  8.  shouting,  noise,  uproar.  Ex. 
^'  Set  up  a  hullabcdu  r  ''  kicked  up  a  eUahalu^  they 
are  used  indiscriminately ;  the  former  however  must  be 
held  as  the  more  correct  dialecticism.  Though  the 
Armoric  has  ehw  and  hdwy^  the  Germ.  haUen^  and  the 
Franc.  hdUn^  sonare,  I  am  for  once  disposed  to  de- 
duce a  Shropshirism  from  the  Greek.  Yet  it  is  not 
claimed  as  our  property  alone,  for  it  seems  probable 
that  the  North  country  recognises  the  term,  as  it  has 
found  a  place  in  Anderson^s  Cumberland  Ballads.  We 
read  in  the  first  book  of  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  that 
the  Greeks  were  accustomed  to  strike  their  arms  si- 
multaneously   and    shout   eXeXet/,    before    they   rushed 


410 


into  battle;  or,  clothing  the  idea  in  the  language  of 

Milton, 

fierce  with  grasped  anus 
Claah'd  on  their  soonding  wields  the  din  of  war. 

That  the  word  has  reference  to  vocal  noise  is  decisive 
from  Plutarch :  eiriipaweiif  Se  rah  trirovSaii  eXeXei/, 
ioi)  loi),  Tou^  irapotrras-  (Vita  Thesei,  c.  22.)  And  lo, 
one  of  the  characters  in  the  Prometheus  Vinctus  pre- 
cedes the  chorus  with  an  eXeXei;.  It  was  one  of  the 
supposed  offices  of  Bacchus  to  lead  the  chorus  in  the 
same  cry,  see  the  Antigone,  v.  1 54,  and  the  Scholiast 
on  this  passage, 

cXfXi^cuF   Bax^eios   ap)^oc. 
Hence,  the  Priestesses  of  Bacchus  were  called  Elelei'des. 

Nunc  feror,  ut  Bacchi  furiis  Elele'idei  acts. 

Ovid.  Heroides,  iv,  47. 

And  the  god  himself  derived  in  the  same  manner  one 

of  his  numerous  epithets. 

Nycteliusque  Ekktuque  parens. 

MeUmor,  iv.  16. 
Than  'tyell^er  he  began  to  chow^ 

And  hurslt  up  his  shou'der; 
Wid  a  huUa-haloo  I  they  cry't  shoou!  shoou! 
And  heame  set  he  in  a  powder! 

Anderson's  Battads,  CarlUk,  1824. 

Ellar,  Ellern,  Ellon,  s,  the  elder-tree.  In  Scotland, 
and  the  North,  the  alder  is  termed  the  eUer^  but  in 
Shropshire  and  Cheshire  we  only  know  the  elder-tree 
under  this  appellation.  It  is  a  good  old  word  in  the 
form  found  amongst  us,  and  comes  direct  from  the 
A.  Sax.  eUarm^  sambucus.  Norfolk,  ddem;  Lincoln- 
shire, kellar.  Forby,  with  his  usual  accuracy  remarks, 
that,  it  is  an  adjective,  with  tree  understood.  I  have 
generally  heard  it  used  in  that  sense;  thus,  '^in  the 
dhm-tree:^  ^'in  the  eUerT^huahJ"  That  this  was  the 
tree  intended  by  our  countryman  Robert  Langland, 
and  not  the  alder,  I  cannot  for  a  moment  doubt; 
the  A.  Sax.  etymology  of  the  word  sufficiently  proves 


41 L 


it,  were  there  no  presumptive  reasons  for  believing 
thst  the  word  had  remained  unoomipted  among  us 
since  the  period  when  this  distinguished  Satirist  wrote. 
The  point,  though  one  of  little  importance,  is  really 
worth  establishing  in  a  record  of  provincialisms:  for 
my  predecessors  with  a  local  zeal  which  should  nar 
turally  characterise  all  writers  of  this  description,  have 
applied  his  words  to  quite  a  di£Perent  tree,  because 
such  a  term  is  used  in  their  own  dialects.  The  eldar, 
for  some  reason  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  was  con- 
sidered by  the  dramatists  as  a  tree  of  disgrace.  Pro- 
bably, the  poetic  invention  of  Robert  Langland  in  these 
lines  is  the  only  plausible  authority  upon  which  the 
legend  of  Judas  hanging  himself  upon  it,  is  grounded. 

Jndas  he  by  japede  thoigh  Jewene  selver 
An  afterwturd  he  heng  hym  hye  on  an  eUeme, 

P.  Plouhman,  16. 

Well  foUow'd;  Judas  was  hang'd  on  an  elder. 

Love's  Labour  Lost,  y.  2. 

He  shall  be  your  Judas,  and  you  shall  be  his  eUkr-tree  to 
hang  on. 

Every  Man  out  of  Humour,  iv.  4. 

Our  gardens  will  prosper  the  better,  when  they  have  in  them 
not  one  of  these  etdersy  whereupon  so  many  covetous  Judasses 
hang  themselyes. 

Nixon's  Strange  Foot-post. 

Elbow  orease,  8.  hard  rubbing,  such  as  mahogany  tables 
require :  '^  Lucemum  olere,^^  as  Brockett  quotes.  Not 
provincial. 

Elded,  1.  p&rf.  of  old  verb  eUm  to  ail.  Ex.  "Whod 
Med  himT  A.  Sax.  adUa/n^  segrotare.  Swed.  Mba^ 
salutem  dicere.  2.  part,  past  of  hold ;  to  hold,  impede, 
hinder.  Ex.  ''  Whod  should  ha  elded  him  T  A.  Sax. 
heUafhy  servare.     Isl.  heUd^  tenere. 

Eldsb,  s.  the  udder  of  a  cow.  Teut.  Belg.  elder^  uber 
ovilli  pecoris. 

Ell-rake,  Ellock-rake,  s.  Each  of  these  terms  have 
diiferent  applications.     The  former  must  be  a  corrup- 


412 


tion  induced  in  part  by  the  Shropshire  custom  of 
leaving  out  the  aspirate.  It  thus  stands  as  Hell-rah: 
this  again,  by  restoration  becomes  Hed-rake^  or  a  large 
rake  drawn  at  the  heels,  as  in  fact  it  is.  EUock-rake 
is  a  vitiation  that  must  be  accounted  for  on  the  same 
principle,  in  some  measure,  as  the  former.  Loss  of  the 
aspirate  has  converted  HUlochrake  into  EUock-rake^ 
which  is  a  small  rake  for  breaking  up  ant-hills,  having 
four  broad  teeth  in  the  head;  and  is  sometimes  called 
a  oowt-rake. 

Eme,  adj.  near.  Ex.  ^^This  road  is  fiill  as  erne  as  the 
tother  I  reckon.^  Here  is  a  term  universal  among 
Salopians:  but  how  did  we  get  it!  It  has  metapho- 
rical affinity,  it  is  conceived,  with  the  A.  Sax.  earn, 
which  denotes  a  near  degree  of  kindred;  or  else  the 
primitive  has  not  been  recorded  by  any  of  our  various 
lexicographers.  Shakspeare  has  ''^  eftest  way.""  Mndi 
Ado  about  Nothing^  iv.  2. 

Emer,  adj,  comp.  of  the  preceding. 

En  ;  the  lower  orders  adopt  this  ancient  termination 
to  their  verbs,  instead  of  the  more  general  form  of 
the  perfect  tense,  used  by  the  educated  classes:  thus, 
brauffhten  for  brought:  temptiden  for  tempted:  euffereden 
for  suffered ;  v^enten  for  went;  hodden  for  had :  founden 
for  found,  (The  Seuyn  Sages^  v.  173.)  miffhien  for  might, 
{Kyng  AUeawnder^  v.  5376.)  whietleden  for  whistled,  (id. 
V.  5348,)  buriden  for  buried,  &c.,  &c.  In  short,  Wiclif 
and  our  earlier  writers  are  full  of  similar  forms.  For 
our  pronunciation  of  the  latter  word  one  extract  shaD 
be  given  from  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  may  serve  to  shew  the  prevalence  of  this 
termination  in  his  writings. 

But  goode  men  birieden  Steuene  and  maden  greet  morenyng 
on  him. 

Dedie,  c.  viii. 

To  this  head  may  be  referred  all  such  verbs  as  form 


413 

their  preterites  in  on :  as  soUon  for  sat :  forgattan  for 

forgot:  eaton  and  drunkan  for  eat  and  drank. 

When  thei  had  eyton  and  dronkon  also. 

Sir  Amadas,  y.  293. 

Ends,  and  Alls,  phr,  Ex.  "  Pack  up  your  ends  and 
alky  and  be  off  with  you.""  It  is  uncertain  whether 
this  phrase  has  been  tralatitiously  borrowed  from  the 
Shoemakers  ends  and  awh^  or  not.  But  in  adopting  a 
literal  explanation,  it  appears  more  accordant  with 
truth  than  metaphor  can  throw  around  it.  For  in- 
stance, when  a  servant  is  about  quitting  her  place, 
her  employers  are  desirous  of  seeing  her  soon  and 
thoroughly  free  from  their  service;  that  there  should 
be  "  no  hangmg  about,"^  as  Shropshire  people  say,  but 
an  end  of  her:  that  her  ^Hhings^^  should  be  packed 
up  and  her  all  speedily  cleared  away.  Those  who 
by  chance  have  ever  seen  the  varied  contents  of  a 
•domestic's  huge  papered  box,  will  have  been  somewhat 
amused,  as  well  as  surprised  at  its  useless  and  mis- 
cellaneous contents:  consisting  not  so  much  of  old 
wearing  apparel  and  materials  to  keep  it  in  repair, 
as  of  odds  and  ends  so  diversified  in  their  nature, 
that  few  houses  out  of  their  rejected  rul^bish  could 
supply  the  counterpart.  Nothing  seems  too  trivial,  or 
too  worthless  to  be  stored  up  among  these  highly 
valued  possessions.  Every  end^  scrap  or  shred  that 
fortune  has  east  before  them  during  their  course  of 
servitude,  constitute  too  frequently  the  whole  amount 
of  their  worldly  treasures.  These  are  their  all;  their 
ends  and  alls. 

Endways,  aeh.  straight  forward.     Ex.  "  Miles  endways.'^ 

Enemy,  s,     1.  a  conmion  appellation  for  any  coleopte- 
rous insect.    2.  ants;  in  which  instance  it  is  corrupted 
from  emmets, 
Eow,  pron,  you. 

EowKR,  pron.  your.     Both  of  these  were  considered  ar- 


414 


chaumiB  when  Verstegan  wrote  his  Restitution  of  De- 

caied  Intelligence.     (See  remarks  at  the  commencement 

of  this  letter,  and  under  Nrw.) 
Ercle,  8.  a  blister.    Ex.  '^  Rose  up  in  ercles,'"''     Neenton. 
EscREN,  €ulj\  made  of  ash.     Ex.  ^^  Lay  a  good  eschem  plant 

across  his   shouthers.*"       A.  Sax.   osse;    Oerm.    esche; 

Isl.  esH;  Teut.  esch^  (esehen^  fraxinum)  fraxinus. 
EsHUK,  8,  a  hook  at  the  extremity  of  a  waggon  horse^s 

traces :  properly  an  S  hook,   from  being  in  the  form 

of  that   letter. 
Ess,  $.  ashes:    the   nearest  approach  to  this  is   in   the 

Hebrew    aesh^    eseh^    ignis.       Gr.    etr^apa,   focus.     U. 

ey9a^   cinis  ignitus.     Teut.   tut^  eist. 

Do  ye  not  see  Rob,  Jock^  and  Hab, 

As  they  are  fi;irded  gallantly. 
While  I  sit  hurlden  in  the  tue? 

I'll  have  a  new  cloak  about  me. 

Herd's  ScoUuk  Sanfft,  vol.  iL  p.  103^ 

EssHOLE,  8.  the  pit  under  a  kitchen  grate  into  which 
the  ashes  fall :  in  another  word,  ^'  the  Puigatoiy.'" 

Etuerinq,  8.  strong  twigs  which  are  used  for  platting 
between  the  upper  part  of  stakes  in  hedges^  to  strengthen 
the  top  and  keep  down  the  trotu*  A.  Sax.  keaiierian, 
cohibere. 

Evil,  «.  a  fork,  with  three  or  four  strong  teeth ;  gene- 
rally, a  dunff-evilj  8hare-evil^  or  yilve. 

Expect,  v.  to  think,  imagine.  Anticipation  does  not 
cross  the  mind  in  the  general  use  of  this  verb  by 
the  vulgar.  Ex.  "  It  belongs  to  him  I  expect,  but  I 
am  not  certain."  ^^  I  eapect  you  have  had  a  pleasant 
journey.'*^  The  polite  ea:pect  things  that  are  future : 
the  vulgar,  both  in  various  parts  of  England,  and 
generally  throughout  America,  eapeet  things  that  are 
past.     (See  Pickering,  sub  voce.) 


^ 


perpetually  takes  the  sound  of  v,  as 

u/d  for  of;  iv  for  if,  &c. 

Faoche,  «.  the  old  form  of  /etch. 

Gothfaccheth  me  the  traytour. 

Ritson's  Ancient  Songs,  p.  21. 
We  shale  faet^  the  lybaos  wher  tm  wille  be. 

id.  p.  21. 
Thei  went  to  the  towne  to  fach  ther  wyvys. 
The  HunUyng  of  the  Hare,  y.  241. 

Faced  Card,  8.  a  court  card. 

Fachub,  v.  to  grow  like  in  feature.  Ex.  "  Lickle  Johnny 
faehurs  his  feayther.'*' 

Fabbebrt,  8.  a  gooseberry.  This  word  I  take  to  be 
confined  to  the  mining  district.  Colliers  talk  of  a  ^^/ae- 
berry  poi^^''  meaning  a  gooseberry  tart.  It  very  rarely 
signifies  a  whinberry.  Gerard  gives  it  as  synonymous 
with  gooseberry.  It  was  of  good  repute  in  his  day, 
though  now  it  is  considered  low.  (See  G^rard^s  Herbal 
by  Johnson,  p.  1324.)  The  Iceni  have  abbreviated  the 
word  into  feaps^  feah8^  fabes^  and  thaipe8. 

Fagot,  8.  a  reproachful  appellation  for  a  female,  whether 
she  be  of  loose  character,  evil  temper,  or  idle  habits. 
Ex.  "  A  nasty  imperint  fogGt?'*  "  A  lazy  fagots  Me- 
taphor was  never  drawn  more  truly.  The  French  con- 
sidered such  individuals  in  their  proper  light  when  they 
coined  their  proverbs,  "  Qu'il  y  a  bien  de  difierence  entre 
une  femme  et  un  fiigoi  f  que  la  plus  grande  difference 


416 


est  qu'  une  femme  parle  toujours,  et  qu^  un  fcugij^  ne 
dit  mot.**'  And  ^^  elle  est  fait  comme  une  fagi^r  I 
shall  leave  the  disputes  that  have  tortured  the  learned 
on  the  derivation  of  this  term,  and  content  myself  by 
adopting  the  Lat.  foLsciSy  which  seems  to  be  the  most 
approved  root.  C.  Brit.  Arm.  ffagod ;  B.  Bret.  /agod. 
Pelletier  finds  out  a  connexion  between  the  latter  word 
and  haggage.  The  same  affinity  exists  in  all  probability 
between  our  two  terms. 

Fagot,  b.  to  cut  or  tie  up  fagots.  Fr.  fagoter^  alligare  in 
manipulos. 

Faiqh,  8,  soil  which  lies  upon  stone,  marl  or  coal ;  any 
strata  superincumbent  upon  the  particular  one  which  is 
about  to  be  got.  In  Derbyshire,  feigh  denotes  stone, 
soil,  or  other  substances  carried  away  ajs  useless.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  trace  the  verb  faigh^  or  fey  to  cleanse 
out. 

Fains  ;  this  may  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  a  verb  or 
adverb,  but  in  either  case  the  signification  is  alike,  and 
implies  gentle  restraint,  compulsion  or  necessity  that  is 
not  of  a  disagreeable  nature,  yet  not  denoting  such  a 
great  degree  of  willingness  as  the  more  conunonly 
accepted  term  fain  implies.  The  final  8  just  marks 
the  difierence.  Thus  says  one  who  has  been  sent  on 
an  errand,  '^  Company  dropped  in,  and  so  I  was  faim 
to  wait.'^  A  very  common  excuse  for  dilatoriness. 
Again,  says  another,  '^  Instead  o'  fettling  the  hos,  he 
mun  fains  go  off  to  bed  ;'^  glad  no  doubt  to  escape  the 
labor.  The  stream  of  authority  for  the  usage  of  fain 
runs  clear  and  continuous  through  R.  of  Glo'ster,  R.  of 
Brunne,  P.  Plouhman,  Lyndsay,  Chaucer,  Spenser,  Shak- 
speare,  &c.,  down  to  our  own  time.  I  pass  over  various 
illustrations  in  these  authors,  besides  Sir  Tristrem,  fytte 
i.  60,  ii.  35,  Minot's  Poems,  p.  50^  Ritson's  Anct.  Pop. 
Poet.  p.  875,  Robin  Hood,  p.  87,  &c.  to  borrow  one  from 

the  very  excellent  glossary  written  upon  the  Hallam- 


417 

shire  words  by  Mr  Hunter,  as  being  pecnliarly  within 
the  scope  of  our  meaning. 

Then  went  the  cuppes  so  merrilv  ahout  that  many  of  the 
Frenchmen  were  fain  to  be  led  to  their  beds. 

Cavendish's  Life  of  WoUey. 

That  lads  sae  thick  come  her  to  woo. 
They're  fain  to  sleep  on  hay  or  straw. 

The  Ewie  wi'  the  crooked  horn. 

Ritson's  Scotti^  Songs,  yoL  i.  p.  288. 

Isl.  /effinn ;  Dan.  /armjef^  in  sinu  gaudens.  A.  Sax. 
foffmy  Isetus.     M.  Goth,  ftiffinon,  gaudere. 

Faibishes  Pipes,  s.  the  old  tobacco  pipes  which  are  fre- 
quently found  in  turning  over  soil.  The  idea  is  not 
peculiar  to  us,  but  prevalent  in  the  North  of  England. 
(See  Brockett  under  the  word.) 

Fahushbs  Rings,  s.  small  circles  observable  in  grass 
land,  of  a  deeper  green  than  the  surrounding  herbage. 
It  is  superstitiously  believed  in  Shropshire  and  Stafford- 
shire to  be  caused  by  the  nocturnal  visits  of  the  Fairies, 
who  are  fabled  to  dance  on  the  spot.  This  notion  is  not 
current  merely  in  Shropshire,  but  of  old  standing,  and 
general  prevalency.  The  causes  of  the  appearance  are 
investigated  by  Dr  Wollaston  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions.  (See  also  Saturday  Magazine,  vol.  v. 
p.  200;  Withering's  Botany,  vol.  iv.  p.  277;  Nares^ 
Glossary.) 

Fall,  8.  autumn.     Ex.  "  Spring  andfaUy 

They  are  most  commonly  sowen  in  the  faB  of  the  leafe,  or 
autumn. 

Gebard's  Herbal,  p.  66. 

Fallal,  s.  and  adf\  a  gaudily  dressed  woman;  a  con- 
temptuous expithet  for  a  suspicious  looking  female. 
Ex.  "  A  fallal  sort  of  a  body.''  This  word  must  be 
referred  to  false  as  one  of  kin^^d  signification. 

False,  v.  to  deceive.  From  the  old  verb  falseny  used 
by  Chaucer,  Cant.  Tales,  v.  3175  ;  Rom.  of  the  Rose, 
V.  .5416. 

27 


418 


Famuloub,  adj,  family.  Ex.  ^'  His  pride's  a  famidom 
disorder.^ 

Fancw,  $.  olaws  of  a  bird.     Germ.  Teut.  famgm ;  A.  Sax. 

fanga/n^  capere  manu.  Id.  fanga ;  Dan.  fomger^  oom- 
prehendere. 

Fanteag,  $.  iU  humour.     Ex.  ^'Put  her  into  a  pretty 

fawUag!^  It  is  most  frequently  used  in  aUusion  to  cer- 
tain ebullitions  of  temper  which  the  fair  sex  are  at 
times  disposed  to  manifest  towards  their  dep^idants. 
It  has  some  aUiance  with  the  Teut.  Ughm^  oontrarius. 

Fantom,  adj.  li^t.  An  epithet  given  to  com  that  is 
unproductive  or  unkind.  ^'  The  French^^  says  Ray, 
*'  call  a  spirit  appearing  by  night,  or  a  ^ost,  a  Fam- 
tatme^  from  Phantasma,  Spectrum.  So  then  Phantosme 
com,  is  com  that  has  as  little  bulk  or  solidity  in  it  as  a 
spirit  or  spectre.'^  Hence  too  has  originated  the  com- 
parison of  a  thin  person  to  a  phantom.  ^^  He  is  just 
like  a  ptumiom.'^  And  in  French,  one  who  is  wasted 
away,  *•*'  Ce  n'est  plus  qu'  un  fantom$y*  And  h^noe 
the  epithet  applied   to  a   sickly   person,   ^^he   is  but 

Faaantlt,  farangly,  adj.  handsome,  comely.  Ex.  *^  She^s 
a  farawUy  looking  woman  enough.^  Jamieson  as  weD 
as  ail  other  Glossarists  are  at  fault  for  a  satisfactory 
derivation.  Our  use  of  it  is  different  to  that  prevailing 
in  other  districts.  The  definition  of  ^dean,  decent,'' 
which  it  has  received  from  Mr  Wilbraham  in  his 
Cheshire  Glossary,  comes  as  might  be  expected,  nearer 
to  our  sense  of  the  word  than  the  meaning  it  has 
obtained  in  the  North.  He  says  it  has  been  supposed 
to  be  compounded  of  the  two  words,  fair  and  dean^ 
but  at  the  same  time  objects  to  this  etymology.  The 
application  which  we  invariably  give  to  it,  leads  me 
however  to  dissent  from  this  excellent  authority.  The 
e  most  commonly  introduced  in  the  pronunciation, 
justifies  the  supposition   that   it   is  abbreviated   either 


419 


from  fair  and  dean^  or   from  fair  and  camdy^  thus, 

Fa\  an"  ely^  farandy^  faranily.     Pbomp.  Pabv.  "  Comfy 

or  well/arynpe  in  shape,  elegans.''^    Homuumi  Vulgaria ; 

^*  He  looked  wnfaringly^  aspeotu  in  composito.'"     These 

authorities  go  to  shew,  not  merely  that  it  is  a  good 

old  wordy  but  that  the  primitive  meaning,   perverted 

elsewhere,  has  remained  pure  and  unoomipted  in  the 

mouths  of  Salopians.      Ray  has  ^^  faranify^   handsom. 

Fair  asAfaranify^  fair  and  handsom.^ 

The  eldest  is  a  young  merchand^ 
He  is  right  jftnr  and  weA  farrand. 

Sir  Gray  Stbbl,  y.  222. 

With  him  came  mony  stede  fararU, 
And  mony  faire  juster  corant. 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  y.  3460. 

Hym  semyd  wele  a  gentilman; 
She  knewe  non  sache  in  hyr  londe. 
So  goodly  a  man  and  wele/irofui 

The  Lyvb  of  Ipomydon,  y.  282. 

Fasten,  v.  1.  to  detain  by  a  grasp,  to  bite.  Eix.  ^^The 
dog  fattened  him  by  the  leg.''^  'Z,  to  take  hold  of. 
Ex.  ''Why  ivir  dostna  fatten  houd  on  it  wi^  boath 
honds.^  Belg.  tatten ;  G^rm.  fasten ;  Swed.  fatta^  oa- 
pere  prehensione.  The  other  cognate  terms,  such  as 
the  Swed.  fdtta ;  Teut.  vaeten ;  M.  Groth.  fatkja ; 
A.  Sax.  foBttnian^  figere,  apply  to  the  generaUy  re- 
ceived sense  of  this  word. 

Fat,  b.  pres.  and  preterperf.  the  old  form  of  the  verb 
fetch.  Ex.  "  I  fat  it  from  the  shap."*  ''Fai  it  from 
him.**^  This  word  occurs  with  us  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VII.  (See  History  of  Shrewsbury,  vol.  i. 
p.  280.)  We  have  also  the  part,  past.  Ex.  "  Ale 
that  was  fai.'"     Hence  the  common  phrase   of    "  A 

fattin  o*  drink,^  that  quantity  of  ale  which  is  carried 
out  of  a  public  house  and  drank,  sub  dio,  such  as  the 
Cuekod^t  Foot  cUe.  A.  Sax.  foeccean^  fetian,  adducere. 
Teut.  f>a(en ;  Belg.  vatten^  comprehendere.  Swed.  fatta^ 
prehendere. 

27-2 


420 


Faud,  Fodk,  Foud,  s.  a  fold.  None  of  these  methods 
of  pronunciation  are  peculiar  to  us,  unless  it  be  the 
second.  The  first  and  last  are  well  known  Scotti- 
cisms. 

Fause,   adj.   false,   cunning,   coaxing,   subtle.     Ex.  ^^A 

fatue  dog.***     Fr.  fausse.     Ray. 

For  mine  was  o'  the  gude  red  gould. 

But  thine  was  o'  the  tin; 
And  mine  was  true  and  trusty  baith, 

But  thine  was^htue  within. 

The  Bonny  Lass  ofLochroyan.    Herd's  CoUection, 

Fause,  V,  to  coax,  wheedle,  flatter.  Ex.  *^He  knows 
how  to  /ause  her  o'er.**^  Germ,  fwbchen  ;  Teut.  Belg. 
vabehen;  Swed.  fcUskas;  Isl.  /aba;  Dan.  for/abke^ 
decipere,  adulterare,  falsum  pro  vero  substituere. 

Faut,    Fault,  8.    1.   want,    negligence.     Ex.     "  Welly 

clemm'd  for  faut  o'  fittle.*" 

When  that  she  swouned  next,  for  faute  o'  blood. 

Chaucer's  Squier's  Tale,  v.  10767. 

2.  a  defection  in  a  mine.  Ex.  *'  Ye  sin  there^s  a  /autj 
and  the  coal  craps  out.'''  Jamieson  adduces  several 
passages,  which  shew  that  the  former  sense  of  the  word 
is  precisely  that  which  it  had  at  an  earlier  period.  The 
latter,  is  the  usual  term  amongst  miners  in  Shropshire 
and  Staffordshire;  it  is  current  in  Derbyshire,  but 
with  quite  a  different  meaning.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  substitute  any  expression  more  suitable  than 
our  own.  Teut.  fatUe,  defectus.  A  la  faute^  Tendroit 
oil  quelque  chose  finit.     Roquef. 

Fauty,  adj,  decayed,  rotten  as  wood.  Teut.  /atU^  ma- 
teria inutilis  in  arbore  aut  ligno,  facillime  cariem 
sentiens. 

Favour,  v.  to  bear  a  family  likeness.     Ex.    "  Favours 

the  mother'^s  side.^ 

Grood  faith,  methinks  that  this  young  Lord  Chamont 
Favoun  my  mother,  sister,  doth  he  not. 

CaeeisAlter'd,m.h 

Fawhr,  8,  a  fair.     Such  is  the  method  of  pronunciation 


421 


adopted  in  the  districts  round  the  Clee  Hills,   where 
the  language  is  very  much  Doricised.     We  must  there- 
fore not  confound  it  with  the  Fr.  /owv,  though  it  has 
the  same  meaning. 
Peak,  8.  a  sharp  twitch  or  puU. 

Fear,  v.  to  frighten,  terrify.  M.  Goth,  faurktan ;  Dan. 
frycte;  Belg.  vruchtan;  A.  Sax.  fasran;  Ftsluo. /erron; 
Germ,  farm;  Teut.  vaeren^  facere  ut  metuunt.  Hence 
afeard^  for  frightened. 

And  thus  he  shall  you  with  his  wordes  fere. 

TroU.  and  Crets.  iy.  1483. 
I  tell  thee.  Lady,  this  aspect  of  mine 
Hath  feard  the  valiant. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  ii.  1- 
And  see  the  slanderer  in  before  I  left  him. 
But  as  it  is  ii  fears  me. 

A  Fair  Quarrel,  iL  1. 
Nor  the  threatnings  of  kings  (which  are  perilous  to  a  prince,) 
nor  the  perewasions  of  Papists  (whidi  are  honny  to  the  mouth) 
could  either  year  hir,  or  aUure  nir. 

Euphues  and  his  England,  p.  123. 
If  he  shall  feare  us  out  of  our  wits  with  strange  words. 

The  CurtaiTh-drawer  of  the  World,  p.  41. 

Feart,  past  part. ;  afraid. 

Feather,  v.  to  bring  a  stack  of  grain  gradually  and 
neatly  to  a  summit,  "top  it  up''  well,  slope  it  care- 
fully to  a  point.  A.  Sax.  f^he^  acies.  Hence  the 
term  of  a  feather  edge. 
Feck,  9.  a  small  piece  of  iron  used  by  miners  in  blasting 
rocks.  A.  Sax.  foscde^  facula. 
Feckless,  adj.  effectless,  of  which  it  is  probably  a  cor- 
ruption. 

False,  feckksse  foulmart. 

The  Flyiing  of  Montgomery . 
Ygt  as  we  se  a  mischief  grow 
Aft  of  a  feckless  thing. 

Montoombry's  Cherry  and  the  Sloe,  s.  iii. 

A  GatiHea,  feckks,  fingerles,  and  fals. 

Montookxry's  Sonnets, 

On  pleasure  let's  emplov  our  wit. 

And  laugh  at  fortane  b  feckless  powers. 

Herd's  Scottish  Songs,  vol.  iL  p.  228. 


422 


Feed,  $.  1.  food,  "keep.''  Ex.  "They'n  had  plenty 
o'  good  feed.^  Swed.  foder ;  Isl.  fodr ;  Teut.  9oeder^ 
pabulum. 

For  losing  his  pasture,  and  feed  of  his  field. 

TUSSBR. 

2.  a  quartern  of  oata.     Ex.  Traveller.  ^'  Give  my  horse 

a  quartern  o'  com.'"   Ostler.  '^  He's  had  a  feed  a'readf.^ 
Fexdino,  part,  past ;  nourishing.     Ex.  ^^  Feeding  stuff  for 

children."     M.    Goth,  foda/n;   A.   Sax.  fedan;    Belg. 

WBdea;    Swed.  foeda;    Isl.  fodra;    Dan.  foret;   Teat. 

wedereny  nutrire. 
Fbxdino  time,  phr,  genial  and  mild  weather,  gentle  rain 

and  moderate  heat. 
Fel,  per/,  of  feel.     The  d  and  t  final  are  occafiionally 

suppressed    in    verbs    forming    their  perfect   by    these 

ocmaonants. 
Feldifiere,  b.   a  fieldfare.      Twrdw  pilaris  of  lamueus^ 

A.  Sax.  fealafor.     Both  the  derivation  and  its  poetical 

iUustrations    establish   the    correctness  of   the    vulgar 

usage. 

Over  all  where  so  they  fere, 
And  sing.  Go  iaxewt^i  fMfare. 

'    ROMAUNT  OF  THE  ROSK. 

FnicuB,  s,  a  small  stick  or  piece  of  wire  used  by  school- 
mistresses for  pointing  out  their  letters  to  children 
learning  to  read.  A  word  rapidly  vanishing  from  the 
language.     Palsgrave ;  festw  to  spell  with,  festm. 

Ah  do  hut  pnt 
Kfetkw  in  her  fist,  and  you  shall  see  her 
Tfuce  a  new  lesson  out 

The  Two  Nohle  Kinemen, 

Fbt,  v.  another  old  form  of  fetch. 

The  Soudan  ther  he  sat  in  halle, 
He  comaundede  his  knihtes  alle 
That  maiden  for  to  fette. 

KING  OF  Tars,  t.  961. 

And  thempon  the  win  vrasfette  anon. 

Chaucer's  Prai.  r.  821. 


423 


Yong  men  hymfette,  with  bowea  bent. 

OcTAYiAN  Imperator,  V.  962. 
And  fayr  servysc  byfore  hem^^ 

Richard  Cobr  dk  Lion,  v.  1604,  3478. 
Then  he  fette  to  Lytell  Johan 
The  numbles  of  a  doo. 

A  lytell  geste  of  Bobyn  Node.    Ritson,  p.  32. 
And  fst  his  felaw. 

Sompnoures  Tale. 
How  that  hire  in  his  grisely  carte  he  fette. 

Merdianfs  Tale. 
Whose  blood  is  fet  from  £athers  of  war  proof. 

Hen.  V.  iii.  1. 

Fettle,  s.  order,  condition.  Ex.  "  His  has  (horse)  is  in 
good  fsMey  Sometimes  applied  to  denote  the  jaded 
or  splashed  state  of  a  beast.  Ex.  ''  Yone  brought 
him  whdam  in  a  ipreMiy  fettle.^''  Lano.  Chesh.  Hallam. 
Scotch.  Ray.  Not  very  local.  Mr  Wilbraham  deduces 
this  veiy  prevalent  word  from  the  old  Fr.  faiture  which 
has  the  same  meaning.  I  have  searched  in  vain  for 
a  closer  derivative.  The  Isl.  fitla^  adparare,  is  the 
nearest  approach  we  can  nuike.  Still  I  am  entirely 
indisposed  to  allow  that  a  word  so  universally  known, 
so  indispensable,  let  me  add  too,  to  give  perspicuity  and 
meaning  to  what  we  intend  to  say,  can  be  tralatitious 
or  superinduced.  Nares  is  at  liberty  to  call  it  "un- 
dignified,^ but  he  could  never  have  persuaded  a  Sa- 
lopian to  drop  it  from  his  vocabulary;  nor  will  any 
present  writer  induce  us  to  believe  that  a  word  sanc- 
tioned by  such  authors  as  Bishop  Hall  and  Swift,  is 
inapplicable  or  inelegant.  What  imports  it,  whether 
it  be  concinnous  or  not!  It  is  an  exceedingly  useful 
word,  and  embodies  more  pith  and  meaning  than  any 
other  which  can  be  substituted  in  its  place.  It  is 
quite  certain  that  no  Shropshire  person  will  ever  be 
timid  in  lettmg  it  fall  from  his  tongue. 

Wa'  than,  says  Job,  aw's  warn  us  reet, — 

There  'nought  'ats'  ought  to  settle. 
Sea  whoop!  mds,  hey  for  Fuursday  neeght! 

And  git  yer  pumps  \*  fettie. 


424 


Fettle,  «.  to  mend,  put  in  order,  prepare,  rectify,  &c. 
The  verb  is  even  more  common  than  the  noun.  Ex. 
''Fettle  it  wootT  ''Fettling  the  hos.''  "Gwon  up 
etiurs  to  fettle  herself;  her  I  soon  be  down.""  Coles, 
PhiUips. 

Then  John  bent  up  his  long  bende-bowe. 
And  fettekd  him  to  shoot. 

Robin  Hood  and  Guy  of  Gisbornb. 

Yett  neither  Robin  Hood  nor  Sir  Guy 
Them  fettled  to  ilye  away.  id. 

The  barrel^  (of  a  gun)  was  rustit  as  black  as  the  gnm' 
But  he's  taen't  to  the  smiddy  an's  fettled  it  rarely. 

T  ANN  AH  ill's  Poems,  quoted  by  Jamieson. 

CraveA  Gloss,  quotes  also, 

*'  He  has  hastened  him  to  the  Queen's  Court  at  Mliitehsll 
strange  and  fetled  an  archers  of  the  guard  liveiye  bow." 

Memorial  of  R.  Eokeby. 
Beaumont  and  Ouarenby  saw  all  this 

And  Lockwood,  where  they  stood 
They  fettled  them  to  fence,  1  wis 
And  shot  as  they  were  wood. 

Vale  of  Colder. 
They  to  their  long-hand  journey  fettled  them. 

Maiden's  Bh^ 

Fbyoht,  Fegt,  8.  a  fight.      Our  pronunciation  accords 
with  the  ancient)  and  also  with  the  derivation.    Oerm. 
fechten;   A.   Sax.  feohUm;  Alam./eAtan;   Tout.  Belg.. 
vecAten^  pugnare. 

I  will  feghte  on  a  felde. 

The  Awntyrs  op  Artrtjrx. 
I  gat  them  in  the  ^e\d  feiAting. 

JOHNIB  ArMSTRONO. 

Feyt,  $.  an  action  or  performance,  generally  imderstood 
in  a  bad  sense.     Ex.  "A  sheamful  ^^.'^     "A  pritty 

feyt.'"     Teut.  feyt,  facinus. 

File,  s.  now  a  slang  term  given  to  one  who  joins  a 
tolerable  share  of  worthlessness  with  cunning  and 
quickness.  Ex.  "A  rum  old  /&.'"  It  is  however  a  good 
old  ^ord  and  had  always  much  the  same  meaning,  if 
we  m&y  judge  from  the  position  it  assumes  in  the  au- 
thorities ensuing.    Isl.  fyla^  res  rejecta. 


426 

David  at  that  while  -was  with  Edward  the  kyng, 
Zit  avanced  he  that^  untille  a  faire  thing. 

R.  OF  Brunne* 
Philip  the  Valas  was  afile. 
He  fled^  and  durst  noght  tak  his  dole, 

Mmor's  Poems,  p.  31. 
Sir  Philip  was  firnden  a^fe. 

id.  p.  36. 

Filly,  «.  a  mare  oolt,  metaphorically  applied  to  a  yomig 
female.  C.  Brit,  ffilog ;  Hebr.  phUlegeshy  (Davies.) 
Germ,  fullein ;  A.  Sax.  Swed.  fola ;  Franc.  fuUn ; 
Alam.  wfo;  M.  Goth,  fuia ;  Id.  fyl;  Belg.  «^fe», 
hinnulus. 

FiNAGUE,  V.  to  omit  or  cease  playing  trumps.  Ex.  ^^He'^s 
Jmagued  shute,^"  (suit).  In  spite  of  this  peculiar  speci- 
men of  card  table  concinuity,  I  am  disposed  to  think 
that  the  word  comes  from  the  Fr.  Jmer^  to  which 
amongst  other  meanings,  Roquefort  assigns  those  of 
mowrir  and  cesser. 

FissEs,  8.  fists.  Ex.  '^  Thire  inna  mainy  as  bin  a  gween 
to  lick  our  Tummus,  a  young  springy,  lissom  chap, 
hondles  his  Jmes  mighty  prittily.^'' 

FiTCHUK,  «.  a  pole  cat.     Ex.  ^^Yo  stinken  wus   nor  a 
fitchuk^     Fr.  fissau.     Fitehetio^  seems  to  be  legitimate. 
(See  Othello,  iv.  1.     Troilus  and  Cressida,  v.  1.) 
And  make  ye  fight  like.^cAo^. 

BONDUCA. 

FiTCHUK  Pie,  s.  an  unsavoury  compound  of  bacon,  apples, 
and  onions ;  by  labouring  men  it  is  considered  a  dainty 
kind  of  pie,  but  it  smells  rank  unto  the  senses  of 
those  who  are  habituated  to  delicate  feeding.  Surely 
some  ill-natured  Apician  conceived  its  name  from  those 
offensive  odours  which  are  emitted  by  the  Pole  Gat. 
The  pie  is  not  confined  to  us,  being  made  in  Cheshire 
and  Staffordshire. 

Fix,  «.  a  Iamb  yeaned  dead. 

Fizz,  «•  to  make  a  hissing  noise,  as  any  feAnented 
liquor.       C.   Brit,  ffysg^   haste.      Forby  has  Isl.  fisa^ 


426 

flibilftre,  bat  Haldonon  only  recognisefl  fifUL,  flare,  and 
fy%^  flatus. 

Flakk,  Fletkk,  f.  1.  a  hurdle.  2.  the  moveable  gate 
of  a  temporary  enclosure.  5.  the  lower  part  of  a  bam 
door.  S.  Ooth.  \A,  jiake^  gerra.  Teut.  Belg.  tiachU; 
Sicamb.  fleckte^  crates. 

Flanob,  $.  a  projection,  an  obtruding  part  of  any  ma- 
chine. 

Flange  out,  «.  to  bulge,   swell,  or  diverge. 

Flannbn,  «.  Some  people  will  call  this  a  vulgarism  for 
JkuMidi  but  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  the  C.  Brit. 
gtelanm^  sanctions  the  local  termination.  Certainly  tw 
have  greater  privilege  to  call  it  thus,  than  those  who  are 
indebted  to  us  both  for  the  original  term,  and  as  it  were, 
for  the  article  itself.     Swed.  flaneU^  texti  lanei  genus. 

Flarb^  $,  fat  round  the  kidney  of  a  pig,  *pig^s  leaf.^ 

Flash,  ».  a  title  given  to  a  part  of  the  Severn  above 
the  town  of  Shrewsbury,  which  forming  a  kind  of 
lake,  probably  is  derived  from  the  Teut.  ptaseh^  palus. 

Flat,  ckIj.     1.  sorrowful,  out  of  spirits.     Ex.  ''Looking 

Jkar  S.  Goth.  Jka,  subtrfstis.  2.  heavy.  Ex.  "  A;W 
market,^  one  upon  which  no  sales  are  effected. 

Flatrone,  ».  a  measure  of  iron-stone  which  takes  its 
name  from  its  form. 

Flat,  «.  to  pare  turf  from  the  surface  of  meadow 
land,  by.  means  of  a  breast  plough.  Dan.  fiagtr; 
Teut.  Belg.  Fland.  flam ;  A.  Sax.  /han,  excoriare. 

Fled,  part,  past;  1.  flew.  Ex.  ^^Fhd  across  the  road."" 
2.  either  ''taken  by  the  fly,^  or  'dashed^  by  the  son 
and  wet  weather.  In  the  former  instance  they  say, 
««the  tormits  bin  Jledr  "the  wheats  Jhd.''  In  the 
latter,  "  the  cullur  uv  her  gownd's  JM  /^  "  the  rick- 
lisses   (auriculas)   shewden   kindly  like,   but  a  bin  all 

/led  since  the  wets  a  common.'*^ 

Flee,  s^  a  fly.  Ex.  "  I  conna  tell  ^  said  a  poor  per- 
son one  day  to  a  friend   of  the   author^s,    "whadivir 


427 
yo  msBen,  for  yo  oaUen  fieet,  fin;  and  fitn^  yo  oallen 

Flbm,  «.  a  mill  strettm,  or  more  oorreotiy  defining  the 
tenn,  water  which  comes  from  the  main  stream  down 
to  the  mill.  Frequentlj  used  for  a  river  in  the  early 
poets.  Wiclif  has  the  word  in  his  translation  of  the 
New  Testament.  ^^And  thei  weren  baptisid  of  him  in 
the  finm  Jordon.^^  A.  Sax.  fimn ;  flumen.  Isl;  Jhm^ 
torrens. 

Flem,  f.  a  strong  lancet  used  for  bleeding  horses.  Teut. 
vUeme^  scalpellum.  Bret.  Arm.  Jlem^  aouleus.  C.  Brit. 
fflaimy  a  lancet. 

Flkr.  f.  fleas.  The  A.  Sax.  pi.  o(  Jlea^  phlex.  Ex. 
"A  hous'U  o'Jlenr 

Hast  thou  hadfleen  al  night  or  art  thou  dronke? 

MandjOeSy  Proi.  y.  16096. 

FuNDBBS,  f.  small  pieces.  Ex.  ^^Fled  all  to  flind&n.'" 
S.  Goth.  Swed.  JUnga^  frustum.     Fr.  /endan ;  Roquef. 

He's  taen  the  table  wi'  his  foot, 

Sae  has  he  wi'  his  knee; 
Till  siller  cup  and  'maeer  dish 
In  JUndert  Be  gard  flee. 

GiiMoHee,T.95. 
The  bow  in  JlenderU  flew. 

Chrigfi  Kirk  on  the  Grem, 
That  his  bow  and  his  broad  arrow 
Id.  JUnderg  flew  about. 

Robin  Hood.    Rrrtoif's  Edit.  toL  i.  p.  101; 

FuNO,  $.  unimpeded  gratification.      Ex.   ^^  FU  tak  ray 

JUnff  at  it  for  onst.^ 
FuNo,  V.  to  baffle,  disappoint,  deceive.    Bx.  '^  He  thought 

to  ha*  fun  me,  but  I  flung  him.*** 
Flint  Coal,  s,  a.  coal  measure   so  called,  partly  from 

its  hardness,  and  partly  from  reposing  upon  a  riliceous 

rook. 
Fur,   9.     1.   to  remove,   migrate.      Ex.   "Thire  gwuz 

somebody  a  flitting   wie  their  goodies  and  fiimitude.'" 

d.  to  leave  work  unfinished.     Ex.   ''  Flitted  his  job."* 

**  FUtted  the  pit.^     These  two  last  meanings  are  mam- 


4.28 


festly  perveraionB.  The  first,  however,  is  generally  pre- 
valent in  Staffordshire,  Cheshire,  Norfolk,  Northamber- 
land,  Hallamshire,  Lancashire,  and  is  traceable  from 
the  period  of  our  Shropshire  Satirist  through  Chaucer, 
Spenser,  Fairfax,  &c.,  down  to  the  present  time. 
Promp.  Parv.  flitten^  or  remewn  away.  S.  Goth.  ftytkLy 
transportare  ab  uno  loco  ad  alterum.  Isl.  flytic^  ve- 
here.     Swed.  flytta ;  Dan.  flytter^  migrare. 

And  JUttynge  fond  ich  the  freie. 

Piers  Ploubman,  p.  202. 
Fer  might  thai  noghi  flit. 

Minot's  Poemsy  p.  46. 
Lat  newefangylnes  the  plese 
Oftyn  to  remewe  nor  to  flyt. 

Ritson's  And.  Pop.  Poet.  p.  85. 
Promitting^  hot  flitting. 

MoxT  GO  meet's  Cherry  and  the  Sloe,  St  108. 
Hou  we  binAe  fliften, 
Ant  togedere  smiten. 

Geste  op  Kyno  Horn,  y.  865. 
And  whan  it  faileth,  he  woUflii, 

ROMAUVT  OF  the  RoBE. 

So  Bore  it  sticked  when  I  was  hit, 
That  hy  no  crafty  I  might  it  flit. 

id.  and  also  Troil.  and  Creee.  v.  1543. 
Forthwith  her  ghost  out  of  her  corps  did  flit. 

AetropheL  177. 
FuTCHEN,  8.  a  flitch  of  bacon.     A.  Sax.  Jlicce^  succidia. 
Float,  v.  to  irrigate,  cut  gutters  by  which  water  may 
be  conveyed  over  meadow  land.     This  is  not  a  wrested 
application  of  the  common  verb  neuter  which  has  cog- 
nate synonyms  in  the  A.  Sax.  fiotan;    Teut.  flatten; 
Isl.  Jlota;    Oerm.  Jhtter ;    Belg.   vKeten^   fluitare,   but 
derived  from  the  Swed.  Jlatta^  pingui  fluido  imbuere. 
Floating  Shovel,  8.  a  shovel  used  for  cutting  turf. 
Flop,  ach.  quickly,  entirely,  smartly.     A  vulgarism  ex- 
pressing a   fall   or   blow  which  has  happened  without 
any   let    or  hindrance.      Teut.   vloeSy   brevissima  pars 
temporis.    (See  Souse.) 
Flue,  Fluke,  8.  a  lancet  used  for  letting  blood    from 
horses.     Swed.  Isl.  flyta ;   Teut.  rloedeny  fluere. 


429 

Fluff,  f.  down,  or  any  light  flying  particles  of  a  gos- 
samer  like   nature.      Ex.   ''A    coat   is  covered  with 

fluff  when  it  has  lain  on  the  top  of  a  bed,"''  and 
with  "-^ihiz  tcool'^  when  it  has  fallen  underneath.  A. 
Sax.  floh ;  C.  Brit,  ffloehen  (hence  a  flock  bed !)  frag- 
men. 

Flusk,  Fluke,  s.  a  flounder.     A.   Sax.  ,/fo<;,  passer. 

Ts  fell  thee  like  ikfluike,  flaUiiiffs  on  the  fiure. 

MoK  TOO  meat's  Flyting. 

Flummery,  «.  1.  blanc  mange.  2.  furmity.  The  latter 
dish  is  rarely  made  at  Shropshire  farm  houses,  though 
constituting  a  principal  part  of  the  food  at  supper  of 
our  neighbours  the  Welsh.  Fr.  fowrmentei^  frimnenie. 
Lat.  frumentum. 

Flummery  Hulls,  «.  the  skin  of  oats  prepared  for 
making  flvmmery. 

Flummox,  9.  to  cheat,  outwit.  Ex.  *'*' Fhmmoxed  him 
ye  sin.*"     A  low  word. 

Flush,  s.  an  increase  of  water  in  the  river  Severn,  not 
so  large  a  quantity  as  a  flood.  A  bargeman'^s  word. 
Ex.  "Now  the  flush  is  come  we'en  be  off  i^  th' 
ownder.*"  Sometimes  adjectively.  Ex.  "The  Sivim'^s 
(Severn  is)  pretty  flush.'^  Teut.  fluysen^  meare  cum 
impetu.  Belg.  fluygen ;  Swed.  flyta ;  Dan.  flyder;  Isl. 
flyta,  fluere. 

Flush,  adj.  1.  strong  in  the  pocket.  Ex.  "^wA  o^ 
the  ready.*"  Promp.  Parv.  Floushen^  floreo.  Shaks- 
peare  has  "  As  flush  as  May.**"  2.  even.  Ex.  "  Now 
us  bin  flmh.^  3.  fledged.  Ex.  "  Tak  em  when  a  bin 
flmhP     Teut.  vlugghen^  plumescere. 

Flusker,  «.  to  be  confused,  giddy,  stupified.  Ex. 
"  Meetily  flmkeid^''     A  depravation  of  fluster. 

FocED,  fart,  past;  of  verb  to  force,  the  r  as  is  usual, 
being  omitted.     Ex.  "  I  was  faced  to  goa."*"* 

Foggy,  adj.  A  horse  is  sidd  to  be  foggy ^  when  for  a 
time  having  been  fed  upon  grass,    he  has  grown  dull 


430 

•nd  gtupid.  Jamieflon  quotes  an  author  who  talks 
about  the  ''  dull  jadde  of  my  f aggie  flesh.''  WiU  the 
Teut.  ixMytfT,  pabulum,  account  for  the  adoption  of  this 
word!  k  it  tralatitious !  metaphorically  taken  from 
foggy-,  heavy  weather!  or  identified  with  Ray's  North- 
em  word,  Fogi  Lat.  Fogagiwn^  which  means  coarse 
grass.     Palsgrave ;  foggy  too  full  of  waste  flesshe. 

FoiN,  adj,  fine,  tawdiy.  Ex.  '^  How  meety  foin  yo 
bin  growed !"  and  "  Draw  it  fwn^  an  address  to  a 
person  who  is  exaggerating. 

Follow,  s.  a  fallow. 

Foot  it;  Fut  it,  «?.   to   dance.     Ex.   **Wun  'e  f%t  it 

wi'  me  a  bitT 

Foot  U  featly  here  and  there. 

Tensest,  L  2. 

Foot  alb.  Footing,  f .  a  sum  of  money  exacted  firom 
a  young  workman,  by  his  companions  as  a  kind  of 
entrance  fee:  a  gratuity  which  a  labourer  demands 
from  his  superior  when  he  handles  his  tools.  On 
which  occasion  he  is  usually  addressed,  ^^Now  Sir, 
yo  mun  poy  your  fut  yals.^  Both  the  term  and  the 
practice  are  so  universal,  that  they  cannot  be  con- 
sidered dialectical. 

Foot  boat,  s,  a  boat  solely  used  for  transporting  foot 
passengers. 

FooTsoM,  8.  neat's  foot  oil.     (See  Neat's  foot.) 

FoRAT,  9.  to  hasten,  accelerate  in  growth.  Ex.  ^^Sich 
weather  as  this  ul  forai  the  quern." 

FoRAT,  adj.  and  adv.  1.  forward,  advanced.  Ex.  ^*'Forat 
in  his  book."  2.  adverbially;  onwards,  before.  Ex. 
"  Hie  thee  forat  lad."  Swed.  find,  ante.  (See  re- 
marks under  Oerts.) 

FoRATisH,  adj.  forward,  early.  Ex.  ^^The  inins  and 
garrats  looken  faroHsh.^  (the  onions  and  carrots.) 

FoRDER,  FuRDER,  odf.  farther.  Ex.  *^  Yo  men  (meggh- 
ten,  might,  may)   goa  furder  and  far   (fare)  wusser.'* 


431 

An  archaieal  expreseion  which  receives  sanction  for 
using  it,  from  tiie  Early  English  Poets,  as  well  as 
from  a  direct  uid  certain  etymon.  Germ,  fwrder; 
A.  Sax.  forthar ;  Franc,  fwrdir ;  Teut.  toarder^  longius. 
Hy  ne  thexst  her  brynge  fi^rder  est. 

Oct  A  VI AK  iMPEEAToii,  Y.  286. 

FoBOEB,  FuBDER,  «.  to  promotc,  help.  The  original 
orthography  of  our  modem  word  to  further.  Teut. 
voarderen ;  Oerm.  fwrderen ;  Belg.  9orderen ;  Franc. 
Alam.  /ardaron;  Swed.  be/ardra;  A.  Sax.  /orthriany 
promovere. 

Forecast,  8.  forethought.  Ex.  ^^Poor  John,  like  many 
other  servants,  has  no  fatecatt^  and  thus  his  work  gets 
into  confiision.^^ 

Forecast,  9.  to  project,  plan  beforehand. 

FoBXDALE,  ».  a  pudding  of  a  cow  towards  the  throat, 
the  same  as  the  farthing  hag.  My  informant  declares, 
to  repeat  his  own  words,  that  ^'if  a  bin^  (that  is 
the  *bwes')  "bwon  i'  th^  farthing  lag  its  present 
dheath  to  ^em,**^  and  upon  my  requesting  more  specific 
and  intelligible  information  he  replies,  ^^bwon  i^  th' 
fardale^''  These  phrases  have  been  subsequently  re- 
peated by  others.  To  me  the  interpretation  is,  I 
confess,  ignotum  per  ignotius,  perhaps  my  reader  will 
understand  them  better. 

Fore-end,  «.  pronounced  forrand:  1.  the  front.  2.  the 
breast,  neck  or  shoulder  of  female  or  beast.  Ex. 
"Comes  up  well  i**  th**  forrand,^ 

Form,  Fourm,  8,  the  bed   or  seat  of  a  hare. 

Thise  wedded  men^  that  lie  and  dare 
As  in  tkfimrme  setteth  on  every  hare. 

SMpmans  Tale. 

Foul,  adj.  the  former  compound  of  several  vituperative 

epithets,  as  frnd-mouthed^  fhut-imgwed^  f(ml-8pokeny  &c., 

&C.,    with   a   variety    of   other  foul   words   which,    as 

Shakspeare  says,   "  are  but  fmd  wind,  and  foul  wind 

is    but  fotd    breath,    and    foul    breath    is    noisome.'*'' 


432 

Ex.  '^  H^8  got  sich  a  fovl4(mgus^  &  aggravaits  yo  so,  h^s 

for  ivir  a  ninnin   agen  you;   an  a   dunna  spaik  like 

the  folks  r  our  country,  h^B  a  shommaking  chap,  oerts 

aa  a  bin  wi^  us."'' 

Founder,    v.   to   maintain,    support,    provide  for.     Ex. 

^'^^  Founder  for  a  family.*^     A  modermsed  shape  of  the 

old  verb  found  which  appears  below. 

There  lay  an  old  wvfc  in  that  plaoe^ 
A  lytte  besyde  the  tyrt, 
Whych  Wyllyam  had  fiund  of  cheiytye^ 
More  than  seven  yere. 

Adam  Bsll,  y.  69. 

Four  o^clock,  «.  a  lunch  or  bait  taken  by  labourers  at 
this  hour  in  the  harvest.  Ex.  ^^  When  ^e  getten  in 
the   harrast  they  han  mwostly  a  four  o'clock.^ 

Frame,    v,  to  talk   in   a  studied    way.      When   people 

frame  their  words,  it  may  justly  be  suspected  that 
there  is  some  evil  feeling  lurldng  in  their  minds,  which 
they  are  fearful  of  disclosing.  Guildenstem  bids  Ham- 
let "  put  his  discourse  into  some  framed 

Frank,  8.  a  very  broad  iron  fork,  having  eight  or  nine 
teeth,  used  for  loading  cokes  or  coals.  Very  local. 
Isl.  prion,  filum  ferreum.  B.  Bret,  frankighel^  outil  de 
laboureur. 

Free-spoken,  adj.  affable,  condescending.  Ex.  ^'Hers' 
a  meety  free-spoken  lady.'*'  This  qualification  will  al- 
ways recommend  those  of  a  higher  rank  in  life  to 
their  inferiors.  I  question  whether  with  us,  a  popu- 
larity hunter  would  better  accomplish  his  object,  than 
by  conversing  unaffectedly  and  courteously  with  "pore 
commune  people.**'  They  are  sensibly  touched  by  the 
imaginary  honor,  and  seldom  fail,  when  mentioning 
the  virtues  of  their  superiors,  to  recount  this  as  a 
feature  in  their  character  entitled  to  their  regard  and 
praise. 

Freeten,  Fritten,  f?.  to  terrify.     Or.  (pfHrreiv ;  A.  Sax. 

frihta/n,  horrescere. 


433 


Frbsh,  adj.  The  precise  meaning  this  adjective  has 
obtained  with  us  is  clearly  described  in  that  very 
lively  poem  entitled  the  ExdUatio  Aim,  a  production 
worth  reading  by  every  lover  of  malt  liquor;  See  it 
in  Ritson's  Collection  of  English  Songs,  vol.  ii.  p.  6S. 
Not  drunken^  nor  sober,  but  neighbour  to  both. 

Fresh,  «.  here  the  preceding  word  is  changed  into  a 
substantive,  unless  we  suppose  it  an  elliptical  form 
of  speaking,  the  word  supply  being  understood.  Ex. 
"  There^s  a  fre^  in  the  river  f  that  is,  an  accession 
of  water  from  the  upper  country.  The  term  has  been 
commented  upon  as  local  by  various  authors,  (See 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Rees'  Cyclopedia,  &c.)  which 
leads  me  to  think  it  has  no  claims  whatever  to  be 
called  local  or  dialectical.  Teut.  frisch ;  A.  Sax.  ferse; 
Arm.  fresc;  Swed.  fersk ;  Belg.  versch;  Fr.  /rats; 
It.  friscoy  recens.     Lat.  mreseo. 

Fresh  Drink,  s,  small  beer. 

Frith,  s.  a  name  belonging  to  different  places  in  the 
county  of  Salop.  The  etymology  points  out  the  ori- 
ginal meaning  which  signifies  a  wood,  or  land  enclosed 
from  a  mountain  or  forest.  C.  Brit,  ffrith^  ffindd^  a 
woodland.     Ir.  frith^  a  wood. 

In  toun,  in  feld,  inyh'M  and  fen. 

Minot's  Poems,  p.  9. 

In  A  frith  i  iknd  a  stretc. 

Gioaine  and  Gawin,  v.  169. 

By  forest,  fi^h  or  fauld. 

Robyn  and  Mahfne,  v.  96. 

Frommet,  adv.  from ;  abbreviated  from  from  towards, 
Ex.  "  Comes  frommet  Lungunnus.'"*  (i.  e.  Clungunford.) 

Frost-cetchen,  adj,  frost-bitten. 

Frostt  nails,  8,  nails  of  a  somewhat  different  kind  to 
those  ordinarily  put  in  horses^  shoes,  which  from  having 
their  heads  filed  sharp,  prevent  the  beasts  from  slip- 
ping in  frosty  weather. 


434 

Frowsy,    adj.    ill   savoured  and  fusty,    ill    looking    and 

dirty.     Ex.  "  Miss  O.  was  but  frowsy  this  morning.'' 
Fbum,  iidf,   forward:   an    epithet  applied    to   grain    or 

vegetables  when  they  are  early  or  look  kindly.     Ex. 

''Frum  peas.''     ''Frtm  to'ert  the  Ryelands."     Tent. 

women;    Oerm.  frommen^   profioere.      From   whatever 

language  we  derive  this  very  conomonly  received  word, 

the  root  must  be  resolved  into  the   M.  Ooth.  frm^ 

primus ;  frmna^  principium  tam  ordinis  quam  originis. 

Hence  the  kindred  terms  in  the  Ld.  firurn^  primitisB : 
frunucuBta^  maturus.      Oerm.  fromme ;    A.   Sax.  froim^ 

prsestans:  frum^  principium;  and  frtmy  handsome,  new, 

as  used  in  Northamptonshire. 
Frump,    v.    to    coin,    invent.      Ex.    '^  Frwnped  up    a 

story." 

Fry,  8.  young  children.     Isl.  /rio,  fre^  semen. 
FuKE,  «.   1.  a  lock  of  hair  which  hangs  down  between 

the  ears  of  a  horse.    2.  a  lock  of  hair,  generally.  C.  Biii. 

fflufJDch^  a  bush  of  hair.     A.  Sax.  /mut,  oaesaries.     Ray. 
Full,  adv.  quite,  entirely,  every  way.     "  This'ns  fM  as 

good   as   his'n."      '^  FuU  as   nigh,"   pronounced  short 

and  sharp,  like  dull;   and  iuU  on  the  other  hand  is 

sounded  long  and  soft,  like  fool. 
Fullaring,  8.  a  groove  into  which  the  nails  of  a  horse's 

shoe  are  inserted. 
FuLLOcK,  V.  to  advance  the  hand  unfairly.     A  term  used 

by  boys  at  marble.     It  is  not  illegitimate,  or  capricious, 

seeing   that    the    same    word   prevails    in   the    North, 

(See   Crav.  Gloss.)   but  whence  derived  I   know  not. 

I    do  not  think  the  passage  in   P.   Plouhman   bears 

our  meaning. 

And  ryght  JuUokeit  a  lelyk. 

v.  985. 

FuMK,  V.  to  become  inflamed,  bum.     Ex.   ^'  My  hand 

/ume8  very  bad,"  says  a  patient   to  the  doctor.     C. 

Brit,  frommiy  to  grow  angry.     Fr.  fumer. 


435 


Like  boyling  liquor  in  a  seething  pot^ 

That  Jutneth,  swelleth  high  and  bnhhleth  fast. 

Fairfax's  Ta99o,  viiL  74. 

Fun,  Fund,  per/,  and  part,  past ;  of  verb  to  /nrf,  which 
according  to  Etymological  affinity  it  properly  becomes. 
Id.  Swed.  Jinna ;  Dan.  Jmder ;  Germ,  finden ;  Teut. 
vinden ;  A.  Sax.  findan^  invenire ;  which  respectively 
become  Dan.  A.  Sax.  fundm ;  Isl.  fwndiun ;  Swed. 
funneuy  inventus.  We  hear  a  man  say  sometimes  that 
his  late  master  ^*'fwn  him  in  mate  and  drink.^  Or, 
the  question  being  asked  if  a  thing  is  lost,  ^^  Han^e  fun 
^him'  yetr  the  usual  answer  is,  ^'Noa  I  haxa\&  fiMd 
him.'"  As  might  be  expected  these  forms  are  of  con- 
tinual recurrence  in  the  Early  English  Poets. 

When  thai  haAfanden  that  man  unkowth. 

The  Seuyn  Sages,  y.  9835, 3869. 

For  all  was  Junden  that  he  had  soght. 

Minot's  Poems,  p.  36. 

FuNNT,  adj.  a  certain  degree  of  inebriety  which  just 
stops  short  of  positive  stupidity,  something  half  way 
between  fooleiy  and  beastiality. 

FuBDST,  superl.  of  farther.     Teut.  voordete^  ultimus. 

FuRM,  FouRM,  8,  a  form  or  bench.  Fr.  /ourtne.  B. 
Bret,  faurm. 

FussocKY,  adf.  an  epithet  of  reproachful  tendency  for  a 
huge,  inodorous  old  woman. 

FuTRiT,  8,  an  horizontal  shaft,  or  way  used  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Ironbridge ;  sometimes  called  a  footright^ 
quasi  foci  tread^  a  road  along  which  men,  and  not 
horses,  draw  ^^fire  clay^**  or  coal  firom  the  work.  Isl. 
fit'tred^  conculcare. 

Fuzz-ball,  s.  brown  fungi  which  emit  dust  when  touched. 
Lyeoperdon  BovisUB^  Linn. 


28-a 


is  often  omitted  in  words  where  it  is 
followed  by  A,  as  itheelriht,  for  wheel- 
wright, upriht^  for  upright,  strenth, 
for  strength,  lerUh  for  length,  &c.  &c. 

Ac,  by  strenthe  no  by  gynne. 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  y.  1219. 
Therefore  mak  thou  streyn^  now. 

W.  V.  3112.  flnrfv.  3387. 
He  hadde  in  kynthe  ten  grete  feet. 

id.  V.  6818. 

And  in  names  of  places  always  left  out,  as  Wellinton, 

DoRRiNTON,  LoppiNTON,  for  Wellington^  Dorrington^  Lap- 

pington.     Sometimes  when  preceded  by  «,  the  n  and  g 

take  the  sound  of  double  ^,   as  Carditton,   Uppitton, 

Berritton,  Coomitton,  &c.,   for  Cardington^    UppingUmj 

Berrington^  Culmington,  &c. 

Gab,  8.    1 .  small  talk,  fluent  utterance  of  nonsense.     Ex. 

"  The  gift  of  the  gab^     Neither  the  accomplishment  or 

the  phrase  seem  peculiar  to  Salopians.   The  next  word 

may  be.    2.  the  mouth.     Ex.  "  Hand  you  gab^ 

He  dighted  his  gab,  and  he  prie'd  her  mow. 

MuiRLAND  Willie. 

Gab,  v.  to  prate.  Ex.  "  He'*s  a  sort  o'  mon  ye  sin  as 
is  always  a-gabbing  about  other  folk's  business,  oVrts 
a-minding  his  own.""    BuUokar. 


437 

I  gabbe  not,  so  have  I  ioye  and  blis. 

Nonnes  Prewte's  Tak,  v.  15072. 

Or  of  Chcsshyre,  or  elles  nygh  Comewall, 
Or  where  they  lyst,  for  to  gabbe  and  rayle. 

Hye  way  to  the  SpytteU  Hous,  v.  254. 

Nae  daffin,  nae  gabbin,  but  sighing  and  sabbing. 

Floddm  Field,  (Herd's  Coileciion.) 

Gabber,  v.  1.  to  talk  foolishly  or  at  random,  to  utter  un- 
intelligible sounds.  It  is  said  that  a  monkey  gahbers^ 
when  he  chatters;  an  individual  gabbers^  when  he  talks 
fast,  and  incoherently.  Isl.  gahba;  Teut.  Belg.  gahbe" 
ren;  Ital.  gabbare;  Ft.  gaber ;  A.  Sax.  gabban^  nugari. 

Gaby,  Gawby,  s,  a  foolish,  idiotic  fellow.  Ex.  "  He  is 
sich  a  gaby!^     Isl.  gapi^  homo  fatuus. 

Gad,  u.  to  aflRx,  fasten.  Ex.  "  Gad  it  to,'"  chiefly  with 
reference  to  iron-work.     Isl.  gadda,  figere. 

Gadnail,  8.  a  long  and  stout  nail  used  chiefly  in  fastening 
posts  and  rails.      Isl.  gaddr^  clavus. 

Gaff,  8,  a  kind  of  hoe,  occasionally  termed  a  iaff.  (See 
sub  Kqf.)  Isl.  gaffaU;  Dan.  Belg.  Lapp.  Teut.  Swed. 
gaffel;  Germ,  gabd;  Lat.  gabalm^  furca.  A.  Sax.  gaflar^ 
furcse. 

Gaffer^  8.  a  superintendant,  overlooker,  head  workman, 
leader  of  a  band  of  reapers.  A.  Sax.  gefera^  .v^cius. 
Belg.  gaffel^  contubemium. 

Gain,  ctdj.  1.  suitable,  convenient,  profitable,  easy:  it  is 
most  generally  taken  in  a  comparative  or  superlative 
sense.  Ex.  "  It's  a  power  gainer  o  thisns."*^  2.  near, 
contiguous.  Ex.  "  The  gainest  road  by  odds.**^  Both 
senses  occur  in  BuUokar.  The  latter  instance  is  more 
frequent.  I  feel  disposed  to  think  this  is  not  an  arbi- 
trary application  of  the  lower  classes,  but  unconsciously, 
it  is  true,  yet  legitimately  deducible  from  the  cognate 
tongues.  Isl.  ganga  ;  A.  Sax.  Franc.  Belg.  Germ,  gan ; 
Alaman.  kan;  Gr.  /cicii;;  Swed.  jri ;  Dan.  gaa;  Teut. 
g(Mn^  ire:  and  this  presumption  becomes  strengthened  by 
the  following  authorities : 


488 

To  a  bath  gan  him  lede, 
Fvlgayn. 

Sir  Tristrem,  J^lftie,  iL  4D. 
Ye  ar  the  jftUneH  gate,  and  gyde^  to  God. 

PrwU  qf  PdfHi. 

Gaint  Coal,  ».  a  ooal  measure  bearing  this  title  at 
Broflely  oorrespondB  with  the  SiUrCoal  in  the  Lightmoor 

field.     A  collier  infomus  the  writer  that  ^'Mr  

wonat  got  it,  but  it  lee  him  in  eliven  shilling  a  ton  afore 
he  knocked  it  off.^^ 

Gall,  v.  1.  to  hurt  by  pressure  or  friction.     Ex.  "  GaUed 

by  the  tightness  of  the  collar.'"     Hence  the  seoondaiy 

meaning;  2.  to  suffer  from  vexation,  be  crossed.     Ex. 

"  Terribly  gaUed  when  I  told  him.'' 

Howeyer  this  may  gaU  him  with  some  check. 

OthOh,  L  1. 

