Chapter I: Part 1

A GLOSSARY OF PROVINCIAL WORDS & PHRASES IN USE IN SOMERSETSHIRE.

BY
WADHAM PIGOTT WILLIAMS, M.A.,
_VICAR OF BISHOP'S HULL_,

AND THE LATE
WILLIAM ARTHUR JONES, M.A., F.G.S.

WITH
AN INTRODUCTION
BY R. C. A. PRIOR, M.D.

[Picture: Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society emblem]

LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, & DYER.
TAUNTON: F. MAY, HIGH STREET.
1873.

PREFACE

It is now nearly six years ago that the Committee of the Somersetshire Archaeological Society asked me to compile a Glossary of the Dialect or archaic language of the County, and put into my hands a valuable collection of words by the late Mr. Edward Norris, surgeon, of South Petherton. I have completed this task to the best of my ability, with the kind co-operation of our late excellent Secretary, WM. ARTHUR JONES; and the result is before the public. We freely made use of Norris, Jennings, Halliwell, or any other collector of words that we could find, omitting mere peculiarities of pronunciation, and I venture to hope it will prove that we have not overlooked much that is left of that interesting old language, which those great innovators, the Printing Press, the Railroad, and the Schoolmaster, are fast driving out of the country.

WADHAM PIGOTT WILLIAMS.

Bishop's Hull, Taunton,
7th September, 1873.

INTRODUCTION.

The following paper from the pen of Dr. Prior was read at a Conversazione of the Society at Taunton, in the winter of 1871, and as it treats the subject from a more general point of view than is usually taken of it, we print it with his permission as an introduction to our vocabulary:--

On the Somerset Dialects.

The two gentlemen who have undertaken to compile a glossary of the Somerset dialect, the Rev. W. P. Williams and Mr. W. A. Jones, have done me the honour to lend me the manuscript of their work; and the following remarks which have occurred to me upon the perusal of it I venture to lay before the Society, with the hope that they may be suggestive of further enquiry.

Some years ago, while on a visit at Mr. Capel's, at Bulland Lodge, near Wiveliscombe, I was struck with the noble countenance of an old man who was working upon the road. Mr. Capel told me that it was not unusual to find among the people of those hills a very refined cast of features and extremely beautiful children, and expressed a belief that they were the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the country, who had been dispossessed of their land in more fertile districts by conquerors of coarser breed. A study of the two dialects spoken in the county (for two there certainly are) tend, I think, to corroborate the truth of this opinion.

It will be urged that during the many centuries that have elapsed since the West Saxons took possession of this part of England the inhabitants must have been so mixed up together that all distinctive marks of race must long since have been obliterated. But that best of teachers, experience, shows that where a conquered nation remains in greatly superior numbers to its conqueror, and there is no artificial bar to intermarriages, the latter, the conqueror, will surely be absorbed into the conquered. This has been seen in our own day in Mexico, where the Spaniards, who have occupied and ruled the country nearly four hundred years, are rapidly approaching extinction. Nay, we find that even in a country like Italy, where the religion, language, and manners are the same, the original difference of races is observable in different parts of the peninsula after many centuries that they have been living side by side.

It seems to be a law of population that nations composed of different stocks or types can only be fused into a homogeneous whole by the absorption of one into the other--of the smaller into the greater, or of the town-dwellers into the country stock. The result of this law is, that mixed nations will tend with the progress of time to revert to their original types, and either fall apart into petty groups and provincial distinctions, as in Spain, or will eliminate the weaker or less numerous race, the old or the new, as the one or the other predominates. The political character of our English nation has changed from that which it was in the time of the Plantagenets by discharging from it the Norman blood; and our unceasing trouble with the Irish is a proof that we have not yet made Englishmen of them, as perhaps we never shall. A very keen observer, M. Erckman, in conversation with the _Times_ correspondent, of the 21st December, 1870, made a remark upon the state of France which is so illustrative of this position, as regards that country, that I cannot forbear to give it in his own words. The correspondent had expressed his fear that, if the war were prolonged, France would lapse into anarchy. "It is not that," said M. Erckman, "which fills me with apprehension. It is rather the gulf which I begin to fear is widening between the two great races of France. The world is not cognisant of this; but I have watched it with foreboding." "Define me the two types." "They shade into each other; but I will take, as perhaps extremes, the Gascon, and the Breton." "He proceeded," says the correspondent, "to sketch the characteristics of the people of Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony, and to contrast them with those of Brittany, middle, and north France, their idiosyncrasies of race, feeling, religion, manners--their diverse aspirations, their antagonisms. For sufficient reasons I pass over his remarks." A still more striking case of the kind is that of Egypt, a country that for more than 2,000 years has been subject to foreign conquerors, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and Mamelukes, and the annual influx of many thousand negro slaves, and where, notwithstanding all this, the peasantry, as far as can be judged by a careful examination of the skull, is identical with the population of the Pharaonic period.

This, then, being assumed, that a turbid mixture of different races has a tendency to separate after a time into its constituent elements, and certain originally distinct types to re-appear with their characteristic features, how does this law of population apply to Somersetshire?

It is clear from the repeated allusions to the Welsh in the laws of Ina, King of the West Saxons, that in his kingdom the ancient inhabitants of the country were not exterminated, but reduced to the condition of serfs. Some appear to have been landowners; but in general they must have been the servants of their Saxon lords, for we find the race, as in the case of the negroes in the West Indies, to have been synonymous with the servile class, so that a groom was called a _hors-wealh_, or horse Welshman, and a maid-servant a _wylen_, or Welsh-woman. As long as slavery was allowed by the law of the land--that is, during the Anglo-Saxon period, and for two centuries at least after the Conquest--there was probably no very intimate mixture of the two races. The Normans, as, in comparison with the old inhabitants of the country, they were few in number, cannot have very materially affected them. We have, therefore, to consider what has become of them since--the Saxon master and the Welsh slave. In the Eastern Counties the invaders seem to have overwhelmed the natives, and destroyed or driven them further inland. Here, in Somerset, their language continued to be spoken in the time of Asser, the latter part of the 9th century; for he tells his readers what Selwood and other places with Saxon names were called by the Britons. We may infer from this mention of them that they were still dispersed over these counties, and undoubtedly they still live in our peasantry, and are traceable in the dialect. Now, is there any peculiarity in this which we may seize as diagnostic of British descent? I submit that we have in the West of Somerset and in Devonshire in the pronunciation of the vowels; a much more trustworthy criterion than a mere vocabulary. The British natives learnt the language that their masters spoke, and this is nearly the same as in Wilts, Dorset, Gloucester, Berks, and Hampshire, and seems to have formerly extended into Kent. But they learnt it as the Spaniards learnt Latin: they picked up the words, but pronounced them as they did their own. The accent differs so widely in the West of Somerset and in Devonshire from that of the counties east of them that it is extremely difficult for a native of these latter to understand what our people are talking about, when they are conversing with one another and unconscious of the presence of a stranger.

