Page images
PDF
EPUB

thing the same as wards-as home-along, in-along, up-along, down-along, [yuur-laung,] here-along, there-along, [yaen-ulaung,] along yonder, out-along, back along-i. e. homewards. A man said. -I be gwain zo vur-s Holy Well Lake, and I can't stap now, but I'll call in back-along-July 1, 1886-meaning, on my way back.

3. adv. Hitherto, so far, during the past. We've had middlin luck along, like.

4. Used redundantly. I zeed'n gwain down 'long; 'long way Bob Milton, just avore you com❜d up.

ALONGST [ulangs, ulaungs(t)], adv. Lengthwise, in the direction of the longest dimension. Used very commonly in contrast to athwart or across.

You 'ont make no hand o' thick there field o' ground, nif he idn a guttered both ways, [ukraa's-n ulangs,] across and alongst.

ALOUD [ulaewd], adv. As in polite society we hear of "loud colours," so in our lower walk we talk of "loud stinks."

[Dhik rab'ut fraa'sh! ee stingks ulacwd,] that rabbit fresh! he stinks aloud.

ALTER [au·ltur], v. To improve in condition, to gain in flesh; spoken of all kinds of live stock. [Dhai stee'urz-1 au·ltur, muyn, een yoa ur keep,] those steers will alter, mind, in your keep. See KEEP. [Dhai augz bee aulturd shoa ur nuuf,] those hogs (see HOG) are altered sure enough!-i. e. improved in condition.

ALTERING [au·ltureen], adj. Likely to improve, &c. Auctioneers constantly wind up their advertisements of cattle sales in the local press, with-The whole of the stock is of the most altering description.

ALTER THE HAND [aultur dhu an], phr. To change the course; usually for the better implied. (For the worse, see BADWAY, 2.)

ALTOGETHER SO [aultugaedh'ur zoa], adv. same degree.

Just to the Bill's all thumbs, and Jack's altogether so vitty handed. AMAUS [umau's], adv. Almost. The / is never sounded; nor is the above so com. as [maus, moo'ees,] most (g. v.).

[Dhik-s umau's u-dùed wai, ee oan paay vur main een,] that (thing) is almost done with (ie. worn out); he will not pay for mending [Aay-v u-ae'ud júsh bau'dhur, aay bee maus mae'uz,] I have had such a bother, I am almost driven wild. [Uur kyaa·ld-n bud úv ureedhing umau's,] she called him but everything almost-i. e. almost all the names she could think of. This is one of the very commonest descriptions of violent abuse.

AMBY [um-baa'y, m-baa'y], adv. Contr. of by-and-by; in a little while; later in the day. Very often used before night. When be gwain? Oh amby, can't go avore. [Aa-l kaul een. um-baa'y nait,] I will call in this evening or to-night.

AMEN. A very common saying is:

[Aa'main, paa'sn Pain,

Moo'ur roagz-n aun'ees main,]

Amen! Parson Penn,

More rogues than honest men.

AMINDED [umuy 'ndud], part. adj. Disposed, inclined, minded. (Very com.)

I be gwain to vote eens I be aminded, and I baint gwain vor t'ax nobody; zo tidn no good vor they to come palaverin o' me.

AMPER [aam pur], sb. A red pimple, a blotch on the face.

AMPERY [aam puree], adj. Blotchy skinned.

[Aam puree fae'usud,] blotchy faced. This is a very common description of persons, but it would not be spoken of animals.

AN [an, un, 'n], conj. Than. The th is never heard in the dialect as in lit. Engl.-even when emphatic.

[Doa'noa nu moo'ur-n dhu daid,] (I) do not know any more than the dead. [Noa uudh'ur waiz-n u naat urul,] no other than a natural (fool).

It is strange this th should have so completely disappeared; no combination of consonants has the slightest effect in recalling it. [Aay'd zèondur Taum'ee ad-n un Júm'ee,] I would rather Tommy had it than Jimmy. [Yue-d bad'r git laung aum un buyd abaewt yuur,] you had better get along home, than stay about here.