A.  Sax.  geaUatiy  intertrigare.  Ir.  gaiUim,  kedere.  Fr. 
gaUer. 

Gall,  «.  The  bitterness  of  this  liquid,  or  more  correctly 
speaking  viscous  substance,  is  universally  proverbial: 
whether  the  simile  of  '^as  yellow  as  gaW^  be  so  I  am 
uncertain.  A  term  more  expressive  of  color,  etymologi- 
cally  viewed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  A  striking 
congruity  exists  between  the  substantive  and  adjective. 
The  latter  evidently  taking  its  origin  from  the  former, 
and  retaining  nearly  the  same  sound  with  the  substantive 
in  the  respective  languages  below.  Isl.  Belg.  gall ;  Swed. 
Franc-Theot.  Ital.  galla;  Dan.  galds;  Teut.  Oerm.  A. 
Sax.  Fr.  galle ;  Sp.  gaUia ;  Lat.  gaUa^  fel.  Whilst  the 
adjective  becomes  in  Isl.  gviur;  Swed.  guU;  Teut.  gaUe; 
Belg.  jr«^,  gheluwe ;  Dan.  ^ui^,*  A.  Sax.  ^eo^^tr;  Germ. 
gdb;  Ital.  gicdlo ;  Sp.  galde;  Fr.  jaune^  jaulne ;  Lat. 
flatus.  From  these  synonyms  the  reputed  vulgarisms 
YeUer  (Isl.  gulur)  and  YaJloto  (Ital.  giallo ;  Teut.  galUt 
&c.)  with  the  old  English  TalUnJo^  receive  counte- 
nance. 

Al  80  yattow  as  ony  gold. 

Kriro  Alisaukder^  v.  6469. 


439 


Gallimaufrbt,  f .  a  rank  compound  of  weekly  scraps  which 
may  be  enumerated  among  school  boys'*  fare.  Fr.  gaU- 
mafriey  sorte  de  hachis  de  haiU-guSt  Minsheu  gives  a 
curious  account  of  the  dish,  sub  voce.  Bullokar  de- 
scribes it  as  '^  a  confused  mixture  of  several  things,  a 
mingle  mangle,  hotch  potch,  mishmash.'"  Nares,  Coles, 
Shakspeare. 

Gallows,  Oallous,  adj.  applied  to  a  person  who  by  bad 

conduct  stands  a  fair  chance  of  reaching  one.   Ex.  ^^  He^s 

an  onlucky  gaUow  dog.*"    M.  Ooth.  gaiga;  A.  Sax.  galg; 

Dan.  Swed.  galge;  Isl.  galgi;  Belg.  gcUghe^  patibulum. 

Ay^  and  a  shrewd  unhappy  gaOowa  too. 

Laoe'9  Labour's  LoH,  v.  2. 

Gallowses,  «.  braces ;  are  they  termed  so  metaphorieaUg^ 
because  a  certain  part  of  men^s  attire  is  held  up  by  them! 

Gallt,  adj,  applied  to  wet  land,  and  consequently  such  as 
is  poor  and  sterile.  Ex.  ^^  Wet  and  gaUg^  and  wants 
draining.^  Isl.  (Verel.  in  Ind.)  gaU;  Swed.  Germ.  gaU^ 
sterilis,  infsecundus. 

Gambbil,  8.  1.  the  lower  part  of  a  horse^s  leg.  2.  a  stick 
used  by  butchers,  which  having  either  end  passed  through 
the  sinews  of  a  slaughtered  animal,  is  the  means  of 
supporting  it  from  the  ground.  3.  a  stick  placed  across 
the  inside  to  keep  open  the  carcase  of  the  slain.  Ital. 
gamha. 

Soon  crooks  the  tree  that  good  gambrel  would  be. 

Rat,  p.  93. 

Gambril,  9,  to  stretch  open  the  carcase  of  a  sheep  or 

other  animal  for  the  foregoing  purpose.    Nares. 

And  cany  you  gamMTd  thither  like  a  mutton. 

Nice  Valour,  iv.  1. 

Gamock,  8.  foolish  sport,  practical  jokes ;  it  may  be  refers 

able  to  the  succeeding. 
Gamon,  8.  nonsense.      Ex.    ^^  Lets  have  none  of   your 

gamon.'"    ^^  Houd  your  gamon,'*'*     2.  play,  pastime.     Ex. 

^^  Up  to  their  gamon.^     Isl.  gaman^  jocus.     A.   Sax« 

gamene^  Indus.     Swed.  gamman^  Isetitia. 


440 

Bot  gamenen  togedres,  and  eke  scoff. 

Kyko  Alisaunder,  v.  6461. 
And  that  thou  never  on  Eldridge  come 
To  sporte,  gamon,  or  play. 

Percy's  Reliques,  vol.  L  p.  47. 

Oandernoped,  cutj.  giddy,   thoughtless,  or  as  the  phrase 

goes,  "  a  goose." 
Gandy,  adj.  idly  disposed. 
Gap,   Gat,   «.    a   hole   in    a   fence,  part  broken    down, 

or  through.     Isl.   Teut.  Belg.  Swed.  gat ;   Germ,  pott, 

foramen,  hiatus.     M.  Goth,  gatanka^  ruptura.     Verel. 

in  Indie,  gap^  foramen  sepis,  per  quod  pecus  transire 

potest. 

And  led  'till  the  oop. 

Tournament  of  Tottenham^ 

Gauky,  Goky,  s,  a  term  of  contempt,  a  foolish,  rude, 
illbred  fellow.  lel.  gaukr,  arrogans  morio.  Com.  goky; 
Germ,  gattcl;  Swed.^ac^,  stultus.  Dan.  giei;  Alaman. 
goch;  Franc,  gouch,  stolidus. 

a  goky  he  is  yholden 
So  is  he  a  goky  by  that  in  the  godsj^l  &illeth. 

Pbrbs  Plouhman,  v.  221. 

Gowke,  wyt  mee  not  to  gar  thee  greit. 

Montgomery's  Flyting. 

Gaup,  v.  to  gape,  stare ;  pronounced  geaup,  Ex.  "  Whod 
dost  stond  thire  geauping  at?*"  "A  geauping  fool.^ 
Isl.  gapi;  Dan.  gahe;  Teut.  gaepen;  A.  Sax.  geapan; 
Verel.  in  Indie,  gapa ;  Swed.  gapa;  ^Ig.gaapen;  Germ. 
gaffeuy  hiare. 

•Gaut,  8.  a  barrow  pig.  S.  Goth.  gaUt ;  Isl.  gaUi ;  Dan. 
Swed.  galt^  majalis. 

6a WN,  8.  a  small  bucket  chiefly  used  in  brewing.     Ex. 

.  "  A  lading  gavm.^ 

Oaypole,  8.  a  piece  of  wood  which  goes  across  the  interior 
of  a  chimney,  upon  which  are  passed  chains,  to  hold  pots 
and  kettles  over  the  fire.  It  is  only  seen  in  old  houses, 
and  the  word  is  rapidly  becoming  extinct. 

Get,  8,  1.  stock,  breed.  Ex.  ''  All  that  hos'^s  get  bin  good 
uns.'^     2.  income,  receipt.     Ex.  "  A  man  of  poor  gei^ 


441 


Get,  v.  to  receive  chastisement.  Ex.  "  Yone  pet  it  lad 
when  yo  gwon  whdam.'^ 

Gib,  8.  a  piece  of  wood  about  ten  inches  long,  used  in 
supporting  the  roof  of  a  coal  mine. 

GiD,  perf.  of  give.  Ex.  "  I  nivir  gid  my  mind  to  sich 
nonsense.'*  Sometimes  en  final  is  added,  as  "  they 
giden^  for  they  gave. 

GiPFY,  8,  the  shortest  space  of  time.  Ex.  "  Done  in  a 
gijSyP     This  cannot  be  very  dialectical. 

Giggle,  t?.  to  titter.  Ex.  "  Laughing  and  giggling?^  It  is 
usually  applied  to  a  person  whose  manner  and  discourse 
are  light  and  foolish.  And  such  an  acceptation  strictly 
accords  with  its  etymon.  A.  Sax.  gega8^  gegas-sprasc^ 
nugatorius  sermo. 

GiLLORE,  adv,  plenty.  This  word  which  is  not  peculiar 
to  us  I  believe,  is  used  in  general,  at  the  end  of  a  sen- 
tence. Ex.  "  Have  you  any  besoms  ?  Yes,  Tve  besoms 
gilhrey     Irish,  gillore.    Grose. 

But  see  de  Tyrconnel  is  now  come  ashore^ 
And  we  shall  have  commission  giUore. 

Lilii  Burlero,  v.  32. 

Gilt,  8.  a  spayed  pig.     A.  Sax.  gilde ;  Isl.  Dan.  gaalte ; 

Dan.  gglt;  Germ,  gelze^  sucula.    Northamptonshire,  gilt. 
Gin,  per/,  of  verb  give.     Ex.  "  Whod'^s  he  gin  yo  V  for 

what  has  he  given  you. 
Gin,  8,  a  trap  or  snare  to  take  hares  or  rabbits.     As  a 

deceit,  plot,  or  engine  of  entrapment,  it  is  most  commou 

in  Chaucer  and  our  early  poets.     (Canterb.  Tales,  w. 

149^  34^,  446,   &c.  &c.)      And   in   his   Translation   of 

Boethius  we  read. 

Ye  ne  hyden  not  youre  ginnes  in  hie  moimtuns  to  catchen 
fyshe. 

Of  the  traytouTs  of  Scotland  that  take  beth  with  gynne. 

Ritson's  AfU,  Song,  p.  5. 

Neptanabus  byhalt  his  gynne. 

KyNO  AL1SA.UNDKR,  ▼.  607. 


442 

ThuB  berdes  been  maade  all  daye  full  feele 
With  anglen  and  other  gynnei  over  all. 

HAnTBBOBsrK's  Ant.  Metrical  Talei,  p.  119. 
My  gi/nne»,  my  japia,  I  will  reaigne. 

id.  p.  126. 

Gin,  9.  to  eiunare.     U.  ginni^  dedpere,  allicere. 

OiN,  t.  a  wooden  perpendicular  axle,  which  has  arms 
projecting  from  its  upper  part,  to  which  a  horse  is 
fastened.  A  common  mode  of  drawing  materials  out 
of  a  coal  pit  when  a  work  is  in  its  infancy.  Whence 
the  term  has  come  it  is  now  perhaps  impossible  to  say. 
Unless  its  origin  lies  hidden  in  the  word  engine.  We 
also  have  several  compounds  from  it,  as  ^^  going  in 
the  gin''^  when  a  horse  is  used  to  that  peculiar  labour, 
besides  some  other  words  that  follow. 

Ginger  hackled,  adj.  red  haired.  This  elegant  epithet  is 
chiefly  applied  to  the  softer  sex,     Grose. 

Gingerly,  adv.  lightly,  tenderly,  gently.  Ex.  '^  Gingerly^ 
as  if  you  were  treading  on  eggs.**^  This  must  not  be 
accounted  dialectical ;  yet  it  is  sufficiently  remarkable  to 
obtain  a  place  in  a  provincial  glossary,  one  of  whose 
principal  uses  seems  naturally  to  consist  in  recording  the 
extent  of  reception,  which  any  word  of  presumed  limited 
circulation,  has  obtained. 

GiN-HORSE,  8.  a  horse  accustomed  to  work  ^'  in  the  gin."^ 

GiNNT  RAILS,  8.  vtoxi  rails  along  which  small  wooden 
carriages  (ginny  carriages)  are  drawn,  laden  with  coal, 
ironnstone,  lime-stone,  or  other  mineral  products. 

GiNNT  Carriage,  s.  a  stout  wooden,  or  sometimes  iron 
carriage,  used  for  conveying  materials  along  a  rail  road. 

GiN-BiNG,  8.  the  circle  round  which  a  gin  horse  exercises 
his  daily  labour. 

Girder,  8.  a  blow.  Ex.  "  If  he  dunnod  baud  his  rackle, 
gie  him  a  girder  Thavie.'*''  This  is  not  the  vulgarism 
which  its  first  sound  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  Salo- 
pians, though  I  confess,  unconsciously,  yet  do  not  un- 
warrantably, give  it  utterance.     In  this  as  in  most  other 


443 


of  their  peculiaritiefi,  something  like  good  authority  can 
be  adduced.  A.  Sax.  gyrdan.  Besides  its  adoption  by 
our  early  poets,  Robert  Langland,  Sir  David  Lyndsay, 
Chauoer  and  others,  we  find  its  occurrence  in  the  follow- 
ing passages. 

A  gyrd  lycht  to  the  King  he  couth  maik. 

The  BaucE. 
Myd  gerden  to  his  naked  ruff. 

Robert  of  Gloucester. 
Men  of  all  sorta  take  a  pride  to  gird  at  me. 

2  Hen.  IV.  L  2. 

Gi88,  V.  to  guess.  Ex.  '^  Oiss  agen."^  How  or  when  did 
this  vowel  supplant  the  diphthong !  Have  not  the  vul- 
gar in  this  instance  retained  a  word  more  closely  in 
analogy  with  the  general  idiom  of  our  language,  than 
that  adopted  by  their  superiors!  Isl.  giska;  Swed. 
gism ;  Tout,  ghissen ;  Belg.  Germ,  gisaen ;  Dan.  gjCBtk; 
A.  Sax.  goftcm^  conjicere. 

OiT,  V.  for  get.     This  change  of  vowels  is  very  frequent. 

Give,  9.  1.  to  yield.  Ex.  ^'  The  ground  giws^  during 
a  thaw.  2.  to  abuse,  scold,  vituperate.  Ex.  ^'But^ 
(this  disjunctive  implies  retaliation)  ^'  I  gid  it  him.**^ 
As  much  as  to  say,  under  another  form  of  provincial- 
ism, ^^  I  gid  him  the  length  of  my  tongue.''^  The  gift 
itself  is  usually  understood  in  such  phrases,  as  ^^to 
gits  tongue,^  implies  to  give  utterance:  and  akin  to 
the  former  example,  '^I  gave  him  as  good  as  he 
brought,^  signifies  that  the  objurgation  was  satisfactory 
and  complete.  S.  to  chastise,  beat.  Ex.  ^'Thee  mind 
lad  if  I  duiina  gk  it  thee  when  thee  comst  whdam.'*^ 

GizzERN,  8.  the  gizzard.  Lat.  gigerium ;  Fr.  gener ;  the 
guiseme  of  a  bird.  Cotgrave.  Gysernb  of  fowles. 
Promp.  Pabv. 

Glat,  s.  an  opening  in  a  fence,  part  broken  down,  or 
destroyed.  Ex.  "A  stop-^fo^.""  "Any  thin  uU  dda 
to  stop  a  gka.'"  Isl.  glatan,  dispendiuin.  Teut.  Swed. 
gkUt,  planus.     (See  Gap.) 


444 


Olaverino,  part,  flattering.  Ex.  *^  A  gl^vering  and  slaver- 
ing fellow.'"  The  a  is  invariably  pronounced  broad. 
Junius  had  heard  each  of  these.  One  is  merely  by  a 
trifling  metathesis  the  same  as  the  other.  Glater  is 
one  of  the  singularly  few  words  which  we  have  ac- 
quired from  our  Cambrian  neighbours.  C.  Brit,  plafr, 
adulatio.  A.  Sax.  gliwan^  scurram  agere.  Lat.  glaber. 
Coles. 

And  begileth  hem  of  her  good  with  glauerynge  wordes. 

Pkres  Ploughman's  Cmfe. 
Ha !  now  he  glavert  with  his  fawning  snoute. 

Marston's  Scourge  of  Fillanie, 
Leave  glavering  on  him  in  the  peopled  presse. 

id. 
When  grand  Mspcenas  casts  a  glavering  eye. 

Hall's  Satires,  v.  1. 
Do  you  hear  stiff-toe,  give  him  warning  to  forsake  hia  saucy 
glauering  grace  and  his  goggle  eye. 

PoeUuter,  vL  4. 

Olemmy,  adj.  close,  damp,  muggy.  Ex.  *'  Glemmy  wea- 
ther.**^ Teut.  klam^  humidus.  Promp.  Parv.  Gleymen^ 
visco ;  and    Gloytnotu,  viscosus. 

Gloppen,  v.  to  alarm  ;  to  feel  astonished ;  to  be  igno- 
rantly  surprised.  Ex.  "  Welly  gl4>ppened  when  I  seed 
him.**'  A  word  found  by  me  hitherto  only  in  the 
mouths  of  persons  living  on  the  North  side  of  the 
county.  It  comes  to  us  I  suspect  from  Cheshire,  and 
being  (in  part)  the  property  of  that  county,  it  has 
not  escaped  the  notice  of  my  late  highly  valued  friend 
Mr  Wilbraham.  Verel.  in  Ind.  glapa,  intentis  oculis 
adspicere.  Isl.  glapi^  intuere.  Germ,  glupen,  oculos 
vultumque  demittere.     S.   Goth,  glop^   fatuus. 

It  zellede,  it  zamede  with  vengeance  full  wete; 

And  saide,  aftre  syghande  full  sare, 

I  am  the  body  that  the  bare, 

Alias  !  now  kyndyls  my  kare^ 
I  gloppyn  and  I  grete.' 

The  AunUyrs  qff'  Arthure. 

Thane  gloppengde,  and  grett,  dame  Gaynoure  the  gay. 

id. 


445 


Gob,  8.  1.  the  mouth.  Ex.  "Shut  your  gob,'''*  Irish, 
gob;  Fr.  gobe.  Sir  D.  Lyndsay,  Ray.  Gobstiek^  a 
spoon ;  North  country.  And  seoondarily  transferred 
to  what  issues  therefrom,  as,  2.  talk,  nonsense,  ex- 
pectoration. Ex.  "Stop  your  ^o6."  Or,  3.  what  may 
be  put  therein  as  a  small  round  piece  of  fat,  or  any 
substance  that  is  edible,   whether  solid  or  semi-fluid. 

So  hope  ich  to  haue  of  hym,  that  his  al  myghty 
A  gobet  of  hus  grace. 

P.  Plouhman,  80. 

4.  A  particular  measure  in  a  coal  mine.  Ex.  "  At 
work  i'  th'  gob^ 

Gob,  9.  to  fill  up,  impede.  Ex.  "The  drain''s  gobbed 
up  o'  dirt." 

Gobble,  Gobbler,  s.  a  turkey  cock.  Let  any  individual 
stand  in  a  farm  yard  when  the  poultry  are  fed,  and 
their  ears  will  be  assailed  by  these  various  sounds  ad- 
dressed to  the  respective  feathered  tribes.  Gobble^ 
gobble^  gobble^  to  the  turkey;  chtLck^  chuck^  chuck^  to 
the  chicken  ;  pen^  pen,  pen^  to  the  peacock ;  icalk  up^ 
walk  yp,  walk  up^  to  the  guinea  fowl;  hic^  Ate,  hic^  to 
the  young  duck;  wid^  wid^  wid^  to  the  old  one.  These 
respective  terms  of  invitation  are  struck  off  on  the 
principle  of  onomatopeia. 

Gold  finch,  «.  the  Yellow  Bunting.  {Emberiza  CUri- 
neUa,) 

GoMs,  GooMs,  8,  the  gums.  Verel.  in  Indie,  goma  fauces. 
A.  Sax.  gomay  ther  gums  of  the  mouth.  Swed.  gom^ 
palatum. 

GbNB,  part.  past.  We  are  much  reprehended  for  our 
peculiar  use  of  this  verb  :  yet  the  idiom  is  classical, 
and  well  known  to  readers  of  the  Greek  Tragedians. 
Other  counties  substitute  groton  for  gone^  and  say  grown 
cold  for  gone  cold.  Our  form  is  surely  as  correct  as 
theirs. 

Good   few,    adj.  a  fair  number,   plentiful  supply.      Ex. 


446 


^^  He  gin  me  a  good  fewT     A  goodiik  few^  or  a  good 
iwo4kree^  are  phrases  of  BuniLir  significancy. 

OooDiT,  GoodtVtubsdat.  #.  By  this  title,  Shrovetide 
is  usoally  known  among  the  lower  orders.  (See  Wil- 
braham^s  Cheshire  Olossary  under  GuttU.) 

OooM  Rbd.    (See  under  Red  Ooom.) 

OosLiNs,  8.  the  blossoms  of  the  salix,  which  firom  their 
color  and  peculiar  softness  are  not  unnaturally  com- 
pared by  the  vulgar  to  young  geese;  more  commonly 
denominated  ^^goosy  gosling^ 

OossEPy  Gossip,  #.  a  godfather  or  godmother.  A.  Sax. 
godsHbf  sponsor.  Junius  supposes  that  from  sponsors, 
under  cover  of  their  spiritual  office,  meeting  together 
at  entertainments,  and  discussing  family  affiurs,  arose 
the  phrases  of  Agoing  a  gossipping;^  and  ^a  drunken 
or  gadding  gossip.**  Promp.  Pabv.  gosep  many  com- 
pater:  goaep  woman j  conunater. 

For  which  a  woman  may  in  no  lesse  sinne  assemble  with  hire 
godnb,  than  with  hir  owen  fleshly  broder. 

Per9one»  Taie,  vol.  iv.  p.  107. 
And  say  he  schal  mi  goittbbe  be. 

Lat  le  FaEiirz,  v.  42  and  50. 
And  said  gouap  beir  hame  zoor  pure  offiing. 

CothMeSom. 

OosTEB,  V.  to  bully,  hector,  talk  vauntingly.  C.  Brit. 
gottegn^  silere  quiescere. 

Grab,  v.  to  lay  hold  of,  snatch,  pilfer.  S.  Ooth.  Swed. 
grabba ;  Tout.  Belg.  grahbeUn,  arripere. 

Oradelt,  adv.  gently,  moderately,  by  degrees.  Ex. 
"  Tak  it  graddy^  Teut.  grasd ;  Swed.  grad,  gradus. 
A.  Sax.  grade^  ordo. 

Oradely,  ad}\  respectable,  moderate.  Ex.  ^'A  graddg 
man.'"    A.  Sax.  gerasd  man,  prudens. 

Oraf,  Graft,  s.  the  depth  of  a  spaders  bit  in  digging. 
Ex.  "  Turn  up  the  sile  a  spaders  gra/J'  M.  gr^a ; 
Dan.  grafwa;  Swed.  grafuwB ;  M.  Goth,  graban ;  A. 
Sax.  gra/an^  fodere.  Isl.  grdfningr;  Swed.  gra/mng; 
Dan.  gravningy  fossio.     Teut.  gra^^  fossa. 


447 

Grafting  tool,  8.  a  long  spade  used  in  draining.  Verel. 

in   Indie,  graftd^  instnimenta  fossoria. 
Orains,  «.  1.  the  prongs  of  a  hay  or  dung  fork.    Ex. 

"  Pikel  grains^     2.  the  branches  of  a  tree,  where  they 

first   separate  from  the  stem.     S.  Goth.  Swed.   Dan. 

gren;  Isl.  grein^  ramus. 

Apoun  ane  grane  or  branch  of  yan  giene  tree. 

'  G.  Douglas'  VvrgUy  p.  360. 

S,  malt  when  the   water  has  been  passed  through   it 

in  brewing.     Isl.  grion^  zea.      C.  Brit,  gravm ;  Teut. 

Belg.  gregn;   Ital.  Span,  grcmo ;  Fr.  grain,  granum. 

GuANDAM,  $.  a  grandmother;  An  archaism  perpetuated 

from  grand  mamma. 

My  grandam  liVd  at  Washington, 
My  gramUir  deiVd  m  ditches. 

Ritson's  Anet.  Songs,  p.  280. 

Grange,  $.  Originally  this  signified  a  farm  house  or 
granary,  or  farm  appOTtaining  to  a  monastry,  or  some 
other  religious  house,  and  thus  in  time  the  term  be- 
came identified  with  the  place  itself,  as  in  the  in- 
stances of  Hamage  Grange^  HcOkm  Grange,  Hoarfy 
Cfrange,  Stoke  Grange,  Walton  Grange,  Kingstreet 
Grange,  Hence  too  arose  the  name  of  Granger,  one 
who  was  accustomed  to  keep  charge  of  the  farm,  or 
storehouse,  a  farmer.  (See  Du  Gauge  sub  Grangia^ 
Fr.  grange;  Ital.  grancia;  Span,  granja;  Chaucer, 
Spenser,  Milton,  Blount. 

Grakny-rear^d,  part,  past;  brought  up  by  a  Grrand- 
mother:  it  commonly  implies  spoiled,  tenderly  treated, 
accustomed  to  the  foolish  kindness  which  oyer  indul- 
gent relatives  evince. 

Gransir,  «.,a  grandfather.  This  good  old  word  is 
rapidly  falling  into  disuse,  and  is  now  I  suspect  con- 
fined to  the  Western  district.  In  a  Poem  written  by 
John  Audelay,  a  blind  Monk  of  Haughmond  Abbey, 
preserved  among  the  Douce  Manuscripts  in  the  Bod- 


448 


leian,  it  thus  occurs  in  conjunction  with  the  preceding 

word. 

His  gfracious  oranseres  and  his  frawndame. 
His  fader  and  moderis  of  kyngis  thay  came. 

fol.  29. 

Oraves,  8.  the  refuse  of  tallow  made  into  cakes,  a  sort 
of  oil  cake  with  which  "dogs  are  fed.  A.  Sax.  Sicamb. 
Teut.  greus ;  cremium.   Brade  of  greven. 

QRAYErtpike^  8.  an  instrument  used  by  sextons  in  grave 
digging.  Dan.  grateredstaker^  instrumenta  sepulchia- 
lia.      Isl.  grafa ;  Swed.  grafwa. 

Oreat,  adj.  familiar,  intimate.  A  word  now  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  vocabulary  of  schoolboys,  though  formerly 
in  higher  circulation.  (See  Hunter's,  and  Brocketfs 
Glossaries.) 

Orewed,  part,  pa8t;  1.  burned  or  stuck  to  the  pot  in  boil- 
ing. Ex.  "  The  milk  is  greto'd  to  the  pot.  2.  adhering 
firmly  to  the  flesh,  as  dirt,  or  filth.  Ex.  "  GreuPd  6*  dirt."" 
"  The  dirt's  grew'd  into  thee.*"   Teut.  grauen^  crassescere. 

Orig,  8.  heath.  From  this  shrub  the  poor  generally  make 
their  besoms,  at  least  all  those  whose  locality  places  them 
within  its  reach.  We  were  remarked  by  Ray  for  using 
the  word,  who  in  his  Catalogue  of  local  words,  gives  it  to 
the  Salopians  a  century  or  more  ago.  It  is  one  of  the 
very  few  terms  we  have  borrowed  from  our  Welsh  neigh- 
bours.     C.  Brit.  gryg. 

Grime,  8.  dirt,  colly.  Verel.  in  Indie,  grima^  cutis  faciei. 
Isl.  grima^  conticinium  quando  omnia  quasi  obvelata 
caligine  videntur:  persona. 

Grime,  v,  to  daub,    dirty.     Ex.    "  Grimed   with    colly.'' 

Evidently  metaphorical  from  the  Islanoic,   hidden  with 

dirt,  obscured,  dark,  so  that  it  is  difiicult  to  recognise 

the  individual  as  the  same.     Tha'  runnu  a'  hann  to»r 

grimur,   personam    fere   mutavit,   ut   vix   se  continuit. 

Belg.  begriemen^  demigrare. 

My  face  ill  grime  with  fiUh, 

Lear,  ii.  3. 


449 

Grin,  »,  a  trap,  snare  to  take  game  or  small  birds.  Some- 
times a  springe,  consisting  simply  of  a  bent  twig;  hence 
the  S.  Goth,  and  Swed.  gren^  ramus,  suggests  an  etymon; 
more  correctly,  the  A.  Sax.  prin.  Germ,  gam^  laquei 
quibus  aves  yel  ferse  capiuntur.     Gr.  aypfivvw^  rete. 

But  I  trowe  that  thy  grynnes  been  untelt. 

Haatbboaite's  Metrical  Taleg,  p.  123. 

GhuN,  «.  to  take  hares  or  game  by  means  of  a  running 
noose  set  in  those  particular  parts  of  a  hedge  through 
which  they  are  accustomed  to  pass. 

Grin  and  abide  it,  pkr.  a  phrase  applicable  to  those  un- 
fortunate people  whose  only  power  of  redressing  their 
injuries,  or  means  of  consolation  and  contentment  under 
adyerse  circumstances,  consists  in  the  recreation  of '  shew- 
ing their  teeth,^  and  patiently  enduring  what  cannot 
be  remedied.  What  a  horrid  predicament  to  be  placed 
m! 

GBiNDLEBsrwoN,  8.  A  griudstone.  Several  verbs  which  ter- 
minate in  ind  have  correspondent  substantives  inle;  as 
bind,  bundle ;  windt  windle ;  and  thus  by  analogy  we 
may  say  grind,  grindle.  The  A.  Sax.  has  not,  it  is  true, 
under  grind!  our  definition  of  the  word,  but  aa  has 
been  justly  observed  by  one  of  my  glossarising  predeces- 
sors, many  terms  are  still  floating  about  which  have  not 
yet  been  arrested  by  any  dictionary  maker;  and  it  is 
not  assuming  too  much  to  suppose  that  our  meaning 
might  also  belong  to  that  class,  and  come  from  the  verb 
grindan,  molere.  Concluding  that  the  former  part  of 
the  compound  is  satisfactorily  accounted  for,  there  still 
remains  the  use  of  the  latter  to  justify.  The  analogy  of 
our  language  will  shew  this  not  to  be  without  warrant, 
so  the  word  becomes  defensible.  (See  Remarks  under 
gwan.)     Ck>tgrave,  Mmle,  a  grindht^ane. 

Grtts,  8.  groats.  Ex.  "  GrUtg  pudding.'*  This  farina- 
ceous condiment  is  invariably  eaten  by  the  Comavii  with 


A\ 


450 


roast  goose,   to  counteract   the  richneBs   of  the   bird. 

A.  Sax.  groBttOy  avens  deaoinatae.     Swed.  grit^  pda. 
Gron,  Oroun,  part,  past  and  per/,  of  «.  to  grind.   Ex. 

^^  The  batch  is  gwon  to  be  ffron.'"     ^^  Han  yo  gron  that 

sojrthe  yit?^ 
Oboun,  Obound,  Orund,  s.  1.  definitely  taken,  for  some 

particidar  spot  or  part.     Ex.  '^  Gwon  down  i^  th^  grounJ" 

"  The  uwer  praund.'"    2.  the  whole  farm.     Ex.  "  Look 

o^er  the  grwmd^    Verel.  in  Indie,  ffrundj  fundus.     Dan. 

Isl.  M.  Goth.  A.  Sax.  Swed.  grund;  Tout,  prond^  solum. 

3.  a  greyhound.     Ex.  "  A  yroun  bitch.""     Thus,  a  ^wy- 

kound,  grhoundj  grmva.     Lincols.  grmnd  and  ^ey.    (See 

Skinner,  sub  voce.) 
Ground,  go  to,   phr.  a   practice  which  the  building  of 

conyenienoes  has  not  yet  superseded.     (See  Brockett^s 

Gloss.) 
Ground  Car,  «.  an  agricultural  sledge. 
Grounden,  part,  pott;  of  v.  to  grind.     In  accordance  with 

the  usual  custom  of  adding  en  to  the  end  of  verbs.    The 

old  form ;  witness  Wiclif,  and  our  earlier  writers. 

Or  grounden  litarge  eke  on  the  poiphurie. 

Cant.  Take,  y.  16243. 

Ground-Isaac,  e.  the  yellow  wren.     Silvia  trochilus. 
Growtbs,  8.  the  bottoms  of  beer,  or  sediment  of  any  kind 
of  liquid.     Tout,  grawct^  condimentum  cerevisise.     A. 
Sax.  C.  Brit,  grut^  fsex.     Isl.  gratti;  Teut.  gmet^  feex. 
Promp.  Parv.  grut^  limus ;  grawte^  stranamellum. 
The  toun  dykes  on  every  syde. 
They  wer  deep  and  fulwyde, 
Fol  ofF  grut,  no  man  myffhte  swymme. 

K.  CoBR  DB  Lion,  v.  4339. 

Grubby,  adf.  testy,  ill-tempered,  peevish.     (See  remarks 

under  Stubby.) 
Grund,  Grunden,  part,  paet ;   of  9.  to  grind.    A.  Sax. 

grindan,  molere.     Lyndsay,  Chaucer. 

Shod  wele  with  yren  and  stele. 
And  also  grunden  wonder  wele. 

Yunine  and  Gmrin,  v.  ^78. 


451 


Grunsh,  «.  to  bite  strongly,  gnash  the  teeth.  This  must  be 
referred  to  Cransk.     Teut.  Mhr<mt9m^  dentibus  frangere. 

Grunt,  v.  try,  endeayoiir.  Ex.  "  Orwxi  at  it."'  As 
though  the  speaker  had  said,  *'*'  another  grunt,^  that 
18,  through  llie  effort,  "  and  then  it  will  be  done.'^ 
Though  the  sense  this  phrase  has,  is  of  ancient  standing, 
it  must  be  conceded  to  be  a  low  metaphorical  form 
of  speech,  taken  from  those  inharmonious  quadrupeds 
who  usually  supply  a  comparison  for  what  excites  dis- 
gust. Vox  a  sono  ficta.  Teut.  grtmnen;  A.  Sax. 
grwMin ;  Ital.  grugnare ;   Fr.  ffraipner^  grunnire. 

OuDOBONs,  s.  a  pin,  or  screw  of  an  axis  to  a  windlass : 
a  miner^s  word  which  is  difficult  to  explain  clearly.  In 
Derbyshire,  it  means  a  piece  of  wood  used  for  roofing. 

OuLsoHiNO,  OuLSCHT,  iidf.  addictod  to  drinking,  greedy 
of  drink.  This  word  which  originally  signified  glut- 
tonous, has  been  changed  in  later  times  in  its  passage 
to  us.  (See  Nares,  sub  Gnleh!)  It  is  found  in  Ben 
Jonson,  and  other  dramatic  writers.  Teut.  guUigh^ 
gulosus. 

OuMpnoN,  8,  intellect,  strength  of  mind.  Ex.  "  A  nuin 
of  gvmptum!^  This  word  has  been  declared  correct  by 
two  glossarial  writers,  and  may  consequently  be  con- 
sidered deserving  general  adoption ;  few  perhaps  would 
deem  it  entitled  to  currency  on  the  score  of  euphony : 
let  it  stand  on  its  etymology  then.  M.  Goth,  paundany 
percipere. 

Gun,  son  of  a,  phr,  Richardson  says  that  kunde  in  Per- 
sian has  among  its  various  signffications  that  of  a  woman; 
and  the  Gr.  Fi/ki;,  Irish,  pecM  mulier,  if  they  have  any 
connexion  with  this  phrase  make  it  intelligible :  by 
metonymy  is  it  deduced  from  Isl.  and  Germ,  ^nm,  vir ! 

GuBOBONs,  s,  a  coarse  meal  used  in  feeding  pigs,  ex- 
tracted from  wheat.  The  first  form  is  Sharps;  from 
them  is  obtained  Gvrgeons ;  from  them.  Bran,  and  lastly 
Flour.     Fr.  eteauryeon. 


J 


462 

OuTH,  i.  a  girth. 

OuTH,  9.  to  girth.  Ex.  ''  Chah  up  the  hoe  tight.''  By 
Bjmcope  for  girtJi.  Tout,  giartm ;  Swed.  gwrda ;  Bdg. 
gordm;  Dan.  gjarde;  Id.  girda;  A.  Sax.  gyrdm, 
cingere. 

GwAiN,  OwBBN,  /KiH.  going. 

OwoN,  part,  pcui  of  go.  The  insertion  of  a  <0  into  this 
word  is  yery  general  among  the  vulgar :  and  the  same 
practice  exists  with  regard  to  many  other  words  ter- 
minating in  one;  thus  for  b<me  they  say  hton^  for 
iUmSy  8iwony  &c.^  bo.  This  is  by  no  means  a  modem 
innovation,  or  a  capricious  meUiod  of  pronunoiatioii, 
such  an  epenthetical  practice  existing  some  centuries 
back,  as  our  early  poets  will  shew. 

Then  oommandyd  Sir  Amadas  anon 
A  mon  to  loke  or  'thei  gwon. 

Sir  Amadas,  v.  89. 

When  he  tho^ht  on  his  londee  brode. 
His  castels,  bis  towres  wher  leyd  to  weyd,    * 
How  all  was  gwm  and  tynt 

id.  y.  964. 
Thus  the  hare  is  gwm  her  gate. 

The  HunUyng  of  the  Hare,  v.  262. 


> 


^^SlZ/' 


By  practice  immemorial  this  letter 
is  silent  in  all  those  words  where 
by  universal  custom  it  is  sounded; 
and  is  pronounced  in  all  those  words 
where  it  ought  not  to  be  heard.  Its 
incorrect  absence  or  presence  is  a 
pretty  fair  indication  of  the  speaker 
being  a  Shropshire  person.  Our  countrymen  invariably 
slip  it  in  the  name  of  their  county,  and  talk  of  Srcp^ 
shire.  A  stranger  may  readily  discover  whether  he 
is  addressing  a  native  Salopian  by  marking  how  he 
speaks  the  name  of  his  own  county. 
H)  is  sometimes  inserted,  in  words,  by  Epenthesis,  a& 
frahm^  for  frame:  lahm  for  lame,  be.  *But  in  such 
instances  the  final  vowel  is  lost.  In  the  neighbourhood 
of  Broadstone,  where  language  partakes  much  of  a 
Doric  dialect,  we  hear  teheoy  for  way,  &c.  It  occa- 
sionally usurps  the  sound  of  tr;  as  '*the  teood  of  my 
cloak,^'  '^a  tphoatn^  for  at  home:  childwood^  for  child- 
hood :  neighhowrwood^  for  neighbourhood,  &c. 
Hack,  v.  1.  to  cut  small,  chop.  Ex.  ''^Hacked  and 
heowed.*"  Chaucer,  Sir  D.  Lyndsay.  S.  Ooth.  Swed. 
iMcka^  csedere.  Teut.  Belg.  Germ.  ha4^km;  A.  Sax. 
hdccan;  Alam.  hcuxken  ;  Fr.  hacher;  It.  acciarey  con- 
cidere.     Prom  p.  Parv.  hachyn^  sectulo. 


454 


A  warrior  tumbled  in  his  blood  we  ww, 

His  armes  though  dustie,  bloodie,  hackt  and  rent. 

Fairfax's  Ta$m),  viii.  52. 
One  flourishing  branch  of  his  most  royal  root, 
Is  crack'd^  and  all  the  precious  liquor  q>ilt ; 
Is  had^d  down,  and  his  summer  leayes  aU  &ded. 

RidkurdllA.2. 

2.  to  stammer,  speak  hesitatingly.  Ex.  ^^  Hack$  and 
hammer  at  hb  words.*"  Teut.  haddm;  S.  Ooth.  kadta; 
C.  Brit,  haeeio,  balbutire. 

Hacker,  8.  Such  an  axe  as  is  usually  taken  to  cut  up 
cordwood :  it  is  from  two,  to  two  and  a  half  pounds 
weight,  almost  straight,  and  set  in  a  wooden  handle. 
It  difiers  from  a  ^^  Brumhooi,'*'  says  my  informant,  as 
that  ''comes  uv  a  cruk,  is  thicker  like,  and  innod 
ni^  so    brode."^     Teut.  haeke,  securis. 

Hacki^e,  v.  to  cover  a  mow  of  wheat  by  placing  two 
sheaves  at  the  top  with  the  ears  downwards;  by 
spreading  them  round  those  which  are  upright,  and 
fastening  the  two  exterior  sheaves  together,  the  mow 
is  protected  from  wet. 

Uacklrbs,  8.  those  sheaves  which  cover  a  mow.  A. 
Sax.  haeeta^  chlamys.  We  also  hear  among  fishermen 
of  "a  cock^s  hackh^  one  of  those  feathers  which  dothe 
his  neck. 

Haddbn,  perf.  of  v.  to  have.     The  old  form,  as  used  by 

Wicklif,  Chaucer,  and  our  early  writers. 

For  catel  haddm  they  ynough  and  rent. 

Cant.  Tale»,  v.  375. 

Hadland,    8.   headland,   that   part   of  a   ploughed  fidd 

which  runs  at  right  angles  to  the  course  of  the  butts. 

Verel.  in  Indie,  haufud;    A.  Sax.  keafody  caput.  Hom- 

ddond,   (Rennet's   Gloss.)      A.   Sax.   haffuUandj   pro- 

montorium.     Item  una  pecia  terrse  jacet  ibidem   cum 

Havedelonds,    et  jacet  pro    duabus   acris   et   dimidia. 

id.  p.  33S. 

Now  plough  up  thy  headland,  or  delve  it  with  spade 

Where  otherwise  profit  but  little  is  made. 

Tusskr's  Husbandry,  p.  51. 


455 

Hago,  #.  1.  a  wood.  S.  thSit  part  of  a  coppice  set 
out  for  falliiig.  A.  Sax.  'haffa^  agelluB.  IbI.  hapij 
pascna.  Swed.  hoffe^  IocUb  psttciiua  cit^imiBeptns.  In 
Domesday  we  read  ''In  Gildeford  habdt  Rex  WiUel- 
mu8  LXXY.  haffOBy  Properly,  it  is  according  to  its 
etymology,  a  house  endowed  by  a  fence,  from  Oerm. 
kcigm^  sepire:  thence  the  term  received  a  more  ex- 
tended signification,  and  was  applied  to  any  enclosure 
or  woodland:  Oerm.  hag^  nemus.  Lat.  Barb,  hofa^ 
haUs  sen  sepibus  septa.  The  French  caHed  that  part 
of  a  forest  a  Hate  which  was  bounded  by  a  fence 
or  hedge,  to  enclose  game.  (See  Du  Gauge.)  In  the 
Domesday  Survey  the  H'ai€B  chiefly  occur  in  Worces- 
terriiire,  Herefordshire,  Cheshire  and  Shropshire.  In 
the  last  county  iii.  Haiw  fimuB  are  noticed  at  Lege^ 
that  is  Langley.  At  CUme^  (Chin,)  are  iii.  Hai(B.  At 
Wrdine^  or  Worthen  is  a  wood  with  iiii.  Haim.  At 
Cartune  is  a  Haia  ''  capreolis  capiendis.""  And  in  the 
land  of  Ralph  de  Mortimer  at  Lingham  are  iii.  Haise 
''capreolis  capiendis.*"  Beasts  were  caught  by  driving 
them  into  a  hedged  or  paled  part  of  a  wood  or  forest, 
as  elephants  are  in  India,  or  deer  in  North  America. 
Hence  the  Hay  near  Coalport  in  Shropshire.  See 
Spelman  sub  /foya,  and  Ellis's  Introduction  to  Domes- 
day Book,  vol.  i.  p.  115.  They  also  termed  the  en- 
trenchments made  by  bushes  and  thickets  hayes^  for 
we  ifead  in  Frousart,  where  he  is  speaking  of  the 
English  at  the  Battle  of  Poicters,  "on^  pris  h  long 
du  ehemin^  fartifiS  duremeni  de  hayes  et  de  buisBone^  et 
ant  tMu  cMe  haye  Swm  fart  de  leura  Archers.^'' 

This  aaid^  he  led  me  over  holts  and  hags, 

Fairfax's  Tasw,  viii.  41. 

Hago,  Haggle,  v.     1.   to  endeavour  to  lower  a  persons 

price,  to  wrangle.     Ex.    "After  a   dhel  o^  healing,'*'' 

Fri*.  hagghen,  rixari ;   Fr.  harceler^  Cotg.     2.  to  cut  ir- 
regularly.    Ex.  "The  joihrs  haggledr 


J 


456 


Haoo-wobk,  j.  work  taken  by  the  piece.  Ey.  ''  On  by 
the  hagg!^  Evidently  referable  to  the  preceding,  as  a 
portion  set  ^part.  Verel.  in  Indie,  kaga^  and  S.  Ooth. 
haga^  disponere. 

Haiho,  t.  the  woodpecker.     Picus  viridis. 

HaiR)  9.  to  air :  according  to  our  dutom  of  adding  the 
aspirate.  Thna,  we  hear  a  servant  say,  ^Hhe  linen  is 
not  kairedr  '^the  sheets  want  hairing"^:  and  to  take 
the  chill  from  beer  is  usually  denoted  by  the  phraae, 
''  tak  the  hair  off  the  drink'' ;  ''  Its  coud,  jist  out  o' 
the  cellar,  yoden  (you  haddmi)  better  tak  the  gare  off 
it.'' 

Haue,  Haul,  v.  to  draw.  .  This  word  is  confined  to  the 
river  side,  and  chiefly  applied  to  men  or  horses  draw- 
ing small  or  large  craft  on  the  Severn  against  the 
stream.  (See  Bow-haler.)  Isl.  Swed.  haia ;  Belg.  haim ; 
Fr.  haler^  trahere. 

Oaem  nee  rumpere  nauUcum  celeusma, 
Nee  clamor  valet  hdcjfarioirum. 

Mart,  Epig,  iv.  64. 
They  setten  mast,  and  hakn  saile. 

Kyno  Alisaundkr,  v.  992. 
Ancies  into  schip  they  haUth, 

id.  y.  1416. 
It  is  not  comely  to  be  haled  to  the  earth 
Like  high-fed  jades  upon  a  tilting  day. 

Ford's  Lover's  Melanekoljf. 

Half-strained,  adf.  an  epithet  contemptuously  applied 
to  one  who  is  deficient  of  understanding.  Ex.  *^  A  half' 
strained  fool.''^ 

Haly  day,  8,  holy  day.  The  old  word,  alike  in  deriva- 
tion and  authority.  A.  Sax.  halig-dag ;  Franc.  heUag; 
Swed.  kelig  ;  Germ.  Belg.  heilig  ;  Dan.  hdUg ;  Isl.  kei- 
lagr^  sanetus.  Verel.  in  Indie.  keUagt^  sacrorum  per- 
actio. 

For  thei  holden  nat  here  halydayes  as  holy  churche  tecfaeth. 

P.  Plouhhan,  148. 

Eche  haiyday  to  huyre.  id.  169. 


457 

Hamss,  Homes,  m,  two  curving  pieces  of  wood  which  dij^ 
ji  honeys  ooUar.  Celt.  G.  Brit,  camm^  curvus,  quia  ool* 
Jnm  equi  ambit  tanquam  collare.  Sorab.  iommet;  Oerm. 
btmmeiy  jugiim  equorum.     Isl.  iamntr,  induvise. 

Hampton  ;  in  composition  with  some  preceding  word,  and 
signifies  the  viUage  of  the  hamlet,  town  or  house  of 
the  hamlet,  ham-tan ;  from  the  A.  Sax.  Aom,  domus, 
prsedium,  villa;  and  twn^  septum  quodvis.  Thus  we 
have  Bbook  Hampton  ;  Welsh  Hampton  ;  Fell  Hamp- 
ton, &c. 

Han,  v.  to  have :  pres.  and  perf.  Ex.  ^^  Hwn  ''e  bin  aater 
the  bweast  yit.**^     Grerm.  Swed.  han^  habere. 

Ye  han  ete  on  the  erthe,  and  in  youie  leocheries  ye  ban 
aoiiflched  your  hertis. 

WiCLir's  New  Teetameni,  James  ch.  v. 

What  yit  han  we  nede  to   witneads?   lo  now  ye  han  herd 
blasfemye.  id.  Matt.  ch.  xxvi.  and  1  Coiynth.  ch.  is. 

He  wenden  han  baen  kynges  and  aeiden  so  in  aawe. 

Ritson's  And.  Son^ij  p.  6. 

Handy,  adj.  ready,  expert.  Ex.  "  A  handy  lad."  "  Things 
lie  handy.'^  A  cow  is  handy  with  her  horn,  if  she  is 
disposed  to  use  it  unkindly.  A.  Sax.  handlunya^  praesto. 
Swed.  handloff ;  Teut.  h&'hendigh^  manu  promptus ; 
Belg.  handelbaar^  handigh^  commodus.  Verel.  in  Indie. 
handrif. 

Handlass,  $.  1.  a  handle  of  a  windlass.  2.  a  small  wind- 
hiss.  Isl.  handlaSy  funis  simplex  in  altera  manu  aucu- 
pis!  Teut.  Swed.  hand^  manus,  Teut.  Swed.  lasty  pon- 
duB ;  Dan.  handler ;  A.  Sax.  handle^  manubrium ;  Gferm. 
handleistunffy  opitulatio. 

Handbtaff,  8.  that  part  of  a  threshing  flail  which  is  held 
in  the  hand. 

HANDfiTRiKB,  8.  a  strong  piece  of  wood  used  as  a  lever 
to  a  windlass.  Verel.  in  Indie,  handstyrkiay  manuum 
robore  per  funem  in  sublime  se  toUere. 

Hanna,  Hannod,  v,  have  not. 


J 


458 


Hant,  .v.  they  have  not.     Qetm.  ktmt^  habent. 

Habdin,  v.  to  air,  as  dothes,  which  bong  damp,  be- 
eome  itiff  and  bard,  as  it  were,  by  eaponure  to  the  fixe. 
Tent,  kenkim^  tortete !  Id.  hmtla  ;  A.  Sax.  Mundkm; 
Swed.  Aiarda,  indmre.  A  ShroiMhire  person  would  dia- 
peme  with  these  defiYations  and  deekre  tiie  word  wis 
merely  by  prostiieflis  for  oiftim,  qmun,  air  Hum ;  and 
eeeing  that  we  make  snch  strange  work  always  with 
the  aspirates,  the  oriticism  may  not  be  mqoet. 

Harnish,  e.  to  harness. 

He  dude  quyk  ftameioke  bon. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  v.  4706. 

Harnish,  i.  harness.  We  follow  the  ancient  orthoepy 
here,  tiiough  the  word  receires  from  us  a  secondiuy 
meaning.  OiiginaUy  it  meant  heavy  armour,  made  of 
iron  or  steel :  we  now  apply  the  word  solely  to  horse 
harness.  Oerm.  iamiseh^  gravis  armatura.  Swed.  Aor- 
nsei^  thorax  ferreus.  Lat.  Barb,  harfuueha ;  Fr.  iamais. 
Verel.  in  Indie,  hemeekiay  lorica. 

Habbast,  8.  harvest.  Ex.  ^^At  the  back  o^  quern  iar- 
Tcatr  A  permutation  very  unusual  A:  Sax.  Germ. 
hanoett;  Belg.  herfst^  messis. 

Hab&ast,  «.  to  do  harvest  work.  Ex.  ^^  My  men's  gwon 
a  harraximgy 

Habriman,  9.  a  lizard ;  a  newt. 

Habslbt,  Haslet,  %.   the  race,  liver,  &c.  of  pigs.     Ex. 

'^  Dineden  off  a  pig's  hade^T^     Tout.  Aar«^,  spina  pord. 

Verel.  in  Indie.  AoAa,  fasciculus.     Palsgrave ;  huk^  of 

a  hogge.     Fr.  Aasteral^   a  hog's  haslet.     Ootgr. 

"The  intrals  of  hogges  are  good  (I  thinke  hee  meaneth  that 
whiche  wee  oommonlye  call  hon^  harsdet." 

P^rfootb's  Dhtumarie,  sub  IHa. 

Hasp,  «.  to  fasten,  join  together.  A.  Sax.  hapsian^  ob- 
serare,  which  verb  is  referred  by  Wachter  to  A.  Sax. 
hcBhban^  tenere. 

So  harde  hath  averyce  Hasped  hem  to  eederes. 

P.   pLOITHMAlf,  22. 


4S9 


Hasp,  #.  a  clasp  wfaiob  folds  by  a  hinge  qvat  a  .box 
or  door.  It  is  a  good  old  word,  wbethfir  used  vevbally 
or  substantively.  8.  Ooth.  Dan.  haape ;  Teut.  Swed. 
Sf^.  h^tpe ;  Id.  hatpa ;  C  Brit,  k&tpin-  A.  Sax.  iopf, 
fibida.  In  the  West  of  fingland  tbey  jret  geneKally 
use  the  A.  Sax.  qrnonym. 

And  undemethe  k  an  ha9p, 
Schet  with  a  stapyl  and  a  daspe. 

R.  Cqer  ds  Liok,  v.  4068. 

Hastbner,  Hastelbr,  s.  a  piece  of  kitchen  furniture  made 
of  wood  and  lined  with  tin,  or  occasionally  made  of 
tin  exclusively,  .used  for  reflecting  the  heat  upon  meat 
that  is  roasting.  Pbomp.  Parv.  Roster  or  Hcutder^ 
aasator. 

Hatbat,  9.  the  common  bat,  so  named  probably  from 
boys  throwing  their  hats  up  to  catch  them.     Vespertilio. 

Haud,  Houd,  «.  1.  to  hold.  Ex.  "Tak  haud  on  it.'' 
**Han  he  got  houd  6*  the  ropf'  Teut.  Belg.  hauden^ 
houdm^  tenere.  2.  a  term  of  salutation.  Ex.  ^^How 
does  it  hand  you?''     Teut.  houdef^  gerere. 

Hauntsdbn,  9.  the  old  form  of  the  imperfect  plural :  to 

haunt,  follow. 

Of  yonge  folk^  that  haunteden  folie. 

Qmt.  Tak9,  v.  12808. 

Haavs,  v.  to  lift,  throiy .  Eix.  ^^  I'll  Aaam  a  stwon  at  your 
yed."  M.  Ootii.  hafffon ;  A.  Sax.  heftm ;  Teut.  h^ffm ; 
Swed.  hafwa  ;  Verel.  in  Indie,  hefa^  levare.  (See  Hbft) 
Eng.  heaw. 

Havbr,  8.  1.  the  lower  part  of  a  bam  do<»*  which 
commonly  falls  in  by  a  slide.     2.   a  hurdle. 

Haw,  interj.  a  waggoner's  address  to  his  horses  when 
he  wishes  them  to  come  towards  him. . 

Hawed,  part,  ptut;  when  oats  are  well  headed,  having 
shot  their  heads  from  the  stem,  and  begun  to  swell  and 
ripen,  they  are  said  to  be  hawed.  The  term  is  not 
applied  to  any  other  kind  of  grain,  which  will  shew  how 
carefully  it  has  kept  to  its  original  signification.     Teut. 


460 


iauwe^  tunica,  sive  oalyx :  kauer^  avena;  iaudm^  spiciun 

profene.     Oenn.  heben^  oapere  de  fructibus.      Schen. 

Glon. 
Hawk,   v.   to   expectorate,   dear  the  throat.     C.  Brit. 

koekio;    Teut.   Germ.  ia/i$^m;   Swed.  hartkna;    Dan. 

kareker,  soreare.     Shakspeare. 
Haws,  #.  the  berries  of  the  haw-thorn.     Ex.  '*  Hepe  and 

Aofof .*"     A.  Sax.  koffan ;  Brit.  Com.  hoffon^  mora  sentis. 

Shakspeare,  Chaucer,  Cant.  Tales,  v.  6241. 

AmongeB  hogges,  that  have  haw^  at  wille. 

P.  Plouhman. 

Hatriff,  8.  a  pernicious  weed  which  has  very  smaU  seeds ; 
from  their  minuteness,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  sepa- 
rate them  from  grain  in  winnowing  it. 

If  yoa  stamp  Hariffe  a  little,  and  lay  it  in  fiiire  springe  water 
for  the  space  of  24  honres,  and  then  wash  any  sore  or  scabby 
place  therewith,  it  will  heal  it  wondexfnlly. 

Lupton's  NMbk  Thinff$,p.4&. 

Head,  to  drive  a,  phr.     A  phrase  confined  to  miners, 

and  lime-workers;    it   signifies  the    act   of  making  a 

passage  into  '^the  body  of  the  work/' 
Head  out,  «.  synonymous  with  "to  crap  out^:  to  come 

to  the  head  or  surface. 
HxADDiBH,  adf.     When  aftermath  begins   to   grow,   the 

fiymers  say  it  is  quite  headdish,     (See  Eddish,)  which  is 

the  proper  term. 
Headgrove,   8.  aftermath.      Sometimes  called  kMutgratt, 

keadgrowth.     These  terms  must  be  referred  to  A.  Sax. 

ediic^  vivarium. 
Hbafer,  8,  a  heifer.     We  here  retain  the  true  pronun- 
ciation of  the  correspondent  A.  Sax.  heakfor^  juvenca. 
Healthful,  adj,  in  sound  health. 
Hearten,  v,  to  animate,  encourage.     Ex.  ^^  Hearten  him 

on  his  journey.'"     Teut.  hertetij  animare.     (See  Craven 

Gloss.)     Palsgrave,  harten^  to  embolden. 
Heartwell,  (id^\  in  good  spirits;    and  the  reverse  heart- 

sici,  melancholy,  low. 


461 

HnsLiNa,  HiLLiNo,  s.  the  cover  or  binding  of  a  book. 
De  Rome,  De  Seuil,  Roger  Payne,  and  Charles  Lewis, 
who  by  skill  and  taste  eclipsed  all  his  predecessors  in 
Bibliopegistic  art,  have  given  the  world  no  term  half 
so  appropriate.  Were  it  not  for  provincial  bookbinders, 
(imperitum  pecus)  the  word  wonld  be  lost.  Dan.  iylle, 
cooperculum.  Promp.  Pabv.  hiUings^  of  what  things  it 
be:  cooptura.  Palsgrave,  hytting^  a  coueryng,  oouver- 
ture.  In  Northamptonshire  MUing  signifies  a  eowrttd 
to  a  bed. 

That  nowther  one  hede,  ne  on  hare,  MUvnffe  it  hade. 

Avmiyrs  t/Arthure,  ix.  96. 
Your  hffUyngeB  with  fiurreB  of  armyne. 

The  Squyr  qfLowe  Degre,  ▼.  839. 

Heel  of  the  loaf,  phr.  the  last  top  and  bottom  crust 

of  a  loaf. 

Heft,  «.  a  heavy  wei^t.     Ex.  *'  Too  great  a  hefi  to  lift.^* 

He  cracks  his  gorge,  his  sides  with  violent  h^. 

WhUer't  Tale,  iL  1. 

How  shall  my  prince  and  uncle  now  sustain 
(Depriv'd  of  so  good  heh>e)  so  great  a  h^, 

Harrington's  AriaHo,  xliii.  164. 

Heft,   v.   to  lift.     Verel.  in  Indie,   hefa;    Tent.  Belg. 

hgffm;  Swed.  S.  Goth,  hafwa;   A.  Sax.  hefan^  levare. 

Id.  hef^  toOere. 

With  his  lyft  hand  he  A^  his  gysaime. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  v.  2297. 

Hett,  ifUerj.  an  address  to  a  horse  when  he  is  re- 
quired to  go  from  you :  never  applied  to  the  leader. 
Persian,  heUct^  come  hither.    Isl.  heiti^  vocare. 

This  carter  smote  and  ciyde  as  he  were  wode, 
Hmt  Soot,  heit  Brok,  what  spare  ye  for  the  nones? 

CmU.  Tales,  v.  7125  and  v.  7143. 

Heick,  Hike,  v,  to  cast,  to  throw  on. 

With  velvet  hats  heidU  on  thair  heidis. 

Pinkbrton's  SeoUM  Poems,  p.  327. 

Hett,  Horr,  «.  to  throw  up.  Ex.  "/Tod  it  up.''  What- 
ever  may   be   the   origin   of  this  verb,  and  I  confess 


462 


mjielf  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  it,  it  has  evidently 
gbeo  birth  to  the  more  generally  reoetved  vnlgariBin 
of  ''a  kaiif4oihf  dame.''     A.  Sax.  haah,  altos! 

HnuL,  «.  to  oomb  hemp.  Teat.  Belg.  luMm;  Swed. 
hatUa^  pectere  linnm.  Hatdid^  Ash,  Lyndsay.  Pab- 
grive;  kstehM  ior  flaxe,  aerant. 

HsLK,  Hill,  v.  to  oov^r.  Ex.  ^'  HUl  'cti  o'er  or  theyl 
be  frost  ketdien."  Here  is  an  exoeOent  word  retained 
sddy  by  the  lower  orders ;  we  shonld  have  spoken  in 
closer  analogy  with  our  language  if  like  them  we  had 
not  wandered  to  the  French  for  a  term  to  express  our 
ideas.  8.  Goth,  hylia ;  M.  Goth,  hulgan ;  Franc.  Ala- 
man.  G.  Brit,  hulio ;  A.  Sax.  helan^  t^re ;  Teut.  Belg. 
hdm.  Verel.  in  Indie.  hyUa^  celare;  Swed.  hUiay  ve- 
lare.     ffeHed,  Pet.  Langtoft's  Chron. 

Menye  of  the  biyddes 
Hudden  and  hdeden  dumeliche  here  ^ges. 

P.  Flouhman^  223. 

And  yt  has  hoiu  be  unhekde. 

IU3S7. 

Y-heoled  wel  with  selkyn  webbe. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  v.  278. 

As  enowgh  lygKes  on  the  mountaynes, 
Bre  nylL 


^J-were  nylles  and  playnee 

With  hawberk  biyghte  and  hehnes  deie. 

R.  Cosm  DS  Liov^  v.  6686. 

In  the  pavyloon  he  fond  a  bed  of  piysy 
Iheled  with  purple  bys. 

Lavnfal,  y.  281 
The  hannes  that  ase  have  hent, 
Now  miQr  ze  hele  and  hide. 

Minot's  Poenu,  p.  22. 

Parde  we  women  connen  nothing  hek. 

CatU.  Tales,  y.  6632. 

Helve,  s.  the  handle  of  an  axe,  most  commonly  HUw. 

A.  Sax.  helf;    Teut.  Germ,  hehe^    manubrium   securis. 

Ray. 
Hbpb,  s.  the  berries  from  the  common  brier.    Palsgrave; 

hq)pe  bery  of  eglantjme,  comille.      A.  Sax.  heap^   cy- 


4«8 

nosbati  bacea^  ^^Fie  upon  %w:  (qaoth  the  fox)  be- 
cauie  he  could  not  reaeh.  them.^     Ray. 

Hbouw,  v.  to  hew,  cut.  Ex.  '^Hacking  ani  hmwwimf.'*'' 
Our.  method  of  pronouncing  ew  is  peetdiac;  both  in 
this  and  several  words  of  Hke  tenninataon.  0»  is  in^ 
serted  before  ew^  so  that  the  syUable  obtaias  the 
sound  of  yeau^  This  kind  of  utterance  has  prerailed 
from,  the  earliest  period,  as  oar  Earlier  Metrical  Ro- 
manoes  shew,  and  the  pronunoiaticm  seems  borne  out 
by  the  several  languages  to  which  we  claim  affinity. 
Tout.  Belg.  ^oiNM9i,  caesim  ferire.   Ofennj  hmum^  csedeve. 

Hbr,  pran.   be,  or  him.      The  masculine  and  feminine 

pronouns  are    constantly    transposed   by    the    vulgar. 

Thus  a  poor  woman  in  describing  the  ii^rm  state  of 

her  husband,  says,  ^^  Her  is  meety  lahm.^''     And,  veifly, 

if  saneti<Mi  be  required  for  this  personal,  offence,  read 

it  in  Maister  Skelton: 

What  WBj  ye  of  the  Sosttiih  Kyngr 

That  is  another  thing 

He  is  bat  an  yonglyng 

A  tall  worthy  striplynff 

Her  is  a  whispiing  and  a  whiplyng. 

Whjf  come  ye  not  to  Court. 

Herds,   s.  dressed  flax,    or  hemp.      Teut.   herder    fibra 

lini.     A.  Sax.  heordcm^  stupsB.      Palsgrave;  heerdes  of 

hempe,  estoupes.     Tow,  or  hyrdes,     Minsheu. 

And  pyk  and  ter,  als  haiff  thai  tane ; 
And  lynt  and  herds  and  biymstane. 

Thb  BavcSy'Xvii.  ▼.  612. 

Thaire  hurdie  thaire  ankers 
Hanged  thai  on  here. 

Minot's  Poems,  p.  46. 

That  not  of  hempe  ne  heerdis  was. 

RbMAUNT  or  THE  RoSB,  Y.  1283. 

**  Now  thAt  part  (of  the  flax)  which  is  utmost,  and  next  to  the 
pill  or  rind,  IB  oalkd  tow  or  hurds^" 

Holland's  PUny, . 

Hbbbin,  9.  urine.     Grerm.  ham;  Gr.  ovpov,  lotium. 
Hbthsr,  8.  an   adder.     (See  under  Enram.) 


i 


464 

i 

Hbthkrino,  8.  a  pliant  twig  about  six  feet  long,  chiefly 
employed  at  the  top  of  newly  laid  down  hedges  to 
keep  under  the  loose  and  straggling  shoots.  A.  Sax. 
h&Ukmam^  oohibere. 

Hetmbnt,  s.  a  boundary,  or  fence.  In  looking  accident- 
ally through  an  old  account-book  of  ecdesiastical  ex- 
penditure for  the  parish  of  SmeUusot^  co.  Salop,  a  few 
yean  ago,  I  found  the  following  iUm:  '"Paid  for 
Mending  the  EmpmmA^  &c.  It  was  not  until  the 
year,  1838,  that  I  was  able  to  ascertain  what  this 
veiy  local  word  denoted.  My  informant  says  that  the 
hedge  which  encircles  part  of  the  Church  Yard  still 
bears  this  name,  and  veiy  properly  too:  from  the  A. 
Sax.  heag^  sepes. 

Hms,  IT.  to  beat.  One  of  the  numberless  verbs  expres- 
sive of  castigation.  Ex.  ''6ie  yo  a  good  lidHmffT 
''Tansel  your  hideT     U.  A^tiK,  flagellare. 

Htb,  High,  v.  to  hasten,  imperativdy  used  to  denote 
expedition.  Ex.  ''*'Hy^  thee  and  fatch  ^em.**"  A.  Sax. 
J^ygo^t  festinare.     Shakspeare. 

To  hym  hjfod  all  the  route. 

The  Lyfe  op  Ipomydon,  v.  2014. 

Go,  hve  wsyj^i  on  heighemg. 
And  teche  it  hider,  y  pray  th^» 

La.t  ls  FmEixE,  V.  214. 

Highe  thou  to  come  bifoie  winter. 

Wicliff'^s  New  Testament,  2  Timoth.  iv. 

She  went  vnto  the  inatioe  hall. 
As  fiist  as  she  could  kye. 

Adam  Bsl,  y.  66. 

HioLER,  #.  a  person  who  goes  to  different  country  mar- 
kets for  the  purpose  of  buying  butter,  eggs,  poultry, 
and  fruit.  Dan.  hycUer^  adulator,  Jun.  Rather  from 
the  A.  Sax.  eacan^  augere,  because  they  sell  for  more 
than  the  first  vendors. 

Hike,  t^.  to  toss,  throw.  Ex.  '''•  Hike  it  over  the  wall.'^ 
(See  Hbick,  and  Hrit.) 


465 


Hill,  v.  to  cover,  shield.  Ex.  ^^Gtok  and  hill  theia 
plants.'**     Promp.  Parv.  hyUm^  or  ooveren. 

Al  yhyted  with  leed. 

PiBKS  Plouhman's  Creed. 
Thy  hair,  thy  heard,  thr  wings,  o'er-hUtd  with  snow. 
Bek  Jovbok's  Matque  qf  Beauty. 
Hides  and  hek»  als  hende. 

MiifOT's  Poenu,  p.  22. 

Hit,  #.  a  heavy  crop.  Ex.  "  A  good  hU  o'  apples,** 
or  as  they  say  in  the  Eastern  Counties  a  good  hang^ 
whether  it  be  of  hops,  or  fruit. 

Hirst,  s.  that  part  of  a  ford  in  the  Severn,  over 
which  the  water  from  the  shallowness  of  the  stream, 
and  the  inequality  of  the  bottom  runs  roughly.  A. 
Sax.  hyntan^  murmurare. 

Hoard,  «.  a  heap.  Ex.  '*A  hoard  of  apples.**  Pals- 
grave; horde  or  heape,  monceau. 

Hod,  8.  a  heap,  a  tump  of  potatoes,  which  being  co- 
vered first  with  short  straw,  and  then  with  soil,  are 
protected  during  the  winter.  Teut.  hoed;  A.  Sax. 
hody  capitium!     Teut.  Belg.  hoede^  protectio. 

Hod,  v.  to  place  potatoes  in  a  hod  for  protection  from 
frost.     Teut.  Belg.  hoeden,  protegere. 

Hofb,  adf.  halt  Ex.  '' Hofe  an  oaf:**  usually  ''o/e  an 
oaf,**  and  also  o/e  and  o/e,  for  half  and  half. 

Hoqo,  8.  same  as  hodd.  Swed.  Verel.  in  Indie,  hoep; 
Germ,  huffel;  Fr.  hoffue^  tumulus. 

Hoooet,  8.  a  yearling  wether.  C.  Brit,  hopyn^  a  young 
stripling.  Norm.  Fr.  hoffelz^  a  young  wether  sheep; 
Kelham.  hogettus^  bidens.  Du  Cange,  Lyndsay,  Coles, 
Ash.  Prevalent  in  the  midland  counties.  P Jsgrave ; 
hoggereUy   a  yong  shepe. 

Hole,  v.  to  undermine;  a  word  used  by  colliers,  who 
are  better  paid  in  a  coal  pit  for  hoKng  than  any 
other  work.  A.  Sax.  holian ;  Teut.  Germ,  holen ;  Isl. 
hda;  Franc,  holon;  S.  Goth,  holka;  Dan.  Avfor,  ex- 
cavare.     Promp.  Parv.  hclen^    to  make  holes. 


466 


HoLLEN,  HoLLTN,  «.  the  common  holly.     A.  Sax.  holmy 
agrifolium.    jETofm,  Gdes,  Lyndsay. 

I  see  a  lady  where  ehee  sate 
Betweene  an  oke  and  a  green  hoOm, 

Marriage  of  Sir  Gawmnt* 
HoLP,  puf.  of  «.  to  help. 

The  matonners  tolde  the  peiyll  where  they  had  hen  in  aad 
how  Saynt  Marke  had  holpe  them  than  for  that  one  myrade. 

GOLDBN  LSOSND, 


Hora,  t.  1.  to  long  after  any  thing,  desire  intensely. 
A  baby  hone%  after  the  breast.  This  word  was  ap- 
propriately used  in  the  following  way,  by  a  poor  per- 
son towards  his  rector  who  was  in  the  constant  prac- 
tice of  rigorously  exacting  the  utmost  of  his  tithes: 
^'  One  would  think  thee  didst  want  thy  money,  for 
thee  meetily  hontt  after  it.^  The  reproof  of  this  un- 
lettered individual,  fell  without  any  force  upon  his 
merciless  ears.  A.  Sax.  hogian  sollioitus  esse.  M. 
Ooth.  hunffafi^  inhiare  pecuniis.  With  what  extreme 
correctness  was  the  word  applied  !  M.  Ooth.  Qaira 
agav  ist  thaim  htmgandam  afar  faihn.  Quam  diffidle 
est  iis  qui  inhiant  pecuniis.  2.  to  swell.  Ex.  ^^  The 
cow^s  elder  is  honed^  swollen  and  hard  after  calying; 
Craven  Olossarist  says,  probably  an  abbreviation  of 
hatened:  but  I  suspect  we  owe  the  term  to  the 
Teut.  huyderen^  turgescere  uberibus  sive  mammis,  ut 
vaccee  fsetui  maturse. 