The river Parret is usually considered to be the boundary of the two dialects, and history records the reason of it. We learn from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 658, that "Cenwealh in this year fought against the Welsh at Pen, and put them to flight as far as the Parret." "Her Kenwealh gefeaht aet Peonnum with Wealas, and hie geflymde oth Pedridan." Upon this passage Lappenberg in his "England under the Anglo-Saxon kings" remarks: "The reign of Cenwealh is important on account of the aggrandisement of Wessex. He defeated in several battles the Britons of Dyvnaint and Cernau [Devon and Cornwall] who had endeavoured to throw off the Saxon yoke, first at Wirtgeornesburh, afterwards, with more important results, at Bradenford [Bradford] on the Avon in Wiltshire, and again at Peonna [the hill of Pen in Somersetshire], where the power of the Britons melted like snow before the sun, and the race of Brut received an incurable wound, when he drove them as far as the Pedrede [the Parret] in A.D. 658."

The same author in another passage says (vol. i. p. 120): "In the south-west we meet with the powerful territory of Damnonia, the kingdom of Arthur, which bore also the name of 'West-Wales.' Damnonia at a later period was limited to Dyvnaint, or Devonshire, by the separation of Cernau or Cornwall. The districts called by the Saxons those of the Sumorsaetas, of the Thornsaetas [Dorset], and the Wiltsaetas were lost to the kings of Dyvnaint at an early period; though _for centuries afterwards a large British population maintained itself in those parts_ among the Saxon settlers, as well as among the Defnsaetas, long after the Saxon conquest of Dyvnaint, who for a considerable time preserved to the natives of that shire the appellation of the _Welsh kind_."

In corroboration of Lappenberg's opinion, one in which every antiquary will concur, I may notice in passing that many a farm in West Somerset retains to the present day an old name that can only be explained from the Cornish language. Thus, "Plud farm," near Stringston, is "Clay farm," or "Mud farm," from_ plud_, mire. In a word, the peasantry of West Somerset are Saxonized Britons. Their ancestors submitted to the conquering race, or left their country and emigrated to Brittany, but were not destroyed; and in them and their kinsmen of Cornouailles in France we see the living representatives of the ancient Britons as truly as in Devonshire and Cornwall, in Cumberland, or Wales.

The characteristic feature of their dialect, and the remark applies of course equally to the Devonian which is identical with it, is the sound of the French _u_ or the German _u_ given to the _oo_ and _ou_, a sound that only after long practice can be imitated by natives of the more eastern counties. Thus a "roof" is a _ruf_, "through" _is thru_, and "would" is _wud_. The county might consequently be divided into a "Langue d'oo" and a "Langue d'u."

An initial _w_ is pronounced _oo_. "Where is Locke?" "Gone t' Ools, yer honour." "What is he gone there for?" "Gone zootniss, yer honour." The man was gone to Wells assizes as a witness in some case. In a public-house row brought before the magistrates they were told that "Oolter he com in and drug un out." ("Walter came in and dragged him out.") _Ooll_ for "will" is simply _ooill_. An _owl doommun_ is an old oooman. This usage seems to be in accordance with the Welsh pronunciation of _w_ in _cwm_.

There are other peculiarities that seem to be more or less common to all the Western Counties, and to have descended to them from that Wessex language that is commonly called Anglo-Saxon--a language in which we have a more extensive and varied literature than exists in any other Germanic idiom of so early a date, itself the purest of all German idioms. It is a mistake to suppose that it is the parent of modern English. This has been formed upon the dialect of Mercia, that of the Midland Counties; and it cannot be too strongly impressed upon strangers who may be inclined to scoff at West Country expressions as inaccurate and vulgar, that before the Norman Conquest our language was that of the Court, and but for the seat of Government having been fixed in London might be so still; that it was highly cultivated, while the Midland Counties contributed nothing to literature, and the Northern were devastated with war; and that the dialect adopted, so far from being a better, is a more corrupt one.

The peculiarities to which I allude as common to all the Southern Counties are these: The transposition of the letter _r_ with another consonant in the same syllable, so that _Prin_ for _Prince_ becomes _Purn_, _fresh fursh_, _red ribbons urd urbans_--a change that certainly is more general and more uniformly carried out in the Langue d'u district than in the Langue d'oo, but cannot be quite exclusively appropriated by the former.

Under the same category will fall the transposition of _s_ with _p_, as in _waps_ for _wasp_, _curps_ for _crisp_; with _k_, as in _ax_ for _ask_; with _l_, as in _halse_ for _hazel_.

A hard consonant at the beginning of a word is replaced with a soft one, _f_ for _v_, as in _vire_ for _fire_; _s_ with _z_, as in _zur_ for _sir_; _th_ with _d_, as in "What's _dee_ doing here _dis_ time o'night?" _k_ with _g_, as in _gix_, the hollow stalk of umbelliferous plants, for _keeks_. To be "as dry as a gix" is to be as dry as one of these stalks--a strong appeal for a cup of cider.

Of another peculiarity which our Western district has in common with Norway, I am uncertain whether it extends further eastward, or not; I mean the replacing an initial _h_ with _y_, as in _yeffer_ for _heifer_, _Yeffeld_ for _Heathfield_. One it has in common with Latin as compared with Greek--the replacing an initial hard _th_ with _f_, as in _fatch_ for _thatch_, like L. _fores_ for [Greek text]. A singularly capricious alteration of the vowels, so as to make long ones short, and short ones long, is, as far as I am aware, confined to our Langue d'u district. For instance, a _pool_-reed is called a _pull_-reed, a _bull_ a _bul_, a _nail_ a _nal_, _paint pant_; and bills are sent in by country tradespeople with the words so spelt. Again, a _mill_ is called a _meel_, and a _fist_ a _feest_, _pebble_ becomes _popple_, and _Webber_ (a surname) _Wobber_. This looks like one of those dialectic peculiarities for which there is no means of accounting.

In the selection of words for their vocabulary I trust that these gentlemen will follow the example of Mr. Cecil Smith in his admirable work on "The Birds of Somersetshire"--not to admit one of which he had not positive proof that it had been shot in this county. Every one should be taken down from the lips of a native, and such as cannot be identified should be sternly rejected. The task that they have undertaken is a laborious one; but there is no county in England that affords such materials for tracing the influence of a subordinate upon a conquering race--of a Celtic language upon one that was purely German.

I cannot conclude these remarks without adverting to a rich and hitherto quite unexplored mine of antiquities--the names of our fields. There is reason to believe that our country roads were traced out, and the boundaries and names of our fields assigned to them, when these were first reclaimed from the primeval forest, and that they are replete with notices of ancient men and manners that deserve and will well repay our careful study.

* * * * *

Since the above has been in type I have had the satisfaction of learning from Mr. G. P. R. Pulman, of the Hermitage, Crewkerne, that at Axminster, the river Axe, the ancient British and Saxon boundary line, divides the dialect spoken to the east of it (the Dorset, to judge from a specimen of it that he has enclosed) from the Devon. He goes on to say: "On the opposite, the west side of the river, as at Kilmington, Whitford, and Colyton, for instance, a very different dialect is spoken, the general south or rather east Devon. The difference between the two within so short a distance (for you never hear a Devonshire sound from a native Axminster man) is very striking." That after a period of 1,200 years the exact limit of the two races should still be distinguishable in the accent of their descendants, is an interesting confirmation of the view that I have taken of the origin of these dialects, and at the same time a remarkable proof of the tenacity of old habits in a rural population; the more so that the boundary line of the dialects does not coincide with that of the two counties.