Can it be that this is not from the A.S. thanne, but from Old Norse an, Sw. än, which Atkinson gives (p. xxvi) for than?

AN-ALL [un aul], adv. antly at the end of a clause.

Likewise, also: used chiefly redund(Very com.)

I 'sure you, sir, I've a beat-n and a-told to un, and a-tookt away 'is supper an all, and zo have his father too, but tidn no good, we can't do nort way un. Answer of a woman to chairman of School Board, why she did not make her boy go to school.

ANATOMY. See NOTTAMY.

ANCIENT [an'shunt], sb. Union Jack of a British vessel. usual term among the fisher folk.

The ensign or national colours;
In the Bristol Channel this is the

How can anybody tell what her is, nif her ont show her ancient? AND [an], conj. If. (Very com.) Some people always say, [An yue plaiz,] for If you please. This form remains in the much commoner nif, which is the contracted form of and if.

ffor, and he be blessed : þe better þe be-tydyth.

Piers Plowman, Rich. the Red. ii. 75.
Out-take hys felawe Olyuere and he were hol and sounde;
Ac he lyp hert now with a spere: and berep a gryslich wounde.
Sir Ferumbras, 1. 200.

But and he be put in a good pasture.—Fitzherbert, Husbandry, 6/12.
For and it sweate not in the hey-cockes, it wyll sweate in the mowe.
Ibid. 25/16.

See also 68/62, 70/34, 142/7. See W. S. Gram. p. 93.
Puppy. Why all's but writing and reading, is it Scriben?

An it be any more it is mere cheating zure.

[ocr errors]

Med. Why my friend Scriben, an it please your worship.—Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, I. 2.

AN-DOG [an'duug, an'daug].

And-iron; always so called.

They are still very commonly used in farm-houses, and others where wood is burnt. Several pairs are in constant use in the writer's own house. They are well described in the old-fashioned riddle:

Head like an apple,

Neck like a swan,

Back like a long-dog

And dree legs to stan.

ANDSELL WEIGHT.

See HANDSALE Weight.

AND THAT [un dhaat: -n dhaat]. A very common pleonastic phrase, giving no force to the sentence.

[Aay-v u-saard au·l dhu dhingz-n dhaat,] I have fed all the cattle and that. [Uur toa·ld-n au'l ubaewt ut-n dhaat,] she told him all about it, and that. [Mae'ustur aaks mee haut aay zad-n dhaat,] inaster asked me what I said, and that.

ANEAST [unee'us], adv. Near. (Very com.)

It

[Twaud-n ee ee núvur waud-n unee us-n,] it was not he, he never was near him. Used only with verbs implying motion. would never be said, The house is aneast the road: "handy" or "home beside o'" would in that case be used. In the example above, never was near" implies never went near. See ANIGH.

[ocr errors]

AN END [un een], adv. On end. [Stan-un-ee'n,] to stand an end

to stand on the head, with heels in the air (always). Bob waudn proper drunk tho-nif he's riglur drunk, he d'always stan' un ee'n.

ANES (Hal.). Aines. See EENS.

ANGLE [ang-1: not as in Eng. ang-gl], sb. An earthworm. (Very com.)

[U buunch u ang·lz wai wús'turd drùe um-z dhu bas bauyt vur ee ulz,] a bunch of worms with worsted through them is the best

bait for eels. An old bird-fancier of my acquaintance always speaks of feeding larks and thrushes, "You be bound vor to gie em a angle now and then." A dung-heap's the place to find angles.

Cf. angle-twitch of other districts-not known here.

ANGLE [angl], v. i. To intrigue; to "beat about the bush ;" to loiter about or frequent a place for some purpose.

[Wau'd-ur kaum ang·leen baewt yuur vaur?] what does he come loitering about here for? [Aay au vees kunsúd'urd eens ee wuz ang leen aa'dr Mús Jee'un,] I always thought he was angling after Miss Jane. [Aay kaa'n ubae'ur-n, úz au vees pun dhu ang·l,] I cannot endure him, he is always upon the angle-i. e. intriguing.