Tom  Piper  hath  havm  and  pa£fed  up  cheeks, 
If  cheese  be  so  haven,  make  Ciss  to  seek  creeks. 

TussER,  p.  14d. 

HoosissoN,  WoosissoN,  8.  WooLASTON,  CO.  Salop. 

Hope,  perf.  of  «.  to  help.    Ex.    "  He  hcpe  me   to  get 

it."*^     Very  prevalent  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ludlow. 

Whether  is  this  a  form  of  the  A.  Sax.   perf.  At^fw, 

from  hel/an^  juvare!     Shakspeare  frequently  uses  the 

word. 

Three  times  to-day  I  hope  him  to  his  horse. 

Henry  Yhv.^ 


467 

Hope;  a  termination  to  various  names  of  places  in  the 
cowitj,  which  expresses  according  to  its  original  sig- 
nification, a  recess,  from  the  Isl.  hop^  recessus*  The 
situations  of  Hope  Bowdler,  Hope^^  Hopton^  East- 
hope^  MSiiohope^  MiddleAopi?,  PrestA<^^,  and  Wilder&cjjcw, 
accord  with  this  derivation.  These  places  lie  between 
hills,  in  secluded  parts  of  the  county.  At  a  later 
era,  the  Islandic  word  gave  birth  to  one  of  more 
general  application,  and  what  primarily  signified  merely 
a  remote  or  circumscribed  spot,  grew  into  use  to  de- 
note a  farm,  an  orchard,  a  house.  Teut.  Oerm.  hof^ 
villa,  hortus;  A.  Sax.  hope^  domus. 

Hopper,  a.  a  basket   used   by  husbanrdmen  to  hold  com 

when   sowing:    curving  in  the  middle   to   fit   the   hip 

upon   which   it  rests.      Hence   the  appropriateness   of 

slang  in  Dunbar^s  Complaint. 

With  hoppir  hippis,  and  benches  narrow. 

PiNKSKTON,  p.  110. 

HoppEiuTBouoH,  s.  a  box .  of  a  mill  into  which  the  grain 
is  put  for  grinding.  C.  Brit,  hoppran^  infundibulum. 
Palsgrave;    hopper  of  a  myll,  tremye. 

How  that  the  hopper  wagges  til  and  fra. 

Cant.  Tales,  ▼.  4037. 
And  heng  his  hoper  on  hus  hals. 

P.  Plouhman,  131. 

Hopscotch,  8,  a  game  played  by  children,  more  cor- 
rectly named  in  Hallamshire,  Hopscore, 

HouD,  T.  to  hold.  Ex.  "Catch  houdr  '' Houd  yo.**' 
"Tak  hods.''''     Teut.  Belg.  houden^  tenere. 

HouLT,  8.  hold.  Ex.  "  No  hauU  o*  sich  a  chap ;"  re- 
ferable to  the  preceding. 

Hound,  8.  an  epithet  of  reproach  for  a  worthless  per- 
son. Ex.  "  Sich  a  lazy  hound.'*''  "  Scamping  hound."*^ 
^^  Worthless  hound."^  This  opprobrious  comparison  is 
found  continually  in  Holy  Writ.  David  says  to  Saul 
when  he  had  saved  his  life  at  Engedi,  "  After  whom 
is  the  King  of  Israel  come  out!  after  whom  dost  thou 

80-a 


468 


purgue!  after  a  dead  dag^  after  a  flcaf"  1  Sam.  xxiv. 
14.  So  Mephibosheth,  ^^  What  is  thy  servant,  that 
thou  flhouldefit  look  upon  such  a  dead  dog  as  I  am."" 
2  Sam.  ix.  8.  And  the  same  comparison  of  reproba- 
tion may  be  read  in  numerous  passages  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament.  It  is  no  Wonder,  then,  that  in 
Eastern  countries  we  should  still  find  the  like  figure 
of  reproach,  applied,  as  it  is  most  freely,  as  the  writer 
of  this  note  can  testify,  by  Mussulmen  to  Christians. 
Verel.  in  Indie,  hwnd^  canis,  alias  verbum  contumelio- 
sum  in  inimicos.  Thu  hinn  illi  hundr^  ftpage  pessime 
Canis.  Germ.  Aundy  homo  vilis.  Verel.  in  Indie.  Aund- 
heidin^  mere  paganus.  The  Christians,  too,  spoke  with 
no  feelings  of  aflTection  for  the  heathens  of  former  ages, 
as  may  be  observed  in  the  ancient  Romances  of 
Chivalry:  thus  Sir  Bevys  alluding  to  a  Paynim  King's 
daughter  who  had  faUen  in  love  with  him,  and  sent 
Saracens  to  invite  him  to  her  bower,  exclaims, 

I  wyll  not  ones  stirre  of  this  gronnde. 
To  speke  with  an  hethene  hounde: 
Unchristen  houndes,  i  rede  you  flee. 
Or  i  your  harte  blonde  shall  se. 

and  afterwards  the   Mahometans  return  the    title  by 

calling  him  ^^a  Christian  hownde!^     See  Ritson^s  Met. 

Romances,  vol.  iii.  p.  3£2. 

The   King  of  Tars  applies  the  same   epithet  to    the 

Soudan, 

Hethene  hourtd  he  doth  the  calle. 

Thb  Kino  op  Tars,  v.  98. 

O  hound  of  Crete,  think'st  thou  my  spouse  to  set 

Henry  V.  iL  1. 

HousEN,  «.  plural  of  house.     Ex.  ^'  Farm  HawmT'  Germ. 

hatuen^  domus.     S.  Goth.  A.  Sax.  Isl.  Fran.  Alaman. 

C.  Brit.  Swed.  hus ;   Teut.  huys ;    Belg.  huis^  domus. 

Hence  come  to  hofise.     Isl.  Aysa ;    Germ.  Aausen ;   A. 

Sax.  Ausian^   &c.  in  habitationem   recipere:    and  Afif- 

band,  At»bandman,  &c. 


469 

Housing,  «.  gearing  of   horses.     Isl.  Aosa,  caliga!     A. 

Sax.  ho$eJ>end€b8^  horse-bands. 
HousiNG-THUNGs,  8,    a  long    strap    curled    at    the   end, 

which   I  remember  often  to  have  seen  pendant   from 

the  hames  of  a  horse^s  gears.     Is  this  what  is  termed 

in  Northamptonshire  a  thiUerf 
Hoot,  8,  a  hold,  or  place  of  safety  for  fish,   under   a 

bank  or   between  the  roots   of  trees.     (See  Hoult.) 

The  Scotch  itey  ''the  trout  has  hauU^  meaning  hold. 

Our  present  term  is  referable  to  the  Teut.  howt^  lignum. 
Hour,  V.  to  grasp,  seize.    Ex.  ''Tak  hout  on  his  hond.'^'' 

Teut.  houden^  tenere. 

HowESf  8.  berries  on  the  hawthorn.     (See  Haw.) 

They  eate  nothyng  that  came  of  come. 
Bat  beryesj  and  howea  of  the  thome 
Amonge  the  holtes  hare. 

Sir  Isbnbras,  v.  167. 

HuBBiN,  8.  a  small  iron  study;  a  blacksmith^s  term. 
HucK,  «.  perf.   of  heick.     Ex.   "  He  kuek  it  up,''  that 
is,  threw  or  tossed  it  up.     C.  Brit,  ueh^  supra. 
Hud,  9.  to  place  or  collect  in  small  heaps.    Ex.  ''  Budd- 
ing up  fitches.'"     G«rm.  huddn^  vexare!    It  has  much 
the  same  meaning  as  huddle.    ''  Huddling  jest  upon  jest.'' 
Much  Ado  about  Nothing. 
HuDs,  8.  small  heaps.     Ex.    ^''  Hud8  of  fitches." 
Huff,  8.  a  pet.     Ex.  ''Gone  away  in  a  huff.^ 
Huff,  r.  to   put  out  of  humour.      Ex.    "Now   you've 
huff*d  him."     A.  Sax.  heof<m^  elevare.     Isl.  j^/os^,  irri- 
tare.     Verel.  in  Indie,  yfer^  superbire.     Femmes   k  la 
grande  gorre,  huffing  or  flaunting  wenches.     Gotgr. 

Now  huffing  m,  what's  your  name. 

The  Begga'/e  Bwh. 

HuK  OR  BT  Cruk,  phr.  Hook  or  by  Crook.  In  the 
Scheie  House  of  women  we  meet  with  another  differ- 
ence of  orthography,  "A«di  or  cruch.^'' 

Hulk,  «.  to  loiter,  or  idle  about.  May  not  this  be, 
aa  it  were  by  aphseresis,   for  8iuli.     It  is  used  con- 


470 

temptuouBly :  hulking  about,  that  is  so  indolent  and 
lazy  that  such  an  individual  seems  unable  to  wear  hb 
life  away. 

HuLKY,  adj.  heavy,  stupid.     Ex.  "A  huUjf  fellow.'" 

Hull,  «.  a  shell,  or  sheath.  Ex.  '' Pea-Aufif.'*'  Verel. 
in  Indie.  htUda^  proteotio.  Isl.  Germ.  A«^,  velum. 
Swed.  hfdly  cuticula.  Teut.  Auhche,  folliculus.  Pals- 
grave; huU  of  a  bean  or  pea,  esoose;  all  of  which 
have  emanated  from  * 

Hull,  v.  1.  to  shell,  or  divest  of  its  covering:  by  me- 
tonymy, Verel.  in  Indie,  hidda;  M.  Goth,  hidgan; 
Franc,  htden;  Germ.  Teut.  hulhn;  C.  Brit,  hylio; 
Swed.  h^ja ;  Belg.  hulzen^  tegere,  operire.  2.  to  throw, 
cast.  Ex.  ^' ffuU  it  at  him.*"  This  must  be  a  verb 
of  entirely  arbitrary  adoption,  as  no  correspondent  one 
occurs  in  those  cognate  languages  which  sanction  the 
obsolete  expressions  in  our  own. 

HuLLocK,  8.  for  hillock. 

HuMBuz,  s.  the  cockchafer:  Melalontha  vulgaris. 

HuRCH,  HuBCHEN,  9.  to  keep  close  together.  Ex.  ^^Hur- 
ohenen  clos  up  i**  th^  chimlay  cornel.'*^  Pbomp.  Pabv. 
hurehenen  togeder. 

HuROT ;  a  termination  to  several  names  of  places  in  the 
county,  as  Lee  Brockhursty  BroekAurst  Castle,  Lily- 
hurst^  SiUeuhurgty  Coli-ffurst  Wood,  HolljAurstj  Haade- 
hurat^  &c.  Anciently  written  hyrst.  It  signifies  a 
woody  place,  and  sometimes  where  the  trees  grow  but 
low,  and  not  so  high  as  in  other  places,,  by  reason 
of  the  badness  of  the  soil:  as  StonyhurHj  SandAtin^, 
&c.  The  Hursts  abound  in  Kent  and  Sussex.  Germ. 
Teut.  Aarst;  A.  Sax.  Aurst;  Lat.  Barb.  Aursta^  sylva; 
Teut.  Aor^^  virgultum. 

HuRRYPUL,  €uilf\  rapid,  hasty.  Ex.  "  He  was  very  Aurty- 
fid  and  could  not  wait.''^     Munslow. 

HuspiL,  V.  to  disorder,  destroy,  put  to  inconvenience, 
knock  about.    Ex.  "  We  'en  bin  sadly  AwpiUedr   "  Bb- 


471 

nod  a  gween  to  be  huapiFd  a  that^ns.*"  Promp. 
Paby.  hiupefyn^  or  spoylen.  Fr.  houipiOer  to  tug, 
touse,  ruffle,  &c.  Cotg.  ffaussqnUery  maltraiter,  vexer. 
Roquefort  GIosb.  de  la  Langue  Romane.  ^^  H  Fa  Aaui- 
piOi  rudement."^  Richelet.  It  has  the  same  origin 
says  Menage  lus  yaspiller^  by  the  mutation  of  ff  into  A, 
and  a  into  <m.  This  comee  close  to  the  A.  Sax. 
yetpiUan^  dissipare.  Oerm.  wnpillm;  Teut.  spiUm^ 
dilapidare.     Id.  ^pUU  depravare.     C.  Brit.  ytpeUio. 


^ 


is  constantly  changed  into  ey  espe- 
cially if  it  be  followed  by  ffh:  for 
instance,  we  hear  of  ^^a  leyt  neei^ 
for  a  light  night:  and  I  was  once 
in  the  weekly  habit  of  listening  to 
a  parish  clerk  who  read  of  ^^a  left 
to  leyten  the  GentUes^  This  soft^ied 
pronunciation  of  the  vowel  is  general  in  the  mining 
districts,  where  they  say  freytm  for  frighten  ;  meygkU^ 
for  might :  feyght  for  fight :  each  of  which  latter  ex- 
amples is  accordant  with  the  early  idiom  and  orthoepy 
of  our  language. 

Sum  seyd  it  was  a  dogg  fey^Utmg. 

The  HufUyng  i^f  the  Homy  v.  233. 

Where  naturally  short,  i  is  turned  into  «,  as  cegtem 
for  cistern :  chenmy  for  chimney ;  chreBtmas  for  Christ- 
mas :  selk-ffownd^  for  silk  gown :  prented  pddper^  for 
printed  paper. 

And  in  the  beginning  of  words,  as  enquere  for  inquire. 
Enquered  of  men  of  other  con^. 

Lyfe  of  Ipomydon^  v.  110. 
Ne  of  no  man  oowde  enquere. 

tdL  Y.357. 

Ie  has  the  sound  of  short  t,  as  JUd  for  field :  yiU  for 
yield. 

IcKLE,  8.  an  icicle.     (See  Ebcle.) 
Ilding,  part,  yielding.    (See  Eild.) 


478 

Illfit,  8.  a  large  vessel  used  in  brewing.  Ex.  ^'If  it 
innod  worked  cool  i'  th''  iUfiiy  it  wunna  mak  good 
drink.''^  A  vitiation  of  ale  fat.  A  yel/atej  is  among 
the  inventory  of  effects  belonging  to  Sir  John  Fas- 
tolfe.  (Archseol.  xxi.  277*)  S.  Ooth.  /(Mij  vas  oujuB- 
cunque  generis:  ol/aiy  cadus  cerevisise  condendse  desti* 
natufl.  Teut.  ael^  cerevisia,  and  vat,  dolium.  Belg. 
^?-kuip. 

Imps,  b.  young  shoots,  generally  taken  for  grafts.  A. 
Sax.  impan;  Teut.  impffen,  inserere.  Dan.  impe;  C. 
Brit,  imp;  Swed.  ymp,  surculus. 

Of  feble  trees  ther  comen  wretched  impa. 

Cant.  TakSy  ▼.  13962. 

Inchmil,  Inchmore,  ade.  inch  by  inch. 

Incline,  9.  for  decline. 

Insensb,  «.  1.  to  inform.  This  vulgarism  is  not  con- 
fined to  Salopians.  2.  to  convince.  Ex.  ^^Y^  told 
him  soa  diden  ye,  but  y**  didna  inamie  him.*" 

Insight,  s.  a  road  in  a  coal  pit  that  is  driven  into  the 
work. 

Intack,  8.  this  does  not  signify  so  much  a  take  in, 
or  imposition,  as  it  does  that  the  work  undertaken 
cannot  be  accomplished  at  the  stipulated  price.  ^^/f»- 
tacJT  says  my  informant  ^^is  where  a  job  is  inrun- 
ning  in  the  price.^ 

Intubn,  prep,  instead.     Ex.  ^'  Tak  this  intum  o'  that'n.*" 

Jack  Squealer,  8.  the  Swift;  Cypeelue  apm* 

Jackstraw,  8.  1.  the  black  cap ;  Sylvia  atrieapiOa.  2. 
the  white  throat;  Sylvia  einerea. 

Jao,  v.  to  carry  by  means  of  a  waggon  or  cart.  Ex. 
^^To  joff  him  a  load  of  hay.*^  There  is  considerable 
difficulty  in  ascertaining  whence  we  have  learned  the 
present  term.  I  think  the  meaning  of  the  S.  Ooth. 
Jaffa,  persequi,  which  in  its  primary  sense  is  applied 
io  hunting,  and  the  Tent,  jayhen,  festinare,  are  both  aUke 


47* 

unable    to   throw   light    upon    itB   origin.      IbI.  jaga^ 
exeroere! 
Jagokr,  s.  one  who  works  draught  horses  for  hire.    Ex. 

"Davis  the  Jogger.''^ 
Jbnntcoat,  b.  a  bed-gown  worn  by  children.     This  word 

is  almost  extinct. 
Jib,  to  hang  the;   phr.     A  vulgarism  descriptive  of  a 

person  out  of  humor. 
JiGom,  ifiterj,   an  address  to  a  waggon  horse,  bidding 
him  proceed;    (See  remarks  under  Commoos.) 
J1G6IN-8IEVE,  9.  a  fine  cloth  which  sifts  the  dust  from 

oats  or  wheat  when  they  are  ground. 

Job,   v.   to   pierce   suddenly    with  a   sharp   instrument. 

Ex.  "Jobbed  the  fork  through   the  table  doth.''     It 

is  presumed  that  the  present  word  is  not  provincial 

Ash. 

Jobber,  9.  a  dealer ;  as  a  pig-jobber,  a  horse-jiMer,  &c. 

JoBLocKs,  s.  the  pendulous  carunculated  wattle  which  is 

seen  in  cock  turkies. 
Jog,  r.  1.  to  shake.  Ex.  ^^  Jogging  the  table."  This 
first  sense  is  chiefly  of  puerile  adaptation,  but  never- 
theless seems  to  have  given  origin  to  the  metaphorical 
use  of  the  word  in  its  secondaiy  sense ;  as,  S.  to  re- 
mind, refresh.  Ex.  "•/(cy  his  memory."  Tout.  Belg. 
ichoekm;  Ital.  seuotere,  quassare. 
JoNNocK,  phr.  The  precise  meaning  of  this  word  is 
so  difficult  to  convey  to  polite  ears,  that  an  illustra- 
tion rather  than  a  definition  must  declare  its  peculiarity. 
I  imagine  it  signifies  that  a  matter  is  conclusive;  for 
when  a  person  seems  unlikely  to  yield  or  retract,  the 
fiat  he  pronounces,  is  said  to  be  jonnock;  there's  no 
appeal  that  can  avail  when  a  man  utters  this  decisive  ' 
word :  "  That's  jovmock.^  And  sometimes  we  hear  an 
independant,  lawless  living  fellow  described  9S  jomMck; 
"  He's  jonnoeL'^  The  word  must  assuredly  be  tnda- 
titious,   and  is  very  likely  most  limited  in  circulation. 


475 

JoRAM,  8.  a  large  dish.  Ex.  *^A  good  joram  o^  brotbs.'*^ 
S.  Goth.   Swed.  Isl.  Dan.  jord,  terra. 

JoRDEN,    s.   a   fictile   vessel.      In   Thomas   Walsingham 

there   is  an  amusing   story  of  a   quack  doctor   being 

condemned    to    ride   through    the    streets   of   London 

with  two  jordens  about  his  neck.     ^^  In  crastino^'*  says 

the  historian,  ^^  cum  mendacium  latere  non  posset,  cap- 

tus  est,  et  equo  impositus,    equinaque  cauda  commissa 

suis   manibus  loco  frseni  et  duse   ollse,    qnas  jardanes 

Yulgo  vocamus,   ad  ejus    collum  colligantur,   cum   cote 

in    signum    quod    illam   mentiendo    promeruit,    et    ita 

circumductus   est   per  omnem    civitatem    in   conspectu 

cunctorum   physicorum  et  chirurgorum   digna  dehones- 

tamenta  recipiens  pro  mercede.**^  p.  288.      1  Henry  IV. 

u.  1. 

Ich  shal  jangly  to  thys  Jordan. 

P.  PlouhmapT,  247. 

Then  come  in  iordans  in  iuasall 
Als  red  as  any  russall. 

Hartshornb's  Met.  Tales,  p.  147. 

And  eke  thyn  urinals^  and  thy  jordanes. 

Cant.  Tales,  y.  12239. 

Jow,  ».  abuse.     It  is  variously  pronounced;   sometimes 

jaw^  at  others,  ja.     Teut.  jouw^  clamor  rusticorum? 

But  they  garr'd  the  Feathentones  falrad  their  jaw. 

Scottish  Minstrelsy,  vol.  ii.  p.  88. 

Jowl,  s.  1.  a  dish.  Ex.  "A  jowl-dish.'"  2.  the  head 
or  neck.  We  sometimes  hear  .  of  a  man  having  a 
large  jowl.  Arm.  ffueol ;  Irish  ffiall,  os.  Fr.  ffude ; 
Ital.  and  Span,  gola,  gula.     A.  Sax.  do/,  guttur. 

Jowl,  v.  to  beat  the  head,  strike  it  against  anything 
hard.     Ex.   ^^  Jowled  his  yed  agen  the  wall.^'' 

JowT-HBADED,  (ulj.  stupid.  A  comiptiou  from  jolt- 
headed.     (See  remarks  under  ou.) 

Bot  fowl^  jaw-jourdane-heded,  jevels. 

Dunrar's  Compt* 

JOWT,    9.    to  jolt. 


476 

Just  now  ;  fhr.  Salopians  use  this  in  a  most  extended 
way,  applying  the  phrase  to  the  past,  present,  and 
future.  Such  a  custom  never  gives  rise  to  doubt  or 
ambiguity  among  themselves,  though  aliens  are  fre- 
quently puzzled  by  the  irregularity.  An  individual  has 
dined,  and  he  expresses  the  fact,  by  saying  ^^  he  dined 
juti  funo^  If  at  dinner,  he  would  say  "  I  am  dining 
ju8t  now^  or  if  he  has  the  dinner  in  anticipation, 
^^he  hopes  to  dine  juit  now^ 


^ 


^., 


AFF,  Kaffle,  8.  a  hoe  having  a  very 
long  handle,  one  used  by  garden- 
ers. S.  Ooth.  Swed.  Verel.  in  Indie. 
kajhy  bacillus. 

Kale,  Kave,  v.  to   empty  by  tilting 
or  throwing  upwards,   as  a   loaded 
cart.     Gr.  KotXowj   cavo? 
Calts,  s.  quoits.     As  this  is  not  a  vitiation  of  Keils,  or 
Kayles,  which  mean  nine  pins,  from  the  Fr.  quUky  let 
us  see  whether  it  can  deduce  its  origin  by  one  of  those 
complicated  ways  in  which  Etymologists  delight  to  per- 
plex themselves  and  their  readers.     Fr.  palet ;  by  pros- 
thesis, kalet;  by  syncope,  icUt;  by  paragoge,  hdt^,   I&l. 
iueita^  violenter  jactari.    Nine-pirmeSy  or  Keyles.  Cotgr, 
Kansh,  Kensh,  8.  a  strain.     Ex.  ^^A  ken8h  in  the  hip*"^ 
Kasardly,  adj.  unlucky.     Lat.  castM. 
Kedlock,  8.  a  very  troublesome  weed,  known  by  Botanists 
as  the  charlock,  or  Sinapis  artenm. 
Keep,   8,      1.   pasture.      Ex.    "  Plenty    o'    good    keep.^ 
2.  maintenance.     Ex.    ^^  Jack  inna  wuth  his  keepJ" 
Keep,  v,  to  maintain,  find  in  meat  and  drink.     Ex.  '^  Vd 
lother  keep  sich  a  chap  as  thee   bist,   a  wik,  than   a 
fortnight.**^ 

Keep,  out  at,  phr.  Horses  or  cattle  which  lay  out  in 
hired  pastures  are  said  to  be  out  at  keep.  Ex.  ''  The 
cowts  han  bin  out  at  keep.'*'' 


478 

Kbftl,  8.  a  very  inferior  horse.  Ex.  ^^  Such  a  poor 
hfylP  This  10  one  of  the  few  words  that  the  Sa- 
lopians have  gathered  from  their  Welsh  neighbours. 
But  why  it  should  be  applied  in  a  bad  sense  seems 
unaccountable.  In  the  Early  Poets  frequent  mention 
is  made  of  eapeU^  eapuU^  &c.  for  steeds  of  little  value. 

In  the  same  armure  y*  laenbras  wroughte 
And  on  a  croked  oopfe  that  coles  broughte 
Hymselfe  to  battayll  gan  ivde. 

Sir  Isbnbras,  y.415. 

Yet  the  word  before  us,  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  cor- 
ruption from  thence,  but  must  have  been  learned  'in 
malam  partem ''  from  the  C.  Brit,  kefyl.  Promp.  Parv. 
keuyll  tor  hors,  mordale.  (See  Yorke's  Royal  Tribes,  p.  91*) 

Kbogle,  v.  to  be  unsteady;  Ex.  ''The  table  keggletr 
Germ,  kugeln ;    Teut.  Belg.  kughden^  rotundare. 

Kbkill,  «.  to  make  a  noise  like  a  goose.  The  same 
as  eaeUe.     Teut.  Belg.  kaechden^  glocire.     Lindsay. 

Kell,  «.  a  piece  of  skin  which  wraps  over  part  of  a  loin 
of  veal.  My  informants  vary  considerably  in  assigning 
it  a  locality.  But  as  there  is  no  discrepancy  in  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  it  may  not  unaptly  come  from 
the  Teut.  gale^  callus.  Promp.  Parv.  kdi^  reticulum. 
Nares  quotes  as  an  illustration  of  its  use: 


111  have  him  cut  to  the  keU,  then  down  the 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

Kell,  s.  to  skin  over ;  a  term  applied  to  horses  when 
they  shew  symptoms  of  blindness.  Ex.  ''  His  eye  begins 
to  keU  over."*^  The  able  glossarist  just  quoted  again  fur- 
nishes me  with  an  example. 

Now  cover'd  over  with  dim  doady  Mi. 

Drayton. 

Rever,  t?.  to  cover.     The  regular  vowel  is   perpetually 

changed  into  ^,  and  t.     Ex.  "JPiww  em  o'*er/' 

And  leyd  hym  in  his  owne  hous 

And  kmeryd  hom  vp  ayeyn. 

The  Hunttun^  of  the  Hairty  v.  252. 


479 

Kets,  «.  blossoms  of  the  ash.  BuUokar  under  titiaies 
thus  explains  the  word,  ^Hhe  fruit  of  the  ashen-tree, 
they  are  little  narrow  husks  hanging  together  in  dus- 
ters, wherein  is  contained  the  seed  of  the  ashe  which 
is  bitter." 

Ketx,  Kex,  8.  the  dried  stalks  of  the  hemlock,  or  other 
umbelliferous  plants.  The  word  seems  of  universal  ac- 
ceptation ;  supplying  all  the  kingdom  through  a  simile  for 
what  is  withered.  Palsgrave ;  kickes^  the  drie  stalke  of 
humlockes  or  burres. 

As  doth  a  kyw  other  a  candle. 

P.  Plouhman,  330. 

All  the  wyves  of  Tottenham  came  to  se  that  syzt, 
Wyth  wyspes,  and  kexis,  and  ryschys  there  lyzt. 

Tumament  of  Tottenham,  v.  201. 

Ill  make  these  wither'd  kea^ea  bear  my  body. 

A  King  and  no  King, 

For  kejp,  dried  kex,  that  in  summer  has  been  so  liberal  to 
fodder  other  men's  cattle,  and  scarce  have  enough  to  keep  your 
own  in  winter. 

The  miseries  of  Inforced  Marriage,  iv. 

Kibble,  t.  to  cut  small.     Ex.    *'*' Kihled  beans.""     Teut. 

kippen^  insecare. 
KfBBLiNQ-AXE,  B.  9Xi  axc  about  four  pounds  and  a  half 

in  weight,  chiefly  used  in  cutting  ^cord  wood.^ 
KiBBLiNo  MILL,  8,  a  mill  used  for  cutting  beans. 
Kid,  r.  to  cut  or  bind  up  faggots.     Teut.  kudden^  coire. 
Kiddle,  v.  saliva,  chiefly  from  an  infant.     Teut.  kedd^ 

supporus. 
Kiddle,  «.  to  etnit  saliva.     S.  Goth,  mgla;   Dan.  sigle^ 

dicitur  de  infantibus,  ubi  salivam  per  oris  sinus  effluere 

patiuntur. 
Kids,  b.  faggots.     C.  Brit,  ddyson ;  Promp.  Parv.  kydey 

fascis.     Palsgrave;  kydde,  a  fagotto. 
KiLsoN,  B.  the  keel  of  a  barge. 

KiMrr,  tjulf.  1.  cross,  ill  tempered.  2.  awry.  5.  dis- 
ordered in  the  brain.     Ex.   ^^A  kimit  sheep.*^ 


480 


KiMNAL,  8.  a  veflBel  for  household  purposes.  Pbomp. 
Parv.  kynlyn,  or  keler  vessel ;  what  brewers  would  stiU 
call  a  cooler ;  lempUng^  Bailey ;  kmUng^  Coles.  An  old 
word  whose  derivation  is  veiled  in  obscure  conjecture. 
Ray  enumerates  it  among  the  North  Country  words: 
it  is  by  no  means  common  in  Shropshire.  Palsgrave; 
lymneUy  quevue. 

A  kneding  trough  or  elles  a  kem^m. 

Cant.  Tain.  ▼.  3648. 

She's  Bomewhat  simple 

Indeed;  she  knew  not  what  a  kimnei  was. 

The  Coxcomb. 

Kind,  v.  to  light,  as  fire.     Ex.  "  Kind  the  fire.'' 

Kip,  «.  a  cote.     Ex.   "A  cauves  kip^ 

KiPE,  9.  a  strong  basket  with  two  short  handles,  always 
formed  of  unbarked  osiers.  A.  Sax.  cypay  cophinus. 
Tout,  kuypej  cupa.     Oerm.  hipe^  corbis  dorsuaria. 

Kit,  9.  an  universal  vulgarism  for  a  gang,  or  company. 

Kitchen,  e.  a  large  iron  kettle  which  usually  hangs  over 
a  kitchen  fire. 

Knack,  «.  1.  to  gnash  the  teeth,  to  snap  as  a  dog.  2. 
to  strike  gently  with  one  weapon  or  instrument  against 
another.  S.  to  nick.  Swed.  knaeka^  pulsare.  Oerm. 
hnaeken^  sonum  edere  ex  ictu. 

Knag,  v.  to  bite  at,  snap ;  and  hence  the  following  adjec- 
tive, in  a  metaphorical  sense.  Isl.  naga ;  Swed.  gnagOy 
mordere.     Teut.  knaghen^  rodere. 

Knaggy,  adj.  ill  tempered,  peevish.     Dan.  knag. 

Knarly,  adj.  1.  knotty.  Ex.  '^This  timbers  knarif 
stuff.''  2.  hardy,  stiff.  Ex.  "  A  knarly  fellow.''  Teut. 
knarren^  stridere.  Swed.  knar^  hominis  morosi  verborum 
continuus  strepitus;  knarrig,  morosus.  Dan.  knarwr- 
ren^  austerus.  Verel.  in  Indie,  knar^  acer;  Teut.  kn<h 
rachtigh^  nodosus.  (knorrey  nodus.)  "  A  thikke  gnarre.^ 
Chaucer,  v.  551. 


481 


Knit,  v.  1.  to  unite.  Ex.  ^^The  bwon  (bone)  inna 
inii  yet.^  2.  to  hang  together.  Ex.  ''  The  bees  bin 
twitted  under  the  skip.'*'*  A.  Sax.  cnitiom ;  Dan.  tnyttet ; 
Swed.  inyta ;  Isl.  tnyta,  nectere. 

And  to  hys  fete  a  Btrong  xope  knjfUes. 

R.  Goer  db  Lion,  v.  4008. 
And  hiB  hondeu  bifoien  him  knet. 

Thx  Sxuyn  Saoxs,  y.  1616. 

I  wol  ben  his  to  whom  that  I  am  knit. 

Cam.  Tales,  v.  1129a 

Knogs,  8.  hemp ;  and  bemg  the  course,  fibrouB  part,  may 
have  some  connexion  with  the  preceding. 

KouNG,  Eeouling,  8.  a  rough  tastmg  apple,  nearly  allied 
to  the  crab.  This  word  is  peculiar  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Ludlow. 

KoupiNG,  adf.  addicted  to  bark  at  a  horse^s  heels.  Some 
of  those  who  have  listened  criticaOy  to  our  pecidiari-* 
ties  of  speech  tell  me,  that  there  is  a  decided  difference 
between  a  ieauHnff  dog  and  a  koupinff  dog.  The  former 
denotmg  one  who  is  quick  and  sharp,  valuable  as  a  house 
guard,  the  latter,  one  who  is  good  for  nothing,  unless 
it  be  to  molest  passers  by.  Ex.  ^*  Dunna  yo  hear  that 
dog  iaupinff  the  ship  !^     (See  Ceout.) 


31 


^ 


is  frequently  supplanted  by  w :  thus 
Salopians  say,  "  Pawm  uv  his  hond"" 
for  palm  of  his  hand.  Palsgrave; 
paulme  of  the  hande.  And  the  prao- 
tioe  is  not  without  authority,  as  we 
find  the  same  interchange  of  letteis 
in  Widifs  translation  of  the  New 
Testament :  ^^  Othere  gaven  strokis  with  the  pawm$  of 
her  hondis  in.  his  faoe.^  St  Matthew,  ch.  xxtL  Also, 
btiwrn^  for  babn ;  Palsgrave ;  baume^  an  herb ;  p9awn^  for 
psalm.  When  preceded  by  o,  ^  is  invariably  dianged 
into  IT,  or  tf,  as  in  fold,  sold,  old,  scold,  bold,  &c  we  say 
fawdj  iowdy  awdy  seowd^  bawd  (Teut.  boude^  audax.)  When 
preceded  by  a,  it  is  likewise  converted  into  t» ;  as  ^^  this 
borley  wunnod  mak  good  mautr"  *'^  He  dunna  yam  his 
9aia.^  Sometimes  its  sound  is  altogether  suppressed,  as 
in  fault,  vault,  &c.  The  natives  of  Craven  (See  their 
glossarist  under  ma/int)  have  a  similar  practice. 
Al  undergoes  a  peculiar  change  in  its  pronunciation  in 
several  parts  of  the  county,  but  especially  at  Lvdhw.  It 
Is  commuted  into  atr,  and  if  a  dissyllable  ending  in  d!,  the 
d  is  invariably  turned  into  t  Thus  we  hear  the  inha- 
bitants of  this  Burg  caU  that  quarter  of  the  town  where 
the  prison  is  situated,  Gawowty  and  Oawfort^  for  Goal- 
ford;  in  like  manner  Hdlford  is  called  Hatetna,  and 
WcU/ord^   Waumtt  and    Wattfut. 


483 

Lace,  v,  to  beat,  chastise.  ^^  A  tight  lacing*^^  in  the  two 
sexes  is  hardly  synonymous ;  for  whilst  the  male  portion 
would  carefully  avoid  it,  the  female  part  voluntarily  in- 
flict upon  themselves  this  species  of  torment.  Orose  re- 
cognises the  phrase  of  ^'  111  laee  your  jacket.*" 

Ladlick^d,  part,  pott;  being  beaten  by  a  boy.    (See  Lick.) 

Lao,  9.  to  loiter,  remain  behind. 

Laolast,  phr.  the  last  of  a  band.  Verel.  in  Indie,  lag^ 
societas.    Orose. 

Laoman,  «.  an  epithet  given  to  the  last  of  a  troop  of 
mowers  or  reapers.  S.  Goth.  Swed.  lagg ;  Lapp,  lagg^ 
extremum  cujuscunque  rei. 

Lam,  «.  to  beat.  Ex.  ^^  Oive  him  a  good  UmmM^g.^''  Gelt, 
fam,  manus.  Tout,  him  daen,  enervare  verberibus.  C. 
Brit,  lainio^  verberare.  Verel.  in  Indio.  lam^  firactus. 
Isl.  hlemma^  tundere.     Swed.  2am,  enervatus. 

Many,  I  say,  sir,  if  I  had  been  acquainted 
With  lammmg  in  my  youth,  as  you  have  been. 
With  whipping,  and  such  benefits  of  nature. 

The  HtmeH  MaiC%  Fortune. 
One  whose  dull  body  will  require  a  lammmg. 

A  King  and  no  King. 

Lamb,   Lamp,   «.  a  form  of  the  preceding.     Grose  has 
the  word,  and  also  the  phrase   '^  Lamb  pie^^  which  is 
synonymous.      In  the    celebrated   play   of  Ignoramus, 
the  word  occurs  under  a  Latin  form. 
Pol.    Capillis  illas  in  viis 

Protiahens  ita  lamberabo,  ne  tollant  pedes  postea. 

EdU.  Hawkins,  p.  96. 
To  amplify  the  matter  then;  roffues  are  ye. 
And  lamb'd  ye  shall  be  ere  we  kave  ye. 

The  Beggars'  Bush. 

Lambskinet,  8.  a  game  at  cards  played  by  young  people. 
A  corruption  from  the  Fr.  Lansquenet.  See  Cotgrave. 
Menage,  says  the  LansquenetSy  who  are  Swiss,  or  German 
footmen,  introduced  this  game  into  France.  They  were 
a  body  much  employed  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  in  his 
wars  against  the  king  of  France.  Phil,  de  Comines, 
Book  vin.  c.  14. 

31-2 


484 

Lamhbl,  Lammock^  «.  synonymous  with  the   preceding. 

Langan,   Lanoit,  8.  the  socket  of  a  spade  or  shovel. 

Lannbt,  8.  a  hmiard.    Fr.  laniire. 

Lant,  8.  urine.  Isl.  A.  Sax.  kland^  urina.  Whidi 
again  come  from  the  Celtic  Ian,  hn^  lUn^  aqua.  The 
primitive  has  given  name  to  some  places  in  our  own 
county,  as  Leintwardine ;  and  to  several  in  the  king- 
dom generally,  as  i^ncaster,  London,  ike,  which  have 
taken  their  appellation  from  their  position  near  water. 
Nares  quotes  for  my  purpose. 

Your  frequent  drinking  coontiy  ale  with  kmi  in't. 

Glafthoknb's  IFU  in  a  CamkAie. 

Lapp,  «.  to  wrap,  fold  up,  enclose.  Ex.  '^  Lapped  up 
in  paper.*"  Teut.  lappen,  coagmentare.  Swed.  lappa, 
saroire.     Sir  D.  Lyndsay. 

And  whanne  the  bodi  was  taken^  Joeeph  lappide  it  in  a  dene 
sendel. 

Wiclif'8  New  Tett.  Si  Matt.  ch.  zxvii. 

BUapped  among  his  fon. 

Amis  and  Amiloun,  v.  1014. 

Sche  toke  a  riishe  baudekine 

That  hir  lord  brought  fram  Conatentine, 

And  lapped  the  litef  maiden  therin. 

Lay  lb  Frbine,  v.  138. 

Ye  must  gyve  the  knyght  a  lyveray^ 
To  lappeina  body  ther  in. 

Ritson's  Roinn  Hood,  vol.  i.  p.  14. 

And  take  him  a  grene  mantel! 
To  lappe  his  Ix^y  ther  in. 

id.  vol.  i.  p.  35, 

Lap  me  in  soft  Lydian  airs. 

VAUegro. 

Latch,  «.  to  measure  under  the  surface,  as  a  mine,  bj 
way  of  ascertaining  how  much  of  it  has  been  used. 
Thus  to  latch  a  pit,  signifies  to  measure  how  much 
of  the  mine  has  been  used,  as  well  as  to  discover  what 
direction  the  work  is  taking.  Germ,  ku^  incisura. 
Lat.  Barb.  Iaehu8,  incisio  arborum:  that  is,  as  a  boun- 
dary markf     ^^  Omnia  qusecunque  his  lachi8  et  terminis 


485 

circumdata  sunt  oum  villulis  infra  poBitie.'^  (Du  Cange, 
sub  Lackm,) 

Lathbb,  b.  1.  a  ladder.  2.  part  of  a  mill  oontigaou0 
to  the  hopper. 

Lather,  Lother,  adj.  rather.      Ex.    "  Fd  Uxther  nod.**"* 

Latness  o^  speech,  phr.  difficulty  of  utterance,  impedi- 
ment of  speech.  Teut.  Uneten^  omittere  ?  S.  Ooth.  lai^ 
piger.  A.  Sax.  laiicm ;  M.  Gk)th.  latyan^  diferre.  Swed. 
laUing,  ignarus. 

Lats,  «.  laths.    Teut.  latte^  tigillum. 

Lattino,  adj.  late,  backward.  Ex.  "A  lotting  time  for 
the  tillin."''   Verel.  in  Indie,  latur ;  M.  Goth,  lata^  tardus. 

Law,  8.  liberty,  licence,  start. 

Laze,  «.  to  glean.  Ex.  '^  Gone  a  lazing.'"  S.  Goth,  kua ; 
Teut. Franc.  Germ,  lesen ;  Swed.  Kua;  A.  Sax.  leian^  legere. 

Lazing,  8.  the  produce  of  gleaning.  A.  Sax.  lesingj 
spieelegium. 

Leaf,  b.  fat  round  the  kidneys  of  a  pig.  Ex.  ^^Pig'^s 
lea/,"*^  usually  converted   into  lard. 

Leapbrs,  8.  grey  peas,  commonly  called  ^^laping  paze.**^ 

Learn,  v.  to  teach.  This  is  a  very  common  metonymy, 
and  in  all  probability  universal.  Refinement  has  in- 
duced us  to  consider  it  a  vulgarism,  but  I  suspect 
somewhat  arbitrarily.  For  both  the  example  in  the 
authorised  version  of  the  Bible,  and  the  etymology  of 
the  word  itself  supply  an  answer  to  those  who  would 
condemn  its  use.  Germ,  lemeny  docere.  A.  Sax.  leor- 
nian;  Franc,  leman;  Alaman,   liman^  discere. 

Lead  me  forth  in  thy  tmth,  and  learn  me. 

Psahn  XXV,  4.  and  8,    Pgakn  cxix.  2. 

and  repeatedly  in  Shakspeare ;  As  You  Like  It,  i.  2 ; 

Tempest  i.  2. ;  Richard  II.  iv.  1. 
Leather,  i?.  to  beat. 
Lenth,  Lbynth,  8.  length.     There  is  a  general  practice 

amongst  the  lower  orders  of  suppressing  the  sound  of 

gy  in   this   and    similar    words:    and    as    we   find    the 


486 


word   written  by  some   of  our  early  writers  without 

it,  the  custom  is  not  unsanctioned.     One  illustration, 

from  many,  may  suffice. 

In  his  muchehed,  and  in  his  legftUke. 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  t.  7352. 

Lent-obain,  LErnvriLLiN,  $.  such  crops  as  are  sown  in 

the  spring. 

And  lenie  9ud9  alle 
Aren  nouht  so  worthy  as  whete. 

P.  Plouhman^  211. 

LsvEBs,  i.  ^wet  boards;'  or  the  lower  moveable  boards 
of  a  bam  door:  sometimes  termed  Hea/een:  periiaps 
from  being  lifted  out  of  the  side  grooves. 

Ley,  8,   1.  ploughed  land  that  has  been  laid  down  with 

clover  or  other  seeds.     Ex.  "  A  clover  leg^     '*  It  was 

a  ley  last  year.'^     A.  Sax.  %,  novale. 

And  feyi  toke  vp  a  falow  ley. 

The  Hunttyng  qf  the  Hare,  v.  152. 

2.  as  a  common  termination  to  the  name  of  a  place. 
In  which  we  must  seek  for  a  higher  origin.  C.  Brit. 
He;  Com.  le;  Arm.  lech;  A.  Sax.  lea;  Qerm.  lage^ 
locus. 

LicHaATB,  $.  that  gate  of  a  church-yard  through  which 
a  funeral  approaches  the  grave.  One  of  the  entrances 
to  Madely  Church- Yard  is  so  called,  and  whilst  all 
corpses  are  carried  through  that,  all  weddings  as  in- 
variably pass  through  the  other.  The  term  is  not 
confined  to  this  place  merely,  as  a  similar  apellation 
is  given  to  others  in  various  parts  of  the  county; 
the  church-yard  gate  at  Albrighton  bears  this  name; 
there  is  a  lAchfiM  ChUe  near  Norton  Camp ;  and 
the  hke  name  is  recognised  in  Cheshire  and  Staflbrd- 
shire.  The  central  gate  leading  into  the  church-yard 
of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Wolverhampton  is  stiU 
called  the  LiehrgcOe.  IsL  Swed.  Lapp.  Uk ;  A.  Sax. 
lie;  M.  Goth,  leik;  Teut.  lijck^  cadaver.  The  city 
of  Lichfield  has  hence  derived  its  title,  being  as  Lam- 


bard  informs  w  from  John  Rofls,  ''caUed  LyoetfMe^ 

i.  e.  Oada/cerwn  OampuB^  from  the  great  daughter  there. 

Lie  and   Lichama  in  Old   KngBwh  signifying  a  body, 

by  which  name  Beda  also  calleth  it."^ 
Lick,  «.  a  blow. 
Lick,  «.   to  beat.      Ex.  ''A  good  lieUngJ*"    S.   Ooth. 

Uffa^  peroutere.     Plautus  has  ^pugno  legere^ 
LicKLB,  adj.  a  very  general  substitution  in  the  vicinity 

of  Church  Stretton  for  IMe. 
Lids,  «.   transverse  pieces  of   wood  which  support  the 

roof  of  a  coal  work.     A.  Sax.  hUdan^  tegere! 
LiBF,  LiBv,  adj<.  agreeable,  as  soon  as;   pronounced  Uf 

and  Uf>.      Ex.   ''  Fd  as  Uf  do  it  as  nod.""     A.  Sax. 

leof;    M.   Ooth.   Uvba;    Tout.    Urf,  dilectus.      Oerm. 

Uiben^  favere.     Lat.  2iM,  lubet. 
What  aiuma  is  ^  or  loih. 

P.  PLOimMAIf. 

Be  hym  kfi,  or  be  hym  loth. 

Kitson's  Ant.  Pop.  Poehy,  p.  90. 

Ne  thourii  I  say  it,  I  na'am  not  Iq^  to  gabbe. 

MiOerm  Tale,  d6ia 
Whether  he  were  loth  or  kfi. 

Ritson's  BMn  Hood,  vol.  L  p.  41. 
Whose  mention  was  like  to  thee  as  Seoo 
As  a  catch-polls  fist. 

Hall's  SaHrei,  iv.  2. 

LiEK,  part,  pott ;  hyn.     Ex.    ''  Her  hannod  Km  up  all 

alung;^  which  is  to  say,   whether  it  be  masculine  or 

feminine,  that  the  brute  has  layn  out. 

Though  ye  have  Uen  among  the  pots. 

PMdm  lx?iiL  13. 

LiBVBB,  €tdj.  rather.      Ex.    ^^  Liewr,  let  him  be.^     Sir 
D.   Lyndsay,  Chaucer,  Spenser. 

Hym  was  feusr  to  lyn  than  lyde. 

Sir  Goworthsr,  v.  246. 

That  hem  were  lever  lend. 

P.  Plouhmav. 

I  had  leuer  than  a  thousand  pound. 

Adam  Bbll,  v.  645. 

Mee  had  lever  than  a  ston  of  chese. 

Tttrnament  of  Tottenham,  v.  180. 


i 


488 

LidOKR,  s.  a  liar.  Ex.  ''Thee  bist  a  lij/ffer.*'  S.Goth. 
Iffi^;  M.  Goib.  Ufiffon;  A.  Sax.  leoffim;  Franc.  Ala- 
man,  Unptm;  Belg.  Uegm;  Id.  Swed.  Unga;  Oemou 
hgeny  mentiri. 

Light,  «.  by  aphffireeuiy  for  aligki. 

She  UM  adonn  and  ftlleth  him  to  fete. 

CanL  Talei,  t.  6624  and  10183. 
A  vengeaiinoe  and  dispigfat 
On  the  must  nedes  ij^hL 

Skeltoit's  Poemt,  p.  83. 
AD  hys  lo^e  yn  her  was  ^^^Uft. 

Laujtfai.,  y.  308. 

Light  timbbred,  adj.   sickly,    weak,   feeble,  slim.     Ex. 

''Theresa  nod  much  chaance  o^  keeping  sich  a  weUy, 

liffii  timbered  crachnr  alive.^ 
LiGHTBOMB,  adj.  light.     Pbomp.  Pabv.  Ij^ffhiaum^  full  of 

light.     Tent,  licht;  A.  Sax.  Kit,  lucidus. 
Full  U^dwtM  and  glad  of  cheres. 

ROMAUNT  OF  TBB  RoSB. 

LiGHTsoMBB,  adj.  Comparative  of  the  foregoing. 

LiKB ;  a  redundancy  which  often  enters  into  the  middle, 

or  forms  the  conclusion  of  a  sentence.    Ex.  ''  Her's  been 

very  iU  HkeT     "Poorly  liier 

Sa  Hope  and  Garage  did,  quod  I, 
Experimented  lyke. 

Movtooxert's  Cherry  and  the  l&at, 

LiKBLT,  adj.  suitable,  promising.  Ex.  "A  Uidy  laA.^ 
M.  Goth,  galeitan^  placere. 

Limb  of  the  Law,  phr.  Jamieson  defines  Umb  to  be 
"  a  mischievous  or  wicked  person  ;*"  as  "  You^'re  a  per- 
fect limb.^^  An  elliptical  expression  says  he,  used  for 
'^a  limb  of  Satan.**^  Verel.  in  Indie.  Lim^  membrum; 
Swed.  lem. 

But  I  am  tauffht  the  danger  would  be  much, 
If  these  poor  lines  should  one  attornejr  touch — 
One  of  those  lAmba  of  Law  who're  always  here. 

The  Bcraugh,  Letter  Vl« 

Lino,  g,  heath.     Verel.  in  Indie,  ling^  erica. 


i 


489 

LiNKBBDfo,  adj.  idle.  Ex.  ^*  Yo  bin  a  Unkering  fellow.^ 
And  as  a  participle,  denoting  one  who  loiten,  or  idles 
about.  Ex.  ^'  JAnkervng  abouitT*  By  metatheos  for  Uf^ 
gering.  A.  Sax.  Imgiom;  Tent,  lenghm;  Belg.  Imgen^  pio- 
longare. 

Lm  Pin,  s.  a  pin  of  iron  which  paflBes  through  an  axle 
of  a  waggon,  or  a  ^^  copsiP  of  a  plough,  to  keep  the 
wheel  on.     Lviuik-fvi^  Bailey. 

Lint,  $.  a  dang  term  for  a  halter.  Ex.  ^^  Yone  had  the 
liiU  nigher  your  neck  than  he  haa.^  Tout.  Uwtj  funicu- 
lus. Swed.  Verel.  in  Indie.  A.  Sax.  Bret.  Un ;  Belg. 
Unt;  Dan.  linkj ;  Lapp,  line;  C.  Brit.  Arm.  Com. 
Km,  linum. 

LiNTT,  €Ldj.  1.  idle,  hizy.  Ex.  "A  linty  fellow.''  Coles 
has  lenkm^  idle ;  hence  the  metaphorical  sense,  2.  fai. 
Ex.  ''A  ftfifypig.''   (Lilleshall.)     Teut.  Unt^er,  leniui. 

LippiNo,  LippiNQ-ou>UT ;  s.  a  piece  of  steel  welded  to  the 
front  of  a  horse's  shoes.  A.  Sax.  %pa ;  Franc,  lep ; 
Swed.  lapp ;  Belg.  Teut.  Fr.  Uppe ;  Arm.  Oerm.  lippj 
labrum. 

Lissom,  (idf.    elastic,    supple,   pliant.     Ex.    ^^  Lissom  as 

whalebone.'"     A.  Sax.  Ksse,  relaxatio.     Isl.    Udamiutr; 

Dan.  ledmggy  agilis. 

And  ^  as  laase  of  Kent 

DowMbeB,  Y.  27. 

LrrHBBLT,  adf.  lazy.  Not  very  provincial,  I  think.  Sir 
D.  Lyndsay,  Chaucer,  R.  of  Oleaster.  BuUokar,  has 
hiherlyy  slothful.     ^^  A  Sax.  lythrey  mains,  pravus.^ 

My  lad  he  18  80  Miher,  he  8fiid9  ^ 
He  will  doe  nought  tluit'8  meete. 

Kino  Estmbrb,  t.  203. 

A  clerk  had  merfy  beeet  his  while. 

.  Cant.  Talei,  y.  3299. 

LriTBB  DOWN,   9.    to  make  up  a  horse^s  bed.  Teut.  Belg. 

UHer  der  beesten,  cubile, 

Who  bdng,  as  I  am,  iitter'd  under  Mercniy. 

Winter'9  Tak,  Iy.  2. 


490 

LnTLB  FuNT  CoAi^  8.  a  thin  meaenire  of  ocmI,  neareet  the 
surfiMM  of  any,  reciting  upon  the  Crawstone.  Our 
Shropehire  strata  lie  thus,  and  bear  the  foUowing 
names. 

Lancashire  Ladies.    (Iron  Stone.) 

Little  Flmt  Coal. 

Grawstone. 

Clod  Coal. 

Rondle  Coal. 

Two  Foot  CoaL 

801,  or  Oainy  Coal. 

Clunches. 

Stinking  Coal. 

Penny  Coal. 

Flints,  or  Flint  Coal. 

Flat  Stone. 

Yard  Coal. 

Quises  Neok. 

Double  Coal. 

Three-quartered  Coal. 

Ball  Stone. 

Top  Coal. 
Lob's  Pound,  s.  a  punishment  of  a  plajrfiil  kind  with 
which  children  are  threatened,  an  easy  detention  be- 
tween the  knees.  Dramatic  critics  have  been  unable 
to  discover  the  origin  of  the  phrase.  Nares  quotes  from 
Massinger  and  Hudibras, 

Fotmd  in  Lcb*8  pound. 

Duke  qfMUan,  in-  2. 
Thou  basely  thxewsft  into  Lob's  pound. 

The  term  is  among  the  choice  collection  of  Grose. 
Lockbbs,  s.  pieces  of  oak  or  hade,  which  support  the  roof 

of  a  pit. 
Lodged,  pixrt.  pcut ;  grass  or  any  kind  of  grain  which  is 

beaten  down  by  wind  or  water,  is  said  to  be  lodged. 

Haply   the   A.   Sax.   loge^   aqua,  originated    the  term. 


491 

Teat.  Hey-loffheHy  componere  foenum  in  metam!  A.  Sax. 
logicm;  Belg.  Fris.  Sicamb.  loghm^  componere. 

Lollop,  «.  to  loU.  Ex.  ''  LoOoping  about.""  Id.  fo/fa, 
segniter  agere. 

LoMB,  8,  a  lamb.  A  deviation  from  the  regular  autho- 
rities of  the  Northern  languages,  which  is  only  justified 
by  the  example  of  Piers  Plouhman,  and  the  ancient  song 
of  Cuccu,  printed  in  Ritson^s  Anct.  Songs,  p.  4. 

LoMMocK,  «.  a  large  piece.  Ex.  *^  A  hmmock  6*  bread."^ 
(See  remarks  under  Ock.) 

Lonesome,   adf.      1.  destitute,  widowed.     Ex.  ^'A   poor 

loneiome  woman."' 

A  hundied  marks  is  a  long  loan  for  a  poor  lone  woman  to  bear. 

2nd  part  of  Henry  IV. 

2.  soUtary,  shut  out  from  the  world.  Ex.  ^'A  sad 
laneioms  place  to  live  in."" 

Thns  he  hath  sold  his  land  soe  broad^ 
Both  hill  and  holt,  and  moore  and  fenne. 

All  but  a  poore  and  loneoome  lodge. 
That  stood  far  off  in  a  lonely  glen. 

RiTSOif's  ScoUM  Songs,  vol.  iL  p.  131. 

Long  Feathers,  phr.  ^^  To  lie  in  the  long  feathen^  is 
a  cant  phrase  for  sleeping  upon  straw,  in  a  bam  or 
stable. 

LooBD,  pari.  past.  A  perversion  of  the  generally  re- 
ceived meaning,  which  denotes  in  the  present  in- 
stance, being  supplanted,  superseded.  Ex.  ^^Ah! 
Surrey  thee  bist  looed^  another  chapes  ta^en  thy  plack."^ 
Fr.  looer. 

Loom,  s,  the  track,  or  wake  of  a  fish.  Ex.  '^  A  fish's 
loam.'^    Swed.  foma,  segniter  incedere! 

Loose,  «.  to  discharge,  let  off:  as  guns,  or  cannon. 
This  is  considered  by  many  as  a  vulgarism,  or  bearing 
the  marks  of  provincial  slang.  But  there  are  few  words 
used  on  better  authority.  It  ought  rather  to  be  written 
as  it  is  frequently  pronounced,  and  in  short  as  it  is 
spelt  by  Roger  Ascham  and  others,  lofue. 


492 

They  loined  their  amwes  both  at  onoe. 

Adam  Bbll,  t.  309. 

It  obtaiDB  the  like  signification  with   him  aa  it  does 

with  ns.     Nares  gives  iUustrations  firom  Drayton  and 

Ben  Jonson,    to  rescue  it  from  reproach.      A.   Sax. 

leo9an;  M.  Ooth.  lauBon^  liberare. 
LoTHB,  «.   to  ofier.     Ex.    ^^I   lUhed  it  to  him  at  five 

shillin.'' 
LoTHKB,  aJlj.    1.  a  corruption  of  rather.     Ex.  ^'  Fd  hAer 

vkoA^    2.  unwilling,  in  which  case  it  is  the  comparatiye 

of  A.  Sax.  hU^  perversus. 

A  lorde  were  Mher,  for  to  leyne  a  knaue 
Than  swich  a  begger. 

P.  PtouHMAN's  Crede. 

LUk  hun  was  that  dede  to  don. 
And  wele  tether  his  liif  foigon. 

Amis  and  Amiloun,  t.  640. 

The  £Edrer  of  hce,  the  prouder  of  hart. 
The  tether  to  wo,  the  sooner  won. 

8€hote  Hoiue  qf  Women,  y.  661. 

LouK,  s.  a  blow.  Ex.  ^^  Fat  him  a  hui  on  his  yed.^ 
By  metonymy  I  suppose  we  get  this  word  from  the 
Id.  and  S.  Cbth.  luta ;  A.  Sax.  UiUan,  inclinare  se.  I 
have  no  better  fancy  to  offer. 

LouN,  s.  a  clown,  boor,  stupid,  countryfied  fellow.  Sy- 
nonymous with  loon.  Teut.  Belg.  loen^  homo  stupidus. 
Verel.  in  Indie,  hmd^  perversse  indolis  homo.  Ir.  Ufm^ 
desidiosus.     Sir  D.  Lindsay.     Shakspeare. 

Thou  lies  Mae  tewn  they  said  again. 

RiTSOif's  Robin  Hood,  voL  i.  p.  107. 

And  banldly  bare  away  the  gear. 
Of  many  a  lawland  teun, 

Gilderoy,  y.  60. 

He  held  them  sixpence  all  too  deere; 
Therefore  he  called  the  t^lor  teume. 

Percy's  ReUques,  yoL  L  p.  207. 

LouN,  LouNnER,  r.  to  chastise.  Ex.  ^^Loun  him  well.*''' 
This  and  the  previous  Scotticisms  have  hitherto  eluded 
etymological  research. 


493 


LouNBB,  8,  a  large  piece  of  bread ;   the  laun's  piece,  is 

the  first  cut  from  a  new  loaf. 
LovBsoME,  €uif.  an  archaism  for  lovely.     Sir  D.  Lyndsay, 

lu/esum. 

Her  hiueium  dghen,  her  rode  so  bxidit. 

Lay  lb  Frsinb^  v.  263. 

Ludlow,  $.  The  name  of  this  town  accords  precisely 
with  its  position.  A.  Sax.  leod;  Tout,  htdrn,  populns. 
A.  Sax.  hlaw^  lowe^  tumulus.  Teut.  /oo,  locus  iJtus  ad- 
jacens  stagnis,  torrmtibus^  aut  paludibus :  (i.  e.)  The 
people  who  live  on  the  hill.  Low^  or  Xo,  is  common 
as  a  termination  to  several  places  both  in  and  out  of 
the  county.  Thus  in  it  there  is  Mumhw;  A.  Sax. 
mand  os ;  and  lowey  tumulus;  out  of  it,  Marhw^  a  hill 
surrounded  with  marshes.  HcwMUno^  East  LoOy  West 
Loo,  &o.  The  latter  part  of  the  word  undoubtedly 
comes  from  the  C.  Brit,  llehau,  locare,  and  by  contrac- 
tion lau,  and  thence  hw;  but  genendly  spelling,  hwj 
designates  a  tumulus,  as  BriniloWj  and  Kniffhtlaw,  in 
Warwickshire,  and  Saxon'^s  Low,  near  Trentham,  co. 
Stafford,  on  the  estate  of  his  Orace  the  Duke  of  Suther- 
land. In  Shropshire  we  have  the  WUlow  farm  in  the 
parish  of  IdtUe  Wmlocky  a  locality  sanctified,  as  it 
were,  by  the  number  of  tumuli  it  contains.  (See  re- 
marks at  pp.  9^9  269.) 

This  too  will  be  found  in  strict  accordance  with  ety- 
mological research,  as  VereL  in  Indie,  hge;  S.  Gh>th. 
Uya ;  A.  Sax.  % ;  Alam.  lav^a ;  Belg.  laeye ;  Fenn. 
Kecii ;  Dan.  Itic ;  Brem.  loegnin ;  Oerm.  loh ;  M.  Goth, 
in  comp.  lauh ;  flamma,  lux^  evidence :  having  reference 
to  the  cremation  celebrated  on  the  site  of  those  Lowbs, 
or  eminences. 

They  drowe  heom  qnvk  undnr  a  lowe. 

Kyng  Alisaundbr,  t.  4348  and  5364. 

Of  lightnes  sal  then  se  a  lowe. 

Ywmne  and  Gamm,  v.  343. 


494 

Alone  he  walked  bv  a  kwe, 
A  (ayre  fyre  sawe  he  glowe. 

Syr  IsBNBitAS,  y.  384. 

As  thegr  lyden  an  a  hwe, 

Ltbxaus  DiscoiruSy  y.  1000. 

That  beheaid  the  Bheriffs  of  Nottingfaam, 
Ab  he  leaned  under  a  iawe. 

Robin  Hood  and  Guy  qfGisbome,  y.  187. 

hvQy  $.  1.  a  pull  by  the  ear.     Ex.  ^^Aluffot  the  ew.^ 

Not  provinoial:    being  naed  by  LuuLsay,   Shakspeaie, 

Dryden,  &c.  ke*    (See  Nsrai.)     In  its  primary  signi- 

fioation,  figure  was  unknown,  and  it  signified  the  ear 

itself,  and  this  meaning  still  eontinues  in  some  parts 

of  £^land« 

All  bat  a  ly  bj  th'  ear. 
Or  BQch  tri&. 

The  Nice  Fakmr. 

2.  the  strongest  kind  of  ^^springle,^  cut  in  two,  peg- 
ging down  under  the  ^^  buckles^  the  thatch  of  a  cot- 
tage. 

Lugo,  v.  1.  to  puU  by  the  hair,  or  ear.  Ex.  ^^Luff- 
ging  him  by  the  yare.*^  S.  G(oth.  lugga^  crines  rellere. 
2.  to  draw :  generally  applicable  to  heavy  carriage,  as 
timber,  stone,  manure,  &c.  Thus,  we  hear  farmers 
talking  ^'of  lugging  muck  on  the  follow.'"  From 
the  tardy  movement  of  horses  on  such  occasions,  it 
evidently  comes  from  Tout.  Fris.  hggken^  ignav^  et 
segniter  agere. 

''Don't  you  remember/'  says  Horace  Walpole  to  Kr  Horace 
Mann,  ''how  the  connteaB  used  to  lug  ^  half-length  picture  of  the 
latter  behind  her  post-chaise  all  over  Italy  f 

Corro^j^ondeMe^  voL  iL  p.  280. 

LuMM,  9.  an  epithet  given  to  a  piece  of  water  by  the 
turnpike  road  side,  betwixt  Coalbrookdate  and  Welling- 
ton; LuMM  HoLR,  is  vastly  similar  to  some  pieces  of 
water  in  the  Tyrol,  which  obtain  their  celestial  green 
marly  colour,  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  their  bot- 
tom. Willan  recognises  the  epithet  in  Yorkshire. 
C.  Brit.  Uimny  nudus. 


495 


LuNOR,  «.  to  beat,  or  violently  assault  a  person,  chiefly  by 

kicking.     This  sense  enables  us  not   inaptly  to  derive 

it  from  the  Fr.  aUonger. 

Art  thou  not  shrewdly  hurt?  the  foul  great  hmgiM  laid  un- 
mercifully on  thee. 

Tl»  Kfik^  (it  the  Burning  PeaUe. 

LuNGOus,   adf.  cruel,  vindiotive,  possessing  a  disposition 

which  delights  in  mischief,  or  the  infliction  of  bodily 

injury. 

Un  chien  akmge,  est  cdui  qui  a  les  doigts  du  pied  etendus 
par  quelque  blesure.  Ricbblbt. 


J^ 


i 


undergoeB  but  few  changee,  and  even 
these  are  presumed  to  be  of  general 
acceptation.     In  the  word  twmipy  it 
takes  the  place  of  fi,  as  turmit ;  the 
same  word  constantly  varies,  as,  tur^ 
midy  tormity  tcrmidy  &c. 
Magot-mant-febt,  «.    the  millepedes. 
Isl.  margfcBtlay  scolopendia ! 
Maid,    b.    an  iron  firame   which  holds    ^the  bakstone.^ 

(See  Bakstonb.) 
MAierr,  ad/c.  almost.  Ex.  ^^Mairi  clemmM.*^  M.  Ooth. 
mats;  Germ,  meitt;  A.  Sax.  mo/est;  Teut.  Belg.  meed; 
Swed.  S.  Gk)th.  Dan.  meet;  Isl.  megtr.  plurimum. 
maiety  Sir  D.  Lyndsay:  mast^  R.  of  Brunne:  meedy 
Wiclif :  mestey  Chaucer. 
Mak,  v.  an  usual  and  very  common  abbreviation  of  make. 
Ex.  "  Whod  ivir  make  thee  do  a  thisus.*^" 

The  cheese  is  to  mak,  the  butter's  to  kirn. 

Herd's  SeoUuh  Songg,  voL  ii.  p.  125. 

Makshift,  s.  a  substitute. 

Makb,  r.  to  fasten.  Ex.  ''  Make  the  door.''  ''  Are  the 
windows  made  f^  This  has  been  considered  by  many 
as  a  provincialism.  It  may  be  questioned  however, 
whether  it  really  be  one.     Let  us  regard  it  as  an  el- 


497 

liptical  expression,  and  call  the  modern  Greeks  to  sanc- 
tion our  use  of  it  by  their  analagous  phrase,  of  Kafxv€i 
Tfi¥  dvpav. 

Make  the  doors  upon  a  woman's  wit. 

Ao  You  Like  IL 
The  doofB  are  made  agmnst  you. 

(kmedy  'qf  Errors, 

Make  up,  phr.  I .  to  coat,  wheedle.  Ex.  ^^  Fausmg  and 
nuMnff  up.'"     2.   attempting  a  reconciliation. 

Mall,  s.  a  corruption  from  Mary,  through  MM:  unfre- 
quent. 

Mammet,  8.  a  doU,  something  small  intending  to  repre- 
sent a  human  being.  Ex.  '^A  mafnmet  of  a  thing.''" 
Pbom.  Parv.  maicmette^  imagines  fictee  loco  Deorum. 
Coles  has  mamme^  a  puppet.  Belg.  Tent,  mammeken^ 
mammula,  (Minsheu.)  Nares  says  it  has  been  supposed 
to  be  a  corruption  of  maeemeni.  He  quotes  among 
other  authorities  for  its  use, 

This  is  no  world. 
To  play  with  mammets,  and  to  tilt  with  lipa. 

1  Hen,  IV.  iL  3. 

Mammocks,  s,  broken  or  refuse  victuals.  Ex.  "  You  may 
eat  your  tnammocks  as  likes.""     Not  provincial. 

Mammock,  9.  to  waste  or  crumble  away  bread.  Ex. 
'^  Child  dunna  mammock  thy  fittle  o"  that"ns.""  Skinner 
thinks  this  word  comes  fi^m  the  C.  Brit,  mdn^  parvus ; 
odb  being  added  as  a  diminutive.  The  latter  part  of 
his  conjecture  does  not  seem  in  analogy,  either  with 
the  Welsh,  or  any  Northern  language;  da^  being  a 
cumulative   or    intensive   verb.      (See   Remarks  under 

LOMMOCK,    WaDDOCK.) 

Whan  maimoeket  was  your  meate. 

Skeltox's  Poenu,  p.  197. 

Mantle  piece,  8,  a  chimney  piece.  Belg.  manid  van  de 
sdioude ;  Fr.  manieau  de  la  chemin^e.  Oerm.  mantel ; 
structura  quas  camini  focum  circumdat. 

Mabchbr  Lords,  «.  A  title  given  to  the  petty  sove- 
re^ns  who  lived  on  the  borders  of  England  and  Wales. 

S3 


498 

The  aome  privileges  appertained  to  those  on  the  Scotch 
borders.  Our  earliest  record  of  their  origin,  is  given 
by  the  Conqueror,  in  1070,  who  permitted  Roger  de 
Montgomery  to  levy  war  at  his  discretion  upon  the 
neighbouring  kingdoms,  and  to  appropriate  to  himself 
from  the  Welsh,  whatever  he  could  thus  acquire.  This 
policy  led  to  the  erection  of  the  Marcher  Lordships, 
which  consisted  of  more  than  a  hundred  little  states, 
and  thus  became  the  fruitful  parent  of  innumerable 
disorders,  till  their  suppression  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
(See  Bkkeway's  Hist,  of  Shrewsbury,  vol.  i.  p.  117.) 
M.  Goth,  marka ;  A.  Sax.  m$arc ;  Dan.  S.  Ooth.  marie ; 
Isl.  ma/rt;  C.  Brit,  man;  Qerm. gemerdi ;  Fr.  marcke; 
Belg.  Tout,  marck ;  Ital.  marka ;  Span,  camarka^  limites 
alicttjus  territorii. 