A GLOSSARY OF PROVINCIAL WORDS AND PHRASES IN USE IN SOMERSETSHIRE.

A, _pron._ He, ex. a did'nt zai zo did a?

A, adverbial prefix, ex. afore, anigh, athin

A, for "have"

A, participal prefix, corresponding with the Anglo-Saxon _ge_ and _y_, ex. atwist, alost, afeard, avroze, avriz'd

Abeare _v._ bear, endure, ex. for anything that the Court of this Manor will abeare. _Customs of Taunton Deane_

Abbey _s._ great white poplar. Abbey-lug, a branch or piece of timber of the same (D. _Abeel_)

Abbey-lubber _s._ a lazy idle fellow, _i.e._ worthless as abbey wood

Addice, Attis _s._ an adze

Addle _s._ a fester (A S _adl_ disease)

After, along side

Agallied, _past part_, frightened

Agin _pr._ against. Auverginst, over-against, up to, in preparation for, as Agin Milemas

Agon, _past part._ gone by. Also _adv._

Ail _s._ ailment, a disease in the hind-quarter of animals, ex. Quarter-ail

Aine _v._ to throw stones at (A S _haenan_ to stone)

Aines, just as. Al-aines, all the same, or all one

Al-on-een, on tip toe, eager

Aller, (A S _alr_) alder tree. Allern made of alder

Amper, Hamper _s._ a pimple. Ampery, pimply

An _prep._ If

An-dog, Handog _s._ andiron

Angle-dog, or Angle-twitch _s._ a large earth-worm (A S _Angel-twicce_), _Angle_ a fish-hook

Anpassey, Anpussey, the sign of &, _i.e. and per se_

Anty, empty

Appropo, (Fr. _Apropos_) but used as one of a small group of Norman French words which have got into popular use

Apse, Apsen-tree, (A S _aeps_) the aspen tree

Ar-a-one, ever-a-one. Nar-a-one, never-a-one

Arry, any. N'urry, none

Asew, drained of her milk: applied to a cow at the season of calving. From _sew_ to drain, hence _sewer_

Aslun, Aslue, Aslope, _adv._ indicate oblique movements in different directions and levels

Asplew _adv._ extended awkwardly

Astroddle _adj._ astride

Auverlook _v._ to bewitch

Ax _v._ to waddle

Axe, (A S _ascan_) _v._ to ask, always used in Wiclif's Bible

Axen, (A S _ahse. aexse_) _s._ ashes, ex. Here maaid, teeak showl and d'up axen

Axpeddlar _s._ dealer in ashes

Backlet _s._ the back part of the premises

Back-stick, Backsword _s._ single-stick, a favourite game in Wedmore

Backsunded _adj._ with a northern aspect

Bal-rib _s._ spare-rib

Bally-rag _v._ to use abusive language

Ban _v._ to shut out, stop, ex. I ban he from gwain there

Bane _s._ liver disease in sheep, east of the Parret; west of the river the term Coed or Coathed is used, ex. I count they be beund

Bannin _s._ That which is used for shutting out, or stopping

Bannut _s._ Walnut

A woman, a spaunel, and a bannut tree,
The mooar you bate 'em the better they be

Barrener _s._ a cow not in calf

Barrow _s._ a child's pilch or flannel clout

Barrow-pig _s._ a gelt-pig

Barton _s._ a farm-yard, the Barn-town

Bastick _s._ basket

Bat, But, the root end of a tree after it has been thrown, also spade of cards, the stump of a post

Batch, a sand bank, or patch of ground, or hillock, "a hill," as Churchill-batch, Chelvey-batch, (lying within, or contiguous to, a river); emmet-batches, ant-hills. Duck-batches, land trodden by cattle in wet weather

Bats _s._ corners of ploughed fields: low-laced boots

Bawker: Bawker-stone _s._ a stone for whetting scythes

Be, indic. ex. I be, thou bist, he be

Bear-hond _v._ to help

Bear-nan, Bear-in-hond, Bean-hond _v._ to intend, purpose, think, suspect, conjecture, ex. I do beanhond et'l rain zoon

Beat the streets, to run about idly

Beeastle, Beezle _v._ to make nasty

Bee-bird _s._ the White-throat

Bee-but, Bee-lippen, a bee-hive (_lepe_, a basket, Wiclif Acts ix, 25)

Beetel, Bittle, or Bitle _s._ a bron-bitle, or brand-bitle, a heavy mallet for cleaving wood. Shaks. Hen. IV. "fillip me with a three man beetle." Bitle-head _s._ a blockhead

Becal _v._ to abuse, to rail at

Bedfly _s._ a flea

Bed-lier _s._ a bed-ridden person

Beever _s._ a hedge-side encumbered with brambles

Begaur, Begaurz, Begumm, Begummers, words of asseveration and exclamation

Begrumpled _adj._ soured, displeased

Begurg _v._ begrudge

Behither _adv._ on this side

Belge, or Belve _v._ to bellow

Belk, or Bulk, _v._ to belch

Bell flower, Bell-rose, a Daffodil

Belsh _v._ to clean the tails of sheep

Benet, Bents _s._ Bennetty _adj._ long coarse grass, and plantain stalks

Benge _v._ to continue tippling, to booze

Benns, or Bends, ridges of grass lands

Bepity _v.a._ to pity

Beskummer _v._ to besmear, abuse, reproach

Bethink _v._ to grudge, ex. He bethink'd I but everything

Betwattled _v.n._ to be in a distressed state of mind, also _v.a._

Betwit, to rake up old grievances

Bevorne, before

Bibble _v._ to tipple. Bibbler _s._

Biddy _s._ a chick. Chick-a-Biddy, a term of endearment

Biddy's eyes _s._ pansy

Bide _v._ to live or lodge in. Bidin _s._ a place where a man lives

Big, Beg, Begotty _adj._ grand, consequential, ex. Too big for his birches

Billid _adj._ distracted, mad

Billy _s._ a bundle of straw, or reed, one-third part of a sheaf

Bim-boms _s._ anything hanging as a bell, icicles, or tags of a woman's bonnet, or dress

Bin, Bin'swhy _conj._ because, seeing that, prob. "being," provided that

Binnic, or Bannisticle _s._ stickle-back

Bird-battin _v._ taking birds at night with a net attached to two poles. Shaks. bat-fowling

Bird's-meat, Bird's-pears _s._ hips and haws

Bisgee, (g hard), (Fr. _besaigue_. Lat _bis-acuta_) _s._ a mooting or rooting axe, sharp at both ends and cutting different ways

Bis't _v._ Art thou? (Germ. _bist du_)

Bit _s._ the lower end of a poker _v._ to put a new end to a poker

Bivver _v._ to shake or tremble, ex. They'll make he bivver, (A S _bifian_, to tremble)

Blackhead _s._ a boil, a pinswil

Black-pot _s._ black-pudding

Blacky-moor's-beauty _s._ Sweet scabious

Blake _v._ to faint (A S _blaecan_, to grow pale)

Blanker, Vlanker, Flanker _s._ a spark of fire

Blanscue _s._ an unforeseen accident

Blather _s._ Bladder _v._ to talk in a windy manner, to vapour

Bleachy _adj._ brackish

Blicant _adj._ bright, shining (A S _blican_, to shine)

