Chapter XIII: Vocabulary and Index (2)

Dear; used as a sort of intensive adjective:--'Tom ran for the dear
life' (as fast as he could). (Crofton Croker.) 'He got enough to
remember all the dear days of his life.' ('Dub. Pen. Journ.')

Dell; a lathe. Irish _deil_, same sound and meaning. (All over
Munster.)

Devil's needle; the dragon-fly. Translation of the Irish name
_snathad-a'-diabhail_ [snahad-a-dheel].

Deshort [to rhyme with _port_]; a sudden interruption, a surprise: 'I
was taken at a _deshort_.' (Derry.) {247}

Devil, The, and his 'territory,' 56.

Dickonce; one of the disguised names of the devil used in _white_
cursing: 'Why then the dickonce take you for one gander.' (Gerald
Griffin.)

Diddy; a woman's pap or breast: a baby sucks its mother's diddy.
Diminutive of Irish _did_, same.

Dido; a girl who makes herself ridiculous with fantastic finery.
(Moran: Carlow.)

Didoes (singular _dido_); tricks, antics: 'quit your didoes.' (Ulster.)

Dildron or dildern; a bowraun, which see.

Dillesk, dulsk, dulse or dilse; a sort of sea plant growing on rocks,
formerly much used (when dried) as an article of food (as _kitchen_),
and still eaten in single leaves as a sort of relish. Still sold by
basket-women in Dublin. Irish _duilesc_.

Dip. When the family dinner consisted of dry potatoes, i.e. potatoes
without milk or any other drink, dip was often used, that is to say,
gravy or broth, or water flavoured in any way in plates, into which the
potato was dipped at each bit. I once saw a man using dip of plain
water with mustard in it, and eating his dinner with great relish. You
will sometimes read of 'potatoes and point,' namely, that each person,
before taking a bite, _pointed_ the potato at a salt herring or a bit
of bacon hanging in front of the chimney: but this is mere fun, and
never occurred in real life.

Disciple; a miserable looking creature of a man. Shane Glas was a long
lean scraggy wretched looking fellow (but really strong and active),
and another says to him--jibing and railing--'Away with ye, ye
miserable _disciple_. Arrah, by the hole {248} of my coat, after you
dance your last jig upon nothing, with your hemp cravat on, I'll coax
yer miserable carcase from the hangman to frighten the crows with.'
(Edw. Walsh in 'Pen. Journ.')

Disremember; to forget. Good old English; now out of fashion in
England, but common in Ireland.

Ditch. In Ireland a ditch