Mabb,  to  CRT  the;  pkr.  This  harvest  custom  is  not 
confined  to  Salopians,  as  there  is  reference  to  it  in  Golems 
Dictionary,  and  in  the  Magna  Britannia  of  Lysons.  It 
varies  however  in  the  method  of  celebration,  both  with 
us,  and  from  others.  When  a  farmer  has  ended  his 
reaping,  and  the  wooden  bottle  is  passing  merrily  round, 
the  reapers  form  themselves  into  two  bands,  and  com- 
mence the  following  dialogue  in  loud  shouts,  or  rather 
in  a  kind  of  chant  at  the  utmost  pitch  of  their  voice. 
First  band  :  /  have  her^  I  have  her^  I  ha'de  her.  (Every 
sentence  is  repeated  three  times.)  What  hast  thief 
What  hast  thee?  What  hast  thee?  First,  a  mare,  a 
mare^  a  mare.  Second  ;  Whose  m  her  t  Whose  is  her  f 
Whose  is  her?  First,  A.  B^s.  (naming  their  master, 
whose  com  is  all  cut.)  Second,  Where  shaU  we  send 
hert  be.  First,  to  C.  D.  (naming  some  neighbour  whose 
com  is  still  standing.)  And  the  whole  concludes  with 
a  joyous  shout  of  both  bands  united.  In  the  South 
Eastem  part  of  Shropshire,  the  ceremony  is  performed 
with  a  slight  variation.  The  last  few  stalks  of  the  wheat 
are  left  standing.;  all  the  reapers  throw  their  sickles, 


4.99 

and  he  who  cuts  it  off,  cries,  "  /  kaiee  her^^  "  /  haw 
her^  "  /  haw  her'''' ;  on  which  the  rustic  mirth  begins : 
and  it  is  practised  in  a  manner  very  similar  in  De- 
vonshire. (See  Lyson^s  Magna  Brit.  p.  oocliv.  and 
Cornwall,  p.  cclii.)  The  latest  farmer  in  the  nei^- 
bourhood,  whose  reapers  cannot  therefore  send  her  to 
any  other  person,  is  said  ^^  to  keep  her  aU  the  tomter!^ 
This  rural  ceremony,  which  like  the  other  picturesque 
usages  of  a  former  period,  is  fast  wearing  away,  evi- 
dently refers  to  the  time,  when,  our  county  lying  all 
open  in  common  fields,  and  the  com  consequently  ex- 
posed to  the  depredations  of  the  wild  mares,  the  sea- 
son at  which  it  was  secured  from  their  ravages  was  a 
time  of  rejoicing,  and  of  exulting  over  a  tardier  neigh- 
bour. That  this  is  the  true  solution  is  further  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  ''crying  the  eow^ 
sometimes  observed  at  the  end  of  the  harvest  of  pease. 
(See  Blakeway  and  Owen's  History  of  Shrewsbury,  vol. 
ii.  p.  27.  Brand's  Popular  Antiq.  of  Vulgar  Customs, 
vol.  i.  p.  443,  &c.)  By  way,  I  suppose,  of  keeping  up 
this  custom  with  fiill  effect,  it  not  unfrequently  happens, 
that  the  farmer  who  has  been  presented  with  ^''ihe 
mar^'*^  sends  one  of  his  harvest  men  with  a  halter  at 
supper  time  for  her!  Or  to  express  myself  in ^ the 
dialect  of  my  own  county,  according  to  the  relation  of 
a  witnesser  of  the  scene  in  1835:  ''They  cryden  the 
mar  awhile  I  was  thire,  becos  yo  sin  we'den  done  har- 
rast  fust ;  'e  gotten  up  o'er  neet  and  laid  a  dhel  o'  the 
weat  down  i'  swaaths,  un  awhile  we  wun  at  supper  a 
mon  oumm'd  in  wie  a  autar  to  Catch  her  away.^  It 
is  not  unusal  to  sing  this  distich  at  the  conclusion  of 
a  profi^rously  gotten  in  harvest. 

Harrast  whoam^  Harrast  whoam, 
NivoT  a  loads  been  overthxoan. 

Mahket  Frbsh,  adf.     That  dubious  degree  of  sobriety 
with  which  farmers  too  commonly   return   home   from 

32-2 


500 

market :    having  had  full   inclmation  for  intemperaooe, 

but  only  venturing  to  the  borders  of  excess. 

Not  drunken  nor  sober,  bat  neighbonr  to  bodi. 
Marmtt,  8.    a  pot  with  hooks  at  each  side. 
Marow,  Mabrow,  $.   a  companion,  friend.      The  Pbomp. 

Parv.  has  marteey  and  maratce^  or  felowe  in  travayle, 

socius.     Fr.  mari. 


Pore  huBbondes  that  had  no 

The  HunUyng  of  the  Hare,  v.  247. 
Tis  right  we  together  sad  be 
For  nane  of  ns  cud  find  a  marrow. 

Ritson's  Seotiieh'Songe,  vol.  i.  p.  246. 

Mase,  9.  to  turn  giddy,  light-headed.     Ex.  ^'  Felt  quite 

mcued.'^     An  old  en^h  word,  metaphorically  applied 

from  the  substantive,  moM,  a  labyrinth.    A.  Sax.  mate^ 

gurges.     Bulloker  haa  maze^   an  astonishment.      In  a 

slightly  deflected  sense  to  our  own,  we  find  Chaucer 

using  the  word. 

Ye  maeey  ye  mawn,  goode  sire,  quod  she. 

Canterbury  Take,  v.  10261. 

Mass  or  Mars,  Maesbrook.  In  this  immediate  vicinity 
was  fought  a  battle  between  Oswald  King  of  Northum- 
berland and  Penda  King  of  Mercia,  in  which  the  former 
was  slain.  Tradition,  or  at  best,  conjecture,  has  fixed 
th^  scene  of  conflict  at  Oswestry,  but  surdy  it  must  be 
considered  more  probable  to  have  taken  place  in  a 
situation  still  bearing  the  same  name  as  that  recorded 
by  the  Saxon  Chronicler,  than  in  one,  concerning  which 
all  early  historians  preserve  silence.  Neither  does  Ety- 
mology desert  us  here,  in  ascertaining  the  true  locality 
of  the  action.  Maesburt,  supplies  in  its  termination, 
additional  evidence  that  the  place  had  become  sanctified 
through  the  slaughter  of  these  Saxon  warriors.  (See 
Remarks  under  Burt.)  At  Maesbrook,  or  on  Maes- 
brooke  Common,  it  seems  highly  probable  this  engage- 
ment took  place.  Having  fixed  the  situation,  let  us 
now  turn  to  the  history,  about  which  there  can  be  no 


501 


Tariance.  The  coDcurrent  teatimony  of  historians  repre- 
sents Oswald  as  a  monaroh  who  .benefitted  his  age,  and 
who  displayed  in  his  own  life  those  gentle  virtues  which 
exalt  the  charaoter  of  the  bravest  chief.  His  piety  was 
remarkable.  Bede  gives  us  some  striking  proofs  of  the 
way  in  which  he  desired  to  advance  the  religious  con- 
dition of  his  subjects.  Whilst  he  was  thus  labouring 
for  their  advantage,  the  ambitious  and  restless  Penda, 
King  of  Mercia,  invaded  his  kingdom  of  Northumbria, 
and  Oswald  fell  in  battle,  on  Aug.  5,  642,  at  Maes- 
brooke,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  con- 
queror caused  his  head  to  be  severed  from  his  body, 
his  trunk  cut  in  pieces,  and  the  parts  exposed  on  stakes ; 
or,  according  to  Henry  of  Huntingdon  who  is  our  autho- 
rity for  this  fact,  his  head  and  arms  only  were  thus  dis- 
honoured. 

Cujns  et  abscissum  caput  abecissosq.  laoertos, 
Et  tribus  affixoe  palis  pendere  cruentos 
Penda  jubet.  lib.  iii.  p.  331. 

Bede,  states  that  his  remains  were  about  a  year  after- 
wards under  miraculous  circumstances  transferred  by 
his  niece  Osthryda  to  the  monastery  of  Bardney.  They 
were  received  by  the  monks  with  great  honor,  and  be- 
came the  fruitful  source  of  those  numerous  legends 
with  which  the  pages  of  Hagiologists  abound.  Subse^ 
quently  they  were  removed  from  hence  to  Lindisfam  by 
his  successor  Oswy,  his  hands  and  arms,  however,  were 
preserved  at  Bamborough.  Matthew  Westminster  states 
that  in  the  year  910,  his  bones  were  transported  with 
great  reverence  from  Bardeny  into  Mercia ;  (See  p.  355.) 
and  Florence  of  Worcester  corroborates  him.  (See  p. 
3:^9')  The  episcopal  seat  of  Lindisfam  had  been  re- 
moved to  Chester  in  882,  where  we  may  suppose  these 
bones  were  placed.  The  Chronicle  of  John  Brompton 
says  the  bones  of  St  Oswald  were  removed  by  Elfleda  to 
Gloucester,  where  she  built  a  monastery  in  honor  of  his 


502 


memory,  (p.  SSS.)     (Bedae  Hurt.  lib.  lii.  Saxon  Chron. 

amio  642.  Matt.  Westmoiui.  p.  SS4,  &o.)     Pennant  oon- 

siden  it  probable  that  the  Britons  bestowed  cm  the  spot 

where  the  battle  was  fou^t,  the  name  of  ilfcMV  Air,  or 

the  long  fidi^  or  combat,  from  the  obstinacy  of  the 

conflict.     The  Saxons,  for  a  considerable  time,  retained 

the  name  of  the  place  where  the  action  was  fou^t, 

with  the  addition  of  their  own  vernacular  word  fM, 

or  fMk^  a  field ;  as  MaserfM^  maserfeltk^  and  corruptly, 

moM/dd.     (Pennant's  Wales,  p.  '259.) 

CampuB  MeMfeld  Banctonun  oandoit  osbs. 

Hen,  HunHfigdon,  lib.  iiL  p.  331. 

*'  In  after^days'",  says  Pennant,  "  the  name  became  en- 
tirely Saxon ;  and  from  the  fate  of  the  King  was  styled 
OiwalcTs  tree ;  now  Oswestry ;  and  by  the  Welsh  rendered 
CroeS'OswaUtr  (p.  26o.)  This  is  a  very  ingenious  deriva- 
tion of  Oswestry^  but  it  does  not  at  all  disprove  the  con- 
jectures I  have  advanced,  or  make  the  present  town,  the 
site  of  the  engagement.  It  has  also  been  surmised  that 
Oswald  fell  in  a  field  near  the  town,  called  Cae-nrfy  or 
Heaven  field,  and  that  a  tree  was  planted  near  the  spot 
called  Oswald's  tree,  hence,  Oswestry.  (Nicholson,  p.  1018.) 
In  answer  to  which  it  has  been  urged  that  HeafefnfM 
in  Northumberland  has  the  samd  meaning ;  and  re- 
ceived it  on  account  of  the  victory  Oswald  obtained 
there.  The  derivation  of  Maesbrook  may  satisfy  the 
doubts  of  those  who  may  still  be  scrupulous.  C.  Brit. 
Bret.  Armor,  maeg,  prelium. 
Mash  fat,  Mash  tub,  «.  a  vessel  used  in  brewing,  which 
holds  the  malt :  the  grain  is  stirred  round  with  a  wooden 
implement,  termed  a  rMuh  skiff.  Junius  aptly  deduces 
it  from  the  Or.  fAaaaw.  pinso.  Fr.  mascher ;  Ital.  fnac- 
care,  S.  Goth.  A.  Sax.  fat ;  Germ,  fass ;  C.  Brit. 
ffetta/a  ;  Alam.  faz ;  Belg.  rcU,  vas  cujuscunque 
generis. 

She  drancke  on  the  mashefat. 

Eiinour  Rumming,  p.  137. 


503 

Then  up  they  gat  the  fnatkinrfai, 

RiTsoN*s  Scottiah  San^,  voL  iL  p.  124. 

Masker,  9.  I.  to  feel  .stupified,  confused.  Ex.  "  Sich  a 
dark  neet  I  was  masker'd  like.*"  2.  to  grow  giddy, 
stun.  Ex.  ^^Gid  him  a  lick  as  quite  masker'd  him.''^ 
Fr.  moMocre ;  Ital.  maazare  f  Pegge  has  the  word  9A 
common  in  Derbyshire. 

Maoter  tail,  8.  the  left  handle  of  a  plough. 

Maul,  v,  to  bruise  or  hurt  by  the  fist  as  in  fighting. 
Ex.  "  Terribly  mauled  in  the  face."  Isl.  Swed.  mcda^ 
molere.  Phillips  has  mafd^  to  bang  or  beat  soundly. 
Coles.   Nares. 

Maun,  «.  a  horse's  mane.  Ex.  '^  Cohm  (comb)  his  matm 
afore  yo  ta'en  him  out  o^  th**  steable.  The  Isl.  fl»dii, 
and  Swed.  mahn^  juba  equina,  favor  our  pronunciation. 

Maun,  v.   must,  a  corruption,   I  suppose,  of  the  old  verb 

mown. 

But  we  maun  hae  linen^  an'  that  maun  hae  we, 

Ritson's  Scottish  San^,  voL  L  p.  282. 

Maunder,  v.  to  talk  foolishly,  incoherently.  Ex.  '^  Goes 
maundering  and  bothering  on.'*' 

Now  I  shall  take  my  pleasure. 
And  not  my  neighbour  Justice  maunder  at  me. 

Ruk  a  Wife  and  have  a  Wife. 

And  now  Louisa  went  on  with  a  medical  maunderuM, 
Miss  Edobwortr's  Helen,  vol.  iii.  p.  104. 

Maundrel,  8,  1.  a  pickaxe  pointed  at  each  end,  such 
as  is  used  by  colliers  when  ^^holing.**^  S.  a  pin  of 
iron  employed  by  smiths  when  making  ^^  balking  axes.'*'* 

Mawskin,  8.  part  of  a  calfs  stomach,  that  is  salted 
for  the  purpose  of  coagulating  milk  in  making  cheese. 
S,  Goth.  Swed.  Isl.  mage;  A.  Sax.  maga;  Alam. 
mago ;  Belg.  maag ;  Teut.  maeghe,  ventriculus. 

Me,  pron.  If  this  be  not  one  of  our  elegant  redun- 
dances, we  must  consider  it  as  a  pronoun  used  instead 
of  my8df.  Ex.  ''  FU  goa  and  get  me  some  mate.'*' 
"Clane  me  for  chyrche.^' 


504 


Meakino,  pari.  pres.  poorly,  drooping.  Ex.  **  A  meaking 
cratur."^  "Gwuz  meaking  about.^  Pbomp.  Pabv. 
meJtynj  humilio.  Verel.  in  Indio.'  meka^  verba  baud 
yiriliter  proferre.  S.  Goth,  meker^  homo  mollis.  Swed. 
meka^  hebetudine  ingenii  in  sermone  timidolum  agere. 

Mbal^s  mkat,  8.  a  meal  of  meat,  or  enough  for  a  meal. 
More  commonly,  "a  mahs  maU.'^  Ex.  "Nobody  to 
gie  him  a  males  mate.'"     Craven. 

Ne  take  a  meh»  mete  of  thine. 

P.  Plouhman. 
A  mele9  meie  for  a  poure  num.         icL 

MBANEVEBfl,  aeh.  mean  while. 

Meo,  «.  a  mark  pitched  at  in  playing  at  quoits.  When 
the  quoit  touches  it  the  thrower  counts  two;  if  the 
meff  is  driven  from  its  place,  (megrieen)  three ;  and 
if  it  be  entirely  covered,  (whaucers)  four.  C.  Brit. 
moffl^  a  spot!     Isl.  meffn^  summa  rei! 

Meght,  9.  the  old   form  of  the  preter^imperfect.     Ex. 

"  He  meffkt  ha'  done  it,  if  had  liked." 

Because  they  met^  haae  good  space. 

Sir  Tryaxoure,  v.  679. 

Melch,   adf\  in   milk.     Ex.   '*  A  new  mdck  cau> :'"   and 

one   who  yields   her  milk   readily  is   called  ^^an   easy 

melched  one.'''     A.   Sax.  melcan ;   Swed.   molka ;    Belg. 

melken ;  Teut.  meleken;  Germ,  melken  and  mUcken^  mul- 

gere.     Isl.  miaita;  Dan.  malken^  mulctum  ire. 

For  ache  was  melche  and  couthe  theian. 
Sche  bad  it  souke  and  it  nold. 

Lay  lb  Fubin^  t.  196. 

Mblverlt,  8.  From  the  circumstance  of  this  village  on 
the  Welsh  side  of  Shropshire  being  continually  flooded 
by  the  irruptions  of  the  Severn,  has  originated  the 
phrase  of  '^  Get  to  Melverly  teie  iheey"  Its  remoteness, 
perhaps,  and  the  frequency  of  inundations  to  which  it 
is  subject,  has  occasioned  the  place  to  pass  into  a 
bye  word,  and  its  inhabitants  to  be  called  Mdeerty 
God  helps.     In    a   wet   season   their   plight   turns  the 


505 


joke  agaiiifit  them,  but  after  a  diy  aiimiaer,  the  Md- 
perleianSf  whose  land  which  in  itself,  is  rich  and  pro- 
ductive, has  been  rendered  more  fertile  by  the  bountiful 
watering  of  the  adjacent  river,  retort  upon  their  ban- 
tering neighbours,  by  the  phrase  of  ^'  Melverlt!  where 
do  you  think  f^  A  triumphant  kind  of  exclamation, 
which  signifies  that  such  crops  as  those  at  Melverly 
could  be  obtained  no  where  else. 

Meubb,  s,  a  hole  in  a  fence  through  which  a  hare 
usually  passes,  her  general  track.  Cotgrave  has  under 
Fr.  trouie^  a.  gap  or  mtuet  in  a  hedge.  A  word  recog- 
nised by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Chapman,  and  other 
poets,  as  well  as  by  Gervase  Markham,  a  professed 
writer  on  field  sports.     (See  Nares.) 

Take  a  hare  without  a  vmue, 

Ray's  Proverbs. 

Mkzzeld,  part,  pcia ;  afflicted  with  a  kind  of  leprosy.  Ex. 
*^  Th'  aud  Bow^B  mezzUd  like,  I  think  as  how  ul  die.^^ 
Prohp.  Pabv.  maedydy  serpiginosus.  Palsgrave;  mesyll 
the  sickenesse,  mesellerie.  Cotgrave  renders  the  Fr.  me- 
seau  a  meseUed  person.  In  Lancashire  and  Derbyshire, 
fnezzil^eas*d^  means  red  with  pimples.  S.  Goth,  maslig^ 
scabiosus.  Bret.  messM;  Fr.  mezeau  and  meseau;  Teut. 
mesel;  Belg.  mcuelen;  Dan.  maseUnff^  leprosus.  The  term 
is  for  the  most  part  applied  to  swine;  and  as  my  in- 
formant under  the  Wrekin  saith,  the  word  mezzild 
describes  a  pig  which  has  '^  the  flesh  full  of  tiny  blobs 
of  water  all  over  the  body;  the  cheeks  are  not  so 
bad  as  any  other  part ;  the  fat  as  bad  iviry  moasel, 
but  nod  BO  visible  like  to  the  eye."''  Germ.  «mw,  maeel^ 
macula. 

MmuNG-sHARP,  €uij»  tolerably  well.  Ex.  ''  How  is  the 
family,  John!  Why  the  measter's  ketched  a  hacking 
cuff  (cough)  like,  but  the  missus  bin  rmdUnff-sharpr 

MiKB,  «.  to  idle,  loiter.  Ex.  '^Jacky  wants  to  mikey' 
Craven  Gloss,  and  Nares  have  it  tni^in  and  michy  the 


A 


506 


same  word  as  our  own  but  dilierently  spelt.  Wo  always 
use  it  in  a  perverse  sense.  It  is  not  so  iatensiyely 
employed  as  formerly.  Pbomp.  Parv.  MychfUi  cr 
fnfwMy  itelyn  tmaU  thfnfsiy  Surripio.  Softened 
down  by  the  dramatists  to  idle  and  mischievoos. 
Chauoer. 
Milk,  8.  This  is  inserted  simply  for  the  sake  of  no- 
ticing the  universal  nnffularity  of  its  use.  The  vulgar 
never  give  the  word  a  phnral.  A  similar  practice  is 
observable  in  Foot:  they  suppose  this  to  be  likewise 
a  plural  in  itself,  and  speak  of  ^^a  two  foot  rule:^ 
^^a  bwdard  seven  foot  long^  In  the  former  instance, 
they  say,  '*'  to^ert  four  or  five  mile  r**  and  the  custom 
seems  to  receive  countenance  from  some  of  our  Early 
English  Poets. 

Three  myle  myghte  men  here  the  soon. 

Richard  Cokr  db  Lion^  v.  6714. 
An  hundred  myk, 

Oct  AVIAN  IicpEmATom,  v.  286. 

Miles  endways,  phr.     These  are   very  long  ones. 
Miller,  «.    the  larva  of  a  lepidopterons  insect,   known 

in  its  imago  state  by  the  appellation  of  Vanessa  Urticse. 

It  is  addressed  by  children  in  this  distich. 

Miller,  Miller,  blow  your  horn! 

You  shall  be  hanged  for  stealing  com. 

MiLK-FoRK,  8,  a  forked  branch  of  oak,  usually  at  the 

dairy   door,   upon  which  the   milking  pails,  and  other 

lacteous  vessels  are  hung. 
MiLK-FRicK^D,  part  pa8t ;  milk  turned  sour. 
MiLNER,   9.   the   old   form  for   miller,   according   to   P. 

Plouhman,   A.  C.  Mery  Talys,  p.  24,  Percy's  Reliques, 

&c.  &c. 
Misdeem,  v.  to  be  suspicious,  illiberal.     Teut.  misdienen, 

male  mereri.     A.  Sax.  mii,  from  M.  Goth.  misMr,  defec- 

tu8 ;    deman^  judicare. 

He  which  that  misconceiveth,  oft  misdeemeih, 

Chaucer's  Merck.  Tnie. 


507 

That  taketh  well  and  soometh  nought^ 
Ne  it  mUdeeme  in  hir  thongfat. 

House  qf  Fame. 
They  retained  not  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  aad  they  assented  not 
to  my  connsel,  and  they  depraved^  and  mUtkemed  eJl  my  correction. 

WiCLiFF  on  PrayeTy  d  iL 

MisDEEMFUL,  €tdj,  siupicious^  See  Roister  Doister,  edit. 
Sriggs,  p.  50. 

MisLE,  «.  to  rain  gently.  Ex.  ^^It  misled  6*  rain,^  that 
is,  according  to  its  sense  and  derivation,  "it  muts  o* 
rain.'^  A.  Sax.  mitt^  caligo,  quia  caligo  est  priyatio  Incis, 
a  missm,  carere.  Oerm.  mist,  nebula.  Wachteri  Gloss. 
Teut.  Fris.  Holl.  misten,  mieselen,  rorare  tenuem  pluviam. 

Mix,  v.  to  clean  out  as  a  stable,  or  cow  house.  Ex. 
*'^  Mixing  the  moggies,^  i.e.  mixing  the  calves. 

MixEN,  MixoN,  8.  a  dunghill,  heap  of  rubbish.  It  is 
not  dialectical.  A.  Sax.  mixen ;  Dan.  mog ;  Scan,  motk- 
hull;  Isl.  myH;  Swed.  moi,  sterquilinium.  Cotgrave, 
Coles,  &c.  mexen,  mixen, 

MoBBLE,  9.  to  cover  up.  Ex.  '^  Hobbled  up  in  a  cloak.*" 
Mobbledy  as  females  are  said  to  be  when  so  covered  or 
clothed,  and  from  their  form  being  obscured  and  par- 
tially hidden  by  this  ungraceful  load  of  drapery;  the 
word  has  affinity  with  the  S.  Goth.  Swed.  mdn^  nubes. 

1st  Playbr.    fiat  who,  ah  woe !  had  seen  the  mobbled  queen, 

Hah.    The  nuMled  queen  ? 

Pol.    That's  good ;  mobbled  queen  is  good. 

Hamlet,  ii.  2. 

MoBCAP,  e,  a  cap  tying  under  a  woman's  chin  by  so 
broad  a  piece  of  lace  or  muslin  of  the  same  material 
as  the  cap  itself,  that  the  face  is  partially  hidden.  This 
unbecoming  and  inelegant  fabrication  of  our  English 
modistsB,  may  not  unaptly  be  assimilated  to  the  Lap- 
pish, siobmok,  tegmentum  capitis,  quo  foemine  Lappo- 
rum  utuntur  hieme  quoque  simul  facies  operitur. 

Mog,  V,  to  move.   Ex.  "  Come  mog  off.""    Isl.  maia,  movere. 

Moil,  v.  1.  to  work  hard,  slavishly,  generally  at  some 
dirty  occupation.     Ex.    ^'  Toiling  and  mailing.'''' 


608 

Unpieachin^  prelates  are  so  troubled  with  lordly  living,  and 
nuriUng  in  their  gay  manors  and  mansions. 

Latimsk's  Sermon  an  the  Phugk. 

2.  to  become  dirty.  Ex.  ^'^  Moiled  fix)m  yed  to  fat.'' 
Teut.  moeyer^  limtiB.  Eng.  mire;  Fr.  mouUler^  (which 
gives  us  the  Salopian  pronunciation :)  madidare.  Verel. 
in  Indie  modur;  Dan.  mbdder;  S.Goth,  mod;  ALun. 
muoder ;  Belg.  moede;  Germ,  miude^  fatigatuB.  Grr. 
juLoXuvwy  /HMitaminare. 

M01XICRU8H,  V.  to  bruise  or  break  fine;  used  in  ^ma- 
lam  partem.'  Ex.  "Fll  moUicnuk  thee.''  Fr.  md, 
escreuer. 

Mollify,  «.   1.  to  bruise  or  beat.     In  this  sense,  whidi 

must  be  considered  a  vulgarism,  it  is  not  so  frequently 

used  as  in  the  next.     2.  to   soften,  subdue.     Here  it 

is   a  correct  word.      Neither  mottijled  nor  bound   up 

with  ointment.  Is.  i.  6*.     Fr.  mMifier^  to  mollify.  Cotgr. 

Lat.  mollio. 

Some  molMfieation  for  your  giant  sweet  lady. 

Twdfth  Nighi,  1 5. 

MoMMET,    8.   a    trifle,  a   doll,    or   puppet;    synonymous 

with  mammei. 

MoN,  8.  a  man.     Pure  A.  Saxon  mon^  homo. 
MoNOE,  V.   to  eat,   bite   at  ravenously.     Fr.  manger  a 

un  grain   de   sel,   to   eat  hastily  or   greedily,   without 

staying  for  any  sawce  or  seasoning,  other  than  a  corne 

of  salt  will  yeeld  him.     Cotgr. 
Moonshine  flit,  phr.  decamping  by  night,  and  leaving 

the  landlord  unpaid. 
Moral,  s.  a  model.     As  in  the  North  Country,  we  say, 

**a  moral  of  a  man."     Brockett,  Moore,  Nares. 
MoRKiN,  Mawkin,  8,  a  scarecrow.     Isl.  markinn;  Swed. 

mwrken^  putrefactus? 

Could  he  not  sacrifice 
Some  sorry  morAm  that  unbidden  dies. 

Bishop  Hall's  SfUtre». 

MoRT,  8.   a  largo  quantity.      Ex.   "  A   mort  of  it."     Isl 


509 


.  margt^  marpt.     Cimb.  mort^  multum.   Irish,  moron,  mul- 

titudo.     Grose. 
MossBL,  8.   a  morcel.     Ex.    ^^  Nod    a   mossd   o"   mate/^ 

Fr.  marcel. 

And  after  the  mossel,  thanne  Satanas  entride  into  him. 

WiCLiFF^s  New  Teetament,  John  xiv. 

Most,  adf,  a  state  verging  upon  rottenness.     Ex.  ^^  Mosy 

appleB."*^     Tout,  moes^    pals!     C.  Brit,  mwydo^   bumec- 

tan.     Or.  fxuSdw  nimio  humore  putrescere. 

His  horse  hipped  with  an  old  mothy  saddle^  the  stirrups  of 
no  kindred;  b^des,  possessed  with  the  glanders,  and  like  to 
moee  in  the  chine.  Taming  qfthe  Shrew,  vL  2. 

Mother,  $.  a  round  piece  of  leather  put  upon  the  bladder 
that  lies  inside  of  a  foot-ball. 

MoTHERiNo,  8,  the  sedimeut,  or  turbulent  dregs  of  vinegar. 
S.  GFoth.  Belg.  modder ;  A.  Sax.  moder^  spuroities  ista, 
quse  in  fiindo  doliorum  aut  ampullarum  residet.  Teut. 
moeder^  modder^  fse^.  Isl.  mod^  quisquilise.  Swed.  moder^ 
residuum  feculentum  in  fundo  vasorum.  Palsgrave; 
moder^  a  disease,  marrys. 

MoTHERiNo  Sunday,  8,  '^  To  go  a  mothering^*'*  is  a  very 
old  custom.  It  seems  to  have  originated  from  the 
practice  that  prevailed  in  the  Roman  Church  of  people 
visiting  Mother  Church  on  this,  or  MuBent  Sunday,  to 
make  their  offerings  at  the  high  altar.  The  appointment 
of  the  lessons  for  this  day,  the  first  of  which,  gives  the 
story  of  Joseph  entertaining  his  brethren,  and  the  se- 
cond, which,  treats  of  our  Saviour^s  miraculously  feed- 
ing five  thousand,  together  with  the  allusion  to  Mother 
church  in  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  iv.  26.  '^  Jerusa- 
lem which  is  the  mother  of  us  all,^^  &c.  have  evidently 
occasioned  the  practice. 

lie  to  thee  a  sinmell  bring, 
'Gainst  thou  goeet  a  mothering, 

Herrick's  Heeperidee. 

MoTrT,'«.  a  mark,  or  spot  at  which  quoit  players  pitch. 
!S^  Goth,  mat,  punctum,   in  quo  plures  concumint.  Isl. 


MO 


mciy  ooneunms.     C.  Brit,  mot^  a  place.     A.  Sax.  mti, 
atomiM. 

MouoHT,  r.  the  old  form  of  the  preter  imperfect.  Chaucer, 
&c.  A.  Sax.  maij  poosum. 

For  to  get  sleep  if  that  he  moughi. 

Sir  Gray  Stkbl^  ▼.  1S98. 
The  ffrehound  ranne  forth  his  wi^e 
Tyll  he  came  where  his  maister  laye, 

Ab  fiute  as  euer  he  ftiou^A/. 

Sir  Tryaxourb,  t.  513. 

MouoHT,  8,   a  moth.      Ex.   '^  The  moughts  han  eat  it.*" 

Palsgrave;   mouffht  that  eateth  clothes. 
Mould  ''out,    Mouldy  warp,  s.    a   mole.      A   good  old 

English  word.     A.  Sax.  moldy  terra ;  weorpian^  jaotare ; 

Swed.  mulbork ;  Germ,  mawl  tourf;   Teat,  mul-umrp ; 

Alton,  wd-vourf;    Isl.  mokharpa ;    Dan.  muld/wtrp ;  S. 

Goth.  muUwady  talpa. 

We  call  in  some  ports  of  England  a  mouk,  a  nunUdwarp,  whkh 
is  as  much  to  say,  as  a  ctut-earth;  and  when  planks  or  bords 
are  awry  we  say  they  catty  or  they  warp. 

Versteoan's  RntUutkn  i^Decmiei  IniMgenee. 
Sometimes  he  angers  me 
With  telling  me  of  the  tnobkoarp  and  the  ant. 

l^m.IV.iiL]. 

MouN,  «.  correllative  with  may  and  may  not  In  the 
former  instance  an  archaic,  in  the  latter,  a  Titiated  form. 
Ex.  ^'  I  mcun  tak  it  whdam.^  Here  the  first  Towel  is 
oftener  silent,  and  it  becomes  by  elision,  mun ;  ^*  /  mun 
take  it  whdam.'"  In  the  latter  example,  it  is  em- 
ployed negatively,  as,  ^^Imoun  let  thee  do  a  thatnV' 
implying,  I  may  not. 

Ye  moun  not  seTYe  to  God  and  to  richesse. 

WiCLunr's  New  TeHammi. 
For  adventures  which  that  ineun  hetide. 

CatU.  Tales,  v.  12868  and  13100. 

MouT,  MowT,  V.  to  moult.  Pbomp.  Pabv.  Mowted^  de- 
plumatus;  Mawtinge^  deplumacio.  Teat,  muytmy  plu- 
mas  in  aviariis  amittere.     Fr.  mr^er. 

MouTEB,  V.  to  moulder,  decay.  Ex.  *'*'  Memtmring  away.*" 
A  vitiation  of  the  original  form,  obtained  thns,  mcuUkt, 


511 


inoiitor,  tnouUr.  Teut.  fnoiUeren,  raaceTare,  moUire; 
M.  Ooth.  muld;  S.  Ooth.  mull;  Swed.  id.  Isl.  mol ; 
A.  Sax.  mold ;    Dan.  mnldj  pulvk. 

Muck,  «.  1.  to  clean  out,  free  from  manure.  Ex.  '^  Muek 
the  cowhuB.'"  S.  Goth.  Swed.  modta^  siabula  purgare. 
8.  to  cover  with  manure.  A  farmer  talks  of  muciinp  his 
land.     (See  Mixen.)     Hence,  also, 

MucKBB,  9.  1.  to  be  busy  or  employed  upon  some  filthy 
work.  Ex.  "  A  m^icierinff  job.*"  2.  to  live  as  it  were 
from  hand  to  mouth,  in  a  comfortless,  dirty  way.  Ex. 
**  He  lived  always  in  a  very  muckering  way.'^  S.  In  an 
uncertain  sense.  Ex.  ''  The  clothes  were  mudterad  in 
the  wash  tub.'''' 

MuDsoN,  8,  quasi  Mudstone,  tha  upper  Silurian  rocks 
generally,  which  rapidly  disintegrate,  and  fall  into  mud. 

MuoHus,  s.  a  pottery.  At  Benthal,  one  is  carried  on  with 
spirit  and  activity,  and  it  is  this,  which  has  supplied 
me  with  an  authority  for  the  present  appellation :  univer- 
sal there  and  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Broseley. 

MuLLOK,  $,   rubbish,  dung.     Ex.    '^A  heap   o''   muUoh?'' 

Isl.  mdy  mica.     C.  Brit,  mttlwg^  quisquilise. 

The  muUok  on  an  hepe  ysweped  was. 
And  on  the  flore  ycsHgt  a  canevas. 
And  all  this  muUok  in  a  sire  ythxow. 

Cant.  TaleJt,  v.  16408. 

Till  it  he  rotten  in  muUok  or  in  stre. 

id.  V.  3871. 

MuN,  V.  a  form  of  the  imperfect  verb  must.  Ex.  "  I 
mwn  gda  I  reckon.'*'* 

Thai  mun  he  met  if  thai  war  ma. 

Minot's  Poenu,  p.  3. 

MmvcH,  MuNOB,  8.  to  eat.     Fr.  manger. 

MuNcoBN,  8.  oats  and  barley  mixed;  Old  English,  manff- 
com :  a  term  but  rarely  heard,  except  on  the  Cheshire 
side  of  the  county.     A.  Sax.  mengeanj  miscere. 

MuNNA,  MuNNOD,  9.  two  vaHous  forms  of  must  not, 
which   are  very   prevalent.      Simply   another   mode   of 


512 


expresaion  which  we  give  to  the  old  word  numn :  by 
suppresBion  of  the  firat  vowel,  it  beoomes  mtffi,  thence 
mu/nna^  and  mun  nat^  and  in  accordance  with  the 
common  practice  of  converting  t  final  into  d^  immMod. 
Ex.   '^Her  rnimnod  nize  a  thafng."" 

MuKDLB,  s.  A  stick  used  in  stirring  up  cream.  Ex. 
^^A  cream-'mundh.'"     A.  Sax.  mundy  manus. 

Mutton,  «.  K  a  low  term  of  cont^npt  for  an  aban- 
doned female.  This  title  has  been  derived  from  the 
Fr.  moutottne^  a  sort  of  coiftire  used  by  females,  con- 
sisting of  a  tress  of  hair,  tufted  and  frizzed  which 
was    worn   in    frx>nt. 

Noas  Toyons  des  Prechenn  coififez  a  la  numUmne 
Se  faire  lea  veaux  granda  et  la  bouche  mignonney 
Se  radoueir  la  voi^  et  poor  tout  geste  enfin. 
Aux  Damea  d'  alentour  haie  la  Mile  main. 

Lewis  de  Sanieoque. 

2.  a  reproachful  address  to  a  dog.     Ex.  ''  Ah!  mutton, 

mutton^'"  implying  that  he  b  addicted  to  run  after,  or 

kiU  sheep :    aa  we  say   in   rustic   discourse,    ^^  Tie  up 

that  hill-ship  o*  yom.'*'' 
Mush,  Moosh,  adf.  silent,  quiet,  hidden.     Ex.  ^'Remained 

tnush  like.'*^     Forby  suggests  maueke  as  the  origin. 
Muzzy,  cuij.  fuddled,  stupid  from  intoxication.     Ex.  ^^A 

bit  muzzy. '^     ^'  So  muzzy,  that  he  could  na  understond."" 

Is  it   from  the  Gr.    /uli/ctut.  obstructio! 


^ 


Iagoy,    Snaooy,    adj,   peevish,    conten- 
tious: the  same  &»  naooedt,  or  nao- 
ling:  all  deduoible  from  Isl.  na>gga^ 
litigare. 
Nago,  «.  to  bite  at,  snap.    Ex.  "Jim's 
whippet   nagged  at  my   heels.*^     S. 
GotJi.  gnaga;  A.  Sax.  gnagan;  Isl. 
gnagen;  Dan.  Germ,  nagen;  Teut.  Belg.  huighen;  C. 
Brit,  c/noi^  rodere. 
Nack,  V,  to  nick.     Ex.  "  Naeking  knives,^  an  amusement 

well  known  to  schoolboys.  Teut.  knacken^  frangere. 
Nail  passer,  s.  a  gimlet.  A  very  appropriate  word 
invariably  used  by  ourselves  and  the  Herefordshire 
people  for  that  instrument:  with  what  authority  let 
the  following  synonymous  parts  declare.  Teut.  nasghd; 
Germ,  ncyel^  clavus.  Teut.  pcuaerm;  Germ,  passm^ 
transire. 
Nan,  pr(m,   (See  Anan.) 

Nape,  $.  the  back  part  of  the  neck ;  the  nape  of  the 
neck.  It  is  that  part  which  falls  into  a  hollow :  from 
the  Teut.  nap^  alveolus. 
Nash,  Naish,  Nesh,  adj,  1.  tender,  delicate.  Ex.  "A 
poor  nesh  cratur.^  Promp.  Parv.  growe  nesshe,  and 
also  in  the  very  fine  MS.  of  the  Promp.  Parv.  in 
King^s  Coll.   Lib.    Camb.       A.  Sax.  nesc ;    Belg.  nesh, 


33 


514 

mollis.  Hung.  ImyA,  delicatua.  Ck>tgraTe  expliuna 
tendre^  netk^  puling,  delicate.  This  expresBive  word  is 
not  local.     Pet.  Langtoft.  Chron. 

The  child  was  keped  tendre.  and  nessche. 

Thb  Sbuyn  Saoks,  v.  732. 

No  knyght  for  ne$icke  He  harde. 

Lybbaus  Disconus,  t.  1488. 

All  tendere  and  nm9Che. 

OCTAVIAN  ImPKRATOR,  ▼.  1211. 

Hun  to  behold,  so  is  he  goodljr  freshe, 

It  aeemeth  for  lore  his  herte  is  tender  and  nefA^. 

Chaucer's  Court  ofLaoty  t.  1002. 

— This  but  sweats  thee 
Like  a  nstA  nag.  Boniuca, 

2.  chiUy.  (Qungunford.)  The  Teuton,  neseh,  madi- 
dus;  (Msch  weder^  aer  humidus,)  justifies  also  ihia  se- 
condary use  of  the  word.  A  friend  of  the  writer^s 
heard  in  the  county  town  of  Staffordshire,  these  com- 
pounded forms:  '^a  nesh-phizzed  fellow/^  a  man  who 
will  not  fight  for  fear  of  becoming  bruised — ^'^nesi- 
ikmached^  one  who  "cannot  ete  but  littel  mete,^ 
his  "  stomach  is  not  good,*"  as  the  old  song  quaintly 
has  it.  Had  the  same  observer  kept  his  ears  open 
in  this  county,  the  present  small  volume  might  have 
been  enriched  with  a  greater  variety  of  polite  dis- 
course, than  it  can  now  boast  of.  Coles.  Nares. 
Grose.   Ray. 

Theo  nessche  clay  hit  makith  dyng. 

Kyno  Alisaundbr,  t.  915  and  7326. 

Native,  s.  We  may  consider  this  as  noun  or  adjec- 
tive, but  if  taken  as  the  latter,  pUt^  by  an  ellipsis 
is  understood.  The  Iceni  adopt  the  same  form.  Ex. 
"Neentotfs  my  naiify" 

Nattebd,  adj.  sour,  crossgrained.  Ex.  *^A  nattered 
piece,^  as  they  say  of  an  ill  conditioned  old  woman. 

Nature,  8.  employed  in  a  good  sense,  for  kind  hearted- 
ness  and  affection.     Ex.   '*  There^s  often  more  wMure 


515 


in  people  of  that  sort,  than  in  those  as  yo^  nten  call 

their  betters.^    Shakspeare.    An  leenioism. 

Nauger,  s.  by  Grasis,  for  an  auger,  as  in  NauL     Tent. 

eueyher,  terebra. 

Hays  lent  me  here  his  fiaui. 

Crommer  OurUm's  Needle. 

Naunt,  Nuncle,  &c.,  &o.,  s.  None  of  these  words  or 
any  of  a  like  kind  can  be  deemed  provincialisms. 

Neat's  foot  oil,  «.  oil  extracted  from  cows'  feet,  which 
is  generally  applied  to  stable  or  coach-house  purposes, 
in  preserving  leather.  This  is  one  of  the  two  only 
forms  in  which  we  have  retuned  the  old  word  Tieat. 
Isl.  natU;  Swed.  not;  Alam.  noz;  A.  Sax.  neat;  Dan. 
nod;  Sp.  gomado^  bos.  The  old  poets  continually  used 
the  primitive  NaiU  foot.    Ritson's   Scottish  Songs. 

Neat's  tongue,  *.  a  cow's  tongue. 

Nbeld,  8.  a  needle.     An  instance  of  Grasis,  as  old   as 

P.  Plouhman. 

Tho  was  it  portatyf  and  penhaunt  as  the  poynt  of  a  nelde. 

M.  Goth,  nethla;   A.  Sax.  ncM;  Alam.  nalde ;   Dan. 

ncui;  Isl.  ncud;   Fris.  nirh;   Tout,  nadde;  Belg.  noe^e^,* 

Germ,  naedel;    S.  Goth,   nal;    Fenn.   neula;     Esthon. 

neila^  acus.     Mids.  Nights  Dream. 

Why,  know  you  any  tidings  which  way  my  ne^  is  gone. 

Gammer  Ourton'e  Needle. 

Nelson's  Balls,  s.  a  confection  in  great  request  among 
children,  called  NehovCs  BuUeU^  in  the  North,  and 
supposed  to  have  been  invented  in  honor  of  the  hero ! 
(See  Brockett.) 

Nbow,  4idj.  new.  I  insert  this  form  of  the  word  on 
account  of  the  pronunciation  it  receives  generally 
throughout  the  county.  It  is  borne  out  by  the  ortho- 
graphy, which  in  numberless  cases,  it  has  received  in 
our  early  poets.  The  Romance  of  Kyng  Alisaunder 
presents  no  deviation   from  this  mode  of  writing  it. 

And  take  him  a  neowe  wyve. 
V.  doe ;  see  also  v.  416, 1090, 1240,  7172,  7809,  &c.  &c. 

3a— a 


516 

Nes8,  $.  The  name  of  this  place  is  in  Btrict  oonformity 
with  its  situation.  A.  Sax.  imw0,  promontorium.  Tent. 
Sicamb.  Flan,  ymw,  nasus:  severally  implying  that  it 
stands  on,  or  close  upon,  a  Cliff:  hence  NeueUff^ 
county  Salop. 

Nesses,  8.  nests,  a  corruption  similar  to  seyeral  others 
which  we  have  adopted  from  nouns  terminating  their 
singular  in  esi^  ist^  or  U9t :  Ex.  "  Bird's  nesses^"  "  Wek 
ttrisses^;  ''dry  erusaes''^;  for  bird's  nests,  weak  wrists, 
dry  crusts. 

Nest,  <idj\  next.  Ex.  "  Nest  dure  neighbour.'"  It  can 
scarcely  be  deemed  a  vitiation.  A.  Sax.  nshH ;  C.  Brit. 
nis.   S.  Goth.  ncBste^  proprior. 

Newgate,  pause  as,  phr.  Wherefore  as  False  as  Netw- 
gcUef     Doubtless  metonymycally  it  is  so  spoken. 

Newyus  day,  s.  New  year's  day.  Almost  extinct,  and 
now  used  only  by  the  aged,  from  one  of  whom,  in  his 
eighty-eighth  year,  I  heard  the  word. 

Neze,  v.  to  sneeze.  Not  admitted  on  the  ground  of 
being  provincial.  (See  Craven  and  other  Olossaries.) 
A.  Sax.  niesa/n;  Franc,  niosen ;  Belg.  niezen;  Swed. 
niusa;  Oerm.  niessen;  Tout,  niesen^  stemutare.  Shak- 
speare. 

NiFF,  V.  to  quarrel.  Correllative  with  mify  and  tif: 
all  of  them  words  of  a  base  and  vulgar  kind. 

NiLD,  s.  a  small  piece  of  iron  used  by  miners  when 
'  blasting'  rocks ;  by  Crasis,  for  a  needle. 

Nile,  s.  a  term  for  that  part  of  a  threshing  flail,  that 
is  usually  called  a  'swepple.'  Nile  is  peculiar  to 
Corve  Dale,  but  I  suspect  it  is  tralatitious. 

Nine  days,  phr,  Salopians  invariably,  when  speaking 
of  an  indefinite  length  of  time  between  a  week  and  a 
fortnight,  express  it  by  the  phrase  of  a  week  or  nixe 
DAYS.  In  the  East  and  the  West,  in  the  South,  and 
I  rather  think  in  the  direct  North,  the  idiom  runs  to 
a  week  or  ten  days.     And,  wherefore  tm  days  in  pre- 


517 

ference  to  nink!  Surely  we  have  as  much  reason  to 
limit,  as  others  have  to  extend  the  interval.  I  be- 
lieve this  is  a  remarkable  test  by  which  the  identity 
of  a  man^s  Salopian  birth  may  be  truly  ascertained. 
Let  my  doubtful  readers,  try  whether  this  peculiarity 
be  not  entirely  local,  and  they  vnU  find,  as  the 
writer  has  proved  in  repeated  instances,  that  a  Shropshire 
person  always  circumscribes  the  period  in  question  to 
NINE  days. 

Nine  eyes,  s.  The  Amniocsetes  branchialis  of  Natural- 
ists, so  called  from  having  a  number  of  spiracles  on 
each  side,  or  branchial  orifices  in  a  lateral  groove. 
Found  profusely  in  the  Ledvdck  brook  near  Ludlow. 

Neneted,  part,  past;  a  low  term  used  in  a  perverse 
sense,  descriptive  of  one  versed  at  an  eariy  age  in 
evil  practices.  Ex.  ^'A  nineted  youth,'^"  a  youngster 
who  is  wicked  and  wilful. 

Ninetino,  s.  a  threshing,  castigation.  Ex.  '^  A  good 
ninettng.'^  Referable  to  the  preceding:  each  of  them 
corrupted  from  (maint. 

NisGAL,  s,   the  youngest  pig  in  a  litter. 

Nobler,  «.  a  man  whose  duty  it  is  to  remind  inat- 
tentive youths  in  church,  of  their  misbehaviour,  by 
'-''nMing^  them,  or  hitting  them  on  the  head  with 
a  wand  carried  for  that  purpose.  Teut.  knodsen^ 
tundere ! 

NoDDiB,  8.  a  foolish  feUow ;  when  characterizing  such  an 
one  still  more  contemptuously,  he  is  called  a  neddy. 
Ex.  ''  Such  a  noddie  as  him.""  Fr.  nauden^  a  noddie, 
Cotgr.  Ital.  pisellore,  a  noddie.  Florio's  Worlde  of 
Wordes.     Shakspeare.    Grose.  Moore. 

Nogs,  8.   hemp.     A.   Sax.  enotta^  nodus ! 

NoGGEN,  8.  any  garment  soever  made  of  the  above  ma- 
terial 

NooLBR,  8.  a  bungler.  A  writer  in  the  Gentleman's  Ma- 
gazine thinks  the  etymology  of  the  word  to   be   this. 


1 


518 

What  we  call  an  kigler  was  onoe  written  an  kagler, 
and  8o  you  will  find  it  in  Dr  FuUer^s  WorthieB,  p.  27. 
Now,  an  hagler  is  very  easily  turned  into  a  nagUr^  and 
with  a  open  a  nogler. 

None,  cuif.  This  is  often  used  by  a  periphrasifl  to  sig- 
nify not  any  time,  as  ^^I  stopped  wme  at  Soesbuiy,^ 
for,  I  staid  no  time  at  Shrewsbuiy. 

Nor  ;  in  composition,  or  in  connexion  with  the  name  of 
a  place  means  new,  from  the  Islandic.  (See  Haider- 
son,  and  Verel.  in  Indie.)  f»yr,  novus.  Thus  we  have 
in  Shropshire  ;  Norton,  or  the  New  Town :  Wbitch- 
NOR,  or  the  new  habitation,  from  the  A.  Sax.  Wmm- 
fMM0,  habitatio :   wwniany  habitare. 

NoTHER,  adj.   for  another,  by  aphseresis. 

Nope,  8.  a  bullfinch.  Lcxia  pyrrhfUa  of  Linnaeus.  Ex. 
^^The  Nope's  a  deuced  mischievous  bird."*^ 

NoRN,  aclj.  neither.  Ex.  ^^  Nam  on  em.*"  As  often 
"fiatrn  on  em.*"^ 

Nose,  9.  to  smell.  Ex.  ^*  I  noted  it  afore  it  oummed 
on  the  table."''  S.  Ooth.  noia,  flare  neonon  rostro 
pertentare,  ut  solent  animalia.     Isl.  niaaa,  speculari. 

Now,  adv,  by  an  ellipse  this  is  generally  understood. 
Ex.    "Between  and  then.'' 

Nub,  8.  a  point,  projection.  Ex.  "  A  nub  of  the  loaf.'' 
Teut.  knobbelf  tuber. 

Nurled,  culj.  1.  twisted,  ribbed.  A  goldsmith's  term; 
scarcely  Salopian. 

NuRLY,  adf\  1.  ill-tempered.  2.  warped,  knotty.  Germ. 
knurren^  stridere.     Teut.  knarren,  grunnire. 

NuviTous,  adj.   nutritious.     (Corve  Dale.) 


^ 


^ 


when    Bhort    reoeives   the    sound    of 

double  0  :  thus  cord  becomes  coord ; 

(Teut.  koorde^  funis.) 

''Thanne  knvghtiB  kittiden  awei  the 
coordis  of  the  boot,  and  Bafiiiden  it  to 
falle  aweL" 

The  Dedis  of  ApoiUU,  ch.  xxviL 

Short  0  is  converted  into  au  and  otf, 
especially  when  followed  by  7,  when  the  liquid  is  sup- 
pressed:  thus  we  hear  hauty  for  bolt :  eaut  for  colt :  oud 
for  old  :  foud  for  fold  :  toud  for  told,  &c. 
It  is  also  changed  into  short  a ;  as  drap  for  drop :  hcMy- 
btuhy  for  holly-bush :  crop  for  crop.  Many  Saxon  words 
have  been  adopted  by  us  with  o  substituted  for  the 
more  correct  a. 

It  also  takes  in  its  pronunciation  the  sound  of  eo^  as  ceou 
for  cow :  pleow  for  plough  :  neow  for  now. 
When  followed  by  ^  it  is  most  commonly  converted  into 
a,  as  lang  for  long :  Strang  for  strong :  amang  for  among, 
and  wrong  for  wrong,  as  in  the  Seuvyn  Sages, 
Lordinges,  he  said,  lokes  omang  yow. 

If  thou  tald  a  wrong  reeown. 

id.  y.  3686. 

Long  0  has  frequently  the  sound  of  short  u,    as  struv 
for  strove  :  prue,  for  prove :    imir  for  move. 


520 


Oi :  this  diphthong  is  perpetually  transmuted  into  long  t, 

SA  m  apUe  for  spoil :  nUhy  for  moil :  «tM,  for  noise ;  bile 

for  boil :  ''  tars  €U  a  Me  J" 

And  there  was  a  begger  Laains  by  name:  that  laye  at  hise 
sate  fal  of  bilU,  and  coueytide  to  be  fulfilled  of  the  cnunmys  tbat 
rallen  donn  fro  the  riche  mannea  boorde:  and  no  man  gaf  to 
him^  but  houndis  camen  and  likkiden  hise  byHs. 

WiCLiv^a  New  Tettameniy  Luke  ch.  xtL 

Oo  is  narrowed  into  long  u^  as  ffus  for  goose :  wtis^  for 
noose :  and  sometimes  changed  into  short  «,  as  epunile 
for  spoonful ;  ruf,  for  roof;  eruekeiy  for  crooked ;  irui^ 
for  brook  ;  pru/,  for  proof.  Or  like  ue^  as  in  the  words, 
tuisy  dure^  fwre^  for  took,  door,  (A.  Sax.  dfwre;  Teut. 
tiwr;  Belg.  dewre^  porta,)  floor:  again,  ore  takes* a 
similar  sound  in  more,  whore,  sore,  where  the  lower 
classes  say  mure,  hure,  (Teut.  hke/re;  A.  Sax.  Amv, 
scorta)  suir. 

Ou,  when  followed  by  ^U  drops  the  ^A,  as  in  oci^  for 
ought;  fdfta  for  fought:  dro/ui  for  drought.  And  is 
changed  into  o,  as  yoree  for  yours. 

Oy,  takes  the  sound  of  i  short,  as  in  Hy  for  boy: 
jiyffd  for  joyful :  emply  for  employ  :  destry  for  destroy : 
the  practice  has  been  derived  from  an  early  time, 
as  our  ancient  poets  will  testify.  Chaucer  perpetually 
gives  us  a  like  termination.  (See  Canterbury  Tales, 
V.  1SS2,   17110,  &c.    Dreme,  v.  l605,  &c.) 

Obitch'*6  Cowt  ;  phr,  ''  Forty  sa  one  like  Obitch^s  oowt.*" 
The  origin  of  this  common  phrase  has  heretofore  lurked 
in  impenetrable  obscurity.  There  exists  another  simile 
amongst  us,  of  like  import;  and  whether  Obitch  or 
Rhoden  was  the  real  owner  of  the  horse  in  question 
is  a  matter  much  contested.  We  will  not  investigate 
that  point  now,  but  illustrate  the  history  of  Obitch 
by  a  legendary  account  which  has  been  taken  down 
from  the  lips  of  a  nurse.  She  gathered  her  lore  from 
Melverly  her  birth-place,  and  coming  from  so  un- 
frequently   visited    a  quarter,    where   little   corruption 


521 


has  flowed  into  the  language,  we  may  be  allowed  to 
receive  the  history  following  as  a  genuine  record  of 
the  animaPs  marvellous  qualities.  To  write,  however, 
without  figure,  the  tale  does  appear  to  have  taken 
its  birth  from  tradition:  and  if  my  reader  wishes  to 
know  how  it  first  received  its  present  form,  and  he 
will  implicitly  believe  conjecture,  I  start  one  for  his 
edification.  It  is  one  of  those  ^very  probable^  ones 
which  Antiquaries  love  to  produce.  We  are  told  in 
the  third  book  of  Beda,  that  not  long  after  the  death 
of  Oswald,  which  we  have  presumed  happened  at 
Maesbrook  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  to  Mel- 
verly,  a  certain  traveller  passing  by  the  spot  on 
horseback,  found  his  beast  suddenly  grow  weary, 
hang  his  head,  and  foaming  at  the  mouth,  with  ap- 
parently much  pain,  fell  to  the  earth.  The  rider 
leapt  off  his  back,  and  having  made  himself  a  kind 
of  bed,  awaited  the  hour  which  should  either  witness 
his  beast^s  recovery,  or  oblige  him  to  leave  him  be- 
hind as  dead.  Whilst  the  horse  lay  in  this  unhappy 
condition,  writhing  with  pain,  he  fortunately  rolled 
himself  over,  and  touched  the  place  where  King  Os- 
wald had  died.  In  an  instant,  his  pains  left  him; 
and  as  horses  are  wont,  after  fatigue,  he  turned  him- 
self on  his  side,  and  got  up,  and  then  like  one  in 
perfect  health,  immediately  began  to  graze.  The 
sagacious  owner,  conceived  that  the  spot  was  sacred, 
and  having  marked  it  narrowly,  remounted  his  horse 
and  proceeded  to  an  inn.  When  he  had  come  thither 
he  beheld  a  damsel  afflicted  with  paralysis;  and  her 
friends  lamenting  to  him  the  disorder  under  which  she 
sufiered,  it  occurred  to  him  to  narrate  the  miracu- 
lous cure  which  had  so  recently  been  eflected  on  his 
horse.  What  so  natural  as  to  expect  that  the  same 
results  would  await  the  maiden?  She  was  forthwith 
placed  in  a  sledge,   and  brought  to  the  scene   of  this 


522 


marvellouB  cure.  A  gentle  deep  fell  up<xi  ho*,  and 
when  ahe  awoke,  feeling  herself  healed,  she  asked  for 
water  with  which  she  washed  her  faoe;  ahe  adjusted 
her  hair,  wrapped  up  her  head,  and  returned  home  on 
foot.  To  this  Hagiologioal  legend  may  be  traced  the 
virtues  of  Obitch^s  Colt,  for  the  latter  fable  is  in  some 
parts  BO  like  the  former,  that  it  appears  manifestly 
to  have  arisen  out  of  it.  By  degrees  the  history  be- 
came distorted,  and  Oswald  meiged  into  the  less 
euphonous  name  of  Obitch.  We  will  now  have  the 
present  version.  ^'  There  wuz  wunst  a  laady  dhed,  un 
a  burrieden  her  in  her  jewels.  An  there  wuz  a  moo, 
a  callen  him  Obitch^  as  went  to  her  grave  i^  th' 
dhead  o^  the  niht  and  taked  away  her  jewels  off  her: 
and  ivir  ater  he  was  always  hainted  by  a  covFt.  They 
callen  the  plaice  Cutberry  Hollow  where  he  used  to 
meet  the  cowt:  they  been  afread  of  gween  there  at 
neet  lest  a  shulden  see  the  coult,  and  the  laady  riding 
on  him.  I  conno  say  that  I  gie  credit  to  sich  ear 
things,  o^  folks  coming  agen  like:  but  a  sen  the 
auld  mon  had  niver  no  pace  ater :  a  wuz  sadly  troubled 
i  his  yed,  and  mitherd.  The  ould  mon  lived  at  one 
time  at   Leighton   Hathe,    as  is  clos  by   Fitz,   where 

one  Parson  H praches.     Obitch  used  to  say, 

as  a  tellen  me,  that  he  seed  the  cowt  as  nataral  as 
ony  Christian,  and  he  used  to  get  up  clos  agen  the 
style  for  him  to  get  up  a  top  uv  his  back,  uid  at 
last  the  coult  growed  so  bould,  that  the  folks  sidden 
him  in  the  day  time.  When  I  lived  at  Melverly  they 
usen  to  say  if  ivir  ony  body  was  a  gween  to  be  married, 
if  a  wuz  any  thin  aged  like,  ^^  ier  umz  as  oM  as 
Obiteh^s  Couk,  forty  ea  one:' 
Odds,  f?.  to  fit,  make  even.  Ex.  '^  Odds  this  bhwdard.'" 
A  earpenter^fi  term.  This  is  not  a  lueu8y  as  the  sound 
in  connexion  vrith  the  meaning  imports,  but  a  word 
legitimately  taken  from  the  C.  Brit,  addatu^  aptare. 


523 

OsHTB,  adi).  in  compariaoii  of.  Ex.  '*'  Mm  Smith's  gownd 
is  dear  oerts  as  thisn."'' 

Off,  (ich.  The  Bubetitution  of  the  adverb's  pronuncia- 
tion for  that  of  the  preposition,  is  highly  charaoteristic 
of  Salopians.  Even  among  those,  whose  staticm  would 
lead  us  to  think  they  had  been  better  taught,  this 
perversion  is  very  gmeral ;  and  it  is  the  means  of  dis- 
covering a  native  of  Shropshire  with  as  much  certainty 
as  by  his  forgetfulness  of  aspirates.  Ex.  ^^  I  heard  it  ^ 
Mr  CJhose;'     "  I  bought  it  of  Mr  Eddowes/' 

OoierniT,  s,  Oswestry,  co.  Salop. 

Ombbr,  8.  a  hammer;  from  which  word  it  is  a  vile  cor- 
ruption. 

OMMOfirr,  ath.  almost.  This  and  the  preceding  vitiation 
are  explained  under  vocal  mutations  of  a  into  o,  and 
the  reverse. 

On  ;  prefix.  In  composition  constantly  employed  instead 
of  un;  and  in  words  of  pure  Saxon  origm  not  incor- 
rectly so  used.  The  Promp.  Parv.  has  ovdene^  on- 
eertayne^  oshofpy. 

Onbbar,  9.  to  uncover.  A  word  applied  to  the  opening 
of  a  lime  or  stone  quarry.  Ex.  ^'  Onbear  so  many 
jrards.''  I  suppose  it  is  resolvable  into  the  A.  Sax.  on, 
and  aherian^  nudare. 

Onbeabing  i,  the  faigh^  or  that  particular  deposit  which 
lies  nearest  any  material  about  to  be  worked.  Ex. 
"  There's  a  dhel  uv  wibearing.^ 

Ont,  «.  will  not.  Ex.  "I  ant  Ao  it."  Thus  perverted 
from  the  regular  fprm ;  wiU  not^  tiPafUy  ''ont. 

OoNT,  WooNT,  WuNHT,  8.  a  molc.  A  word  not  pecu- 
liar to  Salopians,  being  met  with  in  some  of  our  early 
writers,  though  from  what  nation  it  became  engrafted 
on  our  dialect,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain. 

A  mottl  or  wooni  enclosed  in  an  earthen  pot,  if  you  set  then 
the  powder  of  brimstone  on  fire,  she  will  call  other  Moles  or 
wonU  to  helpe  her  with  a  very  mourning  voice- 

Lifpton'n  Thoiumnd  Natabk  Things. 


524 


OoNT-KETCHBR,  «.  a  uuui  whoBe  employment  lies  in  de- 
stroying the  above  vermin ;  discharging  the  same  honor- 
able functions  as  ^'a  rot-ketoher.'*^ 

Orisb,   9.   to  plane,   make  smooth.      A  joiner    ori$e$  a 

board,   that  is,   he  takes  off  the  aruehedd  (C.  Brit.) 

the  outside,  surface. 

Fram  thair  &rinng  stok  cttttit  quhill  thay  be. 

ColkeMe  Sov, 

Orl,  s.  the  alder.  Exclusively  confined  to  the  Here- 
fordshire side.     Belg.  erlenbaum;  Fr.  atdns^  alnus. 

Ornary,  $.  1.  a  table  d'^hote,  or  open  dinner.  Ez^ 
'^  Market  ornary .""  ?.  o^'.  a  corruption  from  ordinary, 
inferior.  Ex.  "Mighty  omaty  mate.""  "A  ornary 
looking  homan.**^ 

Qrts,  $.  leavings,  fragments,  refuse  meat.  Ex.  ^'Eat 
up  your  orU^  This  word  may  be  looked  upon  as 
one  of  good  quality,  furnished  through  the  several  cog* 
nate  tongues  to  us  as  follows.  S.  Ooth.  art;  Alam. 
Germ,  ori;  C.  Brit,  or;  A.  Sax.  ord;  Tout,  oort^  cri^ 
extremitas.  With  these  synonyms  before  me,  I  can- 
not deem  it  a  perversion  of  of>er.  Towards  is  most 
commonly  pronounced  by  the  vulgar  UParU;  and  a 
similar  licence  in  the  word  before  us,  would  convert 
owr  into  oerts  and  thence  into  arts.  But  the  word 
is  of  better  authority,  and  occurs  in  the  Promp.  Parv. 

OrtySy    THE     RELBFE     OF     MANNYS     MBTB,    iu    fact,     the    O^' 

sides.     (See  Hoar  Stone,  p.  216.) 

Some  slender  art  of  his  remainder. 

Timon  qf  Athens,  iv.  a 

The  fractions  of  her  faith  arts  of  her  love. 

Trail,  and  Crewida,  v.  2. 

Come^  Goody,  stop  your  humdrum  wheel. 
Sweep  up  your  orU,  and  get  your  hat. 

Bloom  nsLD. 

Out  at  ley,  phr.     When   cattle  or  horses  are   feeding 

in  hired  pastures  they  are  said  to  be  oti^  o^  ley. 
Out  cast,  s.  the    overplus  gained   by   malsters   between 


525 


a  buahel  of  barley,  and  the  same  when  conyerted  into 
malt.     Pbomp.  Parv.  owTBCAflrrB,  or  rsfubb  of  corn. 

OusBf  Ooze,  «.  a  nooze:  by  aphsereflis.  Ex.  '^A  run- 
ning aUse^ 

Oura,  phr.  A  common  formula  for  expreaaing  contempt 
for  any  individual  who  is  without  the  eflsential  quali- 
ficationa  which  constitute  a  gentleman.  Ex.  *'Him!  a 
gentleman !  a  gentleman  with  three  auiSy  neither  wit, 
money,  or  manners."''  Which  is  as  much  aa  to  infer, 
he  ia  witAout  all. 

OvERGooD,  O'^ERoooD,  odf.  Au  epithct  applied  in  an  un- 
charitable spirit,  to  auch  aa  are  more  atrict  in  their 
living  than  the  generality.  Ex.  ^^O'erffoad  by  one  half."^ 
Teut.  ouer-good^  perbonua. 

Over  the  lepf;  phr.  a  metaphor  by  which  one  who 
speaka  by  figure  is  reproved.     Ex.  ^^  Ah  f  that^s  (fver 

the  hftr 

OvBRGET,  V.  to  recover  from ;  or  as  the  Comavii  more 
commonly  aay,  get  owr.  Ex.  *^He  unnud  overget  thia 
bout  I  reckon."" 

Over  run,  v.  to  leave  unfinished,  to  decamp.  Ex. 
"  He's  awr  run  his  work.'*' 

OwLER,  9.  the  alder:  more  frequently  called  the  WoBur 
or  Wuller :  which  see. 

OwLERT,  B.  the  owl,  generically  speaking.  This  omi- 
nous bird  is  known  by  us  under  the  several  names 
of  Owl,  Owlert,  HuOert,  ffuOat,  Hawlat,  WuUat,  fee, 
which  respectively  claim  affinity  with  the  Isl.  ugla ; 
Dan.  tiffle;  Alam.  teuile;  Teut.  gtU;  Belg.  uyl;  Fr. 
hulate;   Sp.  autitta^  &c.  vMa,  noctua. 

OwNDER,  «.  the  evening.  Ex.  "  To'ert  to-morrow  oinufor." 
"  r  tK  ownderr  A  word  in  general  acceptation  on  the 
banks  of  the  Severn,  betvaxt  Shrewsbury  and  Bridgenorth, 
and  now  almost  confined  to  that  part  of  the  county.  The 
Rev.  J.  Rocke  of  Clungunford,  informs  the  author  in 
a  very  interesting  communication  concerning  the  words 


526 

current  among  the  lower  elaiwoH  in  his  neighbourhood, 

that    about  thirty  years   ago,    the  term  nwnder    was 

well  undemtood  in   his  vicinity,   but  at  present  it   is 

intelligible   only   to   the  older  portion  of  the  people. 

This  is  another,   amongst  the  numerous  proofs  which 

have  presented  themselves  whilst  arranging  these  pages, 

of  the  truth  of  Horaoe^s  remarks, 

Multa  renaaoentur,  qa»  jam  oeddere:  eadentque, 
Qos  nunc  iimt  in  honore  vocabula. 

and  the  fact  should  stimulate  observers  in  other  counties 

to  record  these  fleeting  memorials  of  the  language  spoken 

by  their  forefathers. 

Few  words  have  been   more  thoroughly  ^shaken'   by 

Etymologists  than  that  under  present  discussion.     Jir 

mieson  has  left  little  for  those  who  come   after  him, 

to  perform.     It  is  not   my  intention   to    follow    him 

through  his  learned  meanderings,   and  as   the  Scotch 

interpretation   of  the   term   assigns   it  to  a   different 

period   of  the   day  from   our  own,   it   would    not   be 

subservient   to  our    purpose.      I   shall   content    myself 

with  the  insertion  of  a  few  synonyms  which   by  thm 

origin  are  closely  connected  with  the  word  in  question. 

M.  Ooth.  andei^  finis.     Franc.  Alaman.  andanahti^  in- 

itium  noctis.     Oerm.  Teut.  abend;  A.  Sax.  wfm;  Belg. 

awmd;  Dan.  afien;  Isl.  afftan;  Cimb.  oiton,   vespera. 

Scotch,  awnder.     Oandwrik.  Tim  Bobbin. 

Owner,  ».  the  proprietor  of  a  barge.     An  Owner  is  a 

sort  of  Barge  Captain,  and  is  looked  upon,  relatively 

speaking,  with  as  much  respect  as  the  Captain  is  by 

his  sailors.  We  hear  of  '-'' Owner  Lloyd;  Owner  Doughty, 

&c." 