Blid _s._ applied in compassion, as poor old blid--blade

Blowth _s._ bloom, blossom, ex. A good blowth on the apple trees

Blunt _s._ a storm of snow or rain, snow-blunt

Boarden _adj._ made of board

Bobsnarl _s._ a tangle as of a skein of twine

Booc _s._ a wash of clothes, (A S _buc_ water vessel)

Bodkins _s._ swingle-bars. Weys and Bodkins, portions of plough-harness

Body-horse _s._ the second horse in a team, that which draws from the end of the shafts

Boming _adj._ hanging down, like a woman's long hair

Boneshave _s._ hip-rheumatism

Bore, the tidal wave in the river Parrett

Borrid _adj._ applied to a sow when seeking the boar

Bos, Bus _s._ a yearling calf, a milk sop (Lat. _bos_)

Bottle _s._ a bubble, a small cask for cider _v._ to bubble

Boughten _past part._ of to buy

Bow _s._ a culvert, arched bridge, arch, as Castle-bow, Taunton

Bowerly _adj._ portly, tall, well-made, quy. _buirdly_

Bowsin _s._ fore part of a cattle stall

Brandis _s._ an iron frame to support a pan or kettle over a hearth-fire (A S _brand-isen_)

Brash _s._ a row, tumult, crash (A S _brastl_ a noise)

Brave _adj._ in good health

Brazed _past part._ cramped with cold

Br'd, or Bard, Breaze _v._ to bruize, to indent, as on an apple

Breath _s._ a scent, a smell

Breeze _v._ to braize or solder a kettle

Brickle, Burtle _adj._ brittle

Brineded _adj._ brindled

Bring-gwain _v._ to get rid of, to spend, to accompany a person some way on a journey, bring-going

Brit, Burt, to leave a dent or impression

Brize, Prize _v.a._ to press down

Broom-squires _s._ Quantock broom-makers

Brock _s._ a piece of turf for fuel (Du. _brocke_, a morass)

Broller, Brawler _s._ a bundle of straw

Brow-square, an infant's head cloth

Bruckley, Brode _adj._ as applied to stock given to break fence, to cheese that breaks into fragments

Brummle, Brimmel (A S _brimel_) _s._ bramble

Bucked _adj._ having a strong hircine taste, applied to cheese

Buckle _v.n._ to bend, to warp

Buckle _s._ a dispute _v._ to quarrel.

Buddle _v._ to suffocate in mud

Bug _s._ beetle, as water-bug, may-bug, cockchafer

Bullen _s._ large black sloes; bullace-plum

Bullworks, Bullocking _adj._ rude, romping

Bumtowel _s._ long-tailed tit

Bungee, (g hard), _adj._ short and squat

Burcott _s._ a load

Burge _s._ bridge

Burr _s._ a sweet-bread

Bursh _s._ brush

Busket _s._ a bush or brake

But _s._ a basket for catching salmon; also a bee-hive. But, for Put, a heavy cart

Butter and Eggs _s._ toad-flax, _linaria vulgaris_

Button stockings _s._ gaiters

Butty _s._ a partner

Buzzies _s._ flies

Byes _s._ furrows

By-now, a short time ago

Caddle _s._ bustle, ex. We'rn jussy caddle to-day

Cadock _s._ a bludgeon, a short thick club

Cag _v._ to annoy, vex

Cag _v._ to irritate

Callenge _s._ and _v.a._ challenge

Cal-home, or Cal-over _v._ to publish or call the banns of marriage for the last time

Callyvan' or Carryvan, also Clevant and Vant, a pyramidal trap for catching birds, quy. _colly fang_, (A S _fangen_, to take)

Cannel, Cannal _s._ the faucet of a barrel--tap-and-canal

Car _v._ to carry, ex. Cassn't car'n?

Carry-merry _s._ a kind of sledge used in conveying goods

Carvy-seeds _s._ carraway seeds, (_carvi sem_:)

Cauk _v._ to turn down the ends of shoes for a horse to stand on ice

Caxon _s._ a sorry wig

Chaccle _v._ to caccle as a hen

Chaity _adj._ careful, nice, delicate

Chaine _s._ a weaver's warp

'Ch'am, (A S _ic eom_: Germ. _Ich bin_) I am. 'Ch'ave, I have. 'Ch'ad, I had. 'Ch'ool, I would. Uch'll go, I will go. "Chill not let go, zir, without vurther 'casion." Shaks. Lear, iv, 6. This form occurs chiefly in the neighbourhood of Merriott.

Cham _v._ To chew

Charm _s._ confused noise as of birds

Cheaymer, Chimmer _s._ a bed-room

Cheese-stean _s._ a wring or press for cheese

Chibbole _s._ (Sp. _cepolla_, Fr. _ciboule_) a young onion, before the bulb is fully formed

Chilbladder _s._ a chilblain

Chilver, (A S _cilfer-lamb_), an ewe lamb. Pur, the male lamb

Chilver-hog and Pur-hog, sheep under one year old

Chine _s._ that part of a cask which is formed by the projection of the staves beyond the head. Chine-hoops top-hoops

Chissom, Chism _v._ to bud, to shoot out; also, _s._ a bud

Chowr _v._ to grumble, to mutter (A S _ceorian_, to murmur)

Clam _v._ to handle in a slovenly manner

Clamper _s._ a difficulty, ex. I zined once and a got meself in jissey clamper I never w'ont zine nothing no more

Claps _v._ clasp

Clathers _s._ clothes or rags

Clavy, a shelf. Clavel-tack, a mantel-piece, a place where keys (_claves_) are kept, a shelf for keys. Holmen-clavel, an inn on Blagdon hill, so called from having a large _holm-beam_ supporting the mantel-piece

Cleve-pink, or Cliff-pink, a species of pink growing wild in the Cheddar cliffs, _dianthus deltoides_

Clim, Climmer, Climber _v._ to climb. Clammer _s._ a worn footpath up a steep bank

Clinkers _s._ hoof marks. Clinker-bells, icicles

Clint, or Clent _v._ to clench

Clit _v._ Clitty _adj._ applied to bread not properly kneaded

Clittersome _adj._ troublesome

Clivver-and-shiver _adv._ completely, totally

Clize, Clice _s._ a swinging door, or valve of a dike or rhine, (A S _clysing_)

Cloam, Cloamen, coarse earthen ware

Clothen _adj._ made of cloth

Clotting, Clatting _s._ fishing for eels with a knot or clot of worms, which is also called reballing

Clout _s._ and _v._ a blow in the face or head, to beat about the head

Clumber _s._ a clump, or large piece

Cly, Cliver, Clider, or Clidden _s._ goose-grass

Coathe, or Coe _v.a._ to bane, applied to sheep, rabbits, and hares

Cock-and-mwile _s._ a jail

Cock-lawt, Cock-lart _s._ a garret or cock-loft

Cock-squailing _s._ an old Shrove Tuesday sport--(in Somerset, Shaff Tuesday), flinging sticks at a cock tied by the leg, one penny per throw, whoever kills him takes him away