ANGLE-BOW [angl boa], sb. A running noose, a slip-knot, especially a wire on a long stick for catching fish; also a springle for catching birds. The poacher's wire is always a angle-bow.

ANGLE-BOWING [angl boa'een], sb. Tech. A method of fencing. See Ex. Scold. pp. 46, 118.

ANGRY [ang'gree], adj. (the usual term). He was now the leg looks angry.

Inflamed; applied to wounds or sores getting on very well till s'mornin, but

AN IF [un eef neef]. The regular form of if. This seems very like a reduplication, because an (q. v.) alone is often used for if; but in rapid common speech it is nearly always contracted into nif [neef].

[Neef aay wuz yùe, aay-d zee un daam fuus], if I were you I world see him d-d first. Hundreds of examples of the use of this word are to be found throughout these pages.

ANIGH [unuy', unaa'y], pr.p. Used with verbs implying motion only. Near; same as aneast (q. v.). In both these words the prefix seems to imply motion. The sound of nigh and neigh in neighbour is usually identical in the dialect.

[Dhur aewz úz nuy dhu roa'ud, búd aay núvur dúdn goo unuy um,] their house is near the road, but I never went near them.

ANIGHT [unuyt], adv. To-night, at night.

You can't never do it by day, but you can zometimes anight.

To consaile sche him clepud ·, and þe cas him told,
Sopliche al pe sweuen þat hire anizt mette.

Will. of Palerme, 1. 2919.

Take pere the hert of him, for whos song pou ros vp so anyt fro me.

[blocks in formation]

Gesta Roman. p. 61.

ANPASSY [an paa see]. The name of the sign "&." This is

the last letter of our alphabet, which always ends with aek's, wuy, zad, anpaa see. See p. 75, W. S. Dialect; also Ampersand and Ampassy in New Eng. Dictionary.

ANSWER [aan'sur], v. i. To endure, to last.

That there poplar 'ont never answer out o' doors, t'll be a ratted in no time. The word is in constant use by country folk, in nearly as many senses as given by Dr. Murray. The above is as

common as any.

ANSWERABLE [aan surubl], adj. Durable, lasting.

A man said to me of a draining tool (January 1879): [Dhik'ee soa urt bee dee'urur, bút dhai bee moo'ur aan surublur,] that sort are dearer, but they are more answerable-i. e. cheaper in the end. A thatcher living and bred at Burlescombe said to me twice, 'Twas good answerable seed.-March 25, 1884.

ANT [aan, aant], v.
See W. S. Gram. p.

ANTHONY'S FIRE.

Have not, has not (always). 58, et seq.

ANTLER [ant lur], sb.

See TANTONY'S FIRE.

Hunting. A branch or point growing out of the beam of a stag's horn. Bow (q. v.), bay, and tray are each of them an antler. We talk of a fine head, or fine pair of horns; but never of fine antlers.

A warrantable stag has bow, bay, and tray antlers, and two on top of each horn. A male calf has no horn, a brocket only knobblers, and small brow antlers.-Records of North Devon Staghounds, 1812-18, p. 9.

I remember seeing a deer, when set up by hounds, thrust his brow-antler through the hand of a man who attempted to secure him.-Collyns, Chase of the Wild Red Deer, p. 67.

ANY-BODY [ún'ee bau·dee], imp. pron. One. See W. Somerset Grammar, pp. 38, 39.

[Un'ee bau dee kèod-n voo'urd-u dùe ut, neef dhai dúd-n dùe ut nai tuymz, kèod ur?], one could not afford to do it, if one did not do it night times (q. v.), could they? The construction is nearly always plural.

APERN [uup'urn], sb. 1. Apron; always so pronounced.

A buttrice and pincers, a hammer and naile,

An aperne and sitzers for head and for taile.-Tusser, 17/4.

2. The skin between the breast-bone and the tail of a duck or goose when sent to table, is called the apern.

by carvers to get at the seasoning.

This apron is cut

APPLE-DRANE [aa'pl drae'un], sb. A wasp. Common, but not so much used as wapsy.

« PreviousContinue »