^ 


^ 


AIR   o^   BEDSTEADS,  phr.   th6  frame  on 
which  a  bed  is  placed,  is  by  the  vnlgar 
invariably    thus   designated,    as    the 
upper  classes  say  a  pair  of  stairs. 
Passer,  s.  a  gimblet,  or  small  auger: 
termed  also  a  nail  passer,     Promp. 
Parv.   has,   a    Persoure^    terebrum. 
Fr.  persoir^  a  piercer,  Cotgr. 
Pattun,  Pattinton,  county  Salop ;  the  un  is  always  pro- 
nounced nasally. 
Paul-windlas,  s.  a  small  windlass  which  is  used  to  raise  or 
lower  the  mast  of  a  barge,   placed  on  the  poop  of  the 
vessel. 
Pay,  v.  to  beat,  chastise.     C.  Brit,  pwyan ;   Gr.  watw, 
verberare.     Shakspeare. 

He  paid  good  Robin  back  and  side. 

Ritson's  Robin  Hood,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 

I  fear  youll  both  be  paid. 

id.  p.  105. 

Payl,  v.  correlative  with  the  preceding.  Belg.  pylen; 
Id.  piahi^  tundere. 

Pays,  s.  peas.     Ex.  "  Pay-htUh:' 

Peason,  8.  as  often  pronounced  pessum ;  in  the  primary 
sense  the  word  denotes  peas,  but  it  is  rarely  used  with 
this  restriction.     The   term  is   correct  enough,  if  the 


528 


example  of  an  early  Lexicographer  avails  anything  for  its 
vindication. 

Pmnn  with  the   huakes  are  windie  and  hurtful,   but  their 
huakes  being  taken  off,  ynmm  are  good  enough. 

Purfotb's  DidUmarie, 

Gerard  in  his  Herbal  uses  the  word  indiscriminateiy  with 
peas.  (See  Book  ii.  c.  510.)  Yet  our  more  general  applica- 
tion understands  it  to  mean,  in  the  secondary  sense,  the 
straw  of  peas;  peason,  pessum,  quasi,  peshaulm,  peas- 
halm.  A.  Sax.  pisa ;  C.  Brit,  pymn ;  Gr.  irurov^  pisa. 
Ital.  pmUi^  all  manner  of  small  peoMm ;  Florio.  Fr.  pcii^ 
peason.     Cotgr. 

Pkabt,  adf.  lively,  well.  Ex.  *^The  missis  bin  pretty 
pearty  This  is  undoubtedly  a  perversion  of  pert^  by 
epenthesis,  and  comes  from  the  C.  Brit,  pert^  which  is 
formed  of  berA^  the  b  by  use  being  changed  into/?,  and 
though  more  extended  in  its  signification  than  the  usual 
force  we  give  to  pert^  will  scarcely  justify  the  strained 
meaning  Salopians  give  to  the  word. 

Pbcklbd,  adj.  speckled,  spotted.  By  aphseresis  for  the 
correct  word.     Teut.  speckdm^  variegare. 

Peg,  «.  to  punish  with  the  fist.  It  may  be  remained  here, 
once  for  all,  that  none  of  these  various  words  which  impty 
castigation  are  local  and  dialectical.  One  or  other  of 
them  occurs  in  all  the  Olossaries  written  by  my  prede- 
cessors, and  as  yet  I  am  ignorant  of  any  one  we  nuiy  claim 
exclusively.  My  object  in  introducing  th^m  in  these  pages 
is  to  shew  what  universal  acceptance  they  have  obtained, 
so  much  so,  that  as  far  as  their  derivation  can  shew,  they 
may  be  regarded  not  as  tralatitious  even,  or  neological, 
but  as  received,  and  legitimate  words.  Indeed,  the  in- 
stance under  review  seems  to  have  supplied  the  upper 
classes  with  a  metaphor  that  is  often  applied  to  the 
unruly  and  conceited.  We  hear  of  the  prudence  of 
taking  such  an  one  ^'  doum  a  peg^  which  has  very  much 
the  same  force  as  pegging  him^  or  as  ^^ pegging  it  inio 


529 

himj'"  nctrdaaeiv  avrou^  as  the  Greeks  say,  or  in  plain 

language^  ^^  moke  him  feel.^ 
Pbewits  s.  the  common  Thick  knee ;  (Edicnemus  of  Je- 
'    nyns :  so  called  by  us  in  consequence  of  the  peculiar  cry 

this  bird  utters.     (See  Twowrr.) 
Pbqgy  white  throat,  8,  there  is  at  present  a  difficulty  in 

identifying  this  bird  with  its  correspondent  name  in  the 

Linnsean  nomenclature. 
Pble,  8.  an  instrument  used  by  bakers.  Lat.  Barb,  palay 

instrumentum  coquinarium,  batillum.     Du  Cange. 

A  do2  trogh,  and  a  ftele. 

Tournament  of  Tottenham,  y,  124. 

Pbn,  Pens,  Pbnfbather,  $.  the  roots  of  feathers  in  poultry; 
a  cook  complains  that  the  fowl  she  is  plucking  is  '^  full  of 
pens.*^  Fr.  pmtWj  a  quill,  or  hard  feather,  a  pmfh/eaiher^ 
Cotgrave.     C.  Brit.  Bret.  Armor,  pmiy  caput,  initium. 

Penny  Measure,  8.  a  clay  lying  above  the  Penny  Stone, 
from  which  coarse  earthenware  is  numufactured. 

Penny  Stone,  8.  a  measure  of  iron  stone  about  nine  yards 
thick.     The  best  iron  ore  which  Shropshire  produces. 

Perished,  part,  pcut ;  by  this  word  farmers  describe  the 
peculiar  condition  of  their  young  crops,  when  there  has 
been  a  wet  winter.  Ex.  "  Whod  o  th'  wet  a  th^  land, 
un  altogither,  the  weats  welly  perUhed.'''' 

Phbg,  8.  a  coarse  long  grass,  which  affords  little  if  any 
nourishment  to  cattle,  so  that  rustics  say,  ^^  the  bwes  un 
nivir  ha  any  flesh  atop  on  their  bwons,  when  ua  sich 
pheg  as  that  to  ate.'V  The  Cynosurw  Cri8tatu8  of  bo- 
tanists. 

Pheooy,  adj.  land  which  has  a  superabundant  crop  of 
Pheff. 

Pickle,  v.  to  subject  wheat  to  that  particular  process  of 
steeping  in  salt  and  water,  which  is  necessary  to  check 
the  uredo  foetida,     (See  Herrin  and  Smut.) 

PiDLiNo,  adj.  dainty,  small,  trifling.  Ex.  "  My  pig  beant 
but  a  pidling  ater.'**     Here  is  a  word  employed  in  a 


530 


minner  which  shews  to  iu  with  what  singular  felicity  it 
has  been  chosen.  For  presuming  that  Adrian  Junius  is 
correct,  Piddh  means,  to  eat  daintily,  to  feed  nicely  and 
delicately.  Coming  from  the  C.  Brit.  Bwytta^  oomedere, 
B  and  F  being  of  like  power  in  that  tongue.  It  is, 
moreover,  a  dictionary  word ;  see  Johnson. 

PurmcH,  $.  the  chaffinch;  FrinffiUa  ecBkbi  of  Natural- 
ists. 

Pio^s  Paiisnip,  f.  the  common  cow  parsnip;  hogweed; 
the  H^radewn  Sphaikfylium^  of  Linmeus. 

PiK,  $.  a  pick-axe.     Tout.  piei$y  ligo. 

And  with  the  pj^  puite  down. 

P.  Plouhman^  170. 

PiK-AXB,  s.  a  mattock  used  by  agricultural  labourers ;  it 
is  generally  pointed  at  one  end  of  the  head  and  broad 
at  the  other ;  this  being  termed  the  pain  end,  and  that 
the  sqwure.  Oerm.  pickd-^ixty  ascia  in  cuspidem  desi- 
nens. 

PiK-iBON)  f .  the  pointed  end  of  an  anvil. 

PiKK,  «.  a  pick-axe.  In  the  mining  districts  the  final  $ 
is  invariably  sounded,  and  by  prosthesis,  the  word  be- 
comes long.     Tout.  pUke^  bipalium,  ligo. 

PiKB,  9.  to  pick.  Unwittingly  the  lower  orders  elmigate 
this  monosyllabic  verb  from  good  authority.  M.  Goth. 
S.  Ooth.  Id.  Swed.  picka;  Dan.  p%dc»;  Tent.  Belg. 
pMtm ;  A.  Sax.  pye^m ;  Fr.  piquet;  Ital.  piocare ;  Span. 
picaty  pincere.     Chaucer,  Gower,  Lyndsay. 

Pykede  aweye  the  wedes. 

P.  Plouhman,  194. 

Wher  he  wcare  othe  feld  pyoohynde  stake. 

id. 

Pikes,  s.  short  ^  butts'  which  fill  up,  or  make  up  for  the 
irregularity  caused  by  hedges  not  running  parallel. 

PiKBL,  8.  a  hayfork.  It  is  a  word  in  universal  use 
amongst  all  chsses  in  Shropshire :  and  is  fairly  referable 
to  the  preceding  words,  to  whidi  may  be  added  as  forming 


531 


a  ciofler  affinity  with  the  present,  the  C.  Brit,  piccd^  jaeu- 
lum,  and  the  Germ,  picket^  ooelum,  graphium,  Bcalpmm, 
et  quodvia  ingtromentiim  ferreum  ad  fodiendum  aut  fodi- 
candum  factum.  Ex.  ^^  Gda  and  git  mizzhurd  for  a  pikd  ;^ 
applied  to  a  tall  and  lazy  person. 

PiKBurr,  8.  a  email  indigestible  oiroular  piece  of  half  baked 
dough,  which  being  covered  with  butter  is  esteemed  dainty 
tea  table  fare. 

Pile,  9.  to  detach  the  jmIm  from  barley. 

Filing  irons,  8.  I.  a  heavy  iron  instrument  used  to  break 
the  beard  from  barley.  Ex.  "  Sumtimes  the  thrashall 
unna  tak  one  hofe  o'  the  piles  of,  and  then  a  bin  obleeged 
to  use  the  piling  iron  yo  sin."*^  2.  instruments  used  to 
take  off  bark  from  newly  fallen  trees. 

Pill,  Pell,  «.  to  peel.  Ex.  "  PHling  the  crust  off  the 
loaf.^  Dan.  pUle ;  A.  Sax.  pila/n ;  Teut.  Belg.  pMen ; 
C.  Brit,  pilio ;  Fr.  pder ;  Span,  pdar^  decorticare,  gla- 
brare.     Cotgrave  has  poUer^  to  piU.     Percy'^s  Reliques. 

Qohat  Justice  mnld !  what  piUkng  of  the  pure ! 

Montoomkry's  S€nn€t9, 
And  pjfled  the  barke  even  of  hys  face 
With  her  commaundements  ten. 

Ane  baOet,  in  Laino's  CoUedUm  qf  Seokh  Poetry. 

Pink  atbbn,  t .  a  very  narrow  boat,  chiefly  used  by  fisher- 
men on  the  river  Severn.  Belg.  pimkge.  Teut.  A.  Sax. 
pink ;  Fr.  pinque^  navis  speculatoria. 

PiNifocKs,  «.  fine  clothes.  Ex.  ^^  My  dahter  nivir  wears 
any  fine  pinnoeh^  and  yo  needna  fear  taking  on  her.*" 
C.  Brit,  piner^  a  garment.     Pinge^  finely  dressM. 

PiNsoN,  8,  pincers.  Ex.  ^'  A  pair  of  pimon^  Were  we 
ambitions  of  referring  our  construction  to  the  Greek,  we 
ought  to  claim  this  as  a  regular  form  of  the  dual.  Teut. 
pinsse^  volsella.  Palsgrave ;  Payrs  of  Pinsons^  pinces. 
Pytuons  of  yrone,  estricquoyer. 

Pipe  drink,  «.  a  weak,  sparkling  fresh  ale,  fit  for  smokers, 
and  for  no  one  else,  to  drink.  Ex.  ^^  Good  pipe  drink^ 
ladr 


532 


PiP8,  «.  fd.  used  in  all  the  senses  given  by  Forby  as  current 
in  Norfolk. 

1.  seeds  of  fruit.     Ex.  "  Pips  of  an  orange.*** 

2.  spots  on  playing  cards.     Ex.  ^' Count  the  z^^."" 

3.  flowers  growing  in  a  raceme.     Ex.  "  Cowslip  pfp^."*^ 
PissANNAT,  s.  the  common  ant.     The  original  word  has 

in  this  instance  become  changed  by  epenthesis.  Pismire 
is  doubtless  the  best  tenn.  The  A.  Sax.  furnishes  us 
with  wmett  and  myra;  the  Belg,  with  pi»-emme^  for- 
mica, out  of  which  the  provincialism  has  arisen. 

Pitching  axe,  b.  an  axe  wei^ng  from  six  to  seven  pounds 
and  employed  in  felling  timber. 

PiTTHEB,  f.  to  go  softly,  fidget  about.  A.  Sax.  pstihian, 
callem  facere,  conculcare. 

Pit  wood,  s.  wood  which  is  thus  called  generally  runs 
from  three  feet  six  inches  to  four  feet  in  length,  and  is 
very  thick.  It  is  used  for  supporting  the  roof  of  a  coal 
pit. 

PizE,  PizY,  culj.  fretful,  peevish,  ill-tempered.  Ex.  "  Th' 
oud  homan's  grow'd  mighty  pizy:  her's  a  pize  ode 
yarb."* 

Plack,  «.  1.  a  portion  of  'ground,'  some  part  allotted 
from  a  larger  quantity.  Ex.  ^'A  plaei  6*  cabbages.*** 
'^  A  plack  6*  taturs.*'  Teut.  placke^  V^g^  spatium  terre. 
Hence  has  sprung  the  secondary  meaning,  2.  an  assigned 
labour,  task,  employment.  Ex.  "  When  Fve  done  o* 
my  present  plucky  I  reckon  I  shall  tak  to  the  diehing 
agen.'*'' 

Plash,  s.  a  piece  of  water.  The  Flash  near  the  town  of 
Shrewsbury  is  so  called  from  the  Severn  forming  a  kind 
of  lake  there.  Teut.  plasch^  palus.  Palsgrave ;  Plasshs 
of  a  water,  flacquet. 

Play,  9.  not  to  work.  Hence  a  play  day  amongst  colliers 
is  "  the  Monday  after  the  reckoning.*'  Ex.  "  My  mon's 
in  meety  poor  get  Sir,  'a  has  but  half  a  turn,  an*  *a 
play*n  three  days  i*  th*  wik.** 


53a 


Pleach,  v.  to  intertwine,  or  lay  down,  as  a  hedge.  This 
term  is  now  admitted  into  dictionaries,  and  occurs  for 
three  or  four  generations  back  in  Shropshire  leases. 
Shakspeare  has  sanctioned  its  use  in  three  places.  Or. 
-rrXeKO) ;  Fr.  plssser,  to  thicken  a  hedge,  or  cover  a  wall 
by  picking.  Cotgr.  Pleisseicumy  dbmus  suburbana.  (Du 
Cange.) 

Plough  iron,  s,  the  share  of  a  plough.  Close  to  the  Isl. 
plouffjem^  vomer. 

Plough  Paddle,  s.  a  small  hatchet  which  usually  accom- 
panies a  plough,  for  the  purpose  of  detaching  whatever 
unnecessarily  adheres  to  the  diietd-hoard, 

Plowdex,  the  case  is  altered  quoth,  phr.  This  phrase 
which  originated  through  the  unexpected  diecisions  given 
by  the  celebrated  Judge  Plowden  has  continued  current 
amongst  us  since  his  time.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say 
that  he  was  bom  in  Shropshire.  Having  applied  himself 
first  to  physic  and  then  to  law,  he  became  reader  in  the 
Middle  Temple.  In  the  reign  of  Mary  he  was  called  to 
4he  degree  of  Serjeant,  but  being  a  Roman  Catholic  he 
obtained  no  preferment  under  Elizabeth.  His  commen- 
taries or  reports  remain  a  splendid  monument  of  his  pro- 
fessional learning.  "  The  case  is  altered  quoth  Plowden^ 
is  yet  in  the  mouths  of  his  countrymen ;  though,  indeed, 
with  many  the  origin  of  the  phrase  is  unknown,  and  with 
many  more  it  has  been  quite  changed,  and  we  hear  them 
say  instead  "  the  case  is  altered  said  Floro.'^ 

To  what  baae  uses  we  may  retom,  Horatio! 
Why  may  not  imagination  trace  the  noble  dust  of 
Alexander^  till  he  nnd  it  stopping  a  bung-hole. 

Plushes,  s.  thin  hoops  which  hold  a  besom  together.  Swed. 

/>il&,  assumentum  transversum !  Tent,  ployen;  ¥t.  player^ 

plicare  ? 
Pol- EVIL,  «.  a  disorder  incidental  to  horses,  an  eruption  on 

the  neck  and  ears.     Teut.  /?<?/,  caput ;  and  euel^  morbus. 
PoPLAiN,  «.  the  common  poplar  tree. 


534 

Posh,  9.  to  push.    Chaucer  uses  /mmw,  to  pualL  (See  Legend 

of  Good  Women,  v.  2409.)     Fr.  pcmmer;  8p.  p^ar;  Ital. 

hm9are^  pukare. 

I  was  fOfkei  on  eTeiy  aide. 

ROMAlfCS  OF  THB  RotK,  V.  4624. 

PoflH,  «.  a  great  quantity.  Ex.  ^'  The  waater  comM  aU  of 
ApoAJ^  ^^  A  grate  jEMw4  o^  waater.*"  . 
PoTCH,  V.  to  pierce,  puncture.  Ex.  ''  Patded  his  finger  i' 
my  eye.""  '^Patched  the  pikel  in  his  leg  i**  the  quem 
harrast.*"  Isl.  pUa,  aou  pungere.  Swed.  pcia;  Fr. 
pocher^  digito  vel  instrumento  fodicare. 
Ill  poteh  at  him  some  way. 

CsHoftiiMW,  L  10. 

PoTHERY,  a€^'.  hot,  close.    Ex.  "Po^A^  weather."  Strictly 

speaking  this  is  not  a  provinciatism ;  any  more  than  is 

the  phrase  of  ''being  all  in  a  pMer!^     Fr.  paudref 

PouK,  t.  a  pimple ;  but  more  commonly  a  stye  in  the  eye. 

Oerrn.  Teut.  pock ;  A.  Sax.  poc ;  Belg.  poeim^  pustula. 

Ne  for  no  potut  pestilence. 

P.  Ploubmajt. 

PouK-LADEN,  part»  past ;  bewitched,  fairy-led ;  or  to  uy 
the  precise  definition  given  by  my  informant,  ''led  yo 
dunna  know  whire,  an  conna  remeddy  yoursilf.'*^  Though 
this  rendering  be  not  so  full  and  figurative  as  that  of 
the  immortal  bard,  it  may  serve  to  convey  our  Salopian 
meaning  just  as  adequately.  The  reader  shall,  however, 
have  both,  and  from  the  two  he  cannot  fail  escaping  being 
placed  in  such  a  dilenuna,  at  least  as  far  as  his  compr^ 
hension  of  the  term  is  concerned. 

I'll  follow  you,  111  lead  yon  about  a  ronnd. 

Through  bog,  through  bush,  through  brake,  through  brier: 

Sometime  a  horse  111  be,  sometime  a  hound, 

A  hog,  a  headless  bear,  sometime  a  fire ; 

And  neigh,  and  bark,  and  grunt,  and  roar,  and  bum, 

Like  horse,  hound,  hog,  bear,  fire,  at  every  turn. 

Midaummer  NtglU's  Dreame,  iiL  1. 

Isl.  puki ;  C.  Brit,  ptecOy  malus  demon.     In  Guernsey,  the 
Cromlechs  are  called  Poquelays,  or  places  of  the  evil  demon. 
Ne  nonne  helle-foii^AsB. 

P.  PlOUHM AN. 


535 


1  m&,  sere  kyng*quod  8er  Fouke, — 
I  wene  that  knygnt  was  a  paukt, 

R.  COEE  DB  LlOM,  V.  566. 

He  18  no  man,  he  is  a  pouke, 

id.  Y.  4326,  and  v.  6722. 

Pound  stone,  s.  a  tenn  applied  by  colliers  to  a  part  of  their 
work. 

PousE,  s.  must,  refuse  in  making  cider  or  perry.  C. 
Brit,  pttyo ;  Teut.  pobsen ;  Fr.  pousseu^  pouber.  (See 
Cbtgrave  and  Menage  under  Fous.) 

PovKv's  Foot,  phr.  "  Wos  and  woa  like  Faveg'^s  foot^ 
It  would  be  vain  to  search  for  other  information  regardii^ 
this  simile,  than  in  conjecture ;  it  is  evidently  one  of 
those  vulgar  comparisons  which  have  been  struck  off  from 
the  circumstance  of  some  one  bearing  that  name,  invari- 
ably answering  all  enquirers  that  he  was  ^^  worse  and 
worse.""     Occasionally  varied,  to  '^as  large  aa  Paitejfs 

PowBR,  B.  quantity.  Under  the  brass  effigy  of  Edmund 
Oeste,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  died  1578,  it  is  re- 
corded that  among  hia  bequests,  ^^  ingentem  optimorum 
librorum  eim  quantum  vix  una  capere  Bibliotheca  potest 
studioBorum  usui  destinavit :""  but  the  idiom  is  as  old  as 
Homer.     See  Steph,  Thesaur.  vol  i.  p.  731, 

Prick,  8,  a  prop  used  either  to  support  the  shafts  of  a 
cart,  or  to  relieve  a  horse  from  its  weight,  when  resting 
in  an  ascent ;  from  being  pointed  at  one  end  vdth  iron, 
it  gains  readier  entrance  into  the  ground,  and  prevents 
the  cart  from  going  backwards.  Isl.  prikia ;  A.  Sax. 
prieean ;  Teut.  priekden ;  Swed.  prieia ;  Dan.  priU&r^ 
pungere. 

Prill,  «.  I.  a  small  stream  of  water.  Ex.  ^^  A  lickle 
priU  o'  waiter.'*'  (Church  Stretton.)  2.  the  back  water 
of  a  mill  stream.  (Corve  Dale.) 

Principal,  8.  the  comer  posts  of  a  house,  'tenoned  into  the 
ground  plates  below,  and  into  the  beams  of  the  roof. 
Bailey,  Teut.  principael^  principalis. 


536 

Theyr  hoiuyng  vnkept  wynd  and  water  tyght, 

Letyng  the  prffnemtak  rot  down  ryght 

*  The  Hye  Way  to  the  S^fttei  Hous,  v.  63SL 

Prink,  r.  to  look  at,  gaze  upon,  as  a  girl  does  at  herself 

in  a  glass.     Teut.  pronim^  trahere  vultum. 

Ys  Peen  in  this  place  quath  icb,  and  \ie  mreynkU  upon  me. 

P.  Ploithman,  34a 

Pbise,  v.  to  force  open,  raise  up  forcibly  as  by  means  of  a 
lever.     Ex.  "  To  prUe  a  lock.""     Fr.  prener. 

Prodigal,  adj.  proud.  Ex.  **  A  prodigal  chap  C  »nd  on 
the  same  principle  such  an  one  is  remarked  for  hiBprodi- 
gaUty.  Here  is  a  wresting  from  the  right  meaning  with 
a  vengeance. 

Prokb,  e.  to  poke  or  stir  a  fire.  Ex.  "Pnwfo  out  the 
ess  C  by  epenthesis. 

Pboker,  t,  a  poker.  Teut.  Fris.  Sicamb.  Holl.  Fland. 
pcke^  pugio. 

Prosperation,  «.  prosperity.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
convey  to  a  reader^s  ears  the  peculiar  euphony  of  the 
penultimate.  My  brother  burgesses  of  the  ancient  town 
of  Much  Wenlock  can  better  understand  the  pronun- 
ciation than  most  other  natives  of  the  county,  as  they 
have  under  the  old  regime  been  permitted  to  drink  out 
of  the  mace,  success  to  the  municipal  interests,  in  this 
form: 

ProeDei&tion 

To  tne  Corporation 

Proud-tailor,   9.  the  goldfinch;    FfingiUa   CardueUs  of 

Jenyns. 
Puck,  pret.  of  «.  to  pick.      Ex.  **  Whom  'e  think  tkpudt 

her  up  r 
PucKLB,  8.    a  pimple,  or  breaking  out.     Teut.  pudels^ 

pustula. 
PuMPLE,   8.  a   pustule.     C.  Brit,  pwtnpl ;   Fr.  pompette ; 

Gr.   <7ro/i0o\i/^,  pustula. 
Pumptially,  adv,  punctually.      Ex.  **  PumptiaUy  Y  t\C 

ownder.*" 


537 

Punk,  i.  touch  wood.  A.  Sax.  apongea^  spongia? 
PuNOER,  9,  to  spunge  upon.  Ex.  "  A  pungering  fellow.'' 
This  aplueretical  form  leads  me  to  think  the  preceding 
derivation  may  not  be  far  from  right. 
PuNN,  17.  1.  to  pound,  bruise.  Ex.  *'  Punned  in  a  mor- 
tar.'*' A.  Sax.  jmntan,  conterere.  Hence  the  pugilistic 
term,  punished.     Northamptonshire,  punn. 

The  green  leaves  of  the  Elder,  pouned  with  Deeres  suet  or 
Bolls  tafiow,  are  good  to  be  laid  to  hot  swellings  and  tumors, 
and  doe  aaswage  the  pain  of  the  gout 

Gerard's  Herbal,  p.  1423. 
He  would  pun  thee  into  shivers  with  his  fist,  as  a  sailor  breaks 
a  biscuit.  TVoU,  and  CresMa,  ii.  1. 

2.  to  beat  or  rap  at  a  door.     Ex.  ^^  Somebody  punning 

agen  the  wall."     See  Nares. 
PuROY,  €idj\  proud,    coxcomical,  testy.     Ex.    '*  Billy's  a 

purgy  dog." 
Purgatory,  9.  the  pit  grate  of  a  Idtchen  fire  place;  by 

falling  through  which  the  ashes  become  purer,     A.  Sax. 

pur^  purus.    C.  Brit.  Arm.  purden,  purgaiorio.     These 

and  several  synonyms  are  referable  to  the  Gr.  irvp. 
PuTCHiN,  8.  a  wicker  basket  in  which  eels  or  other  fresh 

water  fish  are  taken  in  running  streams.     Ir.  puccut^ 

marsupium!      C.  Brit,  pwntrel^  a  dung-pot   or  basket 

made  with  rods  and  rushes.     Fr.  puit^  puteus. 
Put  over,  «.  to  recover  from  illness.     Ex.  "  He  wunna 

fut  this  turn  oV." 


'^S 


iTARREL,   s.  a  stone  quarry.     C.  Brit. 
cuxirdy  id. 

t^uABRY,  8.  a  small  square  tile  chiefly 
used  for  kitchen  floors.    Fr.  quarreau^ 
quadrula. 
Quarter  with,  c.  to  lodge  with.     Ex 
'  Her  quarters  with  her  mother.'" 
QuERK)  s.  the  clock  of  a  stocking. 

Quern,  s.  com.  Ex.  "  The  qwm  harrast.""  This  pro- 
nunciation has  not  improbably  been  acquired  from  the 
A.  Sax.  cfoeomy  mola. 
Quest,  s.  an  inquest.  Ex.  '^  They  hannod  had  the  crown- 
er^s  quest  yit.*^  It  is  superfluous  to  say  that  this  is  not 
peculiar  to  us,  as  it  may  be  heard  in  all  counties  throng- 
out  England.  In  our  own  we  hear  of  the  quests  for  the 
inquest :  Cratener'^s  quests  for  Coroner^s  inquest :  Croum- 
ers  laWy  for  Coroner^s  law:  to  eraufn  a  man^  for  the 
Coroner  holding  an  inquest.  ^^  He  inna  crowned  jfet  ;^ 
the  jury  has  not  been  impanneled.     P.  Langtoft. 

What  lawful  quest  hsTe  gir^n  their  verdict  up. 

Rid^.  111.  L  4. 

Quick,  s.  either  as  a  noun  or  adjectively.  Ex.  ^'  A  quiei 
hedge  :*"  and  verbally  used,  as  '*  to  quick  a  hedge,^  which 
implies  to  plant  it  with  quick.  Teut.  qmckyhaeghe^  sepes 
viva.     Mespilus  Oxyacantha  of  Smith'^s  Engl.  Flora. 


539 

QuiLE,  s.  a  hay  oock.     Fr.  euilie^  recolte  de  sbiens  de  la 

terre  en  general.     Roquefort. 
QuiLB,  V.  to  cock  hay.  Fr.  eueiUir. 
Quilt,  o.  to  punish,  castigate.     Teut.  quelleny  molestare ! 
QuiNB,  s.  the  comer  of  a  bnilding.     Fr.  caigne. 
QuiNiM,  QuBBNEN,  8.  a  fino-flavoured  table  apple,  which 

grows  abundantly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ludlow,  but 

is  not  so  weU  known  in  other  parts  of  the  county. 
QuisE,  i,  the  common  wood-pigeon.     Columba  amas^  or  the 

stock  dove  of  Jenyns. 
QuisBs  NBCK,  s.  a  strata  among  the  coal  measures  which  is 

formed  of  ^  Basses^  and  indurated  earth. 
QuisBHON,  s,  a  cushion.     This  must  clearly  be  the  early 

English  form  of  the  word. 

With  doMOun,  and  jmetdlyiw. 

THE  AWNTYRS  OF  ArTHURB. 

And  doime  she  set  her  by  him  on  a  stone 
Of  jasper,  upon  a  qmnken  of  gold  ybete. 

id.  iL  480. 
Fetche  forth  a  chayre^  and  a  quisshion. 

Syr  Isbnbras,  v.  571. 
And  with  that  word,  he  for  tkomihen  ran. 

TrwL  and  CV«m.  vi.  3.  y.  966. 

QuixoN,  8.  a  quicksand. 

QuoBMiRB,  8.  a  quagmire.     A.  Sax.  cwaeian;  Lat.  quaiio; 

Arm.  puae^  tener,  moUis  i 
QuoKx,  the  oldpfi0^.  of  verb  to  quake;  as  in  like  manner 

we  say  8hoie  aAd  toke^  for  shook  and  took. 

Under  the  hon  feet  it  ottofce 

R.  Lose  db  Lioir,  y.  4441. 
They  seten  stylle  and  sore  quook, 

id.  V.  3471. 


^ 


when  followed  by  «  is  often  dropped, 
the  8  in  such  cases  being  doubled; 
thus  curses  is  changed  into  cusses,  and 
cursed  into  cust ;  durst  not  into  dust 
not;  thirst  into  thist;  horses  into  hosses; 
mercer  into  messer;  the  e  retaining  the 
original  sound  of  u.  In  like  manner, 
in  words  where  it  Js  followed  by  <?,  as  scase,  for  scarce ; 
scacely^  for  scarcely. 
Rabbit  it,  phr.  The  evidently  profane  phrase  *'  Od  rabbit 
it,^  is  not  local.  The  Od  in  this  case  is  but  a  corruption 
of  God,  and  the  other  part  of  the  oath  has  become 
changed  to  its  present  form  from  the  old  English  ro- 
hate,  rebate,  which  in  its  turn  is  altered  from  the  Fr. 
rehatre ;  Teut.  rabatten,  de  summa  detraliere. 
Rabble,  s.  a  rake  with  very  long  teeth,  used  by  wood 

colliers  in  separating  charcoal  from  the  dust. 
Rack,  «.  1.  a  pathway,  track.  Belg.  roc,  callis.  Forby 
says  it  comes  from  the  S.  Goth,  ratta,  callis,  but  I  am 
unable  to  find  any  such  word  in  my  usual  authorities. 
Brockett  very  reasonably  infers  that  Shakspeare  intended 
the  same  meaning  as  that  our  word  has  obtained  in  the 
North,  when  he  wrote  the  well-known  passage, 

Leave  not  a  rack  behind. 
In  the  Shrewsbury  Chronicle  of  Nov.   1835,    there  »p- 


541 


peared  an  account  of  a  murderous  assault  upon  a  gen- 
tleman^B  gamekeeper,  and  as  the  word  repeatedly  occurs 
throughout  the  paragraph,  I  will  give  it  entire  by  way  of 
illustration. 

^'A  resolute  and  cold-blooded  murder  was  perpetrated 
in  this  county  on  Wednesday  evening.  As  William  Cor- 
field,  gamekeeper  to  M.  G.  Benson,  Esq.  of  Lutwyche- 
hall,  was  going  his  rounds  about  five  o^cIock  in  tho 
evening,  he  heard  the  report  of  a  gun  in  a  coppice, 
and  he  went  into  the  wood  in  search  of  the  person; 
there  is  a  path  (or  ^^  r€uik^  as  the  witnesses  termed  it) 
up  the  middle  of  the  coppice,  and  another  ^^  rack''''  about 
half-way  up,  which  runs  along  the  side  of  the  cover. 
Corfield  had  scarcely  gone  one  hundred  yards  up  the 
wood,  when,  just  as  he  came  opposite  the  entrance  of 
the  other  "roc*,"^  he  was  fired  upon  by  some  person 
concealed  in  a  bush  within  two  or  three  yards  of  him, 
and  the  poor  fellow  received  the  contents  of  the  gun 
in  his  left  breast,  and  fell.  The  villain  immediately  ran 
back  along  the  ''^rcuAT  and  it  appears  that  Corfield 
never  had  sight  of  him.  Corfield  got  up,  and  was  able 
to  walk  back  out  of  the  wood,  and  across  one  field 
and  about  half-way  across  another ;  but  he  appears  to 
have  rested  several  times,  from  the  traces  of  blood  in 
several  places.  In  the  second  field,  however,  he  found 
himself  sinking,  and  cried  ^^  Murder^'  several  times. 
His  voice  was  heard.  The  wounded  man  was  Kfbed  up, 
and  they  endeavoured  to  carry  him  to  the  Hill-top-house; 
but  he  begged  to  be  put  down  ^ain,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  he  was  a  corpse.  On  the  next  day  informa- 
tion was  given  to  Mr  Downes,  the  coroner,  who  im- 
mediately repaired  to  the  spot,  and  a  most  respectable 
jury  being  assembled,  an  inquest  was  held  on  the  body, 
which  was  adjourned  to  nine  o'^dock  on  Saturday,  and 
the  coroner  and  jury  continued  sitting  examining  wit- 
nesses   till   five  o'clock   in   the  evening.      The  coroner 


542 


having  diarged  the  jury,  they  unanimouaiy,  and  after  a 
few  minutes^  consideration,  returned  a  verdict  of  ^^  Wilfiil 
murder  against  John  Thomas,  the  younger,  a  millwrij^t, 
living  at  Hughley.^  The  keeper  had  no  gmi  or  any 
weapon  of  defence  with  him ;  and,  it  appeun,  had  no 
conflict  whatever  with  the  villain  who  shot  him.  The 
perpetrator,  therefore,  must  have  deliberately  waited  for 
him  in  ambush,  and  fired  when  within  a  very  few  yards 
of  him."" — Shrmtrimry  Okromde.     Timei,  Nov.  9,  1885. 

Rack,  o.  to  pour  off  beer ;  to  subject  it  to  a  fermentive 
process.  S.  Ooth.  racia ;  Isl.  krdsia^  cursitare.  Tent. 
A.  Sax.  Fris.  rocibn,  pnrgare  latrinas. 

Rack  of  btb,  pkr.  without  line  or  measure ;  to  work  by 
such  a  direction  as  the  eye  alone  affords. 

Racklb,  8,  noise,  senseless  talking.  Ex.  "  Haud  thy 
raekle  lad.*"  Is  this  a  depravation  of  ratUe  f  or  does  it 
claim  affinity  with  any  cognate  tongue!  I  fiincy  I  dis- 
cover some  lurking  connexion  with  the  Teut.  rotfob, 
fauces ;  by  this  method  we  shall  justify  through  a  literal 
translation,  iiie  other  phrase  so  common,  ^^  Haud  yor 

Radlino,  8.  bribery,  money  used  to  purchase  votea  at  an 
election.  Ex.  ^'  He^ll  goa  up  to  th'  Parliament  House 
if  's  no  railing.^  This  is  not  a  figurative  application 
from  the  sheep-fold,  but  apparently  from  the  Ld.  rai^ 
facultates. 

Radunos,  8.  slight  strips  of  wood,  generally  ^^  cloven  stuff,^ 
which  are  employed  in  thatching  bams  or  outhouses. 
They  answer  the  same  purpose  as  laths  under  tiles,  and 
are  six  feet  long. 

Radt  If  ad  AST,  8.  a  well  known  ^  horn  book''  for  children, 
entitled  ^  Reading  made  Easy." 

Rag,  v.  to  abuse.  Ex.  ^^  Bost  him,  but  I  gied  him  a  good 
ToggvngT  Neither  word  or  practice  are  peculiarly  Sa- 
lopian. I  foUow  my  predecessors  in  assigning  the  word 
to  the  Islandic,  though  I  prefer  a  different  word  to  the 


543 

one  they  have  choBen.     IbL  rojjffia,  imprecari  alicui  vin- 
dictam  deonim. 

Raks,  9.  to  make  up  fire  for  •the  night.  An  invariable 
rale  in  aU  Shropshire  houses,  fuel  being  plentiful,  and  coal 
near  to  most  parts  of  the  oounty.  Teut.  rekm^  condere 
sive  oeeultare  ignem  cineribus.  Hence  also  a  raking 
coaly  a  large  one  placed  on  the  top,  which  will  not  easily 
bum  away.  Teut.  nMot-kuyl^  scrobiculus  in  quo  ignis 
oonservatur;  raedtm  het  wer.     Shaksperian. 

Ram RLiNG^  Ramuno,  part,  pasi;  talking  incoherently,  con- 
fusedly. Ex.  ''  He  ramUe$  meetily  i'  his  yed.""  Teut. 
rsmelmy  delirare.  S.  Ooth.  randa;  Beig.  rarnmeien; 
Ital.  rcmbolarey  strepitum  edere. 

Ramoag'^d,  adj.  and|M»i^.  pcut ;  withered,  stagheaded ;  an 
epithet  applied  to  oaks.  S.  Goth.  Bam^  notat  deformem. 
Fenn.  mmc^  deformis. 

Ramb,  RisABc,  Rhams,  19.  to  cry  aloud,  weep,  sob.  Ex. 
^^  Beaming  enough  to  freeten  the  house.'*^  S.  Ooth. 
rdma;  A.  Sax.  hreaman^  reamian;  Germ,  raimmm^ 
boare. 

Rammel,  s.  stony  rubbish.  Ex.  ''  Nothing  but  rammd 
thrown  oat  o**  the  road."^^  A.  Sax.  kremming^  impedimen- 
turn.  Germ,  rammeny  impedire.  Nares  supplies  us  with 
an  authority  for  its  adoption. 

The  Pictes  ridding  away  the  earth  and  ramdi  wherewith  it 
was  closed  up. 

Holinshbad's  Hitt.  of  Scotland. 

Ramjollock,  9.  to  shuffle,  completely  change  in  a  pack,  as 
one  who  has  been  unsuccessful  serves  a  pack  of  cards.  A 
low  expression  which  seems  to  have  no  legitimate  origin. 

Rampagioub,  adj.  obstinate,  passionate,  headstrong.  If 
this  word  be  not  tralatitious,  it  has  been  corrupted  from 
the  A.  Sax.  rempend^  prseceps. 

Ramshackering,  Ramshackling,  a^.  I.  worthless,  idle, 
unsteady.  Ex.  '^No  dependance  on  such  a  ramshack- 
ering fellow."'*     2.  falling   to    decay,    dilapidated.     Ex. 


i 


544 


^*  A  ram$hacilinff  oud  plakce/'*  All  these  words  which 
commenoe  with  Ram  obtain  more  force  by  being  thus 
compounded,  Ram  being  an  old  Suio-6othio  word,  de* 
noting  strength.  Teut.  sehaeeter^  sicarios :  sckaeeHermy 
variare.     Grose. 

Rasen,  Resen,  Rosbn,  v.  to  take  off  the  skin  from  a  per- 
son's legs  by  kicking  or  striking  them.  Ex*  ^^Rasm 
his  shins.**^  Without  controversy  we  are  indebted  for 
these  several  forms  to  the  Teut.  rcueren^  radere.  The 
verb  is  sometimes  changed  into  rmel ;  occasionally  into 
nup,  which  has  the  same  meaning  as  the  four  preceding 
words,  but  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  Teut.  Belg. 
Germ,  ratpen;  Swed.  raspa;  Dan.  raspe;  Ital.  rcupcere; 
Fr.  rcuper;  Span,  rcupar,  radere. 

Rastt,  Reasty,  (idj.  rancid.  Ex.  ^^  Recuty  baoon.^  Nares 
and  Forby  considered  this  a  vitiaticMi  from  rusty,  and 
I  think  they  were  right.  Swed.  roitig ;  Teut.  roegHffh, 
femiginosus!  My  readers  will  find  the  word  ably 
discussed  in  the  Craven  Glosilbry^  to  which  article  they 
are  referred. 

Rate,  «.  to  chide,  scold.  Ex.  ^'' Raie  him  soundly; 
gie  him  a  good  rating^''  Swed.  rata;  Germ,  ratrn^ 
vituperare.  S.  Goth,  rata^  vilipendere.  Verel  hi  Indie. 
reita^  irritare.  The  tide  of  authority  for  its  use  runs 
from  P.  Plouhman  to  Shakspeare. 

— ^thus  reason  me  araUde, 

Visum,  75. 
In  the  Rialto  you  have  rated  me. 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

Rather  o**  the  Ratherest,  phr.  Here  we  differ  in  our 
application  of  this  phrase  from  the  Iceni;  accord- 
ing to  Forby  they  use  it  with  reference  to  underdone 
meat ;  the  Comavii  infer  by  it,  a  very  minute  degree 
of  propinquity:  thus  if  one  road  can  be  found  a 
trifling  space  shorter  than  another  which  was  previously 
supposed  to  save  distance,  it  is  described  as  being, 
rather  o*  tK  rathereet. 


646 

Raucht^  the  old  prti,  and  pari,  pasi  of  verb  to  reaoli. 

.BesideB  the  eiuniiiig,  there  are  a  mnltitiide  of  other 
authorities,  with  Shakspeare  and  Spenser,  to  show  how 
archaically  the  vulgar  use  it.     Ex.  ^*  Afore  I   raufflU 

There  was  a  man  gmme  up  in  ye  steple  of  Ssynt-  Marke  at 
Venyae  and  as  he  entnd  lor  to  do  a  work,  he  was  troubled  in 
sache  wyse  that  he  feUL  and  was  hrke  to  haue  be  al  to  broken  in 
his  membres:  nevertheles  in  his  &Uynge  he  ciyed  Saynt  Marke 
and  anone^he  rested  npon  a  brannche- that  Bpnnge  oat,  wherof  he 
toke  none  hede  and  aner  one  rauM,  and  lete  hym  downe  a  corde 
by  whiche  he  avayled  downe  and  was  aaned. 

Oolden  Legend,  end. 

The  domme  man  to  him  he  rera^U. 

Syr  OowoBTBRy  y*d36  and  434. 

After  he  raughte  Agylonn^ 

Kyno  Alisaundsb,  y.2986. 

That  lord  that  rauxt  was  on  the  roode. 

RiTSOif's  Anct.  Simge,  p.  45.  • 

Tristrem  rauj^  his  brain. 

Sir  Tristrxm,  Fytte,  iLdS,  and  L  28,67* 

Raul,  e.  to  pull  about  rudely.     Ex.   ^^  Baedinff  the  young 

homan  about.''^    Teut.  rauden^  i^tari,  ineptire. 
Raul,  Scrawl,  s.  an  entanglement.     Teut.  rauehn^  in- 

tricare. 
RiiN,  s.  a  gutter  running  paraDel  with  tho  furrows  of 

plon^ied  land.      M.  Ooth.  rtimo,  torrens.      A.  Sax. 

Wfi;    Arm.  ryne^    cursus.     Isl.   remia;    Oerm.  rieme^ 

eanalifl.     C!om.  ruansf  Tim  Bobbin. 

Al  the  ky  in  the  coontr^,  they  skazred  and  chaaed 
That  roaring  they  wood-ran,  ana  routed  in  a  mme. 

Momtoombry's  FIjfilng. 

Rbckun^  Ricklin,  #.  the  smallest,  pig  of  a  litter.  Orayen 
Glossarist  says,  '^  A  stanrding,  wedMnff^  writling.  0(4- 
yrai^,  from  wreekr 

Reckon,  e.  We  use  this  word  like  our  Transatlantie 
friends,  instead  of  think,  imagine,,  apprehend,  bow 
Thus,,  ''its  a  good  distance,  I  reehm.^  ''  Hell  not  come 
to-day  I  reehm*^     Webiiter  says  the  word  is.  used  in 


646 

.  001116  of  the  Smdham  states  of  America,  as  gutu  k 
in  the  Norikem^  and  infers  its  provinoiality  in  that, 
as  he  does  in  this  country.  If  I  mistake  not,  Bishop 
Wazburton  in  one  of  his  sennons  employs  it  in  the 
same  maimer. 

RnpLB,  s.  a  piece  of  timber  five  or  six  feet  long,  which 
lying  horizontally,  helps  to  sustain  the  roof  of  a  coal 
work. 

Remt,  f.  the  akin  of  bacon.     Isl.  hreitir^  squama. 

Rbbt,  adj,  sane.     Ex.  ^^  Inna  quite  reet  Y  his  yed.^ 

Rsim,  BoFDs,  9.  aquatic  plants,  which  choke  up  the 
bed  of  a  stream.  The  word  is  very  common  among 
fishermen  on  the  Severn,  and  Salopian  piscators.  It 
appears  from  Aulus  Gfdlius,  lib.  ii.  c.  17,  that  from  thcBC 
obstacles  impeding  the  navigation  they  were  termed 
rekBj  or  nets,  because  they  stopped  vessels  in  their 
course  al(mg  the  water.  And  as  in  those  days  equally 
with  these,  it  being  important  that  the  channel  should 
be  open,  an  officer  was  appointed  under  the  title  of  Ra- 
TABius,  whose  duty  it  was  to  remove  these  obstmctioDS. 
An  ancient  inscription  has  been  found  bearing  the  words 
Nbootiatob  bt  Rktjuuus  Biutannicianus.  EJlian  ex- 
plains the  Teutonic  word  reU^  alveus  navigabilis,  a  term 
manifestly  taken  from  the  Latin,  rda:  yet  some  may 
think  the  Teut.  grvfie^  lentionla  palustris  quie  in  pahi- 
dibus  et  stagnis  per  sestatem  aquse  snpeznatat,  prefenUe. 

On  rvUm  and  nmchfiB  in  the  fielde. 

Montoomxrt's  FIjftimg. 

Rbmeddt,  f.  so  universal  a  vulgarism  is  soarcdiy  ad- 
missible, for  it  has  not  I  suspect  any  daims  to  bdng 
called  provincial ;  yet  as  some  of  my  countrymen  will 
expect  to  find  it  in  the  present  volume,  I  have  '^no  fv- 
meddff^  but  to  introduce  it. 

RsiniBR,  e.  to  seethe,  melt ;  as  a  cook  renders  lard  and 
suet,  for  certain  culinary  purposes  which  are  fitfoiliar 
to  us  on  Shrove  Tuesday.     M.  Ooth.  hrtmrn;  S.  Ooth. 


547 

Swed.  rm;  A.  Sax.  Alam.  Belg.  rein;  Id.  hr&in^ 
poniB. 

Bbvb,  i.  a  bailiff;  a  very  sound  word ;  yet  in  limited  ciren- 
lation,  almost  confined  to  the  Hmidred  of  Bradford. 
P.  Plouhman,  Chauoer,  &c.    A.  Sax.  gere/ay  prsefectus. 

Rey,  Rtb,  9.  to  sift  noxious  seeds  from  wheat,  or  other 
grain.  Ex.  ^^  Bye  it,  and  then  yo  unna  see  th^  hay- 
riff."    Teut.  Oerm.  Sax.  Sicamb.  reyteren^  cribrare. 

Rhodbn,  Mabtha,  phr,  I  shall  leave  to  some  more  for- 
tunate local  investigator  the  honour  of  discovering  the 
origin  of  this  very  provincial  simile.  Ex.  ^^  All  asideny 
like  Martha  Rhoden^s  twopenny  dish.*^ 

Rhodrn^s  Cowt,  forty  sa  one  like,  phr.  Many  places 
in  the  county  dispute  the  honor  of  originating  this 
phrase.  But  where  the  credit  consisteth,  in  the  lon- 
gevity of  the  animal,  or  the  good  fortune  of  his  possessor, 
it  is  difficult  to  determine.  Nevertheless  there  does 
exist  something  like  local  jealousy.  One  informant 
states  that  ^^  Rhoden  lived  under  a  Hagg  near  Eyton," 
about  sixty  years  ago ;  another  declares  that  this  dis- 
tinguished breeder  came  from  Benthall;  a  third,  as- 
sures us  that  his  true  seed-plot  was  at  Coal-port ;  whilst 
a  fourth  positively  says  it  is  all  a  mistake,  for  it  was 
not  Rhoden^s  Cowt  that  lived  to  the  age  of  nine  and 
thirty,  but  Obitch^s,  and  we  are  sent  even  ^^to  Mel- 
verly"  to  learn  the  history  of  this  remarkable  quadru- 
ped. None,  however  dispute  the  age  of  the  beast^ 
and  most  reprobate  his  coat  ^^m  raggii^* 

Ric,  Sic  ;  a  call  or  invitation  to  pigs  idien  their  food  i» 
ready. 

Rick,  s.  a  stack,  whether  it  be  of  hay  or  any  kind  of 
grain.     In  etymology  it  is  identified  with  rudt. 

BinDLB,  t.  a  strong  coarse  sieve  made  with  iron  wire,  used 
by  masons,  and  in  agricultural  work.  A.  Sax.  hriddd; 
C.  Brit.  rhidjfU.  cribrum. 

RroicuLous,  adf,  taken  frequently  in  the  sense  of  indelicate. 

s5-a 


J 


RiFTiB,  9.  a  severe  blow  on  the  ribs.  Ex.  '*  Deal  him  out 
a  ri/iery  The  Id.  rif,  costa,  suggests  itself  m  oppo- 
sition to  the  Swed.  rifioa^  dilaoerare. 

RiooKB,  f .  lead  in  a  half  mdted  state,  the  condition  it 
is  in  before  thoroug^y  fused.  Some  was  found  several 
years  back  nearly  upon  the  summit  of  Potuert  Hitt^ 
in  which  were  imbedded  pieces  of  charcoal.  As  those 
mines  were  worked  by  the  Romans,  the  fragment  evi- 
dently belonged  to  their  age. 

RiaiL,  BooasL,  s,  an  animal  imperfectly  castrated.  Isl. 
rojf^  impotens  nixus. 

RioLBT,  f .  a  small  channel.     C.  Brit,  rhiffol^  sulcus. 

RiN,  9.  to  run,  flow.  Ex.  ^^  If  the  yale  woll  but  rm,  it  II 
do.^  I  have  only  heard  this  word  used  by  old  people, 
and  it  is  nearly  extinct.  S.  Ooth.  Isl.  Swed.  rinfia; 
M.  Ooth.  A.  Sax.  Franc,  rinnan  ;  Teut.  riwMn ;  Belg. 
rm/nm ;  Dan.  rende^  currere. 

Ac  the  reyn  that  rynetA. 

P.  PLOURVANy  397. 

His  feit  maid  sic  dynnyng 
He  lakkit  breth  for  rj/nnkig, 

CoOtMe  Sow,  T.  264. 
I  saw  ane  river  rtn. 

Cherrie  and  the  Sloe. 
On  Beaton  Crafts  they  buft  their  crafts 
And  gart  them  rin  like  daft,  man. 

Tranent  Mwt, 

RiNDLAss,  «.  the  maw-skin  of  a  calf  when  soaked ;  used  to 
curdle  milk  in  making  cheese.  Palsgrave  ;  BendUs  for  a 
cheese,  pressure.     Teut.  rinded^  ooagulum. 

Rip,  9.  to  utter  impetuously.  Ex.  ^^  Ripped  out  an  oath.^ 
Isl.  Ttppay  recitare. 

Ripples,  «.  a  moveable  frame  attached  to  the  exterior 
surface  of  a  cart  or  wagon,  to  enable  it  to  contain  more 
than  its  own  body  of  itself,  allows.  S.  Goth.  Isl.  refy 
costa,  Anglice  a  rib. 

Rise,  Rfthe,  «.  a  twig.  Ex.  ^*  A  pea-rise,^  May  not  the 
vulgar  phrase  "fetch  him  a  riter^  be  derived  hence! 


549 

S.  Goth.  Swed.  ris ;  lid.  A.  Sax.  kris ;  Teut.  rjfi ;  Dan. 
TtU;  Germ,  rm,  yiigaha. 
To  ride  an  hunting,  under  rHa, 

Amis  and  Amiloun,  y.  196. 
Her  Rudd  Redder  than  the  Roee;  that  on  the  RUe  hangeth. 

Pbrct's  RaU[ue$,  iiT^. 

RisoMSD,  pari,  past;  well  headcfd,  applied  to  oats;  some- 
times said  to  be  hawed.  From  growing  strong  and  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  a  stronger  plant,  I  think  it  is 
connected  with  the  preceding.  The  word  is  prevalent  in 
Cheshire. 

Hobble,  #.  an  instrument  used  by  bakers,  and  preparers 
of  oatmeal,  one  with  which  bread  or  grain  is  moved 
and  stirred  in  an  oven. 

BoBBLT,  adf.  faulty,  as  the  coal  runs  occasionally  in  pits. 

BoBLB,  8.  a  sort  of  rake.  I  never  heard  it  in  this  sense  but 
once,  and  then  it  was  used  at  a  mill  under  the  South  side 
of  the  Wrekin,  to  describe  an  instrument  with  which 
oats  are  stirred  in  an  oven.  Forby  has  rob  a  wooden 
beater. 

RocHB,  1.  the  strata  above  a  marshy  deposit.  2.  earth 
mingled  with  stone.  3.  any  strata  which  is  superincum- 
bent to  the  one  about  to  be  worked.  This  word  has 
been  changed  in  a  slight  degree  from  its  primitive'  signi- 
fication, though  it  remains  unaltered  in  its  orthography. 
I  am  unacquainted  with  any  variation  of  its  spelling 
throughout  the  whole  range  of  Early  English  Poetry. 
It  is  roehe^  in  Octavian  Imperator,  v.  296.  K.  AK- 
saunder,  v.  516?.  5196.  6235.  7090.  Chaucer,  House  of 
Fame,  iii.  26.  Sir  D.  Lyndsay,  vol.  i.  p.  243.  iii.  p.  125, 
&c.  &c.  A.  Sax.  roc,  rupes.  Fr.  roeque^  motte  de 
terre. 

BocHY,  adf.  having  the  foregoing  quality. 

Boded,  part,  past ;  lean  mingled  with  fat.  Ex.  ^^  Boded 
bacon.'"    Swed.  roed^  ruber. 

BoLLocKiNo,  a^.  unwieldy,  slatternly.  Ex.  "  A  hirge  rof- 
locking  woman.**^      One   who   roUs  about  in   her   gait. 


550 

Genenlly  uaed  as  an  ofibnaive  epithet,  yet  the  preceding 
adjective  weakens  the  force  of  my  illustration,  as  size  can 
never  justly  be  said  to  detract  from  female  beauty. 
Thou^  in  defiance  of  all  those  magnificent  creations  of 
Rubens,  the  world  at  large  remains  unconvinced  that 
breadth  and  a  flowing 'outline  contribute  to  heigfatox 
its  eflfect.  In  his  figures,  this  great  painter  goes  beyond 
the  beauty  of  mere  vulgar  skin  and  bone,  and  imagines 
forms  which  seem  personified  with  Goddesses  and  Angels. 
^^Such  as  nature  often  erring,  shews  she  would  fiiin 
make.^'  The  great  mass  of  mankind  like  homely  bean- 
ties;  the  grace  that  pleases  them  is  technical:  hence 
when  they  observe  anything  that  is  above  the  dead 
level  of  common  life,  they  marvel,  and  either  mistake 
or  misunderstand  what  their  own  unenlarged  per- 
ception does  not  permit  them  to  appreciate.  And 
thus  it  is,  that  whilst  no  masters^  works  have  eoax- 
manded  more  attention  and  study,  yet  ncme  have  re- 
ceived such  silly  censure. 

Romance,  v.  to  magnify  in  a  narrative.  Ex.  ^^  He^s 
only  ramaneinff  Maery,  dunna  believe  him."" 

RoMPBo,  $.  a  blighted  part  of  a  tree ;  an  old  stump ; 
the  part  ^Bta^eaded\  We  recognise  the  meaning 
under  the  various  forms  of  Bompiek^  Bamcag^  Bom- 
ihaeiy  Bonpeff^  Bonpidy  &c.,  &c.  C!oles  has  Bampick 
^an  old  tree  beginning  to  decay.^  Wachter  under 
the  various  significations  of  Bam,  gives  it  that  of 
^para  extrema  rei.''  N  among  the  vulgar  is  often 
substituted  for  m,  and  thus  by  synecdoche,  ram  and 
rom,  ale  changed  into  ran  and  ran.     Drayton. 

RoNDLB-ooAL,  8,  A  measuTo  of  coal  lying  contiguous 
to,  and  above  the  clod-coal:  it  is  inferior  to  that,  and 
chiefly  valuable  in  manufacturing  iron. 

RoNOE,  r.  to  gnaw,  or  bite  at.  Ex.  ^'The  ship  bin 
roifiging  at  the  iwy.^  Fr.  nrnger,  to  knaw  or  nibble 
off.    Cotgrave. 


551 

Rook,  9^  \.  to  huddle  togeUier.  Ex.  ''JSmmM^.  together'' 
generally  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  warm.  Hence 
the  fieoondary  meaning.  2.  ^^  Booking  o^er  the  fire.^ 
Tun  Bobbin  has  remokj  to  idle  in  neighboured  hooseB: 
a  signification  not  unknown  to  Sdopians,  .thoogfa.how 
we  received  the  word  I  know  not. 

Book,  $,  In  jCorve  Dale  9k  craw  bar  bears  this  title. 

^ps,  f.  the  intestine  of  a  woodcock.  A.  Sax.  roppoiy 
exta. 

Rops,  perf.  of  e.  to  reap.    Chaucer,  Legend  of  G.  Women. 

RoFT,  o^f-  thick,  muddy.     Ex.  ^^Bopy  beer.^ 

RossiL,  r.  to  kick  or  strike  so  as  to  take  the  skin 
from  the  legs.     Ex.     ^^  BowU  his  shins.^ 

RosT,  ad^.  When  the  combs  of  hens  look  red  and 
healthy,  and  they  commence  laying,  fowls  are  said 
to  be  rosy. 

Rot,  8.  a  disease  incidental  to  sheep.  Ex.  ^^  The  ship 
han  got  the  rd^    A.  Sax.  m^wng^  ulcus. 

RoTouT,  8.  this  vulgarism  is  used  both  substantively  and 
adjectively,  for  instance,  weak  tea,  or  liquids  of  any 
kind,  bear  the  appellation,  and  it  also  supplies  an 
epithet  denoting  the  same  qualities.  Ex.  ^^  Drink 
such    poor  TOtguJt   as  that  T     ''This   is  rotguJt  stuff/' 

RoTTLB,  %.  the  peculiar  noise  in  the  throat  of  a  dying 
person.  Ex.  ^^  BattKng  in  his  throat.''^  Teut.  roM, 
murmur  quale  moribundi  edunt :  rotden^  murmillare. 

Rough,  «.  a  wood,  or  copse. 

Rousing,  adf.  large,  unusually  strong.  Ex.  ''A  rousing 
fire.**'  Is  this  by  syncope  for  arousing  f  if  it  were 
peculiar  to  us,  I  should  have  thought  it  so;  but 
being  a  word  well  known  in  Craven  (See  Gloss.)  it 
rests  upon  better  authority.  Mine  author  referred  to, 
attributes  it  to  the  Teut.  raesm^  (fiirere)  to  bum. 
The  other  application  is  common;  and  we  often  hear 
of  a  rousing  Ke^  or  a  rouser. 

Roust,  s.  according  to  thid  method  of  writing  we  pro*- 


i 


552 
nounoe  nui^  and  rooti;    Ex.   ''The  gw  bin  gwiin  to 


BowsL,  J.  A  oiroular  piece  of  leather  uuserted  into  a 
honeys  side  for  the  purpoM  of  4sreating  4k  diaebaige. 
Fr.  nmtlU. 

BowBL,  9.  to  insert  a  rowel. 

He  has  been  tan  tim«  rmoOtd. 

The  Scor^ftd  Ladjg. 

RuBBBB,  s.  a  ooarse  whetstone  used  by  mowers. 

Buck,  s.  a  heap.    Ex.  ''  A  two-year  ond  balk  is  as  good 

as  a  rud  o'  muck,'"  as  the  Shropshire  adage  mns. 

U.  iraubr;  S.  Ooth.  rcet;  Teut.  rack;  Verel.  in  lor 

die.  roi$y  cumulus. 

Sweet«seiited  ruekt  raund  wbidi  we  pWd. 

Herd's  SeoUM  Srnigt,  yoL  L  p.  297* 

Ruck,  «.  1.  to  gather  together.  2.  to  crease.  Ex. 
^^Bnuted  her  petticoats  all  in  a  rwkr  Pbomp.  Pabv. 
ruehynge^  incurvatio.  VereL  in  Indie,  rueka^  ruga.  3. 
to  heap  up.     S.  Ooth.  rbka,  coacervare. 

Ruck  o^  bbicks,  phr.  a  slang  phrase  for  the  <x>unty 
gaol. 

RuF,  f .  invariably  used  for  roof.  Ex.  '^  The  r^  o"  OC 
ous.'*' 

Ri7N  AOAiN,  e.  to  calumniate,  backbite.  Ex.  '^Hers 
always  running  again  me.'" 

Run  of  hib  tebth,  phr.  miuntenance,  bodify  support, 
such  allowance  as  parents  often  make  to  iheir  child- 
ren when  they  have  married  prematurely  and  impru- 
dently.    Ex.  ''Gid  em  tie  rm  o'  their  Hikr 

RuNNiBL,  s.  pollarded  ash  or  oak.    Isl.  rtifiiir^virgultum. 

Runt,    Runtuno,  i.   the  ^ennallest  in  a  litter  of  pigs. 
Verel.  in  Indie.  runtOy  verres  non  castratus. 
Before  I  bny  a  bargain  of  sadi  runU. 

Runts,  $.  decayed  stumps  of  trees. 

Auld  fottin  rurUig  quharin  na  sap  was  leifit. 

FaSce  tf  Honor. 

Rut,  §.  the  irack  of  a  wheel. 


563 


Rut,  «.  the  desire  of  sheep  to  come  together.      Id. 

rtUur,  ariee. 

in  gendiynfle  of  kviide 
After  couTB  of  conception  non  tok  Kepe  of  othexe. 
As  when  ^ei  hadde  ruined. 

P.  PLOUHMAlf^  222. 

RuTT,  Boor,   Rout,  «.    to  turn   up  from   out  of  the 

earth :   to  plough  up  turf  viiOi  the  snout,  as  a  pig. 

Ex.  ^^The  pigs  han  ruyt^d  up  the  taturs  down  ¥  the 

lezzer.^     Teut.  myten^  evellere,  eniere.     A.  Sax.  toro- 

iauy  rostro  versare.    Chaucer  wrote. 

Or  like  a  worm,  that  torotdh  in  a  tree. 

Lydgati. 


"^W^ 


^ 


A  DK,  V,  to  Batisfy.  Ex. "  rm  woDy  gaded^" 

M,  ioddr^  satoratuB.      Teat.   au2m, 

Batiare.      A.  Sax.   iodian^   saturare. 

M.  Gk>th.  Bods^  satur.     Gr.  aaiTw. 

Sadlvg,  part,  from  the  preceding.  Ex. 

-Sading  stuff.'' 
Sapt,  adj.  soft:    as  a  oontemptuoas 
epithet  for  one  who  is  foolish,  or  acting  in  a  man- 
ner  that    is   disagreeable  or  ridiculous.     Ex.    ^^Thee 
bist  9afi.'^     Teut.  taefi^  mollis. 

Sago,  r.  to  give  way  under  pressure,  become  top  heavy. 
A  wagoner  describes  a  load  of  hay  or  grain  as  tagg- 
ingy  when  it  is  badly  put  on  his  wagon,  and  likely 
to  fall  off  before  it  reaches  its  appointed  destination. 
The  commonly  accepted  word  is  woag :  ours  can 
scarcely  be  deemed  dialectical.  (See  Craven  Gloss.)  But 
nevertheless  it  is  one  that  is  little  inferior  to  the  word 
more  known,  and  rests  upon  as  good  a  foundation. 
It  is  used  in  Staffordshire.  Isl.  stegioj  flectere, 
curvare.  (Dan.  wqe^  Haldorson.)  wcer^  heavy ;  mo^mt, 
to  wave. 

The  mind  I  sway  bv,  and  the  heart  I  bear, 
ShaU  never  migg  with  doubt,  nor  shake  with  fear. 

MadbtAy  V.  a 

Saogbb,    8.    a    vessel    formed    of    clay,    one    used    in 

China  Manufactories  and  Potteries  in  which  difierent 


556 

artioleB  of  ware  are  placed  when  ^biimed\  Teat  tag- 
kene,  sagena!  Lat  Barb.  MffO/menj  va«,  ut  videtnr, 
in  quo  sagimen  reponitur*     Du  Cange. 

Sake,  f.  a  spring  that  breaks  out  in  a  field:  and 
hence  land  which  is  wet  in  consequence,  is  termed 
Sakt.  (See  under  Sbakt.)  A.  Sax.  aic&,  nca^  $ieia^ 
sulcus  aquariuB. 

Saiilbt,  f .  the  Salmulus  of  Icthyological  writers.  It  is 
now  pretty  well  ascertained,  Jenyns  says,  that  this 
fish  is  a  distinct  species,  and  always  remains  the  same 
size:  not  being  the  young  of  tiie  Salmon  or  Sea 
Trout. 

Sammt,  8.  a  fool.  The  North  Country  recognises  both 
the  word  and  the  character; 

Sammt,  adf.  adhering  closely  together,  clammy,  heavy. 
Ex.  ^^  Sammy  bread,^  Sam  is  a  very  general  prefix 
in  S.  Goth.  Isl.  and  Dan.  denoting  a  joining  or  union. 
Thus  in  the  example  before  us,  bread  receives  the 
epithet  from  being  badly  made,  and  rendered   ^clo6e\ 

Saft,  ad/\  moist,  sodden*  Ex.  ^^Sapy  meat.^  Isl.  Dan. 
Swed.  ta/iy  succus. 

Sakn  ;  an  oath.  As,  "  Sam  yo,''  "  Camam  yo.""  A 
deprecation  which  is  evidently  acquired  from  the  Isl. 
tamay  dolescere. 

Sates,  $.  quickset.  I  do  not  believe  this  is  a  corrup- 
tion from  Setts^  (q.  v.):  if  it  were,  the  M.  Groth.  m^ 
^a«ft,  and  Isl.  ^,  ponere,  would  suit  it;  it  seems  like 
a  genuine  word  which  has  never  been  lucky  enough 
to  have  been  committed  to  paper. 

Saunter  Wheel,  s.  a  wheel  which  works  face  ways  fnaa, 
a  8pwr  wheel 

SAvihALL,  «.  1.  A  small  tin  candlestick  which  is  used 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  consuming  the  old  ends  of 
canoes.  2.  an  earthen  bottle  with  slits  at  the  sides, 
destined  to  receive  aU  the  samngt  of  children. 

Savin-trbb,  8.  the  Juniperus  Sabina  of  Linnseus.     The 


i 


556 

«ame  horrid  ^virtues^  are  attributed  to  thk  tree  in 
Shropshire  as  are  mppooed  to  belong  to  it  by  the 
Iceni.  (See  Moore,  Nares,  &e.)  Gerard  states  m  his 
Herbal  that  the  shrub  was  esteemed  in  his  day  for 
the  same  reasons. 
SAYVfit,  ••  a  savour,  a  taste  merely:  whether  it  be  of 
liquid  or  solid.  Ex.  ^'  There  innod  a  «MW0r  T  th'  jug.^ 
*^  Thee  shat  nod  hav^  a  «MW0r,^  as  though  the  epeaker 
had  said  ^thou  shalt  not  have  a  $awmr\'  and  also  in 
tx>nformity  with  the  early  word, 

Bot  sachd  a  mmer  as  hether  hade. 

Sir  Amaoas^  v.  72. 

ScATTEB-wiTTBD,  odf,  spoakiug  without  thought,  con- 
fusedly, as  persons  must  needs  do  if  their  wits  be 
scattered. 

ScoRK,  $.  the  core  of  an  apple.  Verel.  in  Indie.  Swed. 
skarpa^  crusta.  Teut.  seharne^  cmsta.  Fr.  eseonge; 
Ital.  seorza;  Sp.  carteza. 

Scotch^  e.  to  impede  or  stop  a  wheel.  Ex.  ^^  Bcoiek 
the  wheel.^    Verel.  in  Indie,  dsorday  fulcris  primare. 

ScRAGOT,  adj.  thin,  meagre:  an  epithet  chiefly  confined 
to  the  neck ;  thus  we  hear  in  slang  language  of  a 
person  being 

Three  times  lagsf  d^  and  weiy  nigh  mm^^dy 

or  hung:  and  ^^a  wfog  of  mutton^;  ^^the  KTog  ^d 
of  a  neck  of  mutton^ :  when  that  is  all  that  remains 
to  eat,  men  must  be  very  '^  near  the  end  of  the  mut- 
ton^** indeed.  Though  the  present  word  has  now  fallen 
among  the  rejected  and  despised,  it  is  not  improperiy 
used.     Germ,  hragen^  collare,  vinculum  colli. 

ScRANCH,  V.  to  crush  anything  between*  the  teeth.  Belg. 
iAra/Mm.    Teut.  «cAmfi<Mfi,  fratigere. 