Cob-wall _s._ made of mud and straw, mud-and-stud, or wattle-and-dab

College _s._ an assemblage of small tenements, having a common entrance from the street, and only one

Colley blackbird; Water-colley water-ouzel; Mountain-colley ring-ouzel

Colt a person entering on a new employment; Colting, Colt-ale a fine on entering; footing; also, a thrashing

Comb-broach _s._ tooth of a wool-combe, a spit, knitting-needle (Fr. _broche_)

Commandement _s._ (Four syllables as in Chaucer and Wiclif), command

Conk, or Skonk _s._ a collection of people (Lat. _concio_)

Connifle _v._ to embezzle, to sponge

Cop-bone _s._ knee-pan, patella

Count _v._ to think, to esteem

Couples, Cooples _s._ an ewe with her lambs; Double-couples _s._ an ewe with twins

Coy _v._ to decoy; Cway Pool _s._ a decoy

Cowerd Milk _s._ milk not skimmed

Cow-babby _s._ a great childish fellow

Crab-lantern _s._ a cross froward child

Crap a bunch or cluster (Fr. _grappe_)

Crap, Crappy _v._ to snap, to crack

Craze _v.a._ to crack

Crease _s._ crest of a horse's neck, a crestaline of a roof

Creem _s._ and _v._ a cold shivering, to shiver; to creemy _adj._ subject to shivers

Creem _v._ to crush or squeeze severely the limbs of a person

Crewel _s._ a cowslip

Creeze _adj._ squeamish, dainty

Crip _v._ to clip--as the hair

Cripner, Kr'pner _s._ crupper strap

Crips, or Curps _adj._ crisp

Criss-cross-lain the alphabet, because in the Horn-book it was preceded by a X (Fr. _croissette_)

Crope _pret. of creep_ crept, ex. A craup'd in

Cross-axe _s._ an axe with two broad and sharp ends, one cutting breadth-wise, the other length-wise, called also grub-axe and twibill

Crowdy, Crowdy-kit (Celtic _crwth_) _s._ small fiddle; to crowd _v._ to grate as the two ends of a broken bone, to make a flat creaking; Crowder _s._ a fiddler (W. _crwthwr_)

Crown _v._ Crowner's quest _s._ Coroner's Inquest. To be crowned, to have an inquest held over a dead body by the direction of the coroner

Crub, Croost _s._ a crust of bread

Cruel _adv._ intensive, as cruel-kind, very kind

Cry _s._ to challenge, bar, or object to

Cubby-hole _s._ a snug comfortable situation for a child, such as between a person's knees when sitting before the fire

Cuckold _s._ the plant Burdock; cuckold-buttons, the burs, (A S _coccel_, darnel, tares)

Cue _s._ the shoe on an ox's hoof, or tip on a man's boot

Curdle _v.a._ to curl, also, _v.n._; Curdles _s._ curls

Cut _s._ a door hatch

Curse _s._ cress

Cuss _v._ to curse; Cussin Sarvice the Commination

Custin _s._ a kind of small wild plum

Cutty _adj._ small, as cutty-pipe, cutty-wren; Cutty-bye, a cradle, a hob-gobblin

Daddick _s._ rotten-wood; Daddicky _adj._ perished like rotten-wood, applied metaphorically to the old and feeble

Dag-end _s._ applied to a sheaf of reed

Daggers _s._ sword-grass, a kind of sedge

Dame _s._ never applied to the upper ranks of society, nor to the very lowest, but to such as farmer's wives, or the schoolmistress: rarely if ever applied to a young woman

Dandy _adj._ distracted

Dap _v._ to hop as a ball

Dap _s._ the hop, or turn of a ball; also habits and peculiarities of a person, ex. I know all the daps on'm

Dor, Dare _v._ and _s._ to frighten, stupify: ex. Put a dor on'n

Dare-up _v._ to wake or rouse up a person that is dying or asleep

Dave _v._ to thaw

Davver, or Daver _v._ to fade, to droop; Davered drooping

Dawzin _s._ a conjuring device to discover minerals by the twisting of a hazel-rod

Devil-screech, Devil-swift, or Devilling _s._ the Swift

Devil's Cow _s._ a kind of beetle

Dew-bit _s._ an early morsel before breakfast

Diddlecum _adj._ distracted, mad

Diff _adj._ deaf

Dilly _adj._ cranky, queer

Dir'd _s._ thread, ex. Whaur's my d'r'd and niddel?

Dish-wash, or Dippity-washty _s._ a water-wagtail

Dirsh, Drush, or Drasher _s._ a thrush

Dirt _s._ earth generally, as mould in a garden

Dirten _adj._ miry, dirty, or made of dirt

Dock _s._ the crupper of a saddle

Dockery-stick _s._ phosphorescent wood

Donnins _s._ dress, clothes

Double-spronged when potatoes lying in the ground throw out fresh tubers

Dough-fig _s._ a Turkey-fig

Douse, or Touse _s._ a smart blow, particularly on the face, ex. A douse on the chaps

Down-arg _v._ to contradict, ex. He 'ood downarg I

Down-daggered _adj._ disconsolate, cast-down

Draen, Drean _v._ to drawl (Fr. _trainer_)

Draffit _s._ a tub for pigs'-wash (_draught-vat_)

Drail _s._ the piece of leather connecting the flail with its handle

Drang _s._ a narrow path or lane

Drang-way a drove or gate-way

Drapper _s._ a small tub

Drash _v._ to thrash; Drashel, or Thrashle _s._ a flail (A S _therscel_)

Drashold, or Dreshol _s._ a threshold

Drawl, Drail _s._ the forepart of the sull of a plough; in West Somerset, weng (A S _wang_ or _weng_ a cheek)

Drift _s._ a lask, or looseness

Drimmeling _adj._ slow, continuous pain

Dring _v._ (_pret._ Drang) to throng, crowd, _s._ Dringet, a crowd (Dutch, _dringen_, to press)

Drink _s._ small beer, or cider

Droot _v._ to drivel

Dro _v._ (_part._ Dro'd) to throw, ex. The tree wur dro'd

Drow, or Drowy _v._ to dry, ex. It do drowy terble now, as applied to grass; Muck-adrowd, or Muck-adrowy _s._ dust

Drub, Drubby _v._ to throb

Druck _v._ to cram or thrust down

Druck-pieces _s._ pieces of wood let into a wall to support the pipe of a pump

Drug _v._ to drag, also _pret._ of drag; ex. He drug un out of the pond; Drugs _s._ harrows or drags

Dub, Dubby, Dubbid _adj._ blunt, squat

Dubbin _s._ suet or fat for greasing leather

Duck _v._ to carry a person under the arms in a suspended state

Dudder _v._ to confound with noise

Duds _s._ foul linen

Dumbledore, Dumbledory _s._ a humble bee, stupid fellow

Dummic, Dunnic _s._ a hedge-sparrow

Dumps _s._ the twilight, ex. Dumps of the yavening; Dumpsy towards twilight

Dunch _adj._ deaf

Dunder-daisy _s._ large field daisy

Dungmixen _s._ a dung-heap

Durgin (g hard) _s._ a great stupid fellow

Durns _s._ side-posts of a door, (? _doorings_)