ScRAT,  Scratch,  8,  1.  the  itch.  C.  Brit,  erach;  Gael. 
carry  scabies.  Gael,  carrachy  scabiosus.  .2.  escrache,  gale, 
lt)gne,  farcin,  one  who  ^*  looks  after  the  main  chance,'*^ 


557 

who  is  attentive  to  his  own  interest,  and  secures  it 
by  personal  industry.    S.  '^Oud  BcratP 

ScRAT,  e.  I.  to  scratch;  S.  to  work  hard,  depend  upon 
one^s  own  resources. 

ScRATCHmos,  8.  fat  which  is  taken  from  ^'the  leaf  of 
a  pig^  after  it  has  undergone  a  kind  of  rosting  pro- 
cess, with  the  addition  of  pepper  and  salt  it  becomes 

ScBATCHiNa  Cake,  i .  in  which  state  it  is  eaten,  and  takes 
its  name  I  imagine  from  being  as  it  were  9era$cM 
or  scraped  out  of  the  pigs. 

ScRATTLE,  e.  to  uso  cxertiou  in  procuring  a  livelihood. 
Ex.  '^  They'n  nothing  to  depend  on  but  whad  a  scrtO- 
tdn  torr 

Scrawl,  e,  to  crawly  (by  prosthesis)  to  move  about 
after  the  tardy  and  feeble  manner  of  infirm  or  sickly 
people.     Ex.   '^  Much  ado  to  icrawl  up  stairs  ageu.^ 

ScREBGH  Owl,  s.  Strixflammea  of  Jenyns:  the  common 
white  owl.  The  singular  cry  or  scream  of  this  bird 
is  considered  ominous  of  death. 

Scringe,  9.  to  cringe,  (by  prosthens),  to  draw  back. 
Tout.  8chirinekeny  retrahere!  A.  Sax.  tcringan,  arescere. 
(See  Crinkliho.) 

Scrunch,  «.  the  same  as  Ktaneh^  q.  v.  Each  of  these 
are  very  expressive  words,  and  bear  the  like  signifi^ 
cation  with  us  which  they  do  in  Devonshire  and  Somer- 
setshire.    (See  Palmer  and  Jennens.) 

ScRUTHiNo  Bags,  9,  coarse  hair  cloths  or  bags  through 
whichi^ider  is  passed:  by  metathesis  for  aewihing  bags, 
(See  under  Scork)  because  they  catch  the  rind  and 
-peel  of  the  apples. 

Scrtmmage,  9,  a  skirmish.  Ex.  ^'  WeMen  only  a  bit  of 
a  9erynmageP 

SeRYMM AGIN,  fofi.  playfully  fitting,  i^irmishing,  by  me- 
tathesis. 

There  was  duimpioiiB  dt^rmmg, 
Of  heom  and  of  other  wnistlyng. 

KyNO  ALiaAUNDSR,  Y.  197. 


558 

ScBTMJiiTT,  adf.  stingy,  otose.     S.  Goth,  akrumpoj  oorrn- 

gwri! 
Scud,  i.   a  pasBUig  ahower  oi  rain.      Ex.   ^^Its  ofy  a 

bit  of  a  ieud.^ 
SouD,  9.  to  rain  suddenly,  or  sharply  for  a  abort  time. 

Ex.  ''  It  $cudi  o'  rain.''     8.  Ootb.  Oudda,   efiiindere. 

Teut.  m&iuUm,  flindere. 
Scuff,  s.   the  back  part  of  the  neck:  as  often,  $on^. 

Ex.   ''  Took  bout  on  him  by  the  f^if^  o'  ih'  neck."" 

M.  Goth.  skuftB,  oapiUos. 
ScuFFLB,  f.   a  hoe   chiefly  used  in  gardens  for  cutting 

up  weeds.     S.  Goth,   nkyffd;  Swed.  sib/My  ligo.    A. 

Sax.  teojl;  Fris.  Sicamb.  Teut.  ^chwgffdy  pala. 
Scuffle,  t^.  to  make  use  of  the  above  instrument.     Ex. 

^''BeuiffU    it   o'er.""      S.  Goth.   fJyjffUiy    pala    motitaze. 

UpcHi    this    word    Ihre    renuurks,     ^'vocabulum    hor- 

tense  usurpatum  dnm  ferro  lato  a  gramine  liberatur 

humus.'' 
Scutch,  ScurrcH,  t.  loose  fibres,  roots  of  grain  or  graas: 

vestiges  of  slovenly  farming.     A.  Sax.  ewioe^  fpaakBsi 

4^^niniifTi- 

ScuiTER,  f>.  to  scatter.   Ex.  '^  BeMer  some  money  amoo^ 

them."     IsL  «Jt»afo,  jaculari. 
ScuTTEB,  «.  a  scramble  for  whatever  is  9(Mtkred. 
Skakt,  Oiij.  boggy,  wet.     Teut.  iosdU^  mollis.^ 
Sbam  Set,  b,  a  grooved  wooden  instrument  used  by  ahoe- 

makers,  for  smoothing  the  Mtnfw  of  boots  and  shoes. 
Skarch,  «.  to  penetrate,  thoroughly  gam  admisabn:  a 

word  applied  to  wounds :  anything  liquid  aaoroiai  them ; 

a  cold  wind  searches  an  old  house:   henee  a  searekmff- 

painj  and  a  searekwg^ioM. 
Seat  Bods,  s.  hazel  twigs  used  in  thatching. 
EhKJONDs,  f .  a  quality  of  flour,  from  which  the  '^  sharps^ 

only  are  taken. 
Seed,  Sn>,  perf.  of  verb  to  see.     Ex.  ^^  Nivir  seed  sich  a 

chap  afore." 


559 


Seed  Lbp,  8.  a  hopper  or  seed  basket  used  in  sowing.    A. 

Sax.  t€0d  kep^  Beminatoris  oorbis. 
Sbbking  Rakb,  9.  a  rake  used  for  drawing  small  cokes 
out  of  the  carbonaceous  refuse,  after  the  larger  ones 
are  selected. 
Sbos,  s.  sedge.    A.  Sax.  ieeff^  carex. 

I  wove  a  oofl&n  for  his  coTse,  of  Mm, 
That  with  the  wind  did  wave  like  nuineretB. 

CameKa. 

Sbn,  v.  to  say.  Ex.  ^^Asm  thee  bist  kimit:^  (that  is, 
they  say  you  are  foolish :)  ^^  a  m9»  sda,  that^s  all  I  know, 
foils  un  talk.***  Sen  is  only  used  as  the  third  person 
indicative  plural. 

Sbn,  adv.  since.  An  old  contraction  for  since.  Ex.  *^  A 
fortneet  sen.**  R.  of  Brunne.  8in^  Chaucer,  Spenser,  A. 
Sax.  iitien. 

fioty  9en  the  time  that  god  was  bora. 

Minot'8  Pornm,  p.  12. 
Sen,  we  haif  had  sic  contemplatioiin. 
Sir  D.  Ltndsay's  Dreme,  pp.  220, 228, 246,  &c. 

Sbnnxws,  8.  sinews.  Verel.  in  Indie.  8ina ;  A.  Sax.  Oerm. 
88ne ;  Tent,  senmee^  nervus. 

Sbbb-fool,  8.  a  word  recognized  by  Forby  in  the  East, 
and  Brocket  in  the  North,  though  neither  are  able  to 
account  for  its  birth.  Its  legitimacy  must  continue 
uncertain,  for  I  think  that  neither  the  Fr.  8a888r^  ad- 
duced by  the  former,  nor  the  Lat.  eedo  by  the  latter, 
give  us  any  satisfactory  intimation  of  its  origin.  This 
receptacle  of  filth,  for  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  word, 
has  doubtlessly  obtained  its  name  from  an  early  and 
direct  source,  for  it  does  not  appear  at  all  probable 
that  a  term  which  has  such  extended  circulation,  should 
have  been  superinduced. 

SsTTiNGB,  f.  a  miner'^s  word:  'a  bar  and  two  tree8  of 
cord  wood*  used  in  a  pit.  This  seems  to  be  an  ex- 
plication of  that  nature  which  is  called  *  ignotum  per 
]gnotius\  but  the  reader  is  requested  to  seek  ftirther 
information  under  these  respective  terms. 


560 

Sbt,  Stb,  #.  a  Bkimming  diflh*  A.  Sax.  mmi.  Teat«  riij^^ 
peroolare.  Among  the  valuables  enumerated  in.  the 
humorous  baUad  of  Jok  and  Jynny  is 

Ase  fnUk-syik,  irith  ana  swyne-taOL 

Shack,  #.  a  ragamufBn,  a  vagabond  kind  of  person,  **  A 
tkiiek  of  a  feUow.^  Here  is  a  word  which  is  reputed 
as  vile  and  base  as  the  object  to  which  it  is  q>- 
plied:  but  it  is  not  so  low  as  that,  as  its  etymology 
sheweth.  A.  Sax.  sceaeere ;  Oerm.  tekofcher;  Teut.  tchiBeiey 
latro.  Thus  we  see  by  lingual  analogy^  that  a  siooler, 
that  is,  one,  as  my  informant  tells  me,  **  who  is  a  fause 
hoUow  sort  of  a  mon,^  a  shack  of  a  fellaWy  or  a  sioot- 
baffj  bears  his  title  more  honestly  than  his  calling. 

Shackbd,  pari,  patt ;  a  term  applied  to  timber.  Ex.  '^  Its 
a  hard  thing  to  get  a  bit  o^  yeow  (yew)  y'^  sin  as 
innad  laggM  and  Aaeked^  that  is,  a  piece  of  yew  that 
is  not  warped,  naturally  cloven,  or  twisted.  A.  Sax. 
Bceaean^  quatere. 

SnACKLBi,  s,  cow  chains.  Ex.  ^^  Coto-skadieB  :^  chaina  used 
to  tie  up  cows  to,  ^^  the  Boosey  stall.^  A.  Sax.  sceaedy 
Qompedes.  There  exists  a  characteristic  diflbrenoe  be- 
twixt AoMes  and  thade^  irrespectively  of  the  number. 
ShacUei  has  been  explained :  9had$  applies  rather  to  the 
iron  ring  which  goes  round  a  ttUoky  q»  v.  and  u  thus 
appropriately  to  be  assigned  to  the  Teut.  iohadcd^  annu- 
lus  catena. 

SoleBy  fetters,  and  ftoaUw,  with  horse  lock  and  pad. 

Tussbr's  Htabandrff,  p.  16. 

Shall;  There  is  a  very  common  usage  among  the  agrarians 
of  substituting  shall  for  will;  did  they  reverse  these 
forms  of  the  future  the  language  would  be  tainted  by 
Hibemicism.  The  lower  classes  never  make  use  of  aioff. 
like  our  friends  in  the  Bister  Country^and  say,  '^  I  will 
be  drowned  and  nobody  shaU  help  me:^  but  when  in 
perplexity,  or  doubt,  and  they  cannot  immediately  collect 
their  wits  so  as  to  furnish   a  clear  and  satisfactory 


561 

reply,  they  bave  recourse  to  this  form  rather  than 
the  common  one,  as  an  expedient  to  allay  the  eager 
curiosity  of  an  enquirer,  and  thus,  when  in  mental  and 
memorial  difficulty  they  hesitate  to  answer  the  question 
propounded,  they  commonly  say,  ''  I  shaU  teU  you  pre- 
sently."* 
Shamble,  v.   to  walk  unsteadily.      Ex.  ^*  Look !   how  a 

Shambling,  oc^'.  1.  awkward  in  gait.  2.  uncertain  in  con- 
duct, unsteady.  Thus,  if  a  person  be  capricious,  or 
devoid  of  principle,  we  often  hear  him  described  as  a 
shamhUng  feUow.  Ex.  '^  Thier's  no  bout  o'  sich  a  shamb- 
Ung  chap  as  bim.*^     Teut.  sehcmpigh^  lubricus. 

Shank's  Ponet,  phr.  Ex.  "  Rode  on  ShanVs  Poneg^  that 
is,  walked.  The  origin  of  this  little  dash  of  humor  is 
unknown.  It  is  very  current  from  the  North  to  the 
South.  My  Catholic  acquaintance  speak  of  8t  FraneU 
hone^  when  they  walk.  In  Herd's  coUection  of  Scottish 
Songs  the  same  means  of  travel  are  designated  as  Shank^s- 
naigie. 

And  ay  until  the  day  he  died 
He  raide  on  good  Shahl^9-naigie. 

ToLlL  p.  80. 

Sharbvil,  b.  a  fork  used  for  agricultural  or  garden  work. 
(See  Evu..)  Teut.  Sicamb.  Ar  Sax.  ickeere^  forfex,  vomis. 

Sharps,  $.  a  refuse  kind  of  flour,  meal.  First,  the  flour 
when  it  has  been  sifted  by  every  possible  means:  se- 
condly, come  the  sharps  f  thirdly  the  gurgeonSj  and  lastly 
the  bran. 

Shaver,  8.  a  term  applied  in  coarse  humor  to  a  nuin  or 
boy.  It  has  been  introduced  into  poetry  by  Bums,  and 
henceforth  it  can  hardly  be  reputed  as  a  low  or  vulgar 
appellation. 

Shaves,  s.  not  an  unusual  plural  of  shafts. 

Shawb,  «.  1.  a  wood,  cover,  generally  in  a  definite  sense. 
Ex.  '^  Down  in  the  ^ws.'*^  2.  a  name  given  to  rough 
land,  or  land  that  is  woody.     A.  Sax.  SGua ;  Dan.  schov^ 


562 


nemiiB.    Teut.  9ekam,  umbra.    P.  Pkniliiiutfi,  Lyndny, 
CSuuioer. 

Thai  somer  sold  achew  him 

In  MsftatoM  ful  schene. 

Minot's  Poenu,  p.  48. 

As  he  rood  be  a  wodea  t^iawe, 

OcTAViAN  Impb&atob,  y.  366. 

He  led  her  thorow  a  feyte  Mdiawe, 
In  wodea  waate  and  wilde. 

Lb  Bonb  Florbncb  of  Rovb. 
In  aomer  when  the  ^uuo»  be  aheyn. 

Habtshobxe's  And.  Mei.  Tales,  p.  179. 

Shseis  fy.  to  spill,  pour  out,  efiiue.  Ex.  ^^  Tak  care  yo 
duima  Bheed  it.*"  *^The  wheat  begins  to  aheed  out  o^ 
the  flhofa.'"  Teut.  seheeden;  A.  Sax.  teeetdan;  Germ. 
sohdden^  aepanure. 

Shblboabd,  a.  usually  pronounced  AUbwoardj  part  of  a 
plough,  which  is  so  called  from  its  similarity  in  shape  to 
a  a&Mi,  as  though  we  designated  it  a  ihieldboardy  whieh 
name  it  often  bears.  Amongst  the  requisite  propertieB 
of  a  plough,  Worlidge  says, 

''The  ahorter  and  leaser  it  la  made^  haying  ita  tmepitdi,  with 
ita  tme  caat  on  the  Meld4foard,  and  thortvarett,  and  aharp  irona, 
the  fiir  eaaier."  Sjfstema  AgrieuU,  p.  226. 

Shbuvp^s  Man,  a.  the  seven  coloured  linnet,  Carditdis  of 
liinnflens. 

Shbit,  Shbuh,  iniery.  a  word  so  weD  known  that  it 
needs  no  ehioidation  except  to  shew  that  it  is  an  ono- 
Vkxkjma^  and  resolvable  into  a  mere  sound,  rather  than 
the  same  word  as  the  Germ,  sckmm^  vitare. 

Shides,  s.  cloven,  peeled  oak  poles.     Promp.  Pabv.  Khyde^ 

teda.     A.  Sax.  mde^  scindula.     Tent,  ttkiedm^  findere 

ligna. 

And  bad  ahsppe  hym  a  dinp  of  iMdet  and  of  bordea. 

P.  PLOUHMAir,  y.  171, 196^  906. 

—Off  ^ymber  gtete  adhgid^  olong. 

R.  CoBR  DB  LioN^  Y.  1386^  and  v.  4369. 

Shimblb,  Shamblb,  aJ^.  loose,  unconnected;  this  and 
scrmbk,  8€ratMe^  are  species  of  anomaiopeia. 


563 

SHms,  o.  Ex.  ^^  May  God  thine  on  him.^  A  benedio-^ 
tion  used  by  the  lower  orders  which  they  have  ac- 
quired from  Holy  writ.  Numb.  vi.  25.  Psal.  Kxxi.  l6. 
Job  xxix.  3.    2  Cor.  iv.  6,  &o. 

Shinolb,  «.  to  beat)  or  weld  iron  under  a  forge  ham- 
mer. (See  Bloous.)  Both  of  these  are  terms  oon-^ 
stantly  employed  in  the  iron  manufactories  of  Shrop- 
shire and  Staffordshire.  ^From  a  sow  of  iron  roUed 
into  the  fire,  the  workmen  melt  off  a  piece  called  a 
loop,  which  they  beat  with  iron  sledges,  and  then  ham- 
mer it  gently,  which  forces  out  the  cinder  and  dross, 
and  then  beat  it  thicker  and  stronger  till  they  bring 
it  to  a  bloom^  which  is  a  square  mass  of  about  two 
feet  long.  This  operation  they  call  shingling  the  loop.^^ 
Kenneths  Glossary,  MS.  Lansd.  Num.  1098,  fol.  45,  as 
quoted  by  Sir  H.  Ellis  in  the  general  introduction  to 
Domesday,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 

SHmoLEB,  B.  a  man  employed  in  managing  the  iron  whilst 
under  a  forge  hammer. 

Ship,  s.  usual  for  sheep,  Ex.  ^^The  eh^  han  got  into 
the  wheat.^  ^^Poor  grass  when  ships  cannot  grase.^^ 
Lnsos  Literarum,  p.  68. 

SmPB,  s.  a  kind  of  shovel  for  cutting  turf. 

Shop,  Shoaf,  Shops,  s.  a  sheaf,  or  bundle.  Ex.  *'The 
shofi  bm  but  thin  on  the  groun.^'  Teut.  scqf;  Belg. 
sehoof;  A.  Sax.  sceaf,  fasds.  Pbomp.  Pabv.  sehef,  or 
shqf. 

Sbokb,  perf.  of  9.  to  shake.  Ex.  ''  Till  a  shots  agen."* 
This  is  ^e  old  form,  and  ocodis  repeatedly  in  eariy 
English  writers. 

Ayiher  on  othir  «waofdii  sekske^ 

KyNO  ALISAUlfDBEy  V.  7397* 
He  blew  loud  and  sJuke  it  wele. 

The  Lytb  of  Ipomtdon^  v.  7B7. 

He  strok  his  beid,  and  jeM  Us  y^fde. 

Ths  Sbuyn  Sagbs,  ▼.  1 A  1069.. 
When  thoQ  ghoke  thy  sworde  so  noble  a  man  to  ;mar. 
Percy's  ReUques,  vol.  L  p.l01.» 

36-2 


564 

Bhomackt,  a^.  slovenly,   awkward  in  gait.     Teut.  dmf- 

maraehtigh^  somnicaloeus. 

Shobe,  o.  to  prop,  support.     Teut.  ichorm^  Buffiilcire. 

And  ahaketh  it  ne  were  hit  under  thonds, 

P.  Plouhman,  p.  306. 

Shorebs,  s.  props.     Teut.  tehore^  fnloimentum. 

Shot,  $,  usually  the  quota,  or  sum  owing  for  drinking 
at  an  ale-house.  A  word  common  wherever  the  prac- 
tice exists.  Teut.  i^ct;  Fr.  0000^;  Ital.  acMo;  Sp. 
M0ofo,  solutio. 

''Let  UB  gether  or  make  a  ichotte,  or  a  stake  for  the mynstraUs 
rewaide  or  wages."  Hamumm  Vulgarian  p.  283. 

Shbbd,  fy.  to  cut  very  fine  and  thin.     Ex.    ^^  SkrMliiig 

shuet.'"     A.  Sax«  scfwufaii,  resecare. 
Shrikb,   Sohbioh,   «.    to  scream,   cry   out  loudly.     Ex. 

^^Behiriehing  as  soon  as  ivir  yo  touchen  him.**^     Pbojip. 

Parv.    '^  Seryhyn/ge  of  ehylder^  vagitus.     Isl.   dariMa ; 

Dan.  ikriger ;  (At  tikrige  hift^  to  ickrich  aui^  as  Salopians 

say)  Swed.  ahrika^  clamare. 

Women  wrifte,  giiles  gredvng. 

Kyno  Alisaundbb,  y.  2802. 
The  CiyBtene  men  gimiie  make  a  Mcryftt. 

RiCHA&D  COSR  DB  LlON,  v.  4708. 

Londe  he  gan  to  crie  and  tkriehe. 

The  Sbuyn  Sagbs,  v.  1290. 
And  quhen  she  saw  the  red,  red  hlnde, 
A  loud  9crkh  teMdied  she. 

Hbrd's  SeoiHth  S(mg$,  vol.  L  p.  147. 

Shdbt,  s.  suet.  Ex.  *^  A  shuety  pudding.^ 
Shutt,  9.  to  suit.  By  this  interposition  of  the  aspirate, 
the  vulgar  unknowingly  pay  very  unfortunate  compli- 
ments. A  shoemaker  for  instance  hopes  that  his  shoes 
will  shuit  (shoot)  his  customers;  and  the  seller  of  a 
horse,  that  the  steed  will  AuU  (not  over  his  head) 
the^  rider. 
Shupkrnacular,  adj;.  superior.  The  aspirate  is  here  in- 
serted in  aocordmce  with  the  usage  which  prevails  of 
interposing  it  in  all  words  compounded  with  the  Latin 


565 

prepoBiiioli.  Ab  in  Avfomofr^  $h/uperfiiiey  ikiiperviBari  &c. 
It  may  have  been  already  remarked,  that  whenever  the 
lower  claaaes  adopt  worda  which  eome  from  the  Latin 
and  Greek  tongaoB,  they  generally  either  mispronounce 
them,  or  mistake  their  meaning,  but  wh^i  they  use 
those  which  are  portion  of  their  native  language^  I 
mean  such  as  are  derived  from  a  Northern  or  Anglo- 
Saxon  stock,  they  speak  with  conformity  both  to  the 
.orthoepy  and  idiom  of  the  English.  At  least  they 
rarely,  if  ever,  superinduce  a  word;  they  are  not 
guilty  of  any  tralatitious,  or  arbitrary  engrafting ;  and 
whenever  they  do  pervert  a  term  or  phrase  from  its 
original  meaning,  they  do  not  grievously  damage  the 
sense,  nor  greatly  debase  the  national  language.  He 
is  a  bold  man  who  will  say  as  much  as  this  in  be- 
half of  those  who  live  out  of  an  agricultural  district, 
and  are  consigned  to  dweU  in  the  great  metropolis. 

The  lower  orders  in  Shropshire  apply  the  word  shu- 
pemaeular  to  any  liquor  of  an  excell^it  quality.  It  is 
an  expression  derived  from  a  kind  of  mock  Latin  phrase, 
iuper  nagtdumy  upon  the  nail,  as  being  considered  wor- 
thy of  being  drunk  according  to  that  whimsical  prac- 
tice. (For  an  account  of  this,  look  to  Nares,  mb 
wee.) 

S^UT,  s.  1.  riddance,  or  deliverance,  which  occasions 
great  pleasure.  Ex.  *'0ood  shut  d"  bad  rubbidge.'" 
Every  body  may  recognise  this  sense,  but  the  two  next 
are,  I  suspect,  local.  2.  a  narrow  passage,  forming 
an  outlet  from  one  street  to  another.  Ex.  *'  Thb  Gullet 
Shut'",  in  the  town  of  Shrewsbury.  Teut.  »ehutj  lo- 
cus condusus: 

Per  Wailing  strete  xuqae  le  Wodewardes  ^tUte. 
CarhUar.  ST*.  Petri.  MS.  apud  Sir  Tkoi.  PhUUppt,  Bart.  foL  250. 

3.   an  accession  of  fresh  water  in  a  river,  in  the  Severn 
for  example.     Ex.    '^  There  come  a  shut  on  the  river 


566 

in  the  night''  ''  Rather  mote  than  a  tkut,  a  firmL'^ 
A.  Sax.  MMlflm,  impetom  feoere! 

Shot  m,  v.  a  blacksmith'B  term,  to  denote  that  one  pieee 
of  fatm  10  made  part  of  another,  both  compaotedly,  and 
ae  it  were,  inviaibly  and  indivinbly  united. 

Shdt  of,  9.  to  part  with  unoonatnunedly,  always  with 
alaonty  and  joy.  Ex.  *^I  reckon  you  be  f^  to 
get  Mfifl  on  him.""  ''Whod!  yone  got  tkiU  o'  the 
tother  then,  han  'eT  Tent,  iokuttm^  peDere,  aYeitere, 
aroere* 

8m,  fmf.  of  e.  to  eee.  Ex.  ^'  I  hanna  M  him  nnoe 
Mtirday  ownder.'* 

Smiran,  s,  the  time  of  somig,  eeedneBB.  Ex»  ^*The 
quern  iidnsm,^ 

Sight  of  ;  an  augmentative.  Ex.  ^^  A  $i^  ofwari  to  be 
done.'' 

SiKB,  e.  to  cry,  hunent,  Bob.     Ex.  ^'  Sobbing  and  mUmp."^ 

It  BeemB  to  imply  a  bitter  grief,  eorrow  fetdbed  up  from 

the  heart,  a  distreflsfiil  ntteranoe  of  sighs  that  neaify 

chdce  in  thehr  breathing.     A.  Sax.  mcceiam^  singultire. 

Northamp. 

Sykknge  for  my  (Mnnes. 

P.  Plouhxav,  p.  81. 

Sjfteie  for  joye.  Id.  p.  906. 

Sykyng,  sorewyng,  and  thokt. 

RiTf  oil's  Anei,  Sanga,  p.  28L 

He  glowtyd,  and  gan  to  aphe. 

RiCHA&D  COXR  DS  LlON,  ▼.  4771* 

And  wepe,  and  affke,  and  ciye^  alas! 

Lay  lb  FRSiifBy  ▼•  119. 

The  Lady  Med  and  said  alas. 

H^RTSRoaNs't  And.  MeMeal  Tak$, 

Sill,  «.  to  seU.     Ex.    ''Whad  diden  'e  mB  hfan  forP. 

An  archaism  that  has  been  with  us  since  the  time  of 

Widif.    A.  Sax.  nflan,  vendere. 

And  JhesoB  bihdd  him  and  loYede  hhn  and  aeyde  to  him  oo 
thing  fiiilith  to  thee  go  thon  and  rille  alle  thingis  that  thou  haste 
and  geye  to  pore  men. 

TVansiaiwn  of  the  TeHament,  Maik  ch.  x. 


667 

Sill,  ».  the  fonndfttion  of  any  tluiig;  as  a  window  $iBi 
a  door  mQ^  &c.     S.  Goth.  syU,  flindamentum  cujus  rei. 

SiMr<x>ALy  8.  ooal  which  my  informant  describes  as  being 
fomid  '^  in  the  dunches.'^  This  is  a  luctu  with  a  ven- 
geance. 

SiMNBLL,  8.  a  plumb  cake  having  a  raised  crust  lor  the 
exterior.  It  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  mince  pie, 
but  the  contents  are  packed  closer  together,  and  con- 
sequently rendered  still  more  indigestible.  The  crust 
is  extremely  hard,  and  highly  flavoured  with  saflbon. 
Originally  it  was  a  sort  of  bread  merely,  or  eracknd 
made  from  tmiluy  or  very  fine  flour,  and  according 
to  Qalen,  it  held  the  second  place  for  excellence  among 
the  different  kinds  of  bread.  In  the  middle-age*writers 
we  find  it  spoken  of  under  the  title  of  mmimdim. 
Shrewsbury  is  now  the  only  place  where  this  kind  of 
cake  is  made.  It  is  supposed  to  be  in  highest  season 
about  Christmas.  S.  Gkith.  a mfa ;  Alam.  senda ;  Tout.' 
Qerm.  Belg.  8enmd4)rod^  pads  triticeus. 

Skbaw-wift,  ad(o.  on  one  side,  uneven.  Ex.  ^^  AU  8kea'W' 
wiftr 

Skslk,  v.   to  shrink*     Applied  to  coffin  wood. 

Skin-flint,  8,  a  covetous  person,  one  who,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible would  ^^skin  a  flint,  to  save  a  penny.'" 

Skinny,  adj.  niggardly,  mean,  avaricious.  Ex.  ^^  A  iJAnny 
aud  thing.'"  Swed.  shinna^  immodice.  lucrari.  V erel.  in 
Indie,  dejfnia  kwnay  mulier  frugi. 

Skip,  8.  1.  a  bee-hive.  Gael.  8g8Qp^  a  skip  for  bees. 
2.  a  basket  or  vessel  used  in  coal  pts  by  which  the 
material  is  drawn  to  the  surface.  A.  Sax.  8€htppmh^ 
haurire.  A.  Sax.  8eiap,  vae.  Teut.  mAepd^  modius. 
Pbomp.  Pabv.  8keppe^  sporta.     Lat.  8eappa.  Northamp. 

Skirmage,  «.  to  skirmish.     Fr.  e8erimer. 

Ac  as  they  Mrmed  to  the  eon. 

Kyng  Alisaundkr,  v.  7386. 

Skittkr  wittbd,  adj.  one  whose  mU  are  8GaUer€d^  foolish. 


i 


568 

Skoutb,  f.  a  small  portion,  allotment,  or  enokwed  jMeoe 
of  land*  Ex.  ''A  iiauie  o'  gioiin;'  &  Ootk  Jkfei; 
A.  Sax.  icyi,  anguliu.  Teut.  $ditKi^  Beptom.  Id.  jM, 
latibulum. 

Skrben,  9.  to  riddle.  Hence  a  nud^-^kreen.  Lat.  Barb. 
eermida.     (See  Du  Cange.) 

Slack,  $.  small  coals.     Germ.  $eUaeij  scoria. 

Slack,  «.  to  prepare  clod-lime  by  means  of  putting 
water  to  it.  Isl.  doffi^  humiditas.  A.  Sax.  dadan^ 
relaxare. 

Slaqo,  8,  the  dross  or  refuse  from  any  smelting  of  ores, 
as  the  sloffff  of  lead.  This  is  the  correct  term.  I 
first  heard  it  used  at  the  smelting  furnaces  under  Pqn- 
SBRT  Hill,  in  which  immediate  neighbourhood  the  Bo- 
mans  worked  the  very  lead  mines  which  produce  tiie 
supply  at  the  present  day.  S.  Goth,  sloffg;  QensL 
sehlack;   Belg.  dacke^  scoria,  fex  metalli. 

This  slo/gg  is  worked  by  means  of  water  Uaat  and 
cokes,  the  high  chimnies  not  having,  even  with  all  their 
power,  a  draft  sufficiently  quick  to  fuse  it. 

Slaoo  Pigs,  $,  flat  pigs  of  lead  of  a  smaller  size  and 
inferior  quality  to  the  common  ones.  They  are  of 
this  shape. 


J 


but  wherefore  I  could  not  ascertain.  It  is  however 
very  remarkable  that  Slagg  Pigs  of  a  similar  shape 
have  been  found  forty  five  years  ago,  which  seem  to  be- 
long to  the  Roman  period.  The  method  of  working 
this  article  consists  in  the  addition  of  docked  lime, 
which  causes  the  dross  to  thicken,  so  that  it  can  be 
skimmed  off. 
Slang,  s.  a  long  and  narrow  piece  of  land.  Is  this  cor- 
rupted from  d(ide^  a  word  which  has  the  like  mean- 
ing, and  deducible   from  the  A.  Sax.  dofd^  or  does  it 


569 

oome  from  the  Geim.  BcUankf    {See  Kennett^s  Oloss. 
under  Blade.) 

Slann,  s.  a  sloe.  S.  Ooth.  sld^  pninum.  A.  Sox.  dan^ 
pnina  sylveBtria. 

Slapb,  «.  to  hang  out,  hang  down,  chiefly  with  refer- 
ence to  thruBting  out  the  tongue.  Ex.  ^^  Sloping  his 
tongue  out.*"     Isl.  dapa^  pendere. 

Slbdoer,  s.  the  stone  which  lies  undermost  in  the  hop- 
per of  a  mill. 

Sleepers,  $.  1.  such  grains  of  barley  as  do  not  vege- 
tate whilst  undergoing  the  process  of  malting.  2.  trans- 
rerse  bars  upon  which  the  rails  of  a  railway  are  laid. 

Slbngh,  b.  that  part  of  the  cow  which  lies  close  to 
'the  brisket.' 

Suck,  Slbtk,  «.  to  make  smooth,  polish,  make  even.  A 
shoemaker  talks  about  sUcMng  the  soles  of  his  shoes 
with  a  sUekinff  stick ;  and  a  carpenter  says  that  a  plane 
will  tUek  a  deal  board.  Teut.  sliehtm^  sUektm ;  Germ. 
ickhekUn^  planare.     Pbomp.  Parv.  slyie^  or  smooth. 

Slick,  (idj.  and  as  frequently  used  adverbially ;  1.  smooth, 
shining.  Ex.  '*  Your  feace  looks  as  iUek  as  a  mould 
ort.'' 

With  bent  browes,  smooth  and  dMte. 

ROMAUNT  OF  TBS  R08B. 

2.  clear,  entirely.     The  Americans  use  it  in  this  sense ; 

we  do  so  very  rarely.     Ex.   *'Oone  off  diet.'"     Teut. 

didiy  planus. 
SuGHT,  «.  to  neglect,  do  badly,  perform  carelessly.     Ex. 

''  He  sUffiU  his  work.'' 
Sliohtt,  adf.  slight,  feeble,  insufficient,  unenduring.    Ex. 

"Tisbuta^K^feyjob." 
Slink  Veal,  $.  such  calves  as  are  killed  when  under  some 

disorder.    Germ,  scilmien,  abjicere  I    Belg.  slanek,  gra- 
cilis.   Skinner. 
Slip,  $.   clay  is  so  called  when  the  air   and   water  is 

evaporated,  so  that  it  is  ready  for  the  potter's  hands. 


i 


570 


Sup,  o.  to  oast  a  foal. 

Slip  Cowt,  8.  a  colt  immaturely  bom. 

Slip  Foal,  8.   a  oolt  pr^naturely  foaled. 

SuppEB,  8.  a  mare  who  casts  her  foal. 

Slithbb,  Slbthbh,  «.  to  slide,  slip  easily  along  the 

face.    A.  Sax.  8lidan ;  Tout.  Belg.  Mdderm^  dedieMi^ 

prolabi.     Pbomp.  Pabv.  tlydyr^  labilis. 

Qnha  sittith  mort  hie,  sal  find  the  sait  mabt  Oddo'. 

Coimpktini  i^  the  FOgmgo, 

How  warldlye  pomp,  and  glare,  bene  tSidder, 

The  Mcnarckie. 
Some  so  strayg^te  ihyther 
Be  it  daty  or  Mler. 

Elinour  RUKMlirQ. 

SuvB,  Slivver,  f>.  to  cut  away  in  slices,  strip  bark  from 
a  tree.     A.  Sax.  aK/^,  findere. 

A  lytyll  bowe  he  gaa  of  dyve. 

8ia  Clboks,  y.  211« 

Slob,  a.  an  outside  board,  *  a  Bhide\    Corruptly  for  dab. 
Slobbee,  a.  rain.     Ex.  ^^  Ther  ull  come  some  tiobber  soon.^ 

Teut.  dabbm^  distillare. 
Slofp,  9.  to  eat  greedily,  dirtily,  <x  slovenly.    Ex.  *^  How 

yo'  dun  doff  o'er  your  fittle."*'     Pbomp.  Pabv.  doffynge  or 

unkindly  etynge,  devoratio.  C.  Brit.  Uyfi^  sordidus.  Teut. 

Belg.  8lorf^  homo  sordido,  sive  horrido  cultu.     Dan.  afa^ 

hebes.     Hence  the  word  8lo9m. 
Slommackino,  Slamhachino,  (»dj.  unwieldy,  clumsy.     Ex. 

*'  A  big  8hmfnacking  homan.'*  Teut.  dalbhcbckm^  labaacene. 

Isl.  difma^  otiosus  haerere.     S.  Ooth.  dmn^  turiMS.    Teat. 

8lomtnerinffhe,    quisquilise.      Swed.  alem^  limua.     Genn. 

adda/mpampe^  a  slut. 
Slop,  «.  to  spill,  and  in  a  secondary  sense,  to  wet  or  dirty. 

Ex.  ''  Mind  yo  dmma  dop  it;'     ''  Slopped  hirsilf  a  fiitch^ 

ing  waiter."    A  low  word  struck  off  on  the  on(»iiatopeic 

principle. 
Sloppt,  8.  a  fall  of  rain.     Ex.  ^  Is  it  frosty  this  morning! 

Why  nda  sir,  there  comM  summut  doppjf  Y  the  night.'' 


571 

Slobby,  Slubbt,  b.  the  levigated  nrntier  which  fomiB  under 
a  grindstone.  Ex.  ^^  Orindlestwun  slarry.^  Teiit.  aloo- 
righ^  Bordidus.     Pbomp.  Pahv.  dor^  or  thor^  clay. 

Slobby,  «.  to  plaster,  daub  over.  Ex.  '^  Slurry  it  o^er.^ 
Pbomp.  Pabv.  Jaryed^  cenosus. 

Slosh,  Slush,  s.  1.  mud,  dirt.  Ex. ''  All  o'er  Ooshr  ''  ShA 
and  gore.*"'  S.  Gk>th.  daak^  humor  sordidus.  8.  a  large 
body  of  water.  Tout,  sfoyttf,  cataracta.  Brookett,  Forby. 

Slot,  Slots,  i,  a  kind  of  bolt  for  bottoms  or  sides  of 
wagcms,  ^ tumbrels^  or  harrows.  Tout,  dot;  Alam.  doz^ 
pera. 

Slots,  v.  to  bolt,  or  dovetail.  Belg.  dmfim ;  Tent,  do- 
tdei^  $luytm^  serare. 

Slud,  #.  usual  for  sludge. 

Slvd,  9.  to  be  splashed  or  dirty  with  sludge.  Ex.  ^^ShkUed 
from  yed  to  fut.^  A.  Sax.  «%,  locus  ooncavus,  lacuna 
csenosa.  Teut.  doidetm^  flaooescere.  Daa.  diid^  pluvia 
et  nix  commixtse. 

Shay,  «.  to  refuse,  feel  a  disinclination  towards.  Ex. 
''  The  bwes  mnay'n  their  mate.''  ''  Bmaid  his  fittle."" 
Apparently  a  very  well  authorised  word,  and  in  strict 
analogy  with  its  root.  Isl.  $ma;  Teut.  $maden^  con- 
temnere.  A.  Sax.  rmwgany  considerare,  (that  is  does  not 
eat  readily,  but  takes  time  to  think  whether  there  is 
need  or  appetite  for  food.) 

Smut,  s.  1.  tiie  uredo  Ssetida,  a  disease  incidental  to  wheat. 
(See  remarks  under  Hebbin.)  Ex.  ^^  The  mnvi$  ta'en  the 
wheat."  2.  particles  of  soot  detached  from  the  fire  or 
chimney.  Ex.  '^The  imut  flies  about  the  room  and 
dirties  everything  in  it.''  3.  impure  and  filthy  con- 
versation. Ex.  <^He  deals  in  amutJ^  S.  Goth.  mnutSy 
inquinatio.  Teut.  »md ;  A.  Sax.  smUta,  labes.  (Jerm. 
neimmiz^  sordes. 

Smutty,  adf.  1.  blighted.  2.  bhkck :  (Anglice,  ^mmOci^) 
3.  given  to  indecent  jesting.  Ex.  ^^  A  smutty  dog."  Swed. 
tmmidffy  immundus. 


672 

Snapk,  «.  to  check,  thwftrt.    Ex.  '^  Dunna  miape  the  babby 

&  thatmi.^    Analogous  to  the  following. 
Snaplb,  v.  to  nip,  wither.      Ex.  ^^This  here  frost  ''uU 

mutple  the  posies.^      Id.  nivpa;    Swed.  ngpa;    Belg. 

nipm;   Oerm.  hmijm,  arotare,  oonstiingere. 
81VED,  i.  the  handle  of  a  sojrthe.    Teut.  tnede^  acies  cultii 

A.  Sax.  muMsd^  falcis  ansa.  S.  Gk>th.  Swed.  med,  obliquus. 

Id.  mieida^  obliquare.  Nares  cites  Evelyn  for  tiMmf,  which 

possesses  the  same  meaning. 
Sniddlb,  i.  a  long  coarse   grass:   the  Poa  aquatica  of 

botanists ;  usually  seen  growing  in  ditches  and  gotten. 
Snofflb,  v.  to  breathe  with  difficulty  throu^  the  nose. 

Ex.''KeanoJh8:''    '' A  m^f^  feUow.""    S.  60th.  m^ 

rancidulum   quiddam  blsesa  de  nare  sonare.     A.  Sax. 

9no/d^  rheuma.    Teut.  snqffUm^  naribus  spirare.    Hence 

to  8nijff\  and  to  mivel. 
SooKBT-piKEL,  s.  a  hook  used  by  colliers. 
SoG,  s.  a  blow,  chiefly  applied  to  the  stomach,  as  ^^  A  so^  in 

the  guts.*"    Verel.  in  Indie,  soin^  invado  hostilis. 
SoGOER,  s.  1.  the  same  as  the  preceding.    2.  a  large  lump. 
SoK,  i,  1.  the  liquid  manure  which  oozes  from  a  dung^iill, 

quasi,  the  90(ii.    Ex.  ^'  The  $oi  6*  iK  mixen.^     Id.  soet, 

merger.     A.  Sax.  soCy  suctus.     2.  the  suck  of  a  plough. 

Com.  Bret.  Armor,  ioch ;   Ghiel.  soean^  vomer. 

I  saw  duke  Sangor  thair  with  mony  a  knok. 
Six  hundreth  men  dew  with  ane  plendus  90k. 

PaUce  qf  Honour,  xxvL 

SoLDiER^s  Thigh,  phr.  a  slang  term  for  an  empty  pocket. 

Soles,  Sawls,  Sawhls,  «.  yokes  with  which  cattle  are  tied. 

Ex.  '^  Fasten  the  bwes  with  the  mwU  up  to  the  boosey.''* 

A.  Sax.  «o/,  retinaculum  jumentorum. 

Soktf  fetters^  and  shades^  with  hone-lock  and  pad. 

TussxR,  p.  16,  edit  Mayor. 

Solid,  adj.  grave,  sedate.     Ex.  ^^  Miss  Mary  looks  mighty 

BoiUd  o'*er  it." 
SoMMEBBD, /MU*^. /Mw^ ;  applied  to  ale  when,  as  the  word 

has  been  explained  to  the  writer,  ^*it  is  sour  on  the 


57S 

grains.'*''  The  fault  arises  chiefly  from  hot  weather,  and 
bad  cellaring. 

Sores,  8.  sirs,  from  whence  corrupted.  '^  Sores  aUve  P"*  an 
address  to  comrades  or  fellow-workers.  Ex.  ''Come! 
sores  oKve !  we  munna  stop  lazing  (idling)  a  thisns.^ 

Soss,  s.  a  mess.  Fbomp.  Parv.  soss^  houndis  meU,  Gael. 
M9,  a  mixture  of  food  for  dogs. 

Souring,  s.  vinegar. 

SousB,  s.  1.  a  smart  blow.  Ex.  ''  Fatch  him  a  souse  Y  th^ 
chops.***  S.  adverbially,  smartly,  so  as  to  cause  pain.  Ex. 
''  He  feU  down  souse!^  A  word  that  was  of  doubtful  au- 
thority at  the  period  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  and  it 
has  not  acquired  any  new  claims  to  notice  since. 

Yesy  that  may  hold.  Sir: 

SwLse  is  a  bona  loba;  so  is  flops  too. 

The  Nice  Vakur. 

Span-outtbr,  s.  a  drain  in  a  coal  mine,  formed  by  one 

brick  being  placed  flat,  and  one  at  either  end  to  keep 

the  soil  from  falling  in. 
Spanker,  s.  any  thing  large,  either  man  or  beast.    Ex. 

^*  A  spanking  horse,"^  ''  rides  a  spafiker  :^  usually  received 

in  a  good  sense. 
Spararles,  8.  small  nails  for  shoes. 
Sparcle,  s.  a  spark.     Ex.  *^  A  sparde  flew  out  o^  th^  fire.^ 

Teut.  sparekelen^  dispergere.      Promp.  Parv.  sparcle  of 

fyre,  and,  spareleying. 

He  sprong  as  sparcle  doth  of  glede. 

Kino  op  Tars^  y.  19i. 
It  sprange  as  sparde  onte  of  flynte. 
Spaulkd,  part,  past ;  split,  cleft,  as  wood.     Teut.  Oerm. 

spalten,  findere. 
Spat,  Splat,  v.  to  castrate  an  heifer.  We  certainly  took 
this  term  from  the  C.  Brit,  dispaddu^  castrare,  who  in 
Uke  manner  received  it  6t>m  the  Gr.  oriracD,.  extraho. 
Bret.  Armor,  spas,  spaz ;  Lat.  spado ;  Gael.  ^fKHth,  spa- 
dare. 
Spend,  v.  very  current. for  eaqsend. 


i 


674 

Spippucatb,  9.  to  do  some  bodily  injury.  A  low  word, 
whose  derivation  is  unknown ;  perhaps  it  is  a  corruption 
from  iplU. 

Spikb-pole,  8,  a  rafter  ei^t  feet  long,  bound  with  iron 
at  its  end,  generally  the  same  size  as  a  fencing  rail, 
used  in  ^tying^  dangerous  places  in  the  roof  of  a  pit. 

Spill,  8.  a  turn,  trial,  attempt.  Ex.  ^^Tak  a  sptil  at 
it.**^     A.  Sax.  8pettnff^  vices.     'To  do  a  spell:'*  Phillips. 

Spindlb-bods,  8.  rails  at  the  top  of  a  pit  by  which 
*  Bank  girls'"  hold  to  assist  them  in  drawing  'the  Bowk' 
from  'the  shaft.^     (See  these  various  words.) 

Spinnt,  8,  a  small  wood,  cover,  thicket.  A  word  much 
in  use  among  the  Comavii  or  dwellers  in  the  midland 
counties,  but  more  especially  the  Coritani  and  Cat- 
uellani.  (See  Ordnance  Surveys.)  Lat.  ^naf  Nares 
quotes  from  Evelyn,  spinet.  Our  word  is  provincial, 
but  not  dialectical.  It  is  not  met  with  in  Coles,  Blount, 
Bullokar  or  Phillips. 

Spire,  «.  to  grow  rapidly,  shoot  upwards  quickly.  Teut. 
iperrmy  extendere. 

SprrTLE,  8.  a  spade.  Seldom  used  in  Shropshire,  and 
entirely  confined  to  the  Staffordshire  side  of  the  county. 
A.  Sax.  qnhiy  pastinum. 

Spoke-shavb,  8.  a  narrow  plane  used  by  wheelwri^ts  to 
make  smooth  the  inner  parts  of  a  wheel.  Teut.  speeeiey 
radius  rotse;  shave^  planula.     Palsgrave,  Spoke-shaue. 

Spole,  8.  a  small  wheel  contiguous  to  the  distaff  in  a 
common  spinning  wheel.  There  is  a  word  similar  in 
meaning  and  sound  to  the  present  in  nearly  every 
European  tongue.  Not  local.  S.  Ooth.  q^Hfle;  Teut. 
ipoele ;  Belg.  spoel;  Ital.  spoloy  instrumentum  textorium. 
Pbom p.  Pabv.  Sp^Jsy  WAster^s  instrument. 

Spon-nbw,  phr.  SpcMrnew  must  be  known  all  En^and 
through :  though  our  method  of  pronunciation  may  be 
peculiar.  The  example  from  the  Metrical  Romance 
of  Kyng   Alisaunder  gives  precisely   the   form   which 


576 


suits   our  manner   of   speaking  iL     Verel.  in   Indie. 

tpanyr;  Germ.  ^poiK,.  novus. 

Richelie  he  doth  him  whiede 
In  mon-neowe  knyghtis  wede. 

y.  4055. 

Spot,  8.  used  in   place  of  drop.     Ex.   ^^Nod  a  spat  V 

tV  jug.*"     Isl.  y>otti^  frustulum  rei  alicujus. 
Spot,  r.  to  commence  raining.     Ex.  **'  It  spots  6^  rain.'*^  S. 

Ooth.  Swed.  spotta;  Tent.  qH>tten;  Germ,  spockm^  Bpnere. 
Spottlb,  v.  to  splash,  stain  or  dirty   with  liquid  filth. 

Ex.    ^^Spottled  your  gownd.'^     Teut.  spatten^  maculare. 

Wiclif  uses  qH)t%l  for  spittle^  thus  he  translates  from 

the  ix*^  of  St  John. 

He  spette  into  the  eerthe,  and  made  day  of  the  spatU, 

Sprao,  9.  to  support  or  prop  up  any  thing  that  inclines. 

Spragging  therefore  signifies  to  be  supported  by  a  pole. 

(A.  Sax.  spreotj  contus,)  a  sprit  or  spret :  this  by  a 

slight  change  becomes  tpratj  and  yn'txt^  ^ctg. 
Spraos,  s.  *•  uprights*^  or  pieces  of  wood  placed  upright 

against  the  sides  of  a  coal  pit^  to  support  the  '  Uds^ 
Spkinglb,   8.   a  rod   four  feet  long,  generally   of  hazle 

or  the  mountain  ash,   used  in   thatching;   the  twigs 

which  lie  horizontally  along  the  sides  of  the  roof.    A. 

Sax*  spryngaa^  pullulare. 

For  ho  80  spfoeth  the  ipring,  spilleth  hns  children. 

PixRS  Ploubman^  82. 

Springy,  adf.  elastic. 

Spungerino,  adj,  overreaching,  imposing.  This  is  not 
a  common  word,  and  I  feel  disposed  to  think  it  is  a 
vitiation  from  tpunging.  Never  having  heard  it  but 
once,  I  do  not  consider  it  as  naturalised;  though  on 
that  occasion  it  was  uttered  by  a  labourer  from  Cleo- 
boiy  Mortimer,  where  they  ou^^t  to  speak  with  pe- 
culiar purity.  My  informant  says,  that  'a  qmngerimg 
fellow  is  one  who  overcbarges\  and  with  his  de&iition 
I  leave  it. 


576 

Spunk,  $.  1.  spirit,  enei*gy.  Ex.  ^^He'^s  no  tpunk  in 
him.^  Evidently  ^  a  low  and  contemptible  word^  though 
Brookett  gainsays  the  assertion  of  Todd.  2.  touch- 
wood.    Devons.  Norf.   Suff.  N.  C. 

Squares,  b.  broad  hoops  of  iron  which  are  used  to  hold 
coal  in  'the  BaskeUy  whilst  being  drawn  up  a  pit 
In  Staffordshire  termed  ^  Rings  to  the  Slip.'* 

Squasht,  iidj,  watery;  fruit  or  vegetables  not  arrived 
at  maturity  receive  this  epithet.  Shakspeare,  in  Twelfth 
Night,  and  Winter^s  Tale,  uses  gqueuh  in  a  similar  sense. 
Swed.  8qu€U^  fluxus  copiosior. 

Squelch,  b,  a  blow  in  the  stomach.  Ex.  ^^A  $qudck 
r  th'  guts." 

Squelch,  9.  to  give  a  blow  in  the  stomach.     Inelegant 

enough,  but  old.     Teut.  Bwdkmy  premere. 

Oh !  'twas  your  luck  and  mine  to  be  mpukh'd  master: 
He  has  stamp'd  my  very  puddings  into  pancakes. 

The  Nice  Fakmr. 

Squilt,  b.  any  corporeal  blemish,  or  scrofulous  mark 
upon  the  body.  Ex.  ^^  Nivir  seed  no  squiU  nor  no- 
thing o^  the  kind  on  him.*** 

Squitt,    Squitters,  8.    looseness    of  the  body.     A.  Sax. 

Bcitta^  fluor  ventris.     Peomp.  Parv.  skyite^  or  flyz^Jhams. 

To  heal  thee  of  thv  skitter. 

Montoombrt's  Fijfting. 

Staggers,  b.  old  quick  removed  from  one  hedge  to  an- 
other.    Teut.  Germ,  stcieck^  stipes. 

Stail,   Stele,  b.   a  handle.     A.  Sax.   Teut.   Belg.   ttde^ 

capulus. 

And  lerede  men  a  ladel  bygge  with  a  long  eteie, 

P.  Plouhman,  3B0» 

Staking  at  the  stomach,  pAr.  a  tightness  at  the  chest, 
difficulty  of  breathing.  A  disease  ''  that  comes  throu^ 
caud^^  my  informant  states.  Applied  also  to  cattle 
when  bound  in  the  stomach.  Oerm.  etecien  impedi- 
mentum  objicere.     Teut.  sUdken^  haerere. 

Stamping,  b.  holes  in  a  horse'^s  shoe. 


577 


Stank,  s.  a  dam  carried  across  a  brook^  which  (Vom 
causing  the  water  above  it  to  form  into  a  kind  of  small 
lake  becomes  stagnant;  Lat.  ttagnunh.  The  A.  Sax. 
ttaenffy  sudes,  offers  another  etymon,  and  stakes  being 
usually  applied  to  sustain  the  temporary  dam,  it  seems 
more  likely  to  have  occasioned  the  word.  Forby  pro- 
poses the  Norm.  Fr.  Sitanehe.  There  are  numerous 
passages  in  the  Early  Metrical  Romances  where  the 
term  is  employed,  though  not  with  a  signification  suf- 
ficiently apposite  or  extended  to  warrant  their  insertion 
here.     (See  Rot.  Pari.  ii.  229,  6i.c.  iii.  282,  &c.  iv,  8.) 

O'er  bush,  o'er  bank,  o'er  ditch,  o'er  Hank, 

Herd^s  SooUiah  Songs,  yoL  i.  p.  102. 

Stank,  tf.  to  dam  up  water.     Ex.  **  Stank  up  the  bruk.**' 

S.  Goth,  stdnffa,  usurpatur  de  quolibet  claudendi  modo. 
Staun,  8.     Stanton  in   Corve  Dale.     It  was  anciently 

written  Staunton^   and  has  thus  been    corrupted  into 

S^un. 
Stean,  8.  a  large  earthen  vessel.     Ex.    "Put  th'  o'er- 

plush  o^  th'  drink  i^  th^  qngot-steany     M.  Goth,  stains; 

S.  Goth.  Swed.  st&n;  Alam.  Isl.  Germ,  stein;  A.  Sax. 

Stan ;  Dan^  Belg.  stem ;  lapis.     Or,  as  we  should  say, 

"  a  stone  jar.'''* 

I  was  once  as  fow  of  Gill  Morice 
As  hip  is  o'  the  stean. 

Gill  Moricb,  y.  160. 

Stsbr,  8.  1.  a  bullock  till  he  reaches  the  age  of  ttto 
years.  M.  Goth,  stiur;  A.  Sax.  stear ;  Teut.  Germ. 
stier,  taurus.  2.  a  starling  or  sturling :  Germ,  steer; 
A.  Sax.  steam;  Lat.  sturnus.  (See  Tumerus  de  Avi- 
bus,  p.  89.)  Thus  Germ,  stcer^  and  Ung,  a  frequent 
termination  for  a  diminutive,  as  sperUng^  passerculus, 
from  Germ,  spier^  passer :  but  consult  the  Prolegomena 
to  Wachter,  Sect.  vi. 

Stblch,  8.  a  post  to  which  cattle  are  tied  in  a  cow  house. 
A«  Sax.  stde^  columna. 


578 

Stblch,  tfifc.  ftirtively,  or  in  secret.      Ex.  *^  Did  it  hj 

tidehr     Used  for  stecM. 
Stelgh-stafp,  8.  a  strong  piece  of  wood  which  serves  to 

keep  asunder  the  traces  of  wagpn  horse  gearing.    It 

ought  to  be  called  girekihrdaff. 
Stent,  $.  a  corruption  from  extent.      Ex.  ^^  A  tieiai  o' 

work  C  that  is,  an  undertaking,  or  as  much  as  can  be 

accomplished  in  a  fixed  period.      Nares  quotes  from 

the  Mirrour  for  Magistrates, 

Had  eyen  now  attaiii'd  his  jounie/s  $UnL 

Steppiton,  «.  Stapleton,  co.  Salop. 

Stick,  9.  a  common  termination  to  the  names  of  many 
tools  used  by  shoemakers:  as  a  Prick-sUci^  used  for 
pricking  between  seams :  a  Long-stiet,  used  for  smooth- 
ing the  soles :  a  HoUvng-stiek^  for  burnishing  th^n ;  and 
a  Size^ick^  for  taking  the  measure. 

Stinkers,  Stinking-Coal,  8.  a  very  inferior  kind  of  coal 
which  bears  its  title  from  the  disagreeable  smell  of 
sulphur  which  it  emits  in  burning.  It  is  afterwards 
traceable  by  the  redness  of  its  ashes. 

Stikk,  «.  a  heifer  until  two  years  old.  A.  Sax.  j<jrv, 
juvencus. 

Stive,  «.  to  be  shut  up  in  a  close,  hot  place ;  pent  within 
a  small  room  in  warm  weather.  Ex.  ^^  Stiting  and  stew- 
ing.^ Ital.  stufa^  as  rendered  by  Florio  in  a  genunie 
Shropshire  explanation,  ^^a  whci  house.^  Skinner  and 
Junius  refer  us  to  the  Gr.  ai-uipw^  adstringo. 

Stodoe,  8.  a  thick  mess  of  oatmeal  and  milk,  or  any  food 
which  is  semi-solid.  Hence  one  who  Has  freely  eaten 
of  this  or  any  similar  sort  of  food  is  said  to  be  ttodged. 
I  am  unable  to  trace  this  word  to  any  legitimate  origin, 
yet  nevertheless  I  think  it  is  far  from  being  tndatitious, 
Moore  having  inserted  stodgey^  which  has  a  like  import. 

Stomber,  «.  to  confuse.  Ex.  '^  Well  did  nod  it  stomber 
yo  r     ''  Put  me  to  the  sUmber8.^    A  vitiation  of  cukmtid 


579 

perhaps.     Confined  to  Corve  Dale,  therefore  peculiarly 

local. 
Stop-olat,  8.  a  make  shift,  substitute,  temporary  supply. 

Ex.  *^  Nivir  be  a  shp^lat  for  sich  a  chap  as  thee  bist.^^ 

(See  Glat.) 
Stobm-oock,  s.  the  missel  thrush,  Turdus  wmtoruSi  Linn. 
Stouk,  s.  a  handle  of  any  vessel.    Ex.  ^'  The  aiwdPs  broke 

off.**^  Teut.  gtekm;  Qerm.  steekm^  hserere;  A.  Sax.  ^ican^ 

figere.     Some  one  has  informed  me  that  the  word  has 

peculiar  reference  to  the  handles  of  a  milk  pail ;  if  this 

be  so,  the  C.  Brit,  ysttei^  a  milk  pail  has  an  apparent 

relation  to  the  word.     Ray's  correspondent,  Mr  Lloyd, 

gives  gkmk^  in  his  list,  for  the  handle  of  a  pail. 
Stoul,  Stool,  s,  the  old  and  decayed  stump  from  whence 

sprout  young  twigs. 
Strapb,  v.  to  stray.     Ex.  "  The  bwes  bin  strafed  away." 

"  Stolen  or  strafed,'*''     Germ,  streifm ;    Gr.  (rrpiipw^  va- 

gari. 
Streckle,  SnuGKLE,  Stsbgless,  &c.  8.  a  piece  of  wood  used 

for  striking  or  sweeping  off  even  measure.     Teut.  strelel^ 

hostorium ;  striickel^  strigil. 
Streke,  «.  to  strike  with  a  streckle.     Ex.  ^^  Quern  soud 

streken  or  yeppedT      Teut.   sireoilen^  leviter   tangeve. 

Germ,  streiehen,  tangere  aequandi  causa. 

And  see  that  youre  come  be  mesured  with  a  trewe  mesoi^, 
that  is  to  Bsye  with  a  trewe  buflsheU,  and  that  eueiv  busshell  be 
streken.  Boke  qf  Husbondry.    W.  De  Words. 

Strenth,  s.  a  metonymy  by  which  we  express  plenty,  of  a 
multitude.  Ex.  *^  A  innod  likely  to  get  in  his  harrast 
this  ownder,  if  a  dunna  get '  moor  strenth  about  him." 
"  Plenty  6*  strenth^'*  as  the  vulgar  say,  when  ten  men 
do  the  work  which  one  ought.  In  our  habit  of  pro- 
nouncing this  word,  the  g  is  omitted,  as  in  tenth  (q.  v.) 
and  the  practice  seems  to  be  defensible  through  the  ex- 
ample afforded  by  our  Early  English  Poets. 

Do  there  bothe  streyrUhe  and  gynne. 

Kyno  Alisaunder,  y.  7264^  7344,  7d61>  &c 

37-2 


5S0 

Stbrt,  adj.  tight.  Ex.  ''A  Hrti  y/mstooBiT  A.  Sax.  ttraeey 
Btrictus. 

Stretten,  e.  to  tighten.  Ex. ''  StretUn  the  rop.^  Teat. 
dreekenj  tendere,     Promp.  Parv.  9treytne$^  gtrictura. 

Strike,  8.  a  bushel.  Accurately  distinguishing  between 
the  tenns  gtrike  and  bushel,  we  should  say  that  a  bushel 
denotes  a  measure  capable  of  containing  eight  gallons, 
ufutrieken;  a  strike  means  a  measure  of  eight  clear 
gallons,  stricken.     But  consult  Moore,  tub  voce. 

Strike,  r.  1.  to  make  the  surface  of  a  com  measure  even. 
2.  to  make  a  line  by  means  of  a  chalked  piece  of  string, 
a  carpenter^s  method.  Isl.  etrUa^  lineam  ducere.  A.  Sax. 
etrica,  linea,  directio.  (Hence  the  Geologists  have  derived 
so  correctly  their  term  etrike^  as  applied  to  stratification.) 

Strine,  8.  a  ditch.  A  word  not  common.  Is  it  very  local ! 
I  think  it  is,  but  nevertheless  deducible  from  good  au- 
thority.    Isl.  etrond^  stria. 

Stiuppinos,  8.  the  last  milk  obtained  from  cows.  Isl.  etre/ia, 
lactis  ultima  emunctio.     Dan.  etrippe^  a  pail. 

Stroke,  8.  an  unsual  quantity  of  labor  performed  in  a 
certain  time.  Ex.  '^  Did  an  uncommon  stroke  of  work.^ 
Or  as  we  occasionally  express  ourselves  in  another  olaasical 
idiom,  "  a  power  of  work  i^  "  a  eiffht  of  work :""  "  a  power 
of  people  f  ^  ^^  a  eight  of  people,'^  &c.  And  the  periphrasis 
is  eveiy  way  as  allowable  as  those  we  so  frequently  meet 
with  in  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  for  instance,  Homer^'s 
fiirj  'UpaK\rf€t9j.  II.  xv.  640.  xviii.  117,  &c.  Theoc.  Idyl. 
XXV.  55.  91. 110.  154.  261.  iEschyl.  Sept.  ante  Theb.  755. 
796.  Pars.  439-  605.  Eurip.  Suppl.  478.  Lycophron.  228, 
&c.  Cicero  calls  the  aristocracy  robora  populi  Romani : 
and  in  his  oration  for  Murena,  says,  ''  qui  quotidianis 
epulis  in  rohore  accumbunt.'^  And  we  fin.d  Shakspeare 
employing  the  same  figure  in  Hamlet^s  soliloquy, 
To  take  up  arms  against  a  mo  of  troubles. 

Now  a  days  mankind  thinks  a  peci  of  them  sufficiently 
troublesome. 


581 

Strumplm,  phr.  "  Thee*8t  oock'd  my  ttrumplei.^  That  is, 
by  mentioiiing  some  unlocked  for  fact,  astonished  or  made 
the  hair  stand  on  end. 

Stubs,  5.  1.  decayed  stumps  of  wood,  or  broken  stakes 
which  present  obstacles  to  fishermen,  or  afiford  shelter  to 
the  finny  race.  Ex.  '^  The  trout  took  hout  under  the 
stubs.'"  2,  rotten  or  withered  roots  generally,  such  as  may 
be  seen  in  old  hedge-rows.  Ex.  ^'  Stock  up  the  stubs  and 
clier  the  ground.'^^  3.  horse  nails.  Ex.  ^^  Digest  horse 
nail  stubs.""  4.  short  nails  for  strong  shoes.  Ex.  ''  Put 
some  good  stubs  into  the  heels.**^  These  two  latter  senses 
have  been  engrafted  on  our  Salopian  Vocabulary  from 
the  meaning  the  word  has  under  the  two  former  examples, 
what  is  short  and  strong  furnishing  a  term  that  denotes 
a  particular  sort  of  nail  of  this  character.  From  the 
same  source  we  have  learned  the  metaphorical  epithets 
of  stubby^  stunty^  snubby^  and  grubby ;  epithets  applied  to 
persons  whose  replies  display  more  of  brevity  than  polite- 
ness. A.  Sax.  stybbe^  truncus.  Isl.  Swed.  stubbe^  candex 
arboris  detruncatee.    Swed.  stubig^  brevis. 

Study,  s,  a  small  anvil  used  in  manufacturing  naib. 

SucKBT,  s.  a  sweet  sort  of  confectionary. 

Now  does  my  blood  wamble,  you !  suekei-eater. 

The  Wits,  ii.  (v.  also  Narbs^  Sub  voce.) 

Supp,  s.  a  drain.  Ex. "  Up  the  suf.'"  The  sufs  stopped.'' 
This  must  he  entirely  our  own.     C.  Brit,  syehu^  a  drain. 

SuMMUT  SHORT,  fkr.  ^'  A  glass  o^  summut  short^''  ardent 
spirits.     Low,  and  not  dialectical. 

Sump,  s.  a  term  used  by  miners  which  I  do  not  clearly 
understand.  They  frequently  speak  of  the  swmp  and 
swmping.  In  Derbyshire  it  means  any  perpendicu- 
lar opening  under  ground,  one  not  extending  to 
the  surface :  perhaps  our  use  of  the  word  is  the 
same. 

SuNTORB,  part.  p€ut ;  cracked  or  otherwise  injured  by  the 
sun,  applied  to  wood. 


.  I 


582 

Sup,  8.  a  draught.  Ex.  ''  Oiz  a  My  o'  drink,  Soirej ! 
woot!**^  Teut.  suppe^  haustus.  Swed.  wp;  Belg.  Teat. 
icpe^  potus.  S.  Goth,  supa^  (usurpatur  de  cibis  junilentis. 
Ihre),  and  in  such  a  ngnifioation  the  word  is  oommon 
among  the  Goniavu,  as  ^*  a  itip  of  broth^,  ^'  a  ntp  of 
gruer',  &o.     Fr.  mntper. 

And  floupyd  off  the  brouwys  a  9ope. 

R.  Coxa  DB  LioVy  v.  9077. 

Sup,  v.  to  swallow,  drink.  Ex.  "  Svp  it  up.''  '*  111  ma 
thee  sup  sorrow  hA  afore  neet.''  S.  Gbth.  9upa ;  Tent. 
supp&n ;  Germ,  suppen ;  A.  Sax.  iupaUy  sorbere. 

Sup  syne  sex  sops,  bat  something  thin. 

MOMTOOMBRV'S  FlgUng. 

And  in  a  paper  he  dooth  &vre  fold  it  up, 
Fastyng  tnre  days,  he  byddeth  that  to  tup. 

The  Hyeway  to  the  Spytta  Ilous,  T.  406. 

SuppiN,  8,  a  form  of  the  substantive  8upj  though  having 
a  more  extended  meaning,  and  being  applicable  gene- 
rally to  any  liquids  soever  that  oan  be  lapped  or 
drunk. 

Sup  up,  v.  to  feed  at  night.  Ex.  ^^  Han  'e  supped  up 
the  bwes  yet!""     ^^  Suppin  up  time."" 

Surrey  lad,  phr,  a  low  and  familiar  address  corrupted 
from  Sirrah  lad.  Ex.  ^How  goes  it  Surrey  ladf^ 
A  friend  informs  me  that  a  dialogue  has  been  heard 
on  a  pit  bank  running  in  this  did^ich ;  the  first  speaker 
being  at  the  top  calls  to  the  one  at  the  bottom, 

Surrey  hah  (pronounced  haw,  for  lythym  sake). 
Wh^  dost  na  draw. 
Ane,    Cos  the  querdle  hurts  my  holly  hah. 

(IsL  boi,  tmncos). 

SwAGLE,  V.  to  swing.    Isl.  8ieeigiay  flectere,  outvare.    Teut. 

toaeffhen,  vacillare.     (See  Waglb.) 
SwAGLE,  8.  a  swing. 
Swale,  8,  a  piece  of  wood  going  from  an  upright  shaft 

in  an  oatmeal  mill  to   one   of  the    wheels.     M.  Goth. 

tealvsy  virga?     Isl.  tola,  taxillus? 


583 


SwANB,  1^.  to  soften,  absorb,  applied  to  a  swelling.     Ex. 

'^Swane  it  away.^    A.  Sax.  tdonian^  minuere. 
Swanky,  s.   very  inferior  small  beer.     A.  Sax.  Btoatan, 

cerevifiia. 
Swap,  o^.  ctean^   quickly,  smartly.     Ex.  "Come  down 
on  the  ground  swap.'*^     A.  Sax.  ewipan ;  Cimb.  svipan^ 
cito  agere.     Isl.  smpan^  motus  subitus. 
And  In  the  same  stoimd 
Al  sodeoly  she  swapi  a  donn  to  sronnd. 

Clbrkb^s  Tak,  v.  8975. 

Swap,  s.  an  exchange.     Ex.  ^'Make  a  steap  with  him.*^ 

Isl.  tktpta,  mutare.  (Brockett.) 

Swap,  v^   to  exchange.     Ex.    "  Swapped  it  away.'** 

I  trow  we  swapped  for  the  worse. 

Ritson's  SeaUUh  Songs,  yoL  iL  p.  48. 

SwABM,  9.  to  climb  a  tree  or  rope.  Id.  fvarmkij 
precipitanter  contreetare. 