Ear-burs _s._ a swelling behind the ear

Ear-grass, or Hay-grass _s._ grass after mowing, from A S _erian_, to till; the grass of tilled land

Ear-keckers _s._ the tonsils of the throat

Eave, Heave _v.n._ to give out moisture, as flagstones in wet weather

E'en-to, Ee'nsto _adv._ up to, all but, ex. There were ten e'ensto one or two

Element _s._ the sky, used in this sense by Shakespeare in Twelfth-night

Elem'n, or Elm'n _adj._ made of elm

Eldern _adj._ made of the elder

Elt-pig _s._ a young sow

Elver, Eelver, or Yelver _s._ the young eel

Emmers _s._ pl. embers

Emp, or Empt _v._ to empty

En, or Un _pron._ Him, ex. A zid'n: he saw him (A S _hine_)

Er _pron._ He, ex. Er ziden: he saw him

Errish, Arrish, or Herrish _s._ stubble

Evet _s._ eft, or newt

Ex _s._ an axle

Eye _s._ the cavity beneath the arch of a bridge

Fadge _v._ to fare, to be in good condition. "How will this fadge?" Shaks. Twelfth-night

Fags _interj._ truly! indeed!

Fairy, Fare, Vare _s._ a weasel (old Fr. _vair_, ermine)

False _adj._ forsworn, perjured

Falsing _adj._ coaxing

Fardel _s._ a small bundle, Shaks. Hamlet

Faut (faat) _v._ to find fault

Fauty (faaty) _adj._ given to find fault

Fauth, Foth, Voth _s._ the turning place of the plough at the side of a field

Featy _adj._ pretty, neat

Feaze _v._ to harass, or ferret

Feaver-largin (g hard), _s._ a fit of indolence

Fell _v._ to sew down a hem

Fend _v._ to forbid (Fr. _defendre_)

Fess _adj._ gay, smart, ex. A fess fellow

Few, Veo _adj._ little, as a few broth

Fie _s._ to succeed, ex. Che-ating pl'y'll never fie

Fig _s._ raisin: figgety-pudden, figgy-cake, rich with raisins

Fildefare, Veelvare _s._ a fieldfare: varewell veelvare, farewell winter

Filtry _s._ rubbish

Fitch, Fitchet _s._ a pole cat, ex. As cross as a fitchet

Fitten _s._ an idle fancy, whim

Flap-jack _s._ small pancake, fritter

Flanker, Vlanker _s._ a spark of fire

Flannin, Vlannen _s._ a flannel

Fleet _s._ the windward side of a hedge

Fleet _v._ to float

Flick _s._ the inside fat of animals; also flitch of bacon

Flittermouse _s._ a bat (Ger. _Fledermaus_)

Flook _s._ a flounder; also a parasite in the liver of sheep

Flush _adj._ fledged, in full feather _adv._ even with

Foase _v._ to wheedle, to deceive _adj._ false

Fob _s._ froth, slaver _v._ to put off with a pretence

Fog _s._ old, withered or spoilt grass

Fog-earth _s._ bog-earth, peat

Foggy _adj._ fat, corpulent

Fooase, or Vooase _v._ to force, to oblige

Footer _s._ a worthless shabby fellow _adj._ footy

Fore-spur, or Vore-spur _s._ the fore-leg of pork

Fore-right, Vore-right _adj._ rash, head-long, head-strong

Forrel _s._ the cover of a book, the selvage of a handkerchief

Forware, or Verware _v._ to indemnify

Forweend _adj._ hard to please, wayward, spoilt in nursing

Frame _v._ to form, fashion the speech, ex. If I wur axed I could'nt frame to spake it so

Frange _s._ fringe (Fr. _frange_)

Free-bore _adj._ free, free-born

French-nut _s._ walnut

Fret _v._ to eat, as the lower animals (G _fressen_, A S _fretan_, as opposed to G _essen_, A S _etan_, applied to man): ex. The moth fretteth the garment; a use of the word retained in the West, and usually applied to the browsing of cattle

Furcum, or Vurcum _s._ the whole, even to the bottom

Furr, or Vurr _v._ to cast a stone far

Fump _s._ the whole of a business

Fuz, Fuzzen, Furze _s._ gorse, prov.

When fuz is out o' blossom
Kissing's out o' fashin

Fuz-pig _s._ hedge hog

Gad _s._ a fagot-stick; Spar-gad a twisted stick picked at both ends to spar (Ger. _sperren_) or fasten down thatch. Near Bath, spick-gad

Gain _adj._ handy; Gainer more handy

Gale _s._ an old bull castrated

Gall _s._ a wet place, abounding in springs

Gally, Gallow _v._ to frighten; Gallied frightened Shak. K. Lear, iii, 2, "Skies gallow the wanderer"

Gally-baggur _s._ bug-bear, a trace of the time when gallows were a more common sight

Gamble _s._ a leg, (Ital. _gamba_)

Gambril _s._ a crooked stick used by butchers to suspend a carcase

Gammets, Gamoting _s._ whims, tricks, pranks

Ganny-cock _s._ a turkey-cock

Ganny-cock's nob _s._ the appendage to a turkey-cock's beak

Gapes-nest _s._ an idle spectacle

Gare _s._ gear; Ire-gare _s._ plough-gear, iron-work

Garn, or Gearn, Gearden _s._ a garden

Gatchel _s._ the mouth

Gate-shord, or sheard _s._ a gate-way, a place for a gate

Gatfer _s._ an old man (good father)

G'auf to go off; G'auver to go over; G'in to go in; G'on to go on; G'out to go out; Go'vorn go before him or them; G'under to go under; G'up to go up: ex. Thear I wur', d' knaw, carnared (in a corner); coud'n g'auver, g'under, g'in, nor g'out

Gawcum, Gawcumin _s._ a simpleton, a gawkey

Gee-wi' (g soft), _v._ to agree; Gee (g hard), to give, ex. To gee out--to thaw

Gib, or Gibby (g hard), _s._ a pet lamb

Gibby-heels (g hard), _s._ kibed-heels

Giffin (g hard), _s._ a trifle, a small portion of time

Gilawfer, Gillifer, Gilliflower (g soft), stocks; Whitsun Gilawfer, carnation, also the wallflower

Giltin-cup (g hard), _s._ butter-cup

Gimmace (g hard), _s._ a hinge

Gimmaces (g hard) _s._ a criminal is said to be hung in gimmaces, when he is hung in chains

Glare _v._ to glaze earthenware. Also _s._ ex. The roads are all a glare of ice

Glassen _adj._ made of glass

Glou, Glouie _v._ to stare

Glou-beason _s._ a glow-worm, a bold impudent fellow

Glutch, Glutchy _v._ to swallow _s._ the act of swallowing, Glutcher _s._ the throat

Gold _s._ sweet willow; _Myrica gale_, abundant in the moors of Somerset, in the herbalists called _Gaule_

Go-lie _v._ spoken of corn falling after rain; applied to wind, to subside

Gool-french a gold-finch, a proud tailor

Gollop _s._ a large morsel

Gommer _s._ an old woman (good mother)

Good-hussy _s._ a thread-case

Goody _v._ to appear good, to prosper

Goose-cap _s._ a giddy, silly person

Goose-herd, or Goosier _s._ one who breeds or looks after geese

Gore-in, Gore-with _v._ to believe in, to trust

Gossips _s._ sponsors; Gossiping the festivities of the christening

Gout _s._ a drain, a gutter

Gowder _s._ a higgler of fruit

Grainded, Grainted _adj._ ingrained, dirty

Granfer, Grammer _s._ grandfather, grandmother

Granfer griggles _s._ wild orchis

Gribble _s._ a young apple tree raised from seed

Grig _v._ and _s._ to pinch, a pinch

Griddle, Girdle _s._ a gridiron

Gripe, or Grip _s._ a small drain or ditch _v._ to cut into gripes

Grizzle _v._ to laugh or grin

Gronin _s._ labour, childbirth; Gronin-chair nursing chair; Gronin-malt provision for the event

Ground _s._ a field, a piece of land enclosed for agricultural purposes

Grozens, Groves _s._ duck-weed

Gruff, Gruff-hole _s._ a trench or groove excavated for ore

Gruffer, Gruffler _s._ a miner, one who works in a gruff or groove

Gumpy _adj._ abounding in protuberances

Gurds _s._ eructations; Fits and Gurds fits and starts

Gurl, or Gurdle _v._ to growl

Gush _v._ to put the blood in quicker motion by fright or surprise, ex. A' gied I sich a gush

Guss _v._ and _s._ to gird, a girth

Gurt _adj._ great

Hack _s._ the place where bricks newly-made are arranged to dry

Hack, Hacket, Hick, Heck _v._ to hop on one leg, to play hackety oyster, hopscotch, or hack-shell

Hacker _v._ to chatter with the cold, to stammer

Hackle _s._ a good job

Hag-mal _s._ a slattern, a titmouse

Hag-rided _adj._ subject to night-mare

Hag-ropes traveller's joy, wild clematis (A S _Hage_, a hedge)

Hain _v._ to let up grass for mowing

Halfen-deal _s._ moiety _adj._ composed of different materials

Half-strain _adj._ mongrel, half-witted

Halipalmer _s._ the palmer-worm, (holy-palmer)

Hallantide _s._ All Saints' Day, (hallow-een-tide)

Halse _s._ hazel; halse coppice

Halsen, Hawseny, Noseny, Osney _v._ to divine, predict, forebode (A S _halsen_, from the hazel divining rod)

Halve, or Helve _v._ to turn over, to turn upside down

Ham _s._ an open field, usually near a river: on Mendip, old calamine pits

Hame _v._ "rem habere" (A S _haeman_)

Hames, Heamsies _s._ parts of harness

Hang-fair, Hanging-vayer _s._ an execution

Hanch _v._ to gore as a bull

Hangles, (a pair of hangles) _s._ a pot or kettle-rack suspended over the fire

Hank _s._ dealings with

Happer _v._ to crackle, rattle like hail

Hard _adj._ full grown, as hard stock, or sheep; a Hardboy a boy of about 13 years old

Harr _s._ the part of a gate which holds the hinges, ex. Heads and harrs

Hart _s._ haft, or handle as of knives, awls

Hat, or Het _pret._ of _v._ to hit

Hathe _s._ to be in hathe, _i.e._, to be thickly covered with pustules, to be closely matted together

Haydigees, (g hard and soft) _s._ high spirits

Hay-sucker _s._ the white-throat

Hayty-tayty seesaw, also _interj._ what's here!

Hay-ward _s._ pound-keeper, a keeper of hedges or hays (A S _haeig-weard_)

Hedge-bore _s._ a rough workman

Heel, Hell _v._ to pour out or in, hence Heel-taps

Heel _v._ to hide, to cover (A S _helan_)

Heeler _s._ one who hides or covers. Proverb: The heeler is as bad as the stealer

Heft _s._ and _v._ weight, to lift up, from _v._ to heave

Hegler, or Higler _s._ an egg or fowl collector and dealer

Hellier _s._ a tiler, one who covers

Hel'm _s._ haulm of wheat, beans, peas, potatoes (A S _healm_)

Hem _pron._ he or him, ex. If hem had hat hem as hem hat hem, hem 'oud a kill'd hem or hem 'oud a kill'd hem

Hen _v._ to throw, see Aine

Hen-hussey _s._ a meddling officious person, a woman who looks after poultry

Hent, or Hint _v._ to wither or dry up

Hern, His'n _pron._ her's, his

Herret _s._ a pitiful little wretch

Hevel-twine _s._ a fine sort of twine

Hike off _v._ to steal away slily, to skulk off

Hirddick, Ruddick _s._ robin, ruddock

Hird-in, Hird-out _v._ to remove one's goods. Transp. for rid

Hirn, Hurn, Hirnd _v._ _pret._ and _part._ to run (A S _yrnan_)

Hive, or Heave _v._ to urge in vomiting

Hizy-prizy _s._ Nisi-prius

Hoak _v._ to goar as an ox

Hob _v._ to laugh loudly _s._ a clown

Hob _s._ a cheek of a grate

Hod _s._ a sheath, a cover

Hoddy _adj._ hearty

Hog, Hogget _s._ a sheep or horse one-year old

Hogo _s._ strong savour or smell (Fr. _haut gout_)

Holders _s._ fangs of a dog

Holmen _adj._ made of holm or holly, as Holmen Clavel a holly mantle piece

Holme-screech _s._ the missel-thrush, from its eating the berries of the holly or holme tree

Homany _s._ a noise, disturbance

Home-to _adv._ up to

Honey-suck _s._ red clover

Hoop _s._ a bullfinch, ex. Cock-hoop, hen-hoop

Hoppet _v._ to hop

Hornen, Harnin _adj._ made of horn

Horse-godmother _s._ a masculine woman

Houzen _s._ houses

Hove _v._ and _s._ to hoe, ex. To hove banes, hove turmits with an auld hove

How _v._ to long for

Huck-muck _s._ strainer over the faucet

Hud _s._ as of gooseberry, the skin, hull, husk

Huf-cap _s._ a weed commonly found in fields

Hug _s._ the itch

Hulden _v._ to conceal, harbour

Hulley, or Holley _s._ a basket-trap for eels

Hull _v._ to hurl

Hum-drum _s._ a three-wheeled cart

Humacks _s._ wild-briar stocks on which to graff roses

Ich (soft), _pron._ I 'Cham I am; 'Ch'ool I will; 'Ch'ood I would, &c.