3wAT,  i.  sweat,  perspiration.  Ex.  "All  on  a  muek" 
meoit!^  Though  to  ears  polite  this  word  savours  some- 
what of  vulgarity,  yet  it  has  incurred  reprobation  un- 
deservedly ;  for  if  a  word  which  is  purely  Saxon  be 
more  in  analogy  with  the  general  idiom  of  our  tongue, 
than  <me  that  is  corrupted,  or  superinduced  from  the 
Latin,  surely  this  is  not  merely  defensible,  but  the 
more  accurate  expression.    A.  Sax.  swat^  sudor. 

Swat,  -».   to  sweat.     Ex.     "  How  they  9wafn  r 

They  swapped  swords,  and  they  twa  moat. 

Batik  qf  OUerbume. 

Swath,   s.  a  line  of  grass  or  grain  left  by  mowers  in 

the  process   of   cutting.      A.   Sax.    moathy    vestigium: 

scissio. 
SwELSH,  adv.  smack.     Ex.    ^'Came   down  swehA.^     A 

low  word.     We  also  hear  of  "a  steelsh  V  tK  guts.*" 

Teut.  stodeken^  premere. 
SwEPPLE,  8.  the  upper  portion  of  a  thresher's  flail.     IsL 

mpa  ;  A.  Sax.  awip ;  flagellum. 

With  swppyng  of  sw^pyh. 

Tumament  of  Tottenham, 


M     I 


584 

SwERD,  t.  1.  turf,  greensward.  Ex«  ''On  ibe  mMfd,"^ 
A.  Sax.  Mweardy  graminea  eampi  saperfioieB.  2.  skin 
of  bacon.  Ex.  ''Tough  as  baoon  iwerd.'^  A.  Sax. 
sweardj  cutis.  3.  a  sword.  Here  we  retain  the  ori- 
ginal pronunciation  in  accordance  with  the  various  af- 
finities which  the  word  has.  8.  Goth,  iwerd;  Isl.  msml, 
ensis. 

Ony  tweyne  cgppd  twerd, 

WiCLir^s  Neuf  TutameiU,  Ebrewis,  ch.  iv. 

SwBT,  8.  a  crane.     Isl.  twei/,  ansa  rotatilis. 

Swig,  b.     1.    toast   and   ale.     Henoe  any  liquor  which 

is  excellent,  is  termed  ^^pood  nrig  r  and  8.  figuratively, 

"  Tak  a  ttoigr 
Swig,  «.   to  drink,  make  a  draught ;    verbally  used,   it 

is  taken  rather  in  malam  partem,  and  applied  to  one 

who  is  prone  to  drink  immoderately. 
SwiLKBR,  f>,  to  get  shaken  over  the  sides  of  a  vessel, 

as  any  liquid.     Ex.   "The  milk  swiBt^rs  o'er  the  sides 

of  a  pail.^     Teut.  twiekm^  motitare. 
Swill,  9.  a  vesicle  in  the  stomach  of  a  fish ;  sometimes 

termed  a  twirn^    because  without  it,  there  is  an  idea 

that  the  fish  would  $ink.     Isl.  m2»  lactes  piscium. 
Swill,  «.  to  cleanse  out  by  means  of  liquid  application. 

Ex.    ''8wiU  out  a  glass.""     ''SwiU  down  thy  fittfe."" 

A.  Sax.  swiliany  lavare ;  stcilinffy  gargarismus. 
Swings,  v.   to  singe,  by  epenthesis.      A.  Sax.  samffcm; 

Teut.  senffefiy  ustulare. 
Swingeing,   (uij.  vehement,  great,  above  measure.     Ex. 

"  A  mmngeing  hot  day.'"     Is  this  referable  to  the  pre- 
ceding derivations,  or  to  the  Belg.  twindigky  magnus? 
Swinger,   «.    whatever   is   exceesive.      Ex.    "6ie  him  a 

9wingerr   either  a  blow  or  some  sort  of  punishment. 

A.  Sax.  swingan^  flagellare.     Teut.  gwingen^  terere. 
Swingle,  «.  a  swing.     Teut.  iwinghden^  vibrare. 
SwiNNYiNG,   8.    a  dizziness.     Ex.    "  A  swinnying  in  the 

head."'     Teut.  smndelinghe^  vertigo. 


586 


SwiTB,  Thwifr,  r.  1.  to  Bhave  with  a  knife.  Ex.  '^  A 
swited  stick.^  2.  to  cut  as  wood.  Ex.  ^'  Smtinff  pea 
stickings."^  A,  Sax.  thwitan^  cultello  reseoare.  The  oon- 
tinual  interchangiiig  of  8  and  th^  render  these  two 
verbs  identical.  The  latter  form  is  commoner  in  Chaucer 
than  the  former. 

SwivE,  r.  to  cut  wheat  or  beans  with  a  broad  hook. 
A.  Sax.  ittiffon^  circumagi.  Hence  such  kind  of  reapers 
who  for  the  most  part  are  Welshmen,  are  called 

fiwiYSBs;  and  the  sickle  used,  a  bwivino  hook. 


^ 


is  entirely  dropped  in  many  words 
where  it  precedes  «,  and  is  super- 
seded by  ^,  especially  if  there  be  any 
plurality :  thus  do  we  hear  of  shaitp 
frasaeSy  for  sharp  frosts;  of  birdi 
netses  for  birds^  nests;  of  a  few 
crusses  of  breads  for  a  few  crusts  of 
bread. 

When  final,  it  is  converted  into  of,  as  in  nod  for  not : 
an  tohod  nodf  for,  and  what  not !  eannod^  for  cannot : 
tDhodaomdever^  for  whatsoever. 

It  is  often  suppressed  when  properly  terminating  a 
word,  as  step,  for  slept :  ''  as  soon  ss  &  /el  the  warm- 
ship  o^  th'  fire  "^9  for  as  soon  as  he  felt  the  warmth 
of  the  fire :  ind  down,  for  knelt  down :  iep  for  kept. 
Tack,  8.  1.  taste.  Ex.  ''The  ale  has  got  a  taek  o' 
th'  barrel.*^  2.  bad  ale  or  beer  generally.  Ex.  "  This 
drink'^B  poor  taekJ*^  Fr.  tcuAe^  ieche,  teiehe^  qualite,  dis- 
position. (See  Roquef.  Gloss,  de  la  langue  Romane.) 
It  is  invariably  used  by  us  in  a  bad  sense.  The  latter 
sense  is  employed  by  a  figure  from  the  first.  3.  pasture 
taken  by  hire.  Ex.  ''  The  bwes  bin  out  at  tack.'"  This 
rendering  arises  from  a  totally  different  origin,  and  may 
be  taken  as  an  independent  yet  equally  legitimate  word. 
There  seems  to  be  a  point  of  antiquarian  interest  in- 


687 

volved  in  its  signifioatioii  when  we  oome  to  examine 
it.  Camden  in  his  Britannia  gives  a  figmre  of  some 
British  coins  which  he  had  seei^  having  represented 
on  one  side,  a  horse  running  without  a  bridle,  with 
the  inscription,  Tasgia.  Baxter  supposes  that  the  coins 
of  Cunobelen  had  this  word  impressed  on  them  from 
the  Antient  C.  British,  ttueu^  (or  tcuffu  Davies),  onus  im- 
ponere.  It  was  a  tribute  annuallj  exacted  by  the  Ro- 
mans as  a  kind  of  agrarian  impost.  It  therefore  does 
not  seem  improbable  that  in  process  of  time,  whilst  the 
term  was  becoming  corrupted  that  its  signification  should 
grow  more  extended,  and  that  what  had  boen  obnox- 
ious to  a  tax  or  payment  should  itself  receive  under 
a  slightly  modified  form  the  same  appellation.  And 
if  this  conjecture  be  feasible,  the  Shropshire  phrase  of 
^^Aorsea  at  tack'"  is  accounted  for. 

Tadb,  perf.  of  r.  to  take.  Ex.  ^^  Ttide  him  wfadam/'' 
''  Tade  on  him  notion.'' 

Tadious,  at^.  impatient  and  fretful.  Ex.  *'  Orows  mighty 
tadiauSi'"  from  tedious. 

TAiL-Bzn),  8,  sweepings  of  a  bam  floor,  after  wheat  is 
threshed. 

Tak,  r.  1.  to  take.  Ex.  "  Wun  'e  to*  a  drop  o'  drink  T 
In  almost  every  monosyllable  ending  with  ie^  the  word 
is  shortened:  and  like  the  Scotch  we  say  tak,  maiy 
thak^  &c.  for  take,  make,  shake,  &c. 

The  ne'er  a  bed  will  ehe  gae  to 
But  sit  and  tak  the  gee. 

Hsrd's  Scottish  Songs,  vol.  ii.  p.  138. 

2.  "  tak  on,""  to  simulate,  feign.  Ex.  "  Taked  on  him 
nothing."**  S.  "*ai  ater,'^  to  resemble.  Ex.  **  Johnny 
taks  ater  his  feather.''  4.  "  Tak  oj^'  to  imitate,  ridi- 
cule. 5.  "toi  to^"^  to  apprehend,  capture,  seize.  Ex. 
"The  bum  (subaudi,  Bailiff,  Bomb,)  took  to  him  dos 
agen  the  Bridge,''  (i.  e.  the  Iron  Bridge.)  6.  to  marry. 
Ex.  "  He  had  her  afore  I  took  to  her."  7.  to  enter  on 
a  farm.     Ex.    "  Tak  to  it  as  nest  Newyus  day." 


588 


Taks,  f>.  to  blight^  blast.     Ex.  ''  The  fly  has  tarn  the  tiir- 

mita.'^ 

There  he  blasts  the  trees,  and  takm  the  cattk. 

Merry  Wtvei  of  Wind9or,  It.  4. 

Taking,  a.  1.  any  pain  or  uneasiness  of  body  which  can- 
not be  accounted  for.  Ex.  '^  A  takkiff  at  the  stonuich.'" 
Isl.  iak^  pleuritis. 

Strike  her  young  bonea> 

Yoa  taking  aixB^  with  lamenew. 

Lear,  iL  2. 

2.  a  dilenuna.     Ex*  ^'  In  a  pretty  taking.'^ 

Taking,  adj.  captivating,   insinuating:  or,  in  the  sense 
of  infecting,  as  used  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 
For  I  am  yet  too  taking  for  your  company. 

Tallat,  Tallest,  Tallent,  a.  a  hay-loft.  Ex.  ^^  No  hay  up 
i  th'  tattat!^  Here  we  have  a  pure  Shropshire  word,  and 
one,  too,  that  is  of  equally  good  authority.  In  seeking  for 
the  primitive,  the  term  before  us  must  be  dissected,  and 
all  its  letters  excepting  a  and  I  cast  aside  as  superfln- 
ous  in  the  investigation.  These  two  enter  in  a  most 
remarkable  way  into  every  European  language  where  a 
horse  is  signified.  If  absent  under  the  primary,  they 
will  be  discovered  either  in  some  sjrnonym,  or  else  in 
a  dependant  and  inflected  form.  Thus  in  Arabic  al 
means  a  horse.  Vossius  imagines  that  the  Latin  ov- 
haUu8  is  a  word  of  Persian  and  Parthian  origin.  '' Atqui 
Parthorum  equitatus  erant  cameli,  gamal^  et  Persice 
gabaU  dicti.*"  (See  Whiter''8  Etymolog.  Magnum,  p.  157.) 
AL  has  given  rise  to  a  vast  number  of  equestrian  phrases 
in  various  languages,  amongst  which  may  be  enumerated 
the  following.  Showiah,  Awwdah^  a  mare.  Kahn. 
ALtm,  a  hxhter,  Irish,  all  ;  ^all,  <^all,  a  horse. 
ALh-fafki^  a  skittish  horse:  ALL^/bnna,  a  strong  horse 
for  a  journey.  2>tAL,  diAhvody  a  saddle.  Aum^  pan- 
nels,  of  a  saddle.*  ^9»all,  hames.  And  thus  accord- 
ing to  the  ingenious  Valancy,   (See  his  Grammar  of  tke 


589 


IbemfhCdtic^  p.  30.)  Saddle  is  derived  finom  Boid^  a  seat, 
and  ALL  a  hone :  bridle^  from  hrctd  to  govern,  and  all, 
a  horse.  J«al,  an  aw  from  om,  age,  and  all,  because 
that  anhnal  is  remarkable  for  its  longevity;  cowial,  a 
cam^;,  from  eam^  crooked,  and  al.  Ital.  awallo  ;  Sp. 
cahkiAJO ;  Fr.  ehecKL ;  Com.  ^al  ;  (Hmig.  tKij-mo8(hJu^ 
equisetum.  Anglice,  march's  tai/.)  Germ.  Besehxher; 
C.  Brit.  iKiffrwyn^  ea^Ah ;  A.  Sax.  fKUBd ;  O.  Eng. 
CApuh;  with  P\Lfrey^  StALhiany  Foal,  CavAuy.  SAddhe, 
ffALtsr^  8t Ahh,  &c.  Modem  Greek  9X0701^.  Bret.  tAiiAer, 
croupe  de  cheval.  To  these  with  all  good  cause  may 
be  joined,  the  Salopian  word  Tallat.  I  have  had  it 
suggested  to  me  that  the  word  is  a  corruption  of 
"^A^  Aay-fo/i,''  by  Syncope,  faylofi,  taylafi,  taylat,  tal- 
lat. But  it  seems  to  me  more  reasonable  to  regard 
it  in  the  light  of  a  thoroughly  legitimate  word,  as  being 
neither  tralatitious,  or  vitiated:  for  "the  hay-loft'*''  is 
known  throughout  Shropshire,  among  all  classes  by  no 
other  designation  than  "^A^  taUat^  nor  does  it  seem 
probable  that  a  mere  corruption  should  have  acquired 
such  universal  currency.  And  upon  looking  into  the 
Glossaries  of  Britton,  Jennens  and  Palmer,  I  find  the 
word  in  use  in  Wiltshire,  Somersetshire  and  Devon- 
shire, which  at  all  events  goes  to  prove  that  though 
it  may  be  a  provincialism,  it  certainly  cannot,  from 
having  such  extended  circulation,  be  considered  a  word 
that  is  either  vitiated  or  superinduced. 

Tan,  «?.  one  of  the  numerous  modes  expressive  of  oas- 
tigation.     Ex.  "  Til  tan  thy  hide  lad."" 

Tane,  perf.  of  f>.  to  take.     Ex.  "  Tarn  ill.'' 

Some  eat  man's  flesh,  and  capdyes  tane  in  warre. 

Fairfax's  Tano,  xv.  28. 

Tang,  8.  a  sweet  or  pleasant  sound.     Quite  changed  from 

its  primitive  meaning  in  the  Teut.  tangher^  asper  gustu. 

Very  good  words:  there's  a  tang  in  'em,  and  a  sweet  one. 

Fair  Maid  qf  the  Inn. 
But  she  had  a  tongue  with  a  tang. 

BaUad  quoted  hy  Narxs  sub  voce. 


590 


Tano,  €.  to  make  a  harsh  difloordant  noifle  by  striking 
against  a  piece  of  metal:  a  word  chiefly  used  in  re- 
ference to  the  swarming  of  bees.  Ex.  ■'  Tang  the  fry- 
ingpan,  and  they''n  (they  wiUen,  i.  e.  will)  soon  knitt.^ 
Tout*  iangkmkt  tintinare. 

Let  thy  tongae  tang  annments  of  state. 

Tw^fth  N%s^,  iL  6. 

This  is  a  favorable  opportunity  for  mentioning  some 
of  the  inscriptions  around  bells  in  different  churches  in 
the  county.  There  are  for  instance  found  round  two  at 
BrrTBRLEY  the  words 

Hie  8ono  que  melis  cmnpana  vocor  gabiielis. 
Jesu  le  aeiffne  aeynt  anne  per  le  ordyiuumoe  aleiartuiys. 
Que  diy  asoile  punagaunt  mercy. 

Round  one  at  Stirchlet  : 

Ad  laudem  petri  fit  soniiB  iste  mei. 
On  one  at  Clbobury  Mortimer: 

Petri  campanam  vocor  et  Pauli  modo  aanam. 
At  Stanton  super  Hineheath,  there  is  this  motto : 

Sancta  Maria  viigo  intercede  pro  toto  mundo. 
Round  one  at  Middle: 

Petrus  Apostolus  et  Paulus  Doctor  gentium. 
At  Berrington  : 

Fait  homo  missus  a  Deo  cni  nomen  erat  Johannis. 
Round  one  at  Munslow  : 

Campana  Marice  yiigims  egregie  vocor. 

At  Baschurch: 

Jesus  Nazarens  rex  Judeorum. 
Maria:  int:  iaer:  ous:   heren:  M:  CCCC:  ende:  xivo:  ian: 
van:  Venice. 

Round  one  at  Aston  Botterell: 

Pellantur  merito  Petri  Pectoris  ictu. 

Round  one  at  Hodnett:  • 

Tn  es  Petrus  et  super  hanc  petram  edificabo  eodesiAm  meam. 

Round  one  at  Frees  : 

Mentem  sanctam  spontaneum 
honorem  deo  et  patris  liberacionem. 


591 

Bound  the  great  bell  at  Tono: 

Ad  landem  dei  patris  omnipotentis  beats  MarisD  et  Sancti  Bar- 
tholomeL 

Henricns  Vernon  Miles  istam  campanam  fieri  fedt.  Founder^s 
belL    151  & 

Round  the  sixth  bell : 

Virgo  regina  ccelorum  fiinde  preces  ad  filium  pro  salute  fidelium. 
Willins  Fitzharbert. 

Round  three  bells  at  Clungunford: 

Cuthberti  piece  dulce  sonet  et  amene 
Missi  de  coelis  habeo  nomen  gabrielis 
Eternis  annis  reaonet  campana  Johannis. 

Round  one  at  Uptow  Magna: 

Voce  mea  vivo  depello  cuncta  nodya. 
In  17S0,  round  the  great  beD  of  the  Abbey  of  St  Peter 
and  St  Paul,   in  Shrewsbury,   there  were  these  lines, 
but  it  has  since  been  recast: 

Protega:  Pura:  Pia:  quos  convooo: 
Virgo:  Maria. 
Sancta  Wyne&ida  Deo  nos  oommendare  memento. 
Ut  pietate  sua  nos  aervet  ab  hoste  craento. 

Tansel,  «.  to  chastise.     Ex.  ''  Tansd  your  jacket.'*''    Ital. 

tangare ;    Fr.  tancety  corriger.  Roquef.  Gloss. 
Tabkebs,    8.    harvest   labourers,    reapers    who    for    the 

most    part    work    by    the    acre,    and    not    the    day. 

Ex.    '^  My  own    men   bin   a  cutting   the  lent    tillin, 

and  the  taskers  a-swiving  the  wheat.^^     Teut.   taeckse^ 

pensum. 
Tasking,  part,  working  in  harvest  by  the  acre.    Ex.  ^'  He'^s 

left  his  plack  at  the  pits  and  gwon  a  tcuking.^ 
Taskwork,  8.  work  taken  by  piece.     Ex.  ^'  My  present 

job  is  taskwork.^  Teut.  taeck8^erky  pensum.   ^^  Travailler 

k  la  tSohe,  et  non  pas  k  la  joumee.'"    Richelet. 
Tatching-end,  8>  the  waxed  hempen  string  with  which 

shoes  are  sewn. 
Tather,  9.  1.  to  tether.     Belg.  Fris.  Teut.  tudder^  vincire 

peoora  in  pascuis.  2.  to  lay  out  any  kind  of  work. 


592 


Tathebing  Chain,  $.  a  chain  by  whiob  work  is  laid  out 
and  planned.  Id.  tiudr^  funis,  quo  equoe  vel  peoora 
ligant,  ne  vagentur.     Fr.  tead^  funis, 

Taturs,  to  settle  his  ;  phr.  '^  To  iettle  a  manV  taiun^ 
implies  either  to  give  him  a  sound  thrashing,  or  to  bring 
him  to  account  for  his  misdeeds.  In  other  counties  such 
a  method  of  proceeding  is  termed  ^^iMling  his  koA.'^ 
We  discipline  the  refractory  upon  the  vegetable  only. 

Tatdr-tbap,  8.  a  low  term  for  the  mouth.  Ex.  ^^  Shut 
thy  tatur4rap^ 

Tat,  €.  to  take.  Ex.  '^  Tay  hout  on  it  wunne  T  Make 
undergoes  a  similar  mutation.  Ex.  ^'  Whod  dunn^e  may 
that  nise  for  r 

Tjsart^  adj.  1.  sharp.  Ex.  ''A  teafi  frosty  morning,^  ^''tcari 
weather.'"  2.  smart,  severe,  painful.  Ex.  ^^  A  teart  blow 
with  a  squitch.'"'*  In  this  instance  pronounced  ihckurt. 
A  word  of  general  acceptation  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Ludlow,  but  scarcely  known  in  other  districts.  Al- 
though I  was  frequently  in  the  habit  of  hearing  it  in 
that  quarter  about  twenty  years  back,  whether  fix>m 
the  increased  influence  of  education  and  consequent  dif- 
fusion of  new  terms  among  the  lower  classes,  in  this 
interval;  or  whether  it  really  be,  as  I  suspect,  con- 
fined exclusively  to  the  Western  side  of  the  county, 
it  has  not  even  once  struck  upon  my  ears  during  the 
whole  of  this  interval,  and  would  periiaps  have  escaped 
my  recollection  altogether,  had  it  not  recently  been  re- 
called to  my  mind,  with  some  others,  by  the  singular 
kindness  of  the  Rev.  John  Rocke  of  Clungunford  House. 
We  are  so  perfectly  the  slaves  of  custom  in  conver- 
sational forms,  that  the  very  fact  of  a  word  being  used 
by  the  inferior  orders,  is  sufficient  at  once  to  subject  it 
to  animadversion.  It  becomes  stigmatised  as  quite  un- 
fit for  polite  ears,  under  an  affected  and  ignorant  notion 
that  their  use  of  any  term  which  sounds  unusual,  should 
therefore  be  unsanctioned  and  barbarous.      In  ecoiBe- 


593 


quence  of  this,  many  good  old  terms  have  been  mi- 
hesitatingly  condemned,  and  modem  substitutes  employ- 
ed in  their  place.  The  Oallidzed  votaries  of  fashion, 
the  conventional  slang  of  thieves  and  pickpockets,  po- 
lice reports  or  trials  at  the  Old  Bailey  have  been  the 
means  of  giving  currency  to  numberless  words  which 
are  now  daily  used.  It  must  willingly  be  granted  that 
the  lower  orders  in  an  agricultural  district  stand  excused 
from  the  imputation  of  having  recklessly  adulterated  the 
vernacular  tongue*  They  have  doubtlessly  coined  some 
new  forms  of  speech,  but  these  are  comparatively  few : 
and  hence  they  do  not  lie  open  to  the  charge  of  having 
tralatitiously  introduced  words  and  phrases.  They 
rarely  superinduce  terms.  Their  style  of  conversation  is 
for  the  most  part  natural  and  unconstrained,  their 
words  primitive,  appositely  applied,  and  forcible ;  and 
it  is  only  when  departing  from  the  true  idiom  of  the 
English  tongue,  or  when  they  use  words  in  imitation 
of  their  betters,  which  are  borrowed  from  the  Greek, 
the  Latin,  or  the  French,  that  they  trip,  and  provoke 
our  ridicule.  As  long  as  they  confine  their  choice  of 
words  to  those  which  are  most  strictly  in  analogy  with 
the  English  language,  they  never  either  misapply  them, 
or  mistake  their  signification.  It  is  this  method  of 
speaking  which  so  frequently  gives  that  vigorous,  and  even 
graceful  and  touching  spirit  to  their  descriptions,  such 
as  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  more  learned  and  polished 
writers.  A  pleasing  and  agreeable  simplicity  manifests 
itself  in  their  conversational  phrases.  Natural  objects 
furnish  them  with  ideas,  and  influence  their  style. 
Hence  they  are  enabled  to  couple  with  convenient 
brevity,  a  succinctness,  which  enables  us  readily  to 
enter  into  the  feelings  of  the  speaker.  With  all  our 
accessions  from  classical  sources,  and  our  idiom  acquired 
(rom  modem  languages,  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
spirit  and  character  of  the  English  tongue   has  been 


594 


proportionaJbly  elevated.  Something  may  have  been 
gained  in  el^ance  and  aoeuracy,  but  little  in  point 
and  Btrength.  Indeed,  by  having  repudiated  numeroua 
terms  of  ancient  standing  under  the  8uppo8iti<«  that 
they  are  low,  local,  or  inharmonious,  we  have  greatly 
contracted  our  oral  powers,  and  variety  of  ezpreBsion. 
Tbabt  is  one  of  those  words  which  have  thus  fallen  into 
desuetude,  and  nearly  into  oblivion.  Yet  it  is  a  sound 
and  an  authorised  epithet,  coming  down  to  us  intact 
from  the  A.  Sax.  teart^  asper,  severus;  Sclav,  terd ;  Polon. 
twardtfj  id. 
TsDD,  V.  to  break  open  grass  from  a  sirott,  (q.  v.)  and 
scatter  it  thinly  over  the  surface.  C.  Brit,  tedd/it ;  M. 
Goth.  tcAgan^  lacerare ;  A.  Sax.  tedrian^  tenerescere. 

The  laas  of  Peaty's  Mill, 

So  bonny,  blytk,  and  gay. 
In  spite  of  all  my  skill. 

Hath  stole  my  heart  away 
When  tedding  of  the  hay. 

Herd's  SooUUh  Songs,  voL  L  p.  276. 

Teeny,  adj,  small :  softened  from  tiny^  or  else  used  as 
a  diminutive,  as,  ^^  a  little  teeny  bit  of  a  thing." 

Tensight,  adv.  tentimes.  Ex.  "I'd  t^nslffht  rather."*'  When 
not  in  a  compound  form,  the  latter  syllable  is  used  to 
denote  qaa/ntUy^  or  nwmbery  in  the  same  sense  as  power 
is  also  used :  as  "  a  sight  of  money;''  "  a  right  of  people  :*" 
*'  a  power  of  work  :*"  "  a  power  (not  pour)  of  rain,"**  for  a 
quantity,  or  in  true  Salopian  orthoepy,  quaintUty^  of  any 
of  these.  None  of  them  can  be  deemed  deviations  from 
correctness  and  propriety,  seeing  that  they  are  figura- 
tive expressions  continually  used  by  ancient  as  well  as 
later  poets.  (See  Remarks  under  Strength.)  Tensight^ 
however,  is  not  merely  sanctioned  by  its  occurrence  in 
Piers  Plouhman's  Vision,  but  it  is  deduced  from  the  A. 
Sax.  ten^  decem,  and  sith^  vicis.   This  is  idle  comment,  and 

To  teche  the  ten  comaundements  were  tennthe  better. 

P.  Plouhmait,  276. 

Thatn,  TftATNs,  adv,  that  way.     Like  the  loeni  we  pre- 


595 

fix  the  expletive.  Ex.  "  If  'ad  done  it  a-tiain/'  Ac- 
cording to  Mr  Wilbraham,  Robert  of  Olo'ster  has 
thisne  for  this.  (See  his  exoeUent  note  on  the  word.) 
Derbyshire. 
Thbtch,  «.  to  thatch.  Some  modern  rhymer  has  struck 
off  the  foUowing  distich,  which  a  Salopian  ear  will  im- 
mediately recognise  as  having  been  written  by  a  native. 

Says  the  theUAer  to  his  mm 
Lets'  rare  the  iather  if  a  oon; 
Says  the  mon  unto  the  thetdier. 
Lets  ka  the  drink — and  rare  it  aiter. 

An  earlier  poet  says, 

In  daubyng  and  m  delyyng  in  donge  a  feld  beiynge 
In  thresshyng  in  thettdijfnge  in  thwy^rnge  pynneSb 

P.  Plouhman^  138. 

Teut.   decleuy   instemere.     A.  Sax.  thscanj  thacian^  in- 

tegere.     Gt.  rtOijfu. 

Thirl,  9.  to  pierce,  drill.     A.  Sax.  thirlian,  perforare. 

Al  were  they  sore  yhort,  and  namely  on. 
That  with  a  spere  was  ^rled  his  brest  bone. 

Knightks  Tale,  v.  2712. 
TMrkf  thron  my  hevy  heart 

Momtooiibry's  Poenu, 
Ther  was  tkurkd  mony  a  side. 

Kyng  Alisaundbr,  y.  2415. 

Thisn,  Thisns,  €u1v.  this  way..     Ex.  ^'  Do  it  a  thim^'' 

Thorough  go,  8,  laxity  of  body.  Ex.  ^'  Got  the  thorough 
go.'"     "  The  thorough  go  nimble^ 

Thrashall,  s,  a  threshing  flail.  A.  Sax.  thened^  trito- 
rimn. 

Thravb,  8,  twenty-four  sheaves  of  wheat,   or  the  same 

nmnber  of  bolting8   (q.  v.)   of  straw.      Ex.    '^Twenty 

thrave  to  the  acre.''"     A.  Sax.  threaf,  manipuhis.     The 

Boke  of  St  Albans  speaks  of  a  thrave  of  threshers. 

He  sends  forth  thraivee  of  ballads  to  the  sale. 

Hall's  Satires,  iY.  6. 

Thrbap,  v.  to  beat,  chastise.  Ex.  '^Oie  him  a  good 
threaping^  A.  Sax.  thri/dan^  verberare.  Isl.  drepa^ 
peroutere« 

as-a 


596 


Thrbb-quarterkd  Goal,  s.  a  measure  of  good  coal,  whidi 
lies  above  the  Bauble  coal. 

Thripplbs,  $.  moveable  bars  of  wood  which  are  affixed 
to  the  Bides  of  carts  or  wagons  to  enlarge  their  ca- 
pacity for  carrying  grain.     A.  Sax.  rt/>,  messis! 

Thbom,  Thbum,  prep,  firom.  Ex.  ''  Thrum  to'art  Shra- 
den,^  that  is,  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Shawardine, 
county  Salop.  I  know  of  no  other  similar  conversion 
of  the  F  into  tb,  unless  it  be  the  Attic  BvXXoVf  for 
fpvXKov:  6\aw  for  <p\uwj  and  cKvBiK  for  cKu^^oi.  (See 
this  last  word  in  Athenseus.)  Surely  our  form  must 
be  extremely  dialectical. 

Thruno,  8.  and  fD.  for  throng. 

And  it  bifelde  the  while  he  wente  he  was  tkrunffun  of  the  pnple. 

WicLiF's  New  Test.  Luk.  viiL 

Thrusfubld,  8,  a  thrush. 

Thrushes,  b.  a  disease  incidental  to  horses.  M.  Goth. 
ikr^B^  lepra;  thrtOna,  tumescere.  Germ,  drtue,  tuber- 
culum. 

Thundbb  bolt,  $.  the  common  com  poppy.  In  North- 
amptonshire, BdemnUee  are  caUed  so. 

Thunk,  b.  a  thong:  according  to  a  habit  which  the 
lower  classes  have  of  changing  g  final  into  i :  this  is 
therefore  a  corruption  of  the  right  word.     Tim  Bobbin. 

Thwite,  9.  to  cut  by  slices  or  peel :  the  same  as  Swttb* 

In  thresshyng,  in  thettchyne,  in  thioytynge  of  pynnes. 

P.  Flouhman. 

TicB,  «.  to  encourage,  or  entice,  from  which  latter  word 

it  is  by  aphseresis  taken.     Ex.  '^  To  tice  his  appetite.'*' 

And  tmng  baites  laid  forth  of  lust  and  love. 

Fairfax's  Taeeo,  xv.  68. 

TmDLE,  €.  to  rear  tenderly.  Ex.  ''They'n  always  tid- 
died  him  soa,  's  likely  to  be  a  wekly  un.^  Isl.  tUOy 
res  tenera. 

Tiff,  b.  a  slight  variance  closely  verging  upon  a  rupture. 
Ex.  "A  little  tiff.''    Germ,  hief,  jurgium. 

Tiff,  v.  to  quarrel.     Germ,  kmfen ;   Belg.  tyven^  juigari. 


697 


Till,  conj.  than.  Ex.  "Chepper  till  tha.tr  "Better 
tiU  they  bin.'^^  Invariably  used  in  this  way  by  the 
lower  orders  in  Northamptonshire. 

TiLCiN,  8.  crop,  produce,  whether  it  be  of  wheat  or  lent 
grain.  Ex.  "  When  the  ^'S«V«  ripe.''  '' The  #«St9i  looks 
frum  like.**^     A.  Sax.  tUday  iylung^  a^cultnra,  fruotus. 

TiMBERsoMB,  odj.  light,  active. 

TiMMY,  adj.  fearful. 

TufMERsoME,  adj.  timorous,  from  which,  with   the  pre- 

*  ceding  it  is  taken. 

TiND,  o.  to  light,  kindle.  Ex.  ''Han  'e  tifuded  the 
fire  r  ''  The  fire  tinds  up.""  Isl.  t&ndra;  Dan.  tcBnder; 
A.  Sax.  tendon^  accendere.     Coles  has  tin  the  candle. 

Ne  me  teendUh  not  a  lanteme  and  puttith  it  undir  a  bmhel. 

Wiclif's  Neio  Tett.  Matth.  v. 
Coals  of  contention  and  hot  vengeance  tin'd. 

Faery  Queen. 
As  late  the  clouds 
JnstUng^  or  push'd  with  winds^  rude  in  their  shocks 
Tine  the  slant  lightning. 

Par.  Loet,  x.  10?a 

Tine,  «.  to  intertwine  or  mend  as  a  hedge.  Versti- 
gan  gives  hetined  in  his  list  of  old  words,  and  adds, 
''We  use  yet  in  some  parts  of  England  to  say  ^ 
fling  for  hedging.    A.  Sax.  tynan;  Teut.  tuynen,  sepire. 

Tines,  «.  the  prongs  or  grains  (q.  v.)  of  a  fork.  Verel. 
in  Indie,  tinne^  dens  sarculi  vel  rastis,  diminutivum  a 
tanny  dens.     Swed.  tinne^  id. 

Tip,  Tips,  v.  to  overturn,  upset :  by  which  means  the 
top  or  tip  (Isl.  tgppi^t  summitas  rei),  becomes  undermost. 
2.  to  intimate.  Ex.  "  Tip  him  a  wink.^  Swed.  tippa^ 
aliquem  leviter  percutere.  Hence  a  tip-staff,  or  sheriff^s 
officer. 

Trmr,  8,  1.  the  teat  or  breast.  2.  figuratively,  milk 
from  the  mother^s  breast.  Isl.  tita;  C.  Brit,  teth;  A. 
Sax.  tit ;  Teut.  Fris.  Sicamb.  Grerra.  titte  ;  Franc,  tuito  ; 
Ital.  tetta ;    Sp.  teta ;   Fr.  tetes ;    Gr.  nrfl*;,  mamma. 

To\rt;    ar.   used   definitely;    thus    T    hear    people   say 


598 


they  will  do  a  thing  ^'  UPart  Wednesday,^'  when  I  know 
they  intend  to  signify  that  they  will  do  it  positively 
on  that  particular  day. 

ToART,  adt,  towards,  abbreviated  thus,  ^otoaitb,  toward^ 
towart^  Ufafi.  Ex.  ^'Raining  Ufart  Stretton^:  whidi, 
from  its  hilly  country  attracts  a  superabundance  of 
wet,  as  common  people  report  of  the  nature  of  the 
climate  there. 

Tom  Noup,  «.  the  common  tit-mouse.     Parus,  Linn. 

ToNo,  «.  to  toll,  or  make  to  speak  as  a  bell.  Ex.  ^^  Tanji 
the  bell.^  The  Teut.  tanffhm^  tintinnire,  properly  ap- 
plies to  a  ting  tang,  or  small  church  bell ;  this  to  a  large 
heavy  one,  the  great  bell.  Thus  we  should  say,  tonyue 
or  tung  the  bell,  make  it  sound ;  from  the  substantive, 
in  the  Dan.  A.  Sax.  tunffe ;  Swed.  ttrnpa ;  Ir.  teanffa ; 
Belg.  tange ;  Teut.  tanghe ;  Germ,  tunge ;  M.  Goth,  iuggo ; 
lingua.     Gr.  <p66yyos^  is  appositely  adduced  by  Junius. 

Tongue  Walk,  <y.  to  abuse  or  scold.  Ex.  "  Pretty  well 
Umgue-fcaUsed  him."'' 

Top  Goal,  8.  as  the  term  implies,  it  is  the  uppermost  of 
the  coal  measures,  and  considered  the  best  for  iiiel. 

Top-full,  adj.  I.  full  to  the  brim.  And  ironically,  a 
drinking  vessel  is  said  to  be  top-fuU  of  emptiness,  when 
there  is  not  any  liquid  in  it.  2.  depressed,  low.  Ex. 
"  TcpfuU  of  poverty,  with  twelve  children.*" 

Topping  and  Tailing,  phr.  to  prepare  gooseberries  for  eat- 
ing, or  potatoes  for  setting,  by  ridding  of  their  excres- 
cences.    Swed.  toppa^  summitates  recidere. 

ToE-piTCH,  8,  a  wild  sort  of  vetch. 

ToRMiT,  TuRMiT,  &c.  8.    uscd  coDtinually  for  twmip, 

ToRRiL,  8.  a  term  of  depreciation  applied  in  an  offensive 
sense  to  a  female,  or  to  lessen  the  good  qualities  of  a 
horse.  Ex.  "  Such  a  torril  as  yo  bin.**"  "  Yone  got  a  top 
of  a  pretty  torril!"    Isl.  tor^  particula  difficultatem  notans. 

Tot,  *.  a  small  cup  or  liquid  measure.  Ex.  "  Oly  (only) 
just  a  Mful  o'drink.''     Teut.  tote-pot ;    tuyte^  cirnea. 


599 

ToTELY,  adv.  gently.     Ex.  ''  Take  it  tately^  yone  got  lots 
o"*  time.^^     Swed.  tota,  conatu  agendum  suscipere. 
ToTLB,  «.  a  totful.     (See  remarks  under  Hantle.) 
ToTTT,  oti^'.  unsteady,  giddy,  light-headed  firom  excefisive 
drinking.     Teut.  tauteren,  leviter  moveri. 

About  xij  of  the  docke  home  he  came,  and  as  he  stode 
wannynge  him  by  the  fyre  his  hedde  was  so  tottye,  that  he 
felle  into  the  fyre.  Tales  and  Quidce  AnswereSy  p.  6. 

Tow,  adj.  tough.  Just  as  the  word  was  used  by  our 
native  poet  five  centuries  ago. 

Aien  tydyor  and  tower, 

P.  Plouhman,  211. 

Towing  Line,  «.  a  rope  aflixed  to  boats  or  barges  by  which 
they  are  drawn  along  the  surface  of  the  water.  A.  Sax. 
teoffan,  ducere;    toh-liney  remulcum. 

The  sails  were  o'  the  light  green  silk. 
The  tows  o'  taffety. 
The  Lass  of  Lochroyan.    (Minstrely,  iii.  202.) 

»  They  powd  hir  in  a  pair  o'  sheits, 

And  towd  hir  owre  the  wa. 

Percy's  Reliques,  vol.  i.  p.  122. 

TowiNo  Path,  «.    the  path  along  which  horses  go  when 

attached  to  the  tomng-line. 
Trace-sides,  8.  traces  separated :  pronounced  trdaee-aides. 
Tram,  s.     1.    a  strong  low  wagon   used  for  conveying 

heavy  merchandise.    Germ.  S.  Goth.  tr<Hn^  trabs :  and 

hence  a  rail  road  which  is  adapted  for  carriages  double 

the  ordinary  size,  is  called  a  Tram-road. 
Trapse,  «.  to  walk  indolently,  or  like  a  slattern,   to  go 

backwards  and  forwards  to  the  inconvenience  of  some 

one.     Ex.  '^  Trapesing  in  and  out  of  the  wet.**'     Teut. 

trabm^  discussare ;  Belg.  drahhen^  cursitare. 
Trbaolb-wag,  9.  weak  beer  made  from  treacle. 
Treadle,  s.  a  foot  board  attached  to  any  kind  of  wheel, 

spinning  or  otherwise,  to  give  the  motion. 
Trib,  9.  a  wooden  ball  which  is  used  to  play  at  a  game 

not  much  unlike  "  trap-baH.**'     (See  the  HaJIams.  Gloss. 


i 


600 

under  Trip.)    My  infomumt  sayB  it  properiy  sigiiifies  the 

hole  into  which  the  ball  falls. 
Trickle,  Trioolb,  «.  to  drip.     Ex.  ''  The  waiter  (water) 

trieUed  all  down  my  baok.^     Gaw.  Dooglas,  triffUkmd; 

trigU.     Chauo.  triMe.     S.Goth.    triOa,  rotare;    iiUa, 

gttttatim  decidere.  C.  Brit,  treigl^  revolutio. 
Trickling,  b.     I .  the  smaller  intestines  of  a  pig  or  sheep ; 

those  guts  which  are  used  for  sausages.     A.  Sax.  trig^ 

alveuB.     2.  Thk  Burf  Trickling,  (v.  Abdon  Burf,) 
Trig,  «.  a  small  gutter.     A.  Sax.  trig^  alveus. 
Trimplb,   «.     to   tread  lightly;    to  walk  lamely.      Ex. 

*^  Comes  irimfUng  along  on  his  orutches.'"  Swed.  trampa ; 

Belg.  drempdm  ;  Teut.  irippeimi  oalcare. 
Trolly,  s.  a  low,  strong,  broad  wheeled  wagon.    C.  Brit. 

troell,  rota. 
Troubus,    9.    to    arrest,   summon    before   a   magistrate, 

serve  with  a  warrant.     Ex.   '^  Went  and  fat  tratMe  for 

him." 
Trous,  $.  rough  wood  generally,  such  as  is  used  for  the 

purpose   of  mending  hedges;  thorns   loose  or  tied  as 

&gots.     A  very  old,  and  excellent  word.     Isl.  trj^  quis- 

qilise  ;   Teut.  Belg.  tros  ;  Germ,  trou ;  Swed.  tmtz ;   C. 

Brit,  trwia ;  Sp.  trosa ;    Fr.  irowte^  fasois.     Lat.  Barb. 

irausM.     (See  Du  Gange  under  Trodssa.)     And  hoioe 

has  arisen  the  more  known  word  Trusty  as  ^^  a  trui9  of 

hag^  because  it  is  made  up  in  a  certain  quantity. 
Zef  thy  wed  ys  ytake  bring  horn  the  troict, 

Rrrso!?s  Ancient  Songt,  p.  36. 
And  dry  treyis  (trous?)  that  wele  wald  brin. 

Trb  Bruce,  xvii.  613. 

Trow,  «.  a  wide  flat  bottomed  barge.  A.  Sax.  Oerm.  Isl. 
trog ;  Teut.  troch^  linter.  The  same  kind  of  vessel  was 
probably  meant  by  the  author  of  the  Metrical  Romance 
of  Richard  Coer  de  Lion,  when  describing  the  navy,  he 
says, 

Agaynes  hem  comen  her  naveye^ 
Cogges,  and  dromoundes,  many  galeye, 
Berges,  schoutes,  trayeres  fele.  v.  4785. 


601 


Truff,  8,  a  trough,  pronounoed  short  and   sharp.     In 

CambridgeBhire,  trauf:  in  Northamptonshire,  iroaf:  in 

Guernsey,  trate. 
TuMBLiNo-sHAFT,  8.  a  spiudle  rod  in  an  oatmeal  mill,  which 

lies  under  the  floor. 
Tumbrel,  8.   a  strong,  heavy  sort  of  cart,  used  solely  for 

agricultural  purposes.    Fr.  iwnbereU^  a  tumbrell  or  dung 

cart.  Cotgrave.  Lat.  Barb,  twnbrellum. 

To  drag  his  tumbreU  through  the  staring  cheap. 

Bp.  Hall's  Satires,  v. 

Tummy,  8.  provisions,  given  to  miners  in  a  manufacturing 
district  in  lieu  of  money. 

Tummy  Shop,  8.  a  shop  where  the  article  of  Tummy  is 
distributed.  These  words  had  their  birth  in  Stafford- 
shire, where  the  truck  system  prevailed  a  few  years 
back  to  such  an  oppressive  degree,  that  it  became  need- 
ful for  the  legislature  to  interfere,  and  protect  the 
lower  orders  against  the  degrading  system  pursued  by 
their  employers.  To  the  credit  of  Shropshire  Iron 
Masters  nothing  besides  the  name  ever  reached  the 
county. 

Tump,  8.  a  hoard,  hod^  or  heap  of  potatoes  covered  with 
soil,  for  their  better  preservation  during  winter.  This 
is  one  of  the  singularly  few  words  we  have  borrowed  from 
the  Welsh.  C.  Brit,  tttmpath^  'a  hillock,  a  knap,  a 
tump.'*   Davies.     Hence  the  verb 

Tump,  v.  expressive  of  placing  potatoes  or  turnips  in  such 
a  situation. 

Tup,  8.  a  ram.  This  is  clearly  not  provincial,  but  as  most 
of  my  predecessors  have  admitted  the  word  into  their 
glossaries,  I  think  it  right  to  insert  it  in  mine,  were  it 
merely  for  the  sake  of  shewing  that  it  cannot  be  reason- 
ably considered  either  as  of  unfrequent  occurrence,  or 
dialectical. 

TuppiN,  part,  or  rather  a  phrase  which  expresses  a  pecu- 
liar state  of  excitement  incidental  to  ewes. 


602 

TuBFiNo  Spade;  $.  Worlidge  in  his  Sysiema  Agricultune, 
explaiiis  this  word  precisely  in  the  sense  in  which  we 
take  it  at  the  present  day.  He  says  '*  one  sort  is  made 
very  thin,  light  and  sharp,  with  a  socket  to  put  the  stail 
in,  like  the  hedging-bill;  the  Bit  very  short,  and  not 
very  broad :  in  shape  much  like  a  spade  in  cards :  of 
very  great  use  to  some  (though  hardly  known  to  others) 
to  undercut  the  turf  after  it  is  marked  out  with  a  irmici' 
ing  plough,^  p.  227. 

Tush,  v.  to  draw  a  heavy  weight,  as  t'Odiing  timber ;  to 
tush  bags  about.  As  this  word  is  common  to  Here- 
fordshire  and  Shropshire,  there  is  the  best  presump- 
tion for  saying  that  it  has  not  been  superinduced,  which 
the  want  of  a  close  derivation  might  reasonably  lead 
us  to  infer.     Tout,  tuysehen^  permutare  ? 

Tushes,  8,    tusks.     Ex.    ''  The  boar's  tushesr     A.  Sax. 

tux ;  Gael,  twtg^  dens  maxillaris. 

He  wette  his  tostthea  and  his  fet 

The  Sbuyn  Saobs^  y.  911  and  914. 

A  short  beek,  and  a  croked  tayl 

He  hath^  and  bores  tu99h,  saunz  fayle. 

Kyno  Alisaunder^  v.  5189  and  6546. 

Tussock,  8.  a  bunch  or  tuft  of  dried  grass,  coarse  knots  of 

grass.     C.  Brit,  ttoysg^  a  little  heap. 
TussocKY,  a^.  land  filled  with  tu89oek8, 
TwAGB,  TwEAo,  «.  to  twcak.     A.  Sax.  twiccia%  vellicare. 
TwALY,  adj.  vexed,  poorly,  out  of  humour.     Ex.  "The 

children  bin   fretchet  and  my  wife^s   tftxjUy,'"     A.  Sax. 

tweogan^  fluctuare.    "  Twily^  restless,  wearisome.'*^     Jen- 

nens. 
TwEAo,  $.  doubt,  perplexity.     ''^  To  be  in  a  tweap'^  is  a 

phrase  of  long  standing,  and  not  peculiarly  diaJectical. 

(See  Junius,  sub  voce.)  A. Sax.  tweogan^  dubitare;  tweoung, 

dubium.     Swed.  tttekan^  perplexitas. 
TwBAGER,  8.  a  thin  hoop  which  binds  up  the  head  of  a  be- 
som;   sometimes   called  pludie8^   (q.  v.)     Belg.  twekefi^ 

relligare. 


603 

TwEBRs,  8.  beDowB  at  an  iron  furnace. 

TwiooBN  Wallet,  $,  a  hamper.     Although  this  has  been 

censured  as  an  momate  term,  it  sounds  to  my  ears  quite 

as  correct  and  poetical  as  the  word  which  Shakspeare 

uses  in  a  threat  of  Othello,  when  he  says, 

111  beat  the  kns^re  iBto  a  twiggm-bottle. 

OtheOo,  ii.  3. 

TwiNK,  9.  to  divide,  separate,  as  weeds  from  newly  ploughed 
land.  An  agricultural  phrase  of  great  purity.  Ex.  ^'^Twinn 
ning  to  tak  away  the  scutch.*^"  Isl.  tvinna ;  Dan.  tmnder; 
A.  Sax.  twinan;  Teut.  tvninein^  duplicare.  R.  of  Brunne. 
Lyndsay.     Chaucer. 

Trowe  oat.  that  I  woll  hem  tmnne, 
MHiaii  in  her  love^  there  is  no  sinne. 

ROMAUNT  OP  THB  ROSB^  V.  5077. 

Her  loue  might  no  man  twin* 

Sir  Tristrem.    Fytte,  ii.  60. 
We  shall  not  tioin,  sir,  all  this  night. 

Sir  Gray  Steel,  v.  2239. 
I  may  not  fra  yow  twyn. 

The  Muming  Maiden. 

Twins,  a  pair  of,  s.  an  agricultural  implement  adapted 
to  the  foregoing  purpose. 

TwiTCHEL,  9.  1 .  to  castrate  in  a  peculiar  way  by  means  of 
a  cleft  stick.  (See  Wilbraham,  sub  voce.)  2.  to  hold  a 
horse  by  a  stick  which  has  a  noose  of  strong  string  at  the 
end,  which  by  being  twisted  tightly  round  his  nose  holds 
him  fast.  A.^Sax.  ttoiecian^  vellicare.  Also  to  tmtch  a 
horse^  or  apply  to  him  a  twitchel  or  ttdtck. 

Two,  adj,  a  very  usual  substitution  for  both.  Thus  we 
constantly  hear  persons  talk  of  ^^  taking  their  ttvo  hands 
to  a  thing"''-— of  "  the  two  sides,''  for  both  sides. 

Two  Foot  Coal,  s,  a  measure  of  coal  lying  above  the 
Bondle  (q.v.)  so  named  from  its  averaging  that  degree 
of  thickness. 

TwoTHBBE,  8.  8,  tolerably  large  quantity,  as  '^  a  good  two- 
three  : ""  pronounced  tuthree. 

Two  wrr,  s.  a  peewit^  or  common  thick  knee :  ^dicne- 
mus  of  Jennens.     (See  Peewit.) 


i 


^ 


18  frequently  interposed  betwixt  o 
and  the  consonant  which  follows  it : 
thus  it  is  said,  ^'  Yone  ketch  a 
woMing^  "He's  growd  a  ouU 
mouy*  "  A  fine  hoM  looking  hoo- 
man.**^ 

It  takes  the  sound  of  oo  when 
followed  by  2,  as  'pool  for  pull ;  dod  for  dull.  (C.  Brit. 
cfW,  hebes.) 

When  in  composition,  it  assumes  the  sound  of  o,  as  on- 
common^  for  unconmion  :  onhappy  for  unhappy  :  otiluefy 
for  unlucky. 

And  not  unusually  it  takes  the  sound  of «,  when  fol- 
lowed by  r,  as  Mrch  for  church. 

Why  drive  men  dogges  out  of  the  chyrche?  because  they 
come  not  up  to  ofire. 

Demaundes  Joyous.    W.  db  Wo&db. 

And  very  commonly  when  followed  by  r,  we  omit  the 
liquid,  and  final  e  mute,  if  there  be  one,  and  abbreviate 
the  word,  as  cu8  for  curse :  bus  for  burst :  mtu  for  must. 
Unbbthought,  perf.  of  unbethink,  to  remember,  collect 
one^s  thoughts.  Ex.  ''  I  unbethought  me^  A  slight  va- 
nation  merely  from  the  old  English  word  umtkoftghU^ 
used  by  Wiclif  in  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament. 
A.  Sax.  ymb'theahtian^  deliberare  super. 


605 


Unoain,  adj,  (usually  osgain)  1.  inexperienced,  raw,  in- 
expert. Ex.  ''An  mgain  lad.""  2.  awkward,  difficult. 
Ex.  ''An  ongain  road.^  3.  disagreeable,  troublesome, 
stupid.  Ex.  "  He^s  an  ongam  way  with  him.'*^  A.  Sax. 
imgenge^  ineptus. 

Unkert,  Unkft,  adj.  awkward,  from  which  word  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  is  corrupted,  for  by  converting  the  last 
syllable  into  ert  we  gQt  tolerably  near  the  correct  word. 
A  slight  deviation  from  tmkert^  produces  another  form 
which  may  be  called  universal.  Uncad  varies  in  meaning 
from  the  foregoing  more  than  it  does  in  sound,  and  we 
hear  various  significations  for  it  in  different  counties. 
When  they  use  it  in  Northamptonshire  I  apprehend  their 
meaning  to  be  extremely  desolate,  or  hopeless.  Thus 
an  ale-wife  whose  husband  had  been  suddenly  and  dan- 
gerously attacked  with  illness  once  said  to  me  when  re- 
lating the  circumstance,  that  she  felt  quite  uncad^  by 
which  she  intended  to  infer  that  if  she  was  deprived 
of  her  companion,  and  left  alone  in  the  world,  she  should 
not  be  able  to  sustain  the  loss,  and  the  very  prospect  or 
bare  idea  of  such  an  affliction  made  her  uricad^  dreary, 
desolate,  hopeless.  It  has  the  same  force  in  the  West  of 
England.  (See  Jennens.)  Unket,  unkid,  strange,  un- 
usual.    Brocket. 

Unshut,  v.  to  unlink,  or  ungear  horses.  Ex.  "  Umhut 
the  osses  wunne?''     (See  Shut.) 

Uppish,  adj.  pert,  proud,  impudent.  Ex.  '*  Her'*s  growed 
so  meety  uppish  thir's  no  speaking  to  her.*^  Isl.  gppa, 
elevare.  S.  Goth.  Swed.  yppig^  superbus.  Tout,  vppigh^ 
lascivus. 

Upshot,  9.  issue,  event,  conclusion,  denouement.  Ex. 
"  Waited  to  see  the  upshot  on  it.'^  Skinner  and  Junius 
concur  in  thinking  that  this  expression  is  metaphorically 
derived  from  the  shot  at  an  ale-house  being  discharged, 
and  the  drink  all  drunk :   "  the  shot  is  «p.'' 

Upton,  a  town  or  village  placed  on  an  eminence,   Ujh 


606 


town :   thu0  we  have  Waters  Upton  ;    Upton  Crbbskt  ; 

Uppinqton,   &c.    as    in  other  counties  they  speak  of 

Houghton^   in  Northamptonshire  and  Bedfordshire  for 

instance,  which  mean  the  high  town,  or  town  placed 

on  AoA,  altus. 

Use,  at,  phr,  at  interest.     Ex.   ^'  Money  out  at  tm^* 
UsBy  IN,  pAr.  a  mare  is  said  to  be  ^*in  u$e'"  when  she  is 

under  the  influence  of  certain  appetites  or  affections. 
Uv,  a  termination  given  to  the  perfect  tense  of  several 

verbs  which  end  their  present  in  ivs,  as  drtm^  tkru9^  time^ 

&c.  &c.  for  drove,  thr6ve,  strove,  be. 
UvvBR,  adj.  comp.  of  up ;  the  /»  by  a  metathens  not  un- 

frequent  in  the  cognate  tongues  being  converted  into  v. 

(See  the  Prolegomena  to  Skinner'^s  Etymolog^con  Linguse 

Anglicanse,  where  the  various  literal  mutations  of  the 

English  language  are  learnedly  investigated.) 
UvvERMosT,  adj.  uppermost.     Ex.  **Gwon  to  th"" 

ma9t  leasow.'" 


^ 


^ 


in  some  few  words  is  altogether 
omitted,  or  pronounced  so  soft,  as 
to  lose  its  power.  Ex.  "He  sore 
desputly,''  for  he  stixtre  desperately. 
"  Hare  clane  out,**'  for  ttore  clean 
out ;  and  inserted  in  certain  words, 
as  bwail^  bwoundy  btcan^  ffu^on^  stwoHy 
for  boil,  bound,  bone,  gone,  stone.  (See  remarks 
under  these  several  words.) 

When  it  commences  a  word  k  is  substituted  in  its 
place.  Ex.  "  The  breeches  he  hare"*^ :  for  the  breeches 
ho  wore :  hool^  for  wool :  Madeley  Hood^  for  Madeley 
Wood :  Hoohrampton^  for  Woolverhampton. 

It  is  placed  before  some  words  commencing  with  a 
vowel,  or  aspirate,  as  trooto,  for  oats;  tchatj  for  hot. 
Waddock,  8.  a  large  piece.  Ex.  "  A  pretty  good  tead- 
docky  This,  like  all  our  other  words  which  terminate 
with  ock^  implies  an  augmentive,  or  intensive.  S.  Goth. 
bJtay  augere. 
Wads,  Swads,  8.  small  heaps  or  bundles  of  peas.  A. 
Sax.  stcethan^  fasciare. 

Waglb,   «7.   to   be   unsteady,   shake,   move  about.     Ex. 
"  The  table  teazles.''''     S.  Goth,  ttagay  oscillare.    Belg. 
Teut.  ttaegfheleny  motitare. 


Walkmill,   8.  a  fuUing  mill    in   the   neighbourhood   of 


608 


Longnor  reoeives  this  title,  and  not  without  sufficient 
authority.  Oerm.  walkmtMe ;  Teut.  ftcdckmoelen  ;  Dan. 
valkemoUey  offioina  fiiUonis.  A.  Sax.  wealean ;  S.  Goth. 
Swed.  waUca  ;  Belg.  Tent.  Sicamb.  ttalek&n ;  Ital.  gual- 
ear€y  pannos  premere,  voWere.  It  is  worth  while  re- 
marking here,  that  the  two  names  of  Walker  and  Foixer 
which  are  hence  derived,  are  identical.  T.  Bobbin. 
Bailey. 

Nor  no  winde  bloweth  the  mil  to  waOce. 

Sehole  Hotm  of  Women,  y.  647. 

Wallop,  «.^  one  of  the  numerous  verbs  which  express 
verberation.  Whence  it  sprung  it  seems  in  vain  to 
search,  but  as  it  is  not  confined  to  the  Ciomavii  they 
escape  the  charge  of  having  coined  it. 

Wallow,  Waller,  Wallur,  8.  the  alder  tree.  These 
three  forms  seem  to  be  common  with  the  same  appli- 
cation in  Cheshire  and  Staffordshire.  The  w  is  pro- 
bably affixed  by  epenthesis,  and  an  additionally  slight 
mutation,  makes  it  appear  that  the  word  is  altered 
from  alder.  Yet  it  looks  improbable  that  a  corruption, 
as  such  a  process  would  make  it,  should  be  so  widely 
spread.     A.  Sax.  aldry  alnus. 

Wall-plat,  8,  1.  the  Flycatcher:  Musicapay  Linn.  2.  a 
mantle  piece.  3.  a  shelf  fixed  in  the  wall.  4.  a  piece 
of  timber  lying  along  the  top  of  the  walls  of  a  house, 
on  which  the  rafters  rest.  Teut.  walle^  Agg^i*)  plaie^ 
planca. 

Wall  up,  «.  1.  to  spring  out,  cause  to  issue  forth,  as 
water.  2.  to  cause  to  swell.  Ex.  "  WaU  up  his  eye.^ 
How  much  closer  is  this  Salopian  piece  of  8lang  or  spe- 
cimen of  a  pugilistic  threat,  to  the  idiom  of  the  English 
language,  than  the  conunon,  low  life,  vulgar  expressions 
of  Bwig  up  hi8  eye :  Black  hie  eye  for  him.  Besides, 
ours  is  a  much  more  forcible  form  of  speech,  and 
moreover  threatens  greater  damage  to  the  wight  who 
is  to  receive  manual  punishment.     Teut.  Oerm.  fcaUen ; 


609 


A.  Sax.  veattan;  Belg.  fcellm;  S.  Ooth.  wofBa;  Id. 
vaUa;  Franc,  uuallan,  sestuare,  bullire. 

Wangle,  v.  to  be  unsteady,  totter.  Ex.  "  WangUi 
about  sda.'*^  S.  Ooth.  ttanka^  fluctuare.  Teut.  vhvm- 
kden^  vacillare. 

Wantt,  9.  a  short  wagon  rope.  A  word  very  common 
in  that  part  of  Corve  Dale  which  surrounds  Munslow, 
but  rarely  heard  elsewhere.  It  seems  difficult  to  ac- 
count for  its  introduction.  Being  known  in  Craven 
and  Suffolk  we  are  at  once  forbid  from  supposing  that 
it  can  be  superinduced.  The  Craven  Glossarist  suggests 
a  felicitous  origin  for  the  word,  as  being  derived  from 
ftaitiriie^  a  sense  which  though  of  no  use  to  him,  is 
precisely  applicable  to  our  meaning.  Tusser  in  his 
dogrell  rhyme  has  '^a  panel  and  wcmty.^ 

Wap,  8.  a  blow.     Ex.  "  Fat  him  a  tcap.^     For  the  use 

of  this  word  we  can  adduce  no  less  than  regal  authority. 

He  hit  hun  on  the  wane  ane  wop 
It  baft  lyke  ony  bledder. 

Jame9  V.  Christ 9  Kirk  on  the  Green,  xiL 

Wap,  Whap,  «.  to  chastise,  beat.    Vapulo.   Teut.  teajpper, 

flagellum. 

Wap,  €uh.  smartly,  sheerly :   the  same  as  moap,  (q.  v.) 

Wappkr,  8.  a  lie.     Ex.  "  Whod  a  wAapperr 

Wappino,  adf.  large.     Neither  this,  or  the  three  preceding 

can  be  called  exclusively  our  own,  as  I  find  one  or  more 

in  the  Glossaries  of  some  of  my  precursors. 

War,  9,  to  foresee,  be  aware  of,  provide  against.     Ex. 

"  Wunna  war  on  him."   "  War  yeds ! ""    "  Nod  war  agen 

him  coming.*^    S.  Ooth.  wara^  videre.     A.  Sax.  wamianj 

cavere.   This  is  used  exactly  as  in  Craven.    (See  Craven 


Gloss.) 


War  ye  fro'  that  synne. 

P.  PLOUBMAlf. 

Beth  well  waare  when  ye  feele  such  tast. 

Piers  of  FuOham. 


Warch,  r.  to  ache  with  pain,  shoot.     Ex.  "My  corns 


I 


610 


wiTchm^    Pbomp.  Parv.  Wirehfiige  cr  9ekmna$.  A.  Sas. 
ioaere^  dolor. 

Wabdinb,  a  termination  to  aeveral  of  our  names  of  {daces 
in  the  county,  which  signifies  a  possession,  farm,  or 
village,  and  has  been  gradually  changed  from  the 
A.  Sax.  iCQfih^  prsedium,  fundus,  to  Wobthbn  (co»  Sa- 
lop), Warden^  and  WardiM.  Thus  we  ha?e  Bulwaa- 
DiNK    (pronounced    Bullerdine),    Isl.    Boi^    pFoedinm; 

POLLBBDINB,    SHBAWABmiTB,    BbISWABDINK,    ChBSWAXDHII, 

Wbockwabdotb,  Stanwabdinb,   and  Llanyaib  Watsv- 
niNB. 

Wabb,  Wkib,  8.  an  embankment  across  a  stream  by  which 
the  water  is  driven  from  its  usual  channel  to  turn  a  miD, 
or  irrigate  the  adjacent  land.  This  is  an  acknowledged 
word  among  all  Shropshire  lovers  of  the  angle,  and  I  find 
it  in  the  admirable  little  treatise  on  Fly-Fishing,  written 
by  Bichard  Bowlker,  who  was  a  native  of  Ludlow  or  its 
immediate  neighbourhood.  Speaking  of  the  trout,  he 
says,  '^  a  little  before  thqr  spawn,  they  make  up  the  river 
towards  the  Spring-head,  and  to  admiration  will  get 
through  Mills,  Warei^  and  Flood-gates.^  Edition  printed 
at  Worcester  in  1748,  (supposed  to  be  the  first,)  p.  14. 
A.  Sax.  WcBr4>€Bra^  piscina.  Teut.  toere^  ^^gg^^'  Lat. 
Barb,  toera.  In  the  explanation  of  which  word  Dn 
Cange  has  fallen  into  an  error,  in  explaining  it  as  a 
beacon^  as  the  context  of  the  passage  he  adduces  dearly 
shews.  Weri$  <wt  nwfhis  factis,  &c.  which  means,  toarei 
or  moaUj  being  made.     Chaucer,  were. 

And  laye  werU  and  sprenteris  in  oanowe  broolm. 

Piera  i^  PuOham. 

Warehole,  Wbibhole,  8,  a  hole  into  which  the  back  water 

of  a  mill  stream  falls. 
Wastbbl,  Wastbil,  8.    1.    a  spendthrift,  or  youth  who 

turns  out  ill,  one  who  is  deemed  of  no  reputation.    S.  an 

imperfect  specimen  of  earthenware  or  china,  something 

east  aside  as  ^  waste/ 


k 


611 

Watbb  Spabbgw,  8.  the  Reed  Buntiiig .  EfM&riza  8ehw- 
nidus.     Linn. 

Watdt,  WkiDT,  adj.  This  has  been  noticed  both  by 
Ray  and  Bailey  aa  a  Shropahire  word,  and  they  seem  to 
have  cau^t  entirely  the  spirit  of  its  meaning  in  the  defi- 
nitions they  have  given*  The  hitter  explains  it  thus, 
^'  A  WHBADT  mUe^  a  mile  beyond  expectation,  a  tedious 
one  '^  and  the  former  says  a  whbadt  mife,  is  a  long  mile, 
a  mile  longer  than  it  seems  to  be.  And  thus  too,  every 
task  or  labour  which  turns  out  to  be  greater  than  was  at 
one  time  anticipated,  or  any  thing  that  is  peculiarly  long, 
tedious,  or  wearisome,  is  ^^  a  wisaot  job^  or  described  as 
*^  wigUy  vDoyd^r    A.  Sax.  mefo,  longus. 

WiBAL,  9.  a  strong  wicker  basket  of  a  conical  form  used  in 
the  river  Severn  for  catching  eels.     A.  Sax.  amul^  nassa. 

Webve^  «.  a  small  insect  which  is  very  detrimental  to 
thrashed  grain.  A.  Sax.  miia,  mfd^  curculio,  vermes. 
Teut.  mmel;  Germ.  i9i&2Mi,  vermiculus  in  fabis  nascens. 

Wbkly,  adj.  weak.    Ex.  "  A  poor  voMg  cratur.'^ 

Wbll,  «.  to  spring  out  as  water,  to  issue  forth.  A  word 
in  great  vogue  with  miners  and  pump  makers.  (See  de- 
rivations under  Wall.) 

Thereby  a  christall  streame  did  gently  ph^ 
Which  from  a  sacred  f ountaine  loeflM  forth  alway. 

Faery  Queene,  i.  1. 

Wells,  s.  the  under  parts  of  a  wagon. 

Wbllt,  ode.  nearly,  ahnost,  190S  niph,  Ex.  '*  Wd^  tired.'^ 
''  WeOy  done  for.''  ''  Wdfy  a  good  distance.""  A.  Sax. 
ted  mahy  pene.  Wilbraham.  Craven  Gloss.  Brockett. 
Tim  Bobbin.     Bailey. 

WsNLooK  Franehise ;  The  Franchise,  or  that  division  of 
the  county  of  Salop  which  is  known  under  this  titie  was 
originally  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Prior  of  Wenlock, 
in  consequence  of  the  possessions  of  the  church  lying 
within  these  limits.  With  the  exception  of  Clun,  the 
ancient  privileges  stiU  extend  over  the  same  country : 


612 

the  ecclesiaatical  ri^ts  having  become  merged  in  muni- 
cipal ones. 

«« I  am  old  enough,^  says  a  late  Town  Clerk  of  Wen- 
lock,  writing  to  the  Commissionerg  of  the  Public  Records, 
to  remember  an  old  custom,  and  the  last  time  it  took 
place  was  about  sixty  years  ago ;  it  was  called  the  ^^  Boy^s 
Bailifl^^  and  was  held  in  the  Easter  week,  Holy  Thurs- 
day, or  in  Whitsun  week,  and  I  have  no  doubt  was  for 
the  purpose  of  going  a  bannering  the  extensive  bounda- 
ries of  this  franchise,  which  consists  of  eighteen  parishes. 
It  consisted  of  a  man  who  wore  a  hair-cloth  gown  and 
was  called  the  bailiff,  a  recorder,  justices,  town  clerk, 
sheriff,  treasurer,  crier,  and  other  municipal  officers. 
They  were  a  large  retinue  of  men  and  boys  mounted  on 
horseback,  begirt  with  wooden  swords,  which  they  car- 
ried on  their  right  sides,  so  that  they  must  draw  the 
swords  out  of  the  scabbards  with  their  left  hands.  They, 
when  I  knew  them,  did  not  go  the  boundary,  but  used  to 
call  at  all  the  gentlemen's  houses  in  the  franchise,  where 
they  were  regaled  with  meat,  drink,  and  money;  and 
before  the  conclusion  they  assembled  at  the  piUory  at  the 
Guildhall,  where  the  town  clerk  read  some  sort  of  rigma- 
role which  they  called  their  charter,  and  I  remember  one 
part  was, 

"  We  eo  from  Beckbuiy  and  Badger  to  Stoke  on  the  Clee, 
'*  To  Monkhopton,  Round  Acton,  and  so  retoni  we." 

Beckbury,  Badger,  and  Stoke  on  the  Clee  were  and  are 
the  two  extreme  points  of  the  franchise.  North  and 
South;  Monkhopton  and  Round  Acton  are  two  other 
parishes  on  the  return  firom  Stoke  St  Milborougfa,  other- 
wise Stoke  on  the  Clee  (or  perhaps  Milbui^ba,  the 
tutelar  Saint  of  the  Abbey  of  Wenlock),  to  Much  Wen- 
lock.  This  custom  I  conceive  to  have  originated  in  going 
a  bannering,  unless  it  should  have  been  got  up  as  a  modc- 
ery  to  the  magistracy  of  the  franchise;  but  I  rather  think 
the  former. — Report  of  Record  Cammisrionen^  18S7,  p.  507. 