Idleton _s._ an idle fellow

Infaring _adj._ lying within, as an infaring tithing, _i.e._, a tithing within a borough

Insense _v._ to inform

Ire _s._ iron, "ire or mire" said of stiff clay soil

Ire-gaer _s._ iron work or gear

Ize _pr._ I, ex. Ize warrant you wunt

Jib _s._ the wooden stand for a barrel

Jigger _s._ a vessel of potter's ware used in toasting cheese

Jitch, Jitchy, Jissy _adj._ such, ex. Jitch placen, such places

Joan-in-the-wad _s._ will-of-the-wisp

Jonnick _adv._ fair, straight-forward

Jot _v._ to disturb in writing, to strike the elbow

Junket _s._ curds and cream with spices and sugar, &c., from Ital. _giuncata_, cased in rushes; from _giunco_, a rush; a name given in Italy to a kind of cream-cheese

Kamics, Kramics _s._ rest-harrow

Keamy _adj._ covered with a thin white mould; applied to cider

Kecker, Kyecker-pipe, Kyecker, Kyeck-horn, the wind-pipe, a pervious pipe, from _kike_ to look through

Keeve, or Kive _s._ a large tub used in brewing or cider making _v._ to put the wort or cider in a keeve to ferment

Keep _s._ a large basket

Keffel _s._ a bad, worn-out horse (Welsh, _Keffyl_)

Kern _v._ to coagulate as milk; also applied to fruit and wheat becoming visible after the blossoming

Kex, Kexy _s._ dry, pervious stalks, as of cow-parsley and hemlock Kexies, see Kecker

Kid _s._ a pod To Kiddy _v._ ex. They do kiddy, but they don't villy

Kilter _s._ money

Kircher _s._ caul, used by butchers

Kittle, or Kettle-Smock _s._ a carter's frock

Knap _s._ a rising ground

Knee-sick _adj._ applied to corn when the stalk is not strong enough to bear the ear

Knottle _v._ to entangle with knots

Knottlins _s._ the intestines of a pig prepared for food

Knot _s._ flower-bed

Knot-Sheep _s._ sheep without horns

Kowetop _s._ the barm which rises above the rim of the tub

Kurpy, Kerp _v._ to speak affectedly; scold (Lat. _increpare_)

Labber _v._ to loll out the tongue

Lades, or Ladeshrides _s._ the sides of a waggon which project over the wheels

Ladies-smock _s._ bindweed _Convolvulus sepium_, _Cardamine pratensis_

Lady-Cow _s._ lady-bird _Coccinella septempunctata_,

Laiter _s._ the whole number of eggs laid by a hen before she becomes broody, ex. She 've laaid out her laiter

Lamiger _s._ lame, a cripple

Lar _s._ bar of a gate

Larks-lees, Leers _v._ neglected lands

Lart, Lawt _s._ a loft, as cock-lart, hay-lart, apple-lart

Lary, Leary, Lear _adj._ empty, thin _s._ flank; Lear-quills, small quills

Las-chargeable _interj._ be quiet! _i.e._, he who last speaks or strikes in contention is most to blame

Lat, or Lart _s._ a lath, ex. Lartin nails

Lat _s._ shelf

Latitat _s._ a noise or scolding

Lattin-sheet _s._ iron-tinned; also as _adj._ made of tin, as a Lattin Saucepan

Lave _v._ to throw water from one place to another; to gutter, as a candle

Lay-field _s._ a piece laid down to grass

Lea, Leaze, Leers _s._ an open pasture field

Leapy, Lippary _s._ wet, rainy weather

Learn, Larn _v._ to teach, ex. Who larned 'e thay tricks

Leathern-bird, Leather-wing _s._ the bat

Ledge _v._ lay hands on; to lay eggs

Lent-lilies _s._ daffodils

Lescious ex. She is lescious of a place, _i,e._, knows of it and thinks it may suit

Levers _s._ a species of rush or sedge

Levvy _s._ a level (Fr. _levee_)

Lew, Lewth, Lewthy shelter, sheltered, lee-side

Libbets _s._ tatters; _little-bits_

Lidden _s._ a story, a song (Ger. _lied_)

Lief, Leaf _v._ leave; ex. I would as lief

Ligget _s._ a rag

Lijon _s._ the main beam of a ceiling

Lip, or Lippen _s._ applied to certain vessels, as Ley-lip, Seed-lip, Bee-lippen bee-hive (Wiclif's Test.: Leten hym doun in a _lepe_ be the wall Acts ix. 25)

Limmers, Limbers _s._ the shafts of a waggon or cart

Linch _v._ a ledge, hence "linch-pin" (A S _hlinc_)

Linney, Linhay _s._ an open shed

Lirp _v._ to limp

Lirripy _adj._ slouching

Lissom _a._ lithesome, active, supple

Lissum, or Lism _s._ a narrow slip of anything

Locking-bone _s._ the hip joint

Long-tailed Capon _s._ the long-tailed titmouse

Lug _s._ a pole; a measure of land, perch or rod

Lug-lain _s._ full measure

Lumper-scrump _s._ cow-parsnip _Heracleum sphondylium_

Lurdin _s._ a sluggard (Fr. _lourd_)

Lizzom _s._ a shade of colour in heavy bread, or in a mow

Mace _s._ pl. acorns, mast

Macky-moon _s._ a man who plays the fool

Maethe (th soft) sweet as meathe (Welsh _Medd_, mead)

Maggems, Maay-geams _s._ May games, larking

Magne _adj._ great

Make-wise _v._ to pretend

Manchet _s._ a kind of cake eaten hot

Mandy _adj._ and _v._ haughty, domineering Commandy

Mang _v._ to mix

Mang-hangle _adj._ and _s._ mixed-up in a confused mass

Math _s._ a litter of pigs

Maules _s._ measles

May-bug _s._ cockchafer

Mawkin (maaking) an oven swab; scare-crow; a bundle of rags

Mawn _s._ a basket (A S _mand_)

Maze-house _s._ madhouse

Mazy _adj._ mad, ex. I be mooast maazed; a mazy ould vool

Mear, Mear-stone boundary (A S _meare_)

Meat-weer _adj._ applied to land capable of producing food that is good, fit to eat; applied to peas, beans, &c.

Meg _s._ the mark at which boys play pitch and toss

Meg's, or Maggotts Diversions _s._ rattling or wanton fun

Meg-with-the-wad _s._ will o' the wisp

Melander _s._ a row (Fr. _melee_)

Me'll _v.a._ to meddle, touch; ex. I'll neither mell nor make; I ont mell o't, _i.e._, I will not touch it

Mesh _s._ moss; lichen on apple-trees

Mesh _s._ a hare's creep or run _v._ to run through the same

Mess, Messy _v._ to serve cattle with hay _s._ Messin

Mid, Med _v._ might, ex. Nor zed a mid; midst, medst, ex. Thou medst if wouldst

Midgerim _s._ mesentery

Mid'n might not, ex. I mid or I mid'n

Mig in the same sense

Milemas _s._ Michaelmas

Mind _v._ to remember

Misky form of misty

Miz-maze _s._ confusion

Mog _v._ to decamp, march off

Mooch _v._ to stroke down gently

Mood _s._ the mother of vinegar

Mole _s._ higher part of the back of the neck

Mommacks _s._ pl. fragments, scraps

Mommick, Mommet _s._ a scarecrow (Wiclif's N. Test.: "a sacrifice to the _mawmet_" Act vii. 41)

Moocher, Mooching, Meecher _s._ one who skulks; absents himself from school

Moor-coot _s._ a moor-hen

More _s._ a root

Moot _v._ to root up _s._ Mooting-axe

Moot _s._ that portion of a tree left in the ground after it has been felled

Mop _s._ tuft of grass

More, Morey _v.n._ to take root; applied to trees

Mother, Mothering _s._ white mould in beer or cider

Mothering-Sunday _s._ midlent Sunday, probably from the custom of visiting the mother-churches during that season

Mought for might _aux. verb_

Mouse-snap _s._ a mouse-trap

Mouster _v._ to stir, to be moving