613 

Wrrrit,  ff.  to  tease ;  a  peevish  ohild  werriU  its  parents, 
and  a  cur  dog  toerritB  a  pig.  The  word  seems  to  have 
the  same  meaning  as  vserry^  from  which  it  is  in  a  trifling 
degree  transformed.  And  werry^  again«  is  identical  with 
worry. 

He  was  ware  of  a  wyld  bore. 
Wold  have  fcerryed  a  man. 
Percy  iii.  p.  9.     The  Boy  and  the  Manik. 

Wesh,  «.  to  wash.  The  generally  received  form  has  more 
authority  than  this,  as  the  Belg.  and  Teut.  etymons 
evince  in  waschen;  and  the  A.  Sax.  in  wizcsan,  lavare. 
Though  R.  of  Brunne  does  use  toeschy  Chaucer  tceshj  and 
Lyndsay,  wesche. 

Weshous,  b.  a  wash-house.     With  weshtuby  &c.     Bailey. 

Wsr  Board,  g.  1.  a  cutting  out  board  used  by  shoe- 
makers. 2.  boards  which  are  moveable,  that  slide  into 
grooves  within  the  bottom  jambs  of  bam  doors. 

Wetchet,  €uij\  wet  in  the  feet :  wet  generally.  Ex. 
"  Wetchet  V  iK  fit  like."^  We  have  gradually  altered  this 
word  from  the  old  English  weitschode:  thus  weitgchodey 
wetschodej  wetschedey  teetchedy  toetchet.  It  is  by  no  means 
local,  being  nearly  in  all  the  glossaries  into  which  I  have 
looked  for  it. 

Werie  and  weUsehode,  went  I  forthe. 

P.  Plouhman,  dd9. 

Whack,  8.  money.  Ex.  ^^  Qot  the  whctek.'"  This  and  the 
next  word  are  genuine  vulgarisms,  and  for  our  credit 
their  use  is  pretty  general. 

Whack,  «.  to  beat.     Ex.  ^^  A  good  wkackinff^ 

Whacker,  8.  any  thing  large 

Whacking,  adj,  large. 

Whate,  Wbibot,  8,  wheat.  None  but  a  Shropshire  tongue 
can  give  the  precise  enunciation  of  this  word.  Wheat 
may  be  siud  by  any  one,  but  how  shall  I  endeavour  to 
teach  them  the  art  of  articulating  each  letter  in  the 
manner  we  do  ?      Whee-ut  sounds  something  like  it ;  and 


6U 


the  M.  Goth.  iwaUj  also  seems  to  favoiir  the  oommon 
pronunoiatioQ. 

Whauvs,  «.  1.  to  coyer.  Ex.  ^^  Whawoe  a  bool  dish  o^er 
it.^  8.  to  hang  over.  Ex.  '^  The  trees  fohawoer  o'er  the 
road  soa.^  8.  to  incline,  lean  towards.  Ex.  '^  It  wKowmb 
to^arts  us."^     Isl.  hndfi ;   Dan.  hwelher^  inyertere. 

Whipfub,  r.  to  flutter,  be  unsteady,  uncertain.  Elx.  ^*  To 
whiffle  about.""  Isl.  huerfa^  yertere.  Belg.  Teut.  wegfdm^ 
fluctuare.  And  hence  the  phrase  of  a  whifiing  feUtw^ 
one  who  is  uncertain. 

Whinach,  «.  to  cry,  sob,  lament.  Ex.  '^  Whod  bist  a 
whinaeking  a  that^ns  for!*"  This  and  tohine  are  synony- 
mous. A.  Sax.  wanian^  flere.  S.  Goth,  wenga;  Belg. 
weenm;  Dan.  htUwr;  Swed.  hmna;  Isl.  ecenia;  M. 
Goth,  quaifwn ;  Arm.  queni ;  Ir.  ^nm ;  Alam.  uudfum^ 
plorare. 

Whinny,  .«.  to  neigh,  hinny  as  a  young  horse,  or  colt. 
Isl.  Atttfia,  fremere.     Lat.  hinmo. 

Whippet,  «.   a   dog   bred  betwixt  a  greyhound  and  a 


Whiskbt,  s.  a  strong  basket.  Ex.  ^^  Packed  up  in  a 
whiskety  All  the  Glossographers  haye  admitted  this 
word  under  an  idea  I  presume  that  it  is  local.  Their 
notice  of  it  therefore  would  haye  made  mine  unnecessary 
if  I  had  not  often  heard  people  ask  what  we  meant  by 
it.  From  this  it  seems  that  it  is  dialectical,  though 
not  peculiar  to  any  of  us.  The  Celt,  wuoaud^  pressum, 
and  C.  Brit,  gwask^  compressio,  adduced  by  Baxter 
throw  no  light  upon  my  eyes  as  regards  iJie  origin 
of  this  word.  We  receiye  it,  I  suspect,  from  the  Teut. 
mm^,  yimen.   Coles. 

WHrrruB,  9.  a  knife,  generally  not  a  good  one.  Ex.  ^' A 
penny  wMMe  two  backs,  and  niyir  a  Aedge.^  M.  Goth. 
ku&i  idj  a  sharp  instrument.  (Brockett.)  A.  Sax.  hteM, 
cultellus :  and  not  whytel  as  Brockett,  or  tthiiel  as  the 
Crayen  Gloss,  says. 


615 

Whoakd,  s.  a  hoard,  according  to  an  usual  custom  of 
adding  a  ft. 

Or  like  a  filthy  hei^  of  dung, 
That  lyeth  in  a  whoard. 

PsacY's  ReRques,  yol.  i.  p.  225. 

Whod,  pran,  what.  By  a  frequent  method  we  have  of 
changmg  t  final  into  d,  Ex.  ^^Whodne  B&yf"  (i.e.) 
Whod  dunne  say ;  Whod  dun  ye  say ;  What  do  ye  say  i 

Whot,  adf.  hot.  The  w  is  invariably  prefixed  by  the 
lower  orders,  and  as  it  seemeth  firom  early  English  writers 
not  without  sufficient  authority.  Thus  the  Graven  Olos- 
sarist  cites  two  for  its  use :  and  my  late  friend  Mr  Wil- 
braham  quotes  the  Christen  State  qf  Matrimonye,  '^Then 
shall  the  indignacion  of  the  Lorde  wax  wAct  over  you.^  p.  8. 

WiBBLB  woBBLi,  odc.  Unsteadily,  on  one  side.  (See  Waolb.) 

WOble  wXMb  went  the  gonder. 

Old  Salopian  Song. 

WiCKT,  8.  the  Mountain  Ash :  in  Ck>rve  Dale  the  trithff  or 
willow,  (A.  Sax.  wUhig^  salix)  usually  denotes  the  same  tree. 
I  am  not  aware  of  any  magical  virtues  being  attributed 
to  this  tree  by  my  countrymen.  They  are  a  very  literal 
and  sensible  set  of  folks,  and  as  one  of  them  informed 
me  upon  a  particular  occasion  unconnected  with  the 
present  subject,  ^^  dunna  consam  em  wi'  sich  nonsense."" 
The  poetical  charms  with  which  Romance  hajs  invested 
it  are  unknown  to  us.  I  fear  we  have  no  soul  for 
poetry,  and  are  disposed  to  receive  with  greater  plea- 
sure what  satisfies  the  appetite,  than  what  pleases  the 
fancy.  Thus  we  drink  no  inspiration  whatever  from 
this  humble  tree,  nor  do  we  discern  any  of  its  efficacy 
in  protecting  us  from  Witchcraft:  though  Shakspeare 
invested  it  with  incantation,  and  our  border  neighbours 
have  found  out  the  art  of  extracting  a  beverage  from 
its  crude  berries. 

Wig,  s.  a  bun.     Teut.  wegghe^  panis  triticeus. 

Will  gill,  8.  an  Hermaphrodite.  Isl.  teiU^  male  compac- 
tus ;  gil^  hiatus. 


616 


WiMBLB  BBNT,  #.  a  light,  loDg  soit  of  gnuw,  Bometunefl 
termed  mndle-itraw.  (See  Bint.)  S.Goth.  Swed.  mmla; 
Germ,  mmmdm ;  Teut.  Belg.  w&melen ;  Id.  fMmfa,  mo- 
titare.  Wimble  is  used  by  Spenaer,  and  from  the  context 
means,  light. 

He  was  so  wimble  and  so  wig^t. 

In  the  South-western  part  of  the  county  the  word  is 
u«ed  as  a  simile  to  denote  unsteadiness,  or  uncertainty. 
Ex. ''  You're  like  a  foimble  beiur 

Windfall,  «.  any  thing  good  and  out  cf  the  usual  coniBe 
of  fortune,  as  an  unexpected  legacy,  or  hit  of  luck. 
EiX.  ^^  Come  in  for  a  good  wind/all  from  his  oud  nuncle.^ 
Germ.  faU^  eventus  fortuitus.    Teut.  wUj  fortuna. 

Win-bows,  #.  hay  raked  together  in  rows,  so  that  the 
wind  may  have  power  to  dry  it,  trtiMi-rowB,  as  it  were. 
Cotgrave  recognises  the  word  in  his  explication  of  the 
phrase  ^mettre  le  foin  en  roue,^  viz.  in  wind^HiuHeiy 
or  wind-raws.  It  is  also  a  Scotch  tenn,  as  I  find  it, 
though  in  rather  an  altered  form,  in  the  Ballad  of  the 
Fermorar  and  his  Dochter  printed  in  Mr  Laing's  va- 
luable collection. 

As  I  did  walk  onys  be  ane  medo  side. 

In  ane  symmer  sessoon,  quhen  men  wymUs  thair  hay. 

Wire-worm,  8.  an  insect  which  our  fanners  say  destroys 
the  root  of  their  crops.  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
identify  it  so  satisfactorily  as  to  indicate  to  my  brother 
entomolo^sts  what  it  is. 

Wise  Man,  8.  a  conjurer. 

Wishful,  o^*.  anxious.  We  convert  many  of  our  sub- 
stantives into  adjectives  by  giving  to  them  this  termi- 
nation, as  hurryfidy  for  hasty :  foUjiffd^  for  foolish,  &c. 

With,  Withe,  *.  a  twisted  band  of  willow,  used  for  hoi^ 
ticultural  purposes.  Under  the  A.  Sax.  word  wUktis^ 
restiB,  vinculum,  Somner  explains  ^^  a  wiih^  a  witkie^  a 
rope  or  band  made  of  willow  or  withie  tree  writhen, 


617 

serving  instead  of  a  halter  or  cord.^^  C.  Brit.  uytUy  id. 
(Camb.  and  Celt.  Quarterly,  vol.  iv.  p.  489.) 

He  bar  a  bordon  ybounde  with  a  brod  lyste 
In  a  w^th  wynde  wyae  ywrythe  al  aboute. 

P.  Plouhiian^  119. 
A  unihthe  was  heore  stole,  certes. 
With  on  othir  thy  weoven  y-gaite. 

Kyno  Alisaunder^  v.  4714. 

Hang'd  on  a  urrithen  wythe  since  Martin's  eve. 

Hall's  Satires,  vol.  iv.  s.  4. 

WiTHERiNos,  8.  the  Bocond  floor  of  a  malthouse.  The 
first  IE  the  Coming  FImt^  (q.  v.),  where  the  barley  ger- 
minates, in  the  second  its  growth  is  checked,  and  it 
withers;  hence  the  name. 

WrTHY,  8.  a  willow.     A.  Sax.  withiff^  salix. 

WizzsN,  V.  to  fade  away,  wither.  S.  Gk)th.  teisna ;  Swed. 
wittna ;  Isl.  visna ;  A.  Sax.  witnian ;  Dan.  visner,  mar- 
cescere.    Sir  D.  Lyndsay. 

Wizzen-facbd,  adj.  thin,  lank,  eager  in  the  countenance 
through  disease.  Ex.  ^'Such  a  mzzenrfaeed  looking 
rascal  !^     Is  weade-facei^  a  corruption  of  this ! 

Wont,  ».  a  mole ;  (See  Oont.)  conunonly  pronounced 
with  an  aspirate. 

A  monl  or  wmrI  enclosed  in  an  earthen  poL  if  you  set  then 
the  powder  of  brimstone  on  fire,  she  wil  call  other  moles  or 
wmJU  to  help  her  with  a  veiy  mourning  voice. 

Lupton's  Thmuaiid  NoUMe  TMngs,  p.  62.  Edit.  1650. 

Wool,  a  common  prefix  to  the  names  of  places,  which 
seemeth  to  me  to  be  derived  from  the  Latin  vittus. 
Thus  we  have  Woolerton,  Woolaston,  Woolstanton,  &c. 

WoosB,  8.  mud.  Unfrequent.  A.  Sax.  wo80y  succus.  Verel. 
in  Indie.  «os,  humor,  aqua. 

In  wose  and  in  donge. 

P.  Plouhman,  213. 

WoBSEB,  comp.  of  adf.  bad.  This  use  of  the  double  com- 
parative though  sounding  barbarously,  is  nevertheless 
not  without  poetical  authority. 


618 

Changed  to  a  warmr  ahi^  thoa  canst  not  be. 

1  Hmr^  VI. 
A  dieadfiil  quiet  felt,  and  loorMr  fiur 
Than  annsy  a  snUen  Interval  of  war. 

Drydsn. 

WoBfr-LADDEB, «.  an  implement  used  in  brewing,  oyer  which 

the  hop  sieve  is  paaaed  and  shaken. 
Wrbbt^s  Shop,  #.   a  carpenter's,   or  more  frequently  a 

WhedwrigMn  shop.     We  never  use  the  word  uncom- 

pounded.     A.  Sax.  voryhUt^  operarius. 
WtJNNA,  Wdnnod;  will  not:  most  frequently  the  first 

letter  takes  the  sound  of  the  aspirate,  as  hmna^  him- 

nod:  also  wonder  is  as  oft^i  pronounced  A(mder.  Ex. 

''  Egad  I  shouldna  hwnder.^ 


is  prefixed  to  a  vast  number  of  words 
which  commenoe  with  the  aspirate, 
and  is  substituted  for  it ;  in  conse- 
quence of  this  we  have  few  beginning 
with  this  letter  that  can  truly  be 
called  arohaieal  or  dialectical,  though 
they  may  be  provincial. 
It  often  takes  the  place  of  e  and  m;  as  in  the  words 
earthy  Mruy  earnest,  &o.  we  say  yarti,  yam,  yameitf  &c. 
And  also  in  the  names  of  places  we  find  it  exercising 
the  same  power,  as  Yerton  for  Eardington:  Ybaton 
for  Eaton. 

Yablb,  adj.  able.  Ex,  **  Wunna  yahle."^ 
Yallbr,  adj.  yellow.  Ex.  "As  yaUer  as  gall."'  This 
common  example  of  the  manner  in  which  we  employ  the 
word  is  pleonastic,  and  that  is  the  worst  that  can  be 
said  of  it,  as  the  following  affinities  will  shew.  It  will 
be  seen  firom  them  that  a  remarkable  congruity  exists 
between  the  substantive  gaU,  and  the  adjective  yeUotDy 
and  that  the  metaphor  is  strictly  appropriate.  Idandic, 
GaU;  Danish,  Gatte;  Franco  Theotisc,  GaUa;  Swed- 
ish,  Galla,  GvU;  Teutonic,  GaUe,  Galle;  Belgic,  GaU, 
Geel;  German,  GaBe,  GeU;  A.  Sax.  GaUe,  Gealew ; 
Italian,  GaOa,  Giallo ;  Spanish,  GalUoy  Yalde ;  French, 
GaUe;    Lat.  Fel,  Flams. 


I 


620 

Yalb,  Ybal,  8.  ale. 

Yabbb,  8.  herbs.  Ex.  ^^  Cut  him  as  small  as  yaris  to  the 
pot.^ 

Yard-Goal,  8.  a  measure  of  coal  which  lies  upon  the 
the  Bladk  Ba88e8^  (q.  v.)  which  Blael  Bas8e8^  repose  upon 
ike  Flatsione.  (q.  v.) 

Yare,  8.  hair.     Ex.  ^'  No  yare  atop  on  his  yed.*^ 

Yarn,  v.  to  earn.  Ex.  ^^  Thee  wou'^dstna  yam  thy  saut."" 
A.  Sax.  amian ;  Germ,  ameriy  acquirere. 

Yarning,  part,  yearning,  desirous  of.  Ex.  ^^  Her^s  got  a 
yarning  ater  it  like.'*^  Promp.  Parv.  Yamynge^  or  de- 
siringe. 

Yat,  Yatb,  8.  a  gate.  The  common  ^  is  so  softened  in 
this  word  that  it  partakes  rather  of  the  sound  of  y,  but 
it  is  more  lingual  than  y  alone  is  generally  pronounced : 
perhaps  Yhee^,  and  Yhea^^  convey  tJie  closest  ap- 
proach to  euphony.  We  seldom  hear  any  material  dif-> 
ference  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  universaDy  received 
gatey  (gdroi)  unless  it  be  from  the  generation  that  it  is 
now  passing  away  from  a  rural  and  secluded  district.  In 
Corve  Dale,  where  I  have  all  along  considered  our  dia- 
lect to  be  spoken  with  the  greatest  purity,  the  old  and 
softened  pronunciation  however  still  lingers.  The  lower 
orders  throughout  the  county  universally  speak  of  the 
Open  hates,  and  the  Oaken-tates,  for  the  Oken  gates, 
and  of  Wood  tat,  for  Woodgdte  near  Much  Wenlock. 
It  is  the  ancient  orthoepy,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  Pbomp. 
Parv.  having  yate^  porta ;  and  in  the  quotations  ensuing. 
Bailey,  in  his  Dictionary,  has  '^  Oken  Yate  [of  Oak  and 
Cra;te\  a  small  village  in  Shropshire.^ 

Hy  stolen  the  kayea  under  their  yaU, 

Kynq  Alisaundrr,  v.  3276. 

Sperre  the  yate  fast,  for  fear  of  fraude, 

Shqpkear^^  Calendar, 
Yean,  «.  to  bring  forth  Iambs,  to  ean.    This  is  so  written 
says  Nares  by  all  writers  from,  Drayton  to   Dryden. 
A.  Sax.  eanian ;  Gael.  Ir.  gdn^  parere. 


621 

Yeath,  8.  1 .  a  heath.  2.  the  ground.  Ex.  ^^  Dung  it 
down  o^  th**  'yeath.*"^  (pronounced  in  this  instance  yuth.) 

Yrd,  «.  1.  the  head.  Ex.  *^  A  yed  and  shouthus  taller/^ 
2.  a  place  where  one  collier  only  can  work  at  a  time, 
the  room  allotted  being  about  one  yard  and  a  quarter 
wide,  and  three  quarters  high.  A  double  yed  is  twice 
this  width. 

Yed,  to  drive,  «.  to  make  an  aperture  or  way  of  the 
above  kind;  yeds  are  always  driven  the  same  dimen- 
sions. • 

Yedart,  Yethart,  9.  Edward.     Isl.  latvardr. 

Yellow-Homber,  8.  the  Chaffinch.  FringiUa  Ccelebs  of  Jen- 
nens. 

Yborth,  «.  the  earth,  ground.  The  peculiar  pronuncia- 
tion given  to  this  word  bears  great  similarity  to  the 
Isl.  jarth^  terra.  (Dan.  jord.)  the  e  is  nearly  silent,  or 
at  least  assumes  the  sound  of  o,  very  like  what  it  is 
presumed  to  have  received  when  the  Romance  of  Kyng 
Alisaunder  was  translated,  (circa  1438.) 

Eorthlidie  knyght^  or  eorthRche  Jcjng. 

v.  429. 
And  lichely  is  broughte  to  the  eorthe. 

V.  1362. 

Ybow,  8.  an  ewe.     Here  we  retain  the  old  pronunciation. 

A.  Sax.  eawe ;  Teut.  Belg.  owite^  ovis  fsemina. 

Bot^  thay,  lyke  rammis,  into  thiur  rage^ 
UnpiBselet  rynnis  amang  the  youfis. 

Sir  D.  Lyndsay's  Manar<^ie,  p.  236. 

Yerd,  9.  K  a  yard  wand,  or  in  pure  Salopian  orthoepy, 
a  yeard  mizzhure.  2.  a  yard,  back  premises,  or  a  small 
piece  of  land  lying  contiguous  to  a  dwelling.  This  most 
ancient  word  may  be  traced  through  the  Parthian, 
Punic,  Sarmatian,  Celtic,  Greek  and  Latin  tongues  to 
several  with  which  ours  is  more  closely  allied.  Thus, 
C.  Brit,  gardd;  M.  Goth.  gard8^  domus ;  A.  Sax.  geard^ 
area;  Verel.  in  Indie,  gard^  fundus,  rusticus,  sedificiis 
necessariis  circumseptus  ;  Sorab.  hrodz ;  Pol.  grodz^  sta- 


i 


622 

bulum ;  Franc,  gardo ;  Teut.  Oerm.  Fris.  Sicamb.  gaard^ 

horttis;  Swed.  gdrd^  area  sedificiiB  circamdata;  Lapp. 

garde^  gaerde^  locus  ooiueptus. 

8igh  I  thee  not  in  the  gherd  with  him. 

Wiclif's  New  TettasneiU,  Joh.  ch.  zriiL 

Bi  feith  Jacob  diynge  blesaide  alle  the  sones  of  Joseph  and 
onouiide  the  highenease  of  hia  j^ertk.  Ebiewia,  c.  xL 

Blan  wnmman^  alle  yede  to  swerde, 
fiothe  in  honae^  and  eke  inyerde, 

R.  CoBE  DB  Lioif,  ▼.  4572. 
In  aa  moche  aa  I  maked  you  afeid. 
Whan  I  yon  herte^  and  brought  out  of  your  yerd» 
NimiM9  Pt9e$im  Tale,  t.  1642& 
A  verd  ahe  had^  endoeed  all  about. 

id.  14863. 

Yebth,  8.  the  earth. 

This  ooTB  the  yertke  he  forbede. 

Sir  Amadas,  t.  172. 

YiLVB,  8.  a  dung  fork,   an  m2,  as  we  more  commonly 

call   it,   instead  of  either,   from  which   word  yihe  is 

transmuted.     (See  Evil.) 
Yo,  Ybou,  pran.  you.     Ex.  "  Yo  bin.*"    Also  yon»,  and 

youm  for  yours. 
YoungW,  adf.  youngest.     Ex.  ^^The  young*8i  o  ten  on 

em. 
Yowl,  o.  1.  to  cry.     Ex.  ^^  Whod  bin  ^e  Zr^owlmg  about! 

come  to  thy  mate.^   2.  to  howl  as  a  dog. 

And  the  towne  tykes  yowka, 

Montgovbry's  Flying, 

The  black  dog  yoiutd;  he  saw  the  light 
Nae  man  but  I  could  see. 

Hbrd's  ScotMk  S(m§9,  vol.  L  p.  137. 


#- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL   INDEX. 


Abberley  HiUs,  70. 

Abbey  Forhed,  324. 

Abdon^S. 

Abdon  BuH;  3.  73. 161. 

AbergaTennjy  68. 140.  148. 

Aberpergwniy  183. 

AberyBciry  163. 

AberjBtwyihy  64. 

Abiiigton  Wood,  201. 

Abmy,  11. 16. 31.  206. 

Abydo0,138. 

Acton,  in  Composition,  240.  302. 

Acton  Bnmel,  73b  141. 

Acton  Bonnd,  612. 

Adrymyttinm,  138. 

Akeman  Street,    160.  264.  264. 

278. 
Alan,  203. 
Alberbmy,  76. 
Albrigbton,  466. 
Alcester,  160. 
Aldboroug^  132. 
Aldbnrgb,  207. 
Aldbnzs^  247. 
AlnodestnU,  284. 
Alone,  207. 
Alwintime,  330. 
Al3m,106. 
Ambresbmy,  163. 
Ambrey  (Croft),  71*  72. 


Amesbiiry,  206. 
Ancona,  144. 
AndoTer,  101.  203. 
Anglesea,  11. 13. 
Antandrofl,  138. 
Anton,  66. 101. 
Apedale,  73.  76. 
Apollonia,  144. 
Appiay]a,143.144. 
ArbelowB,  11.  3&  93w 
Arbniy,  160.  263. 
Arbmy  Bonk,  268. 
Arden,230. 
Aidle7,203. 
Aidley  CasUe,  204. 
Ariconinm,  68. 
Arlee,  378. 
Arley,  28. 
Annour  Hill,  170. 
Arques,  163. 
Ashbank,  203.  204. 
Aahton,  104. 

AflBon,  in  Composition,  30& 
Aston,  220. 240.  30& 
Aston  Botterell,  600. 
Anrelia  Via,  144. 
Avaerwj,  166. 166. 
Aveburj,  38. 
Ayeaditch,  203.  204. 
Avon,  44.  61.  66.  66.  203. 


624 


Axminster,  103.  13a  139. 
AyleelniTy,  101. 
Aymeetry,  71* 

Bach,  240. 
Bacheldre,  184. 
Badger,  612. 
Bagilt  Hall,  196. 
Bailey,  24U 
BallyBadore  Bay,  17* 
Balaham,  200. 
Balsham  Dyke,  199. 
Bamborough,  501. 
Bampton  in  the  Bush,  247. 
BiiNK,  Arbiiry,  208. 

Banner,  241. 

Harborough,  247* 

Nordy,  264. 

Bonian,264. 

Rnshhuiy,  264. 

Show,  241. 

Signal,  241. 

WaUow,  268. 
BankFarm,  86.  241. 
Banner  Bank,  241. 
Banninm,  163. 
Bardney,  601. 
Barforth,  206. 
Barmouth,  20. 
Bartlow  Hilla,  93. 
Barton  Bushes,  24a 
Bascherche,  284.  286. 
Baschurch,  172.  17a  174.  690. 
Basingwerk  Abbey,  196. 
Bath,  67.  6a 
Bausley  Hill,  62. 
Baydon  Road,  241. 
Beacons,  241. 

Barr,242. 
Beacon  Hill,  102. 
Beacon  Ring,  171. 
Beandeley,  22. 


Beaosall  Common,  66. 

Beckbury,  612. 

Bedford,  186. 

Bed  y  Gawr,  191. 

Behin,  242.  243. 

Bell  Biook,  12a  129. 

Belmont,  196. 

Belsar's  Hill,  243. 

Benihal,  611.  647. 

Benthal  Edge,  407. 

Bere,20a 

Berrington,  133.  600. 

Beny  Hill,  174. 

Berth,  4.  166.  l6a  172.  174. 

Bethel,  9.  20. 

Bicester,  160. 

Biddlestone  Edge,  40a 

Bigsweir  Bridge,  18a 

Bilbitch  Gutter,  87. 

BiUings  Ring,  72.  101. 

Birley,  141. 

Birmingham,  14a  330. 

Birth  Hill,  4.  17a 

Bishop's  Castle,  39.  74.  76.  101. 

126.  190.  220.  222.  396. 
Bishop's  Offley,  loa 
Bitterley,  600. 
Bitton,  69. 
Bhick,24a28a 
Black  Bam,  141. 
Blackbnry  Hill,  71- 
Blackenbury  Ditches,  67. 
Bhicklands  Bush,  247. 
Bhigdon,  Blaigdoli,  91. 
Blakedown,  91. 
Blakeley  Hill,  91. 
Blakeway  Hollow,  40a 
Bhmdford,  20a 

Park,  20a 
Blue  BeU,  190. 
Bodbury  Ring,  8a 
Bohan,  Stone  of,  216. 


625 


Bokerley  IKtch,  203. 

Bologna^  144. 

Bonaston,  219. 

Bourn  Bridge,  201. 

Bower,  or  Borough  Walls,  68. 

Bndeley,  243. 

Bradfield,24. 

Bradford,  N.  and  8.  287.  648. 

Brandon  Gamp,  43. 6b.  72.  73. 133. 

140.  154. 
Brandon  Biver,  202. 
Brannogeninm,  133, 140. 
Bratton  Hill,  213. 
Braviniimi^68.  133. 140. 154.    .  ^ 
Bravoninm,  58b'44Orn0.  154. 
Bre,  in  Composition,  243.  244* 
Brecon,  115. 
Bredon,243. 
Bredon  Hill,  68. 
Bredwardine,  282. 
Breidden,61.82.63.76. 155.157.171. 
Bricge,  226.  227. 
Brides  Bay,  58. 
Bridgenorih,    73.   170.  226.  227. 

229.  336.  407. 
Bridge  Sellers,  181.  186. 
Brigantes,  44.  47.  55. 
Brigges,  226. 
Brimsirey,  287. 
Brinklow,  65.  66.  67.  93.  493. 
Brinsop,  71* 
BristoC203. 
Bristol  Channel,  185. 
Broad  Ridge  Green,  69. 
Broadstone,  453. 
BrockhaU,  147. 
Bron-y-Garih,  192. 
Brookhampton,  339. 
Broseley,  338.  389. 
Brown  Clee  Hills,  73. 
Bmff,  173. 
Bmgge,  225. 


Brugia,  227.  22& 

Brymbo,  192. 

Bryn,192. 

Bryngwyn,  187- 

Bryn  y  Castell,  195. 

Biyn-y-crach,  190. 

Bnildwas,  12&  171- 

Bnilth,  58.  74. 

Bnllfleum,  58.  74.  262. 

Bullock's  Hill,  188. 

Bullock  Bead,  244. 

Bnltrum,  140. 

Bnnde  Foreste  de  Lythewood,  220. 

^'  Welinton,  220. 

Bunkei^s  Hill,  244. 

Bar,  in  Composition,  244.  245. 

Bnroot,  141. 

Barf,  3.  4. 13. 

Barf  Castle,  210—213.  223.  224. 

Burfield  Warren,  190. 

Burgh,  129.  130. 173. 

Burghill,  141. 

Buighs,  133. 

Burlington,  141. 

Burrium,58.  140. 

Burrough  HiD,  43.  72. 117. 

Burrow  Hill,  141.  202. 

BurTaBank,4. 

Burwarton,  218. 

Burway,  14U 

Burwell,  197.  198. 

Bury,  245. 

Bury  Gamp,  79. 

Bury  Ditches,  72.  74.  83.  84. 

Bury  Hill,  69. 

Bury  House,  69. 

Bury  St  Edmonds. 

Bury  (Uley,)  256. 

Bury  Wall,  91.  170.  246. 

Bush,  Bampton  in  the,  247. 

Barton,  24& 

Blackhinds,  247. 


686 


Bush,  Clay,  847. 

aoudealey,  247-  249. 

CnckoOy  248. 

King'a,  247. 

LuDgdike,  244. 

Lowes,  949. 

Morden,  247. 

Peimy8,247. 

Badiuai,247. 

Sandy,  249. 
Busy  Gap,  207. 
Batdigintnn,  190. 
BoltlQgftQII,  190. 
BaitB,248. 
Buxton,  80. 
By,  in  Camposttkni,  24& 

Cadburj  Gamp,  08. 
Gaderton't  Ole,  22L 
CAEaBran  Oaafcle,  29, 

Bre,74. 

Gandoc,  43.  49.  50.  61.  6% 
53.  67.  60.  73.  61.  157. 

Digol,  171.  242. 

Din  Rings,  74  189. 192. 

Din^fB  Bran,  78L 

Estyn,  196. 

Fids,  76.  133. 149;  283.  204. 

Ginon,  74. 

Howei  74. 

Hyn,  117. 

Leon,  68. 133. 

Ogyr&n,  80. 

Ostniyji  71. 

Sws,  64.  76. 

Umac,91.  11& 

Vorwyn,  270. 

Went,  68. 
Gainham,  179.  216. 
Gainham  Gan^  214. 216.  260. 
Gaistor,  131.  163. 
GaithnesB,  22. 


Galoot,  204.  249l  260. 

Galoot  Bank,  204. 

Galdeoot,  Galdioot,  Goldioot,  23IL 

24a  249.  260. 
Galdeeote  Spinny,  249. 
Galdenrell,  260. 
Galdy  Bank,  260. 
GaUow,  260. 

C^ow  HiU,  166.  260.  261. 
Gam,  239. 

Gbmbridge,  146w  201. 
Gambridge  Gap,  198. 
Gambridgeshire  Bitchei^  209. 
GamoM  HaU,  196. 
Gam?s,  Border,  167* 

Brandon,  6&  73. 140. 

Gadbnry,  68, 

Gesar's,  163.  189. 

fkLmTiftifij  914.  216. 

G^uterley,  29& 

Gold»962. 

GroftAmlirey,71.72.272. 

Gloaoesteraliire^  66. 

iTington,  264. 

Norton,  163. 166. 

Bilboxy,  280. 

RiBbnry,  25a  264. 

Vespasian's,  163. 

WarwicksUre,  6a 

¥nute  Hawk,  267. 
Gamp  House,  241. 
Gannock,  146. 
Gant,  in  Gomposition,  261. 
Gapua,143. 
Gar  Dyke,  279. 
Gardeston,  76. 
GardiffGaBtle,224. 
Gardington,  13a  140. 
Gareg-y-big,  192.  2ia 
Garnabii,  22. 
Garnac,  la 
Garaan  Gefyn-y-Ffordd,  262. 


627 


Garrowmore,  16. 
OBrihage,  97.  IfiO. 
Castbll,  Bryn-y,  19ft. 

Cefyn  Fran,  74. 
Cefyn-y,  60. 62.  Iftfi. 
Cwrt  Llechriiyd,  68. 

74.262. 
Dinas,  163. 
DinaB  Cortiii,  11. 
CASTLB^Bugll,  130. 

Caer  Bran,  29. 
Caerd]fi;224. 
Gambrook,  224. 
Caiira,184. 
Chirk,  192. 
ConingBboroiigh,  224. 
Dike,  22. 
Dykes,  86. 
Onildfwd,  224. 
Hin,  86.  101. 
Hortoii,67. 
KiiaTe8,268. 
Maiden,  270. 
OrehaH,  186. 
Pnlverbalch,  222.  233. 
Richboraugfa,  129. 
Ring,  74.  86.  87.  180. 
Rowton,  132.  147. 
Tomen,  74. 
Weatherbury,  163. 
Wlielp,  270. 
Gaston,  244. 
Gaswell  Wood,  187. 
Ganldwell,  249.  260. 
CAU8EWA7,    Bridgend,  261.  279. 
Devfl's,134,&cl49. 

162.  21&  261. 
Green,  273. 
Haddenkam,  273. 
Horkesley,  261. 
Lane,  191. 
Morwood's,  139. 


Gausewav,    Thoriey,  261. 
Wood,  186. 
Wort's,  261. 
Cbfyn  Gamedd,  64. 
.  I>igol,  171. 

Fron,74. 

y  Bedd,  196. 

y  Gastell,  60.  62.  166. 

7  Gloddia,  64. 

y  Good,  196. 

y-Wem,  192. 
Gegidog,  192. 
Geiriog,  166.  196. 
Gelyddon,  166. 
Geflena,144. 
Chapel  Chorlton,  174. 
Ghatwall,  73.  140. 
Cheltenham,  07. 
Chester,  67.  68.  117- 147. 160.  196. 

228. 
Chesterfield,  159. 
Chesters,  Great  and  little,  169. 
Chesterton,  66. 166. 168. 169.  223. 

263. 
Chetwynd,  166. 
Chichester,  169. 
GhUd'sErcaU,167. 
Chilland,  203. 
Chirbnry,  74. 
Gholstry,  71- 
Chonlton  Lodge,  100. 
Chnrch  Stoke,  74. 184. 
Chnreh  Stretton,  141. 
Chnrch  Town  HiU,  188. 
Cirencester,  67. 
Clarbnry  Hill,  176. 
Glawdd  Coeh,  191. 
Offa,183. 
Pentre,  194.  196. 
Clay  Bnsh,  247. 
Clear's,  St,  407. 
Clebyri,  22. 


40-2 


628 


dee  BoH;  S.  4.  91. 161. 

Caee  HiIlBy  S.  6. 2S.  88. 7S.  161. 313. 

dee  St  UurgB^ei,  161. 

dent,  66. 

dent  Cow  Bach,  840. 

deolrary  Moitimery  4.  500. 

deye  mi,  65. 

difloDyOa. 

dotlejr  and  doddey,  108. 

doadealey  Bnah,  847. 

dnddelej,  108. 

dun,  40.  50.  51.  68.  466. 

dun  Forest,  74. 

dnnlrary,  890. 

dnnburj  Hill,  810.  881. 

dnngnnford,  108.  880.  834.  438. 

686.  501.  608. 
dwydian  Hilla,  103. 
Coalport,  308. 378.  466.  547* 
Gockbank,  858. 
Cockbaiy  Fann,  368. 
Coddey  Hill,  868. 
Cockshead,  858. 
Cockaheath,  868. 
Cookshoots,  858. 
Cookshut,  68.  861. 
GodsaI,868. 
Coed-tal-wyni,  108. 
Coed-y-fjare,  108. 
Colchester,  160. 
Co]oot,804. 
Colcot  Bank,  804. 
Cold,  Arbonr,  108.  186.  838.  844. 
840.  and  from  863.  to  858. 

Bagpaih,  858. 

Batch,  368.  863. 

Blow,  863.  863. 

Gamp,  868.  363. 

Comfort,  108.  353.  363. 

End,  353.  863. 

Harbonr  PiU,  858. 
Keen,  358. 


Cold,  Kitchen,  868.  863. 

Kitchen  Hill,  868.  853L 

Stocking,  868. 863. 878. 
Coleford,  187. 
Colly  Weston,  367. 
Cohnestan,  888. 
Comh's  Ditch,  80S. 
Condetret,  888. 
Condoore,  886.  386. 
Condover,  03. 118.  386.  386. 
Coneygaith,  360. 
Coneygove  PiU,  860. 
Conigree,  Coneygare,  868. 
Coningsboroogh  Castle^  884. 
CQno\rinm«63. 
Conway,  830. 
Coplow,  173. 
Com  Atton  Forest,  36. 
Coniayii,  88.  67.  68. 63. 116.  116. 
Comdon,  30.  S3.  34.  830. 
Cornwall,  14.  90.  81.  88. 40.  86. 
Cortane,466. 

Conre  Dale,  73.  76. 161.  680. 
Corwen,  40. 
Cot,  Cote,  850. 374. 
Cotley  Hill,  104. 
Coton,  Coton  End,  800. 
Cotton,  840. 
Coond,  08. 141. 
Connd  Brook,  141. 
CozwaU  Knoll,  58-4»7.  50.  852. 
CoxwaUWood,68. 
Craddock,  51. 
CnAio  Ffordd,  108. 

Wen,  103. 

y  Dinas,  11. 
Cranwich,  303. 
Cranwich  Heys,  308. 
Crateford,  73. 140. 
Craven  Arms,  141. 
Croes  Street,  108. 
Croes-y-neiris,  105. 


629 


Croft  Ambre^r,  272. 
Croases  (four)  146L 
Crowmoor,  130. 
Cuckoo  Bnahee,  24& 
CuiU  Joms  17. 
Culmington,  2S8. 
CulTeston,  280. 

Cwatbricge,  211.  222.  228.  227. 
CwmMoch9  97' 
Cypeebw,144. 

Dane,  in  Componiioiiy  260. 

Danes  Camp« 

Daneaford,  226. 

Dardanns,  ISa 

BaryPit,  168.169. 

Bawlejr,  877- 

Bay  Honae,  261. 388. 

DdinUe  Yrecon,  90. 116. 

Dean,  289. 

Dean,  Foreal  of,  380. 

Dee,  68.  188.  192.  239. 

Defenaive  Ditchea,  196.  208.  209. 

Demetae,  68. 

Derinlan,  286. 

Deva,  63.  148. 

DeTBna  Via,  169.  261.  266.  274. 

Devil's  Bridge,  134. 

Devil's  Causewey,  73.  133—149. 

162.  219.  261. 
Devil's  Hole,  190. 
Digol,  171. 
Din  Orwic,  79. 
Dina8,64. 

Hte,  72. 77.  78.  79. 
Dinton,  101.  102. 
Discoyd,  74. 
Ditch  Bank,  187. 
Ditches,  Bury,  72.  74.  84 

Cambridgeahire,  209. 

Camp,  43.  73.  83. 

Dorsetsliire,  201.  203. 


Ditches,  Hampehire,  201. 
HamshiU,  206. 
Ozfordshiie,  203. 
Wiltahire,  20U  207. 
Ditton,  198.  200. 
Dolforwyn,  270. 
Domitia  Via,  144. 
Don,  termination,  261.  396. 
Dorchester,  169. 
Doynton,  69. 
Drew,  Stanton,  16. 31. 
Druid's  Altar,  221. 
DrywTrer,  11. 
Dud,  prefix,  261. 
Dullingham,  198. 
Dundon  Beacon,  242. 
Dungannon,  16. 
Dungate,  200. 
Dnnge,  262. 
Dnrsley,  67- 
Dygen,62. 
Dtke  or  Ditch, 

Ancient,  18& 

Aveeditch,  203.  204. 

Bokerly,  206.  206. 

Brent,  202.  209. 

Car,  279. 

Combs,  203. 

Devil's,  134. 196—200.  202. 
206.20a209. 

Fleam  and  Balsham,  19^— 
202.  208.  209.  262. 

Grims,  102.206. 

Ofia's,  181—209.218.396. 

Old,  206. 

Pampisford,  201.  202. 

Bowe,  187. 

Soots  or  Boman,  206.  207. 

St  Edmonds,  199. 

Tond,  187. 

Upper  and    Lower  Short, 
18a  196. 


I 


630 


Dykk  or  DiTCB, 
Yern^aOfi. 

WaiM,  908.  905.  90&  808. 
Watte',  181.  18S.  185.  908. 
900. 

Eark  Barton,  934. 

£ii8by,908. 

Eaat  TMeyy  101. 

Easterly  Moor,  0& 

Eaaton  Frinoe,  119. 

Efaal  Monnt,  9. 

Ebohester,  150. 

Elnuy  damp,  177. 

Ebury  Wood,  186.948. 

Edenhope  HUl,  190. 

Edge,  133. 

Edgtoii,88. 

£;giiatia  Via,  144. 

Elder  YaUey,  104. 

Ellerton,  188. 

Elnoelstml,  987. 

Elwardjn,  186. 

Ely,  198. 

Epinu,  144. 

Eroal  (Childs),  187. 

Ercal  (High),  187. 188. 

Ermine  Street,  947.  948.  954.  984. 

965. 
Erthig,  195. 
Estyn,  Gaer,  195. 
Etocetom,  968. 
Etmria,  144. 
Evenjob  Bank,  189. 
Eyenjob  Hill,  189. 
ETonlode,  903, 
Exford'a  Green,  133. 
Eyton,  547. 

Far,  92. 
Farlow,  9ia 
Farlow  Brook,  918. 


Funham,  153. 
Fanibam  Beacon,  949. 
Fen,  900. 
Fence,  988. 
Fenditton,  900. 
Feiry  House,  187* 
Ffynnon-pen-y-Oafllell,  196b 
Fields,  195. 
Flaminia  Yia,  144. 
Fleam  Dyke.    (SeeDykea.) 
Flint,  195. 
Foligno,  144. 
Foitset,  906.  907. 908. 
Ford,  938.  989.  984. 
Foreleg  Street,  281. 
Forest  of  Dean,  71-  390. 
Fosse,  86.  954.  985.  97a 
Fonlmire  Common,  909. 
Four  Crosses,  146. 
Fonr  Mile  Race  Course,  19& 
Frandiiae  of  Wenlock,  980. 
Frankton,  286. 
Freuer,  Yale  of,  171« 
Ffidd  Faldwin,  74. 
FritweU,  904. 
Froddesley  Lodge,  135. 

Park,  135. 140. 
Fron,  190. 
Fron  Hill,  187. 
FDlboum,900. 
Furrow  Hill,  189. 

Gadbury  Banks,  4.  78.  28a 
Gaer,  54.  74. 
Gaer-pen-y,  64. 
Game,  78. 

Garreg  Lwyd,  195.  919. 
Gartree  Road,  950. 88a 
Gasoony,34a 
Gatberley  Moor,  907. 
Gaul,  241. 
Genoa,  144. 


6di 


O^rma,  138. 
Germany,  111. 
Giant's  Ghair,  27. 
Gilbert!  Mons,  116. 
Gildeford,  46& 
Gilgal,  9.  20. 
Ginon,  Gaer,  74. 
Gi8or8,225. 
Glog  Hill,  74. 
Gloucester,  70.  501. 
Glynun,203. 
Gobanninm,  68.  140. 
Gobowen,  196. 
Crodmanchester,  I59« 
Goodrich  Court,  183. 
Gowter,  141. 
Gracchuris,  91. 
Grange,  447. 

Grave,  in  Compositioil,  268. 
€rreen  Street,  279. 
Grim's  Dyke,  262. 
GuUdford  Castle,  224. 
Gumber's  Bam,  186. 
Gwal  Sever,  170. 
Gwent,  183. 
Gwersylt,  196. 
Gwythian,  86. 
Gygonian  Stone,  26. 

Habberley,  165. 
Hafod  House,  195. 
Hagley,  91.  266. 
Hailstone,  221. 
Halesowen,  220. 
Halghton,  266. 
HaU  Green,  202. 
Halton  Chester,  169. 
Ham,  in  Composition,  266. 
Hamilton  HiU,  63b 
Hampton,  in  Composition,  467. 
Harbome,  220. 
Harborough  Bank,  247.  253. 


Hordwick,  102. 

Harlech,  20. 

Harley,  2ia 

Harwell,  101. 

Hatch,  168. 

Hatton,  267* 

Haven,  White,  191. 

Havien,  166.  166. 171. 18S. 

Hawk,  in  Composition,  267. 

Hawkstone,  170.  219. 

Hay,  277.  466. 

Hayden  Way,  264.  267. 

Haygate,  14K 

Heafenfeld,  602. 

Heaven  Gate,  89. 90. 

Hebdown  Down,  68L 

Hebenkies,  106. 

HeU  Gate,  90. 

Hembury  Beacon,  242. 

Hen  Dinas,  43.  72.  70*  ^0. 196^ 

Henbuxy,  68. 

Hentland,  187. 

Hereford,  6a  187. 

Hereford  Lane,  260. 

Herefordshire  Beacon,  70.  242. 

Hermus,  13a 

Henrock,  18a 

Heydon,  202. 

Heyford,  20a 

Hierapolis,  13a 

Hildersham,  201. 

Hill  Lane,  249. 

Hinstock,  147.  ' 

Hinton  Hill,  6a 

Hinton  in  the  Hedges,  247. 

Hinxton,  202. 

Hoar  Edge,  25.  27. 140.  2ia  220. 

4oa 

Hoar  Stone,  219.  220.  39. 169. 
HodHill,63. 
Hodnet,  170.  287.  500. 
Holgate,  222.  223. 


i 


632 


Holkfaam,  90S. 

Holloway  Rocka,  67. 

Holme  on  the  8ea»  16X 

Holinei^  187. 

Holt,  147. 

Holyhead  Road,  919. 

HolyweU,  160. 

Honiljr,  994. 

Hope,  117.  106.  loe. 

Hope,  in  Composition,  907*  407. 

Hope  Sollen,  71. 

Hordley,  918. 

Horkedey  GaoMwaj,  961. 

Horn  Lane,  908. 

Honeheath,  909. 

Hone  Shoes,  198. 199. 

Horton  Castle,  87. 

Hnghlej,  649. 

Hnnelge  Hqge,  407. 

Hnngaxy,  141. 

Hongerford,  149. 

Hnnsborongh  Hill,  913, 

Hontingdon,  146. 

Hnntsholm  Feny  Hooae,  187* 

Hurlers,  16. 

Hurst,  in  Compos.  966.  988.  470. 

Hydwyth,  170. 171.  177- 

Ichen,90S. 
Ickleton  Bead,  109. 
Street,  101. 
Icknidd  Street,  101.  109.  966.  984. 
Icknield  Way,  900.  901.  909. 
Binm,  138. 
IlIogan,13. 
Irchester,  966L 
IrelaDd,  91.  97.  Oa 
Isca  Silnram,  68. 
Ivington  Camp,  71*  984 

Jordan,  9. 


i  or  KenahamGastle,214. 
Kaisend  Street,  980. 
KamB^,  11.13. 
Kenchester,  68. 60.  71. 
Kenstone,  170. 
Kerry,  74 
Keswick,  39. 
Ketley  Coalfield,  37a 
Kidderminster,  91. 
Kiddington,  90a 
Kadare,a 
Kilkenny,  0. 
Kiltimille,  la 
Kilmaoowen,  la 
Kflpatrick,9. 
Kilpeck,934. 
Kind  Street,  979. 
King  Street,  13a  979. 
King's  Barrow,  lOa 
King^B  Low,  16a 
King^sWeUylOa 
Kingston  Grave,  109. 
BSngton,  18a 
Kinsley  Wood,  180. 
Kiraeton,90a 
KirUington,  90a 
Knab  Lane,  909. 
Knaves  Castle,  98a 
Knightlow,  9a  49a 
Kni^ton,  4a  Oa  67. 189. 
Knight's  Inham,  101. 
Knill,4.18a 
Knudc,  Upper,  190. 

Lampsacns,  13a 
Lancaster,  lOa  lOa  484. 
Lane  End,  147. 
Lavbs,  Banbniy,  98a 

Coal  Pit,  98a 

Fenn,  98a 

Green,  97a 

Hereford,  909. 


633 


LAyBi^imi,248. 

Knaby  200. 

Leming,  26&  909. 

Loogdown,  260.  288. 

Ryoote,  266.  2€». 

Salter's,  269.  279. 

TUt  Bridge,  248. 

Tylnini9  279. 
Langdike  Bush,  244. 
Langley,  466. 
Langridge,  87. 
TAodicea,  138. 
Larden  Hall,  8S. 
Lawley,  13a 
Lea  CroBB,  133. 
Leamington,  66.  186. 
Lebotwood,  88.  101. 
Ledbmy,  71- 
Lege,466. 

Leicester,  130. 146.  169. 
Leintwardine,  72.  7S.  484. 
Leming  Lane,  28a  289. 
Lenteorde,  287.  288. 
Leominster,  7L  169. 
Letcombe  Gastle,  189. 
Lejr,  in  Composition,  289. 
Lichfield,  48a 
Lichfield  Gate,  488. 
TiindisfivTO,  601. 
LitUeworth,  289. 
LJanymynech,  30a 
Longdown  Lane,  260. 
Low,  in  Composition,  49a 
Lowes  Bush,  249. 
Ludlow,  49a 
Lamm  Hole,  49a 
Lutwyche  Hall,  641. 

Hadeley,  487. 
Kadmarton,  189. 
Madog's  Tower,  224. 


JdaoitwTog,  97. 
Maeifield,  174. 
Biaesbrook,  600.  621. 
Biaes  KnoU,  20a 
Magna  Castra,  280. 
Magnesia,  137* 
Magnis  or  Magna,  140. 
Maiden  Bower,  270. 

Castle,  270.  271. 

Way,  270. 
Mainstone,  190. 198. 
Malpes,  147. 
Malvern  Hills,  70. 
Manche,  department  de  la,  94. 
Manchester,  169* 
Mansel  Gamage,  187. 
Marcawy,  18a  18a 
Mare,  in  Composition,  271* 
Mareway,  24a 
Maroway  Hill,  28a 
Market  Drayton,  147. 
Marseille,  37a 
Manh  Pool  Circle,  30.  3a  34. 
BCarshfield,  89. 
Martigny,  349. 
Media,  141. 

Mediolannm,  8a  147.  14a 
Meer  Stone,  221. 
Meess,18a 
Meisir,  171- 
MeiTod,  147. 

Melverley,  7a  30a  604. 620. 
Meon  Hill,  87. 
Merchelai,  330. 
Merda,  17a  181. 183. 
Mere,  4.  26. 17a 
Mer8ete,28a 
Michaelstow  Beacon,  242. 
Middle,  147.  600. 
Middlecrow's  Green,  129. 
Middleton  Farm,  204. 
Middleton  Stoney,  20a  204. 


i 


634 


Midsummer  Hill,  70. 

Mileham,  802. 

Mille  Broket,  or  Mylbroke,  89. 

Mindtown,  8& 

Miiuterley,  39.  IM. 

MitcheU's  Fold,  16.  80— 3& 

Moat,  190.  864. 

Mold,  192. 

Monk  Hopton,  618. 

Monkspath  Street,  279. 

Mons  GUberti,  116. 

Montgomery,  74.  76.  190. 

Morden  Bush,  847. 

Mordle  Pen  Beacon,  883. 

Moreton  Say,  819. 

Morf,  99. 

Moiganwy,  183. 

Moridunum,  883. 

Morlas,  166. 

Morwood's  Causeway,  139. 

Morwyn  271. 

Mount  Zion,  77* 

Moy  Turrey,  17. 

Much  Wenlock,  141. 

Mullimast,  221. 

Munslow,  285.  690. 

Murlinch,  119. 

Mutiow  Hill,  200. 

Nadbury  Gamp,  67. 
Nantcribba  Hall,  190. 
Nant-y-Bellan,  195. 
Narborough,  202. 
Nami,  144. 
Neachley  Hill,  271. 
Neen,271. 
Nen,  65. 
Nepi,  144. 
Nettleton,  67. 
Newcastle,  190. 
New  Leasowes,  87* 
New  Pieces,  61.  62. 


Newmarket,  19& 

Newmarket  Heath,  198.  806. 

Newport,  133. 147. 

Newtown,  76. 

Nice,  144. 

Noceia,  144. 

Nor,  in  Composition,  518. 

Norbuiy  Ring,  8a 

Nordy  Bank,  48.  73.  84. 133.  140. 

149.  151.  864. 
Norihbrook,  803. 
Northfield,  220. 
Northop,  196. 
North  Tine,  207- 
Norton,  12&  129. 
Norton  Camp,  43.  78.  76u  86.  168. 

154.487. 

Oaken  Gates,  138.  620. 
Offa's  Dyke,  181—809.  396. 
Offchurch,  186. 
Offekirk,  188. 
Offeleia,  185. 
Offelow,  93. 
Offington,  186. 
Offord  Cluny,  186. 
Offord  Darcy,  186. 
Ogo,  60. 

Ogyr&n's  CasUe,  80. 
Old  Ditch,  805. 
Old  Oswestry,  167. 
Old  Sarum,  101. 
Old  Wall,  186.  188—138. 
Oldbury  on  Serem,  69. 
Olveston,  68. 
Orchard  Castle,  186. 
Ordovices,  57—69. 63. 78. 
Oreton,  818. 
Orford  Castie,  886. 
Oswald's  Low,  93. 
Oswestry,  60.  166.  81&  819.  884. 
608. 


635 


OqI,  in  Composition,  871. 

Ouse,  185.  199. 

Ovey,  185. 

Ovington,  185. 

Oyret,286. 

Oxenton  mil,  66.  867. 

Oyster  Hill,  71. 

Painswick  Hill  Camp,  69. 

Pampififord,  201. 

PampisfoTd  Ditch,  201. 

Pan,  in  Composition,  272. 

Parma,  144. 

Patintnne,  289. 

Pave  Lane,  147.  263. 

Payement  Gate,  250.  263. 

Peddar  Way,  251.  265.  274. 275. 

Pembridge^  187. 

Pembroke,  58. 

Pen  Craig. 

Pengwem,  170. 

Penkridge,  147. 

Pennaxton,  187. 

Penn  Beacon,  242. 

Pennocmdum,  147. 

Penn/s  Bush,  247. 

Pentre  Buchan,  192. 

Pentre  Clawdd,  195. 

Pen-y-CasteU,  64. 

Pen-y-Clyn,  64. 

Pen-y-Gaer,  64. 

Pen-y-Gardden,  192. 

Pemelle,  97. 

Perry,  166. 

Philadelphia,  138. 

Pickering  Castle,  224. 

Pim  Hill,  272.  284. 

Pisa,  144. 

Pitchford,  73. 141. 

Plas  Backley,  192. 

PUis  Power,  192. 

Platte,  107. 


Ploughley  Hill,  272. 

Plnsh,  357. 

Ponsert  Hill,  179.  180.  214.  548. 

56& 
Pontesbyiig,  179. 
Pontine  Marshes,  143. 
Port  Lane,  101. 

Port  Way,  101.  255. 265.  272. 273. 
Posthmnia  Via,  144. 
Prees,590. 
Presteign,  72. 
Proyence,  144. 
Prys  Henlle,  195. 
Pucklechurch,  67* 
PuUey,  275. 
Pnlverbatch,  822.  233. 
Purslow,  287.  S88. 

Qoantebrig,  223. 

Quatbiig,  211.  223.  224. 

Qnatford,  210.  211.  222—832.  860. 

Quatford  Castle,  229. 

Qnerdoc,  Qnordoc,  81. 

Quy,  200. 

Qay  Water,  200. 

Badnall  Bushes,  247. 

Radnor,  New,  74. 

Banbury  Camp,  67* 

Ratis,  145. 

Ratlinghope  or  Ratchop,  86.  87. 

Reach  or  Roach,  197. 198. 

Read,  207. 

Reccordine,  289. 

Redboum  Fair,  336. 

R^[gio,  144. 

Bhe,22. 

Rhosddu,  195. 

Rhydin,  195. 

Ribohester,  153. 

Riehborough  Castle,  129. 130. 

Riddings,  275. 


J 


6S6 


Ridge  Way,  998.  878w 
RQlmfy  Ounp,  880. 
Bimiiiiy  144. 
RinUiQ,  890. 
Risbofy,  71. 
Road,  Bayden,  841. 

Feme.    {See  Feme.) 

Gartreeyaoe. 

Hayden.    (See  Hayden.) 

Ickleton,  108. 

Mere,  840. 

881101^8,870. 

Welslimaii'B,  850.  808. 
Rolnii  Hood,  878. 
Robm  Hood's  Butts,  100. 

Chair,  878. 

Pricks,  101. 
Rochester,  IfiO. 
Rock,  100. 
Roddington,  170. 
Roden,  188.  187. 
Rodne/s  Pillar,  80. 
Roman  Bank,  149. 
Rome,  142k  144. 
Ro8B,68. 
Rowley  Hills,  86. 
Rowley  Regis,  881. 
Rowlwright,  15. 
Rowton,  147. 

Rowton  Castle,  138. 147. 14& 
Rnabon,  198. 
Rnckley,  135.  140. 
Ruesset,  890. 
Rngen,  11. 
Rnnning  Gap,  198. 
Rush,  in  Compomtion,  878. 
Rnshhory,  73.  133.  140.  148.-15a 

158.  833.  334. 
Rutchester,  159. 
Rutonium,  138.  133. 147^149. 
Ruyton  of  the  Eleven  Towns,  147* 
Ryoote  Lane,  855.  889. 


Ryelands,  434. 

Saeaon  Bank,  188. 
Salene,  84& 
Balisbofy  Hill,  88. 
Salter  Street  Lane,  879. 
Road,  879 
Sancred,89. 
Sandiford,  147. 
Sandy  Low,  174. 
Saidis,138. 
Sameafield,  187* 
Samm,  Old,  101. 
Sentry  Way,  873. 
Sayemake  Forest,  808. 
Sayoy,  144. 
Saxon's  Low,  493L 
Scarborough  Castle,  884. 
Soeaigate^  888.  887. 
Scearstan,  387. 
Sdropesberie,  890. 
Scoriate^885. 
Scots'  I^ke,  808,  807* 
Soots'  Neck,  807. 
Sechem,  9. 80. 
Segontinm,  83. 
Selattyn,  188. 
Se]]ack,51. 
Seven  Fann,  191. 
Severn,   58.  80.  88—88.   73.    7& 

78.  133. 180. 188.  171.  181.  183. 

188.  191.  883.  884. 
Shaftesbury,  53. 
Sharpeton  Edge,  408. 
Shawbnry,  848. 
Shelve,  878. 
Shereford,  808. 
Sheriff  Hayles,  14L 
Shipton  Beacon,  848. 
Shipton  Hall,  3.  73. 309. 339. 
Shirley  Street,  879. 
Show  Bank,  88.  841. 


637 


Show  Barrow,  241. 

ShrewBlrary,  36.  00.  64.  119.  12?. 

128.   132.    141.   188.  686.  687. 

691. 
Signal  Bonk,  88.  241. 
SilcheBter,  101. 160. 
Sflnres,  44.  67. 68.  83.  8& 
Silnriis  67.  68. 
Sina,  Monnty  12. 
Sion,  349. 

Skybony  Green,  180. 
Sle^277. 
Sligo,  16. 

Smethcot,  234. 484. 
Sniynusl3& 
SnaUtiatoh,  126. 
Sodbnry,  Little,  87- 
Soldier's  Ring,  189. 
Seller's  Hope,  71- 
Soaghton  Park,  196. 
Sonldem,  203. 
South  Wales,  68. 
Spoon,  in  Compoflition,  277* 
Spyway,  241. 
St  Briavel's,  186. 
St  Bride's  Bay,  68. 
St  aeer's,  407. 
St  Martin's,  188. 192. 
Stable  Gap,  19a 
Standard  Hill,  241. 
Stane  Street  Canseway,  134. 
Stanlow,  168. 
Stanton,  91.  677.  690. 
Stanton  Drew,  16.  31. 
Stanton  Moor,  87. 
Stanwick,  208. 207.  208. 
Stapeley  Hill,  30.  32.  34.  39. 
Staple,  in  Composition,  277- 
Staplaton,  34. 100.  234. 
Sterisbrugge,  319. 
Stetchworth  Park,  19a 
Stinchcombe  Hill,  87* 


Stiperstone,  74.  76. 126. 

Stirchley,  690. 

Stoc,  Stock,  Stoke,  in  (Compoflition, 

277.  27a 
Stoke  Leigh  Gamp,  8a 
Stoke  Lei^  Down,  8a 
Stoke  on  the  aee,  812. 
Stoke  St  Milborongh,  812. 
Stone,  in  Composition,  27a 
Stonehenge,  16. 40.  206. 
Stoney  Stretton,  13a 
Stottesdon,  286. 
Stomrport,  4. 
Stow  Mill,  67. 
Stiatford,  101. 169. 
Stratford  Groye,  160. 
Streetley,  101. 
Streets,  27a  279. 
Stexxts,  Akeman,  162. 

Birt,280. 

Croes,  192. 

Ermine,  264. 264.  266. 

Foreleg,  281. 

Green,  279. 

Hare,  264.  274. 

IcUeton,  101. 102. 

Icknield,  lOa  266.  284. 
287. 

Isaf,  192. 

Kai8end,280. 

Kind,  279. 

King,  279. 

Monkspath,  279. 

Pool  End,  280. 

Robert's  End,  280. 

Bye,  28a 

Salter,  279. 

Shirley,  279. 

Silyer,  280. 

Stone,  280.  286. 

Warden,  249. 

Watling,  263.  26a  27a 


688 


Stkhts,  Wood,  280. 

yDiniis,  19S. 

jt  HW0I19 192. 
Strengate,  226. 
Btretford,  HI. 
STBSTTOlf,  147. 

Chim^  8a  141. 

Heath,  148. 

HiU0,7«. 

Valley,  73. 
Stroud,  2S2. 
Sulgrave,  234. 

Soppoeed  Roman  Roads,  2M. 
Surrey,  163.  189. 
Sntton  Walls,  71.  260. 
Swaffham,  197- 
Swaffham  Prior,  19a 
Swale,  20a 
Sweeny,  281. 

Ade,302. 
SwB  Gaer,  64.  7a 
Symond'i  Yat,  187. 

Talgarth,  183. 
Tamenadao,  93. 
Tan  y  Glawdd,  192. 
Tanumo,  7a 
Tasbui^h,  16a 
Tatedan,  9a 
Tees,  20a  20a  207. 
Teme,  6a  66.  6a 
Tend  River,  22. 
Tern,  9a  16a  166. 
Tern  Hill,  147* 
Test,  6a  101. 
Tetbuiy,  6a 
Tewkesbury,  6& 
Thames,  43. 
Thorley  Causeway,  261. 
Thresholds,  87. 
Thrnxton,  234. 
Thyatira,  13a 


Tickenham,6a 

Tiddenhaxn,  18a  18a 

Tine  (NorthX  8O7. 

Tine  (South),  207. 

Tir-y-fron,  192. 

Titherington,  89. 

Titterstone,  a   21.  23->29.    73. 

21a 
Tomen  Bedugre,  74. 

Castle,  74. 
Ton,  in  Compoaitioii,  281. 
Tond  Ditch,  187. 
Tong,  691. 
Tongley  Hill,  4a  74. 
ToothiU,  281. 
Towbury  Hill,  Oa 
Traval,  170. 
Trvfiu*  Clawdd,  19a 
Trefonen,  192. 
Tref-y-Clawdd,  189. 
Treiddyn,  181. 192. 
Tren,  92.  164—167.  170. 
Trench,  28a 
Trench  Lane,  26a 
Trentham,  267. 
TrerDryw,  11. 
Tring,  loa 
Tripolis,  13a 
Troas,  ISa 
Trydonwy,  lOa 
Ti^oid,  7a  140. 162.  233. 
Twychenyldd  Grene,  220. 
Tyburn  Lane,  279. 
Tydderstone,  22. 
Tyn-y-cyffion,  192. 
lyrone,  16. 

Uley  Bury,  67.  69. 164. 

Upton  Magn%  691. 

Uriconium,  67.  91.  9a  lia    11& 

140. 14a  164.  soa 

Umach,  Caer,  90.  lia 


689 

f 

Valai8,349. 

Wattlebank,  90a  204. 

YaUets,  282. 

Watt's  Dyke^  181.  186.  20a 

Yem  Ditch,  S0& 

Wattstay,  19a 

Yespasian's  Camp,  16S. 

Wavre,  217. 

Via,  iEmilia,  144. 

Ways,  British  Track,  101. 

Appia,  143. 

DeTana^  284.  274. 

AureliA,  144. 

Hayden,  284.  207. 

Deran^lfidl. 

Icknield,  102. 

Domitia,  144. 

Mai^y  24a  28a  271. 

Egi]ati%144. 

Peddar,  261.  28a  274. 

FUminiay  144. 

Port,   101.  904.  24a  26a 

Poethimiia,  144. 

286.  272.  279. 

Yineyard  Break,  6& 

Bidge,  101.  27&  27a 

Yire,97. 

Sautry,  27a 

Walainghaoi,  27a 

Wades  MnT,28& 

Wea8eldenBam,187. 

Walbrook,  187. 

Wall,  183—171.  283. 

Wednesbnry,  17a 

HillH,  71. 

WeUington,  9a  18a  187. 362. 487. 

Old,  119.  128. 128—131. 

Wells  on  the  Sea,  802. 

under  Heywood,  140.  14a 

Welshman's  Road,  28a 

Wallgap,  19a 

Welshpool,  190. 

WaUow  Bank,  288. 

Wenlock,  83.  30a  63a  811. 

Walls,  158—180. 

Wenlock  Edge,  2ia  22a 

Wateingham  Way,  276. 

Wenlock  litUe,  49a 

Walwick  Cheaters,  IfiO. 

Wenlock,  Wood,  94.  9a 

Wans  Dyke,  203.  206.  208.  20& 

West  Felton,  219. 

Wantage,  101. 

Westbnry  Beacon,  242. 

Wapley,  72. 

Weston  nnder  Lizard,  148.  147. 

Wappenbury,  88. 

Whar  Edge,  26.  2ia 

Warden  Street,  249. 

Wheelfell,  207. 

Wardine,  in  Composition,  283. 810. 

Whelp  CasUe,  270. 

War  Hill,  174. 

WheUeton,  7a  164. 

Warley  Bank,  220. 

Whetieton  Wood,  7a 

War's  Hill  Camp,  218. 

Whetstones,  32— ^a 

Warton,  2ia 

Whitchurch,  147. 

Warwick,  86. 

Whitcot,  190. 

Watchfield,  241. 

Whitehaven,  191. 

Watching  Field,  174. 

White  Hawk,  287. 

Watting  Street,  81.  101.  12&  133. 

White  Town,  I70. 

136.  140. 141.  148.  147.  164.  169. 

Whittlebnry  Forest,  101. 

184.  266.  283.  28a  27a 

Wiccia,  227. 

640 


WieilMaen,  102.  106. 
Wig,  in  Gompontiqii,  26S. 
Wigmore,  141. 
Wilfaraham  Great,  200. 
Wmow  Fann,  97'  IM.  403. 
Willow  Moor,  92.  94. 
WHmore  Pool,  220. 
Wilton,  20ft. 

Wiltshire  Ditches,  20a  209. 
ITTinoheeter,  117. 109.  20S. 
Winstone,  207- 
Wmterboom,  69. 
Wirs  Wall,  21& 
Wiatanestiin,  234. 
ITTiatanstow,  86.  IfiO. 
Witentrei,  290.  291. 
Witetren,  290.  291. 
Wodneebeorii,  173. 
Woodbury  HUl,  70. 
Woodohester,  60. 
Woodcot,  147. 
Wooden  Dale,  173. 
Wood  Street,  280. 
Woodyatee,  206.  620. 
Wool,  in  Cknnpodtion,  617. 
Woolaston,  234.  466. 


Woobtaston,  233. 

Woore,  217. 

Wootton  under  Edge,  67. 1 16L 

Worcester,  IfiO. 

Worthen,4ftS. 

Wort's  Causeway,  2ftl. 

Wrechwyke,  302. 

Wiekin,    66.    84.   8»-M.     137. 

167.  221. 
Wrekin  Ceastre,  116. 
Wrekin  Fum,  94. 
Wrexham,  196. 
Wrockwardine,  289. 
Wroxalter,  lift. 
Wroxeter,   73.  90.  92.  115—133. 

140.  141.  149.  162.  159.  171. 
Wye,  181.  186.  187.  371. 
Wynnstay,  192. 
Wynnstay  Park,  195. 

Yapsel  Bank,  100. 
Yerdington,  619. 
Yerton,  619. 
Ymbelowsmere,  343. 

Zion,  Mount,  77- 


^ 


SR 


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ERRATA. 

Paflf 
34 
125 

co»pulaveril 
Snaibatch 

read 
capulaverlt. 
Snailbatch. 

134 

Survey 

Surrey. 

214 

ever 

even. 

240 

euw 

uses. 

400 

Ristoiw 

Ritaon*. 

433 

(TWRtne 

YwaJnc. 

4J»7 

coat 

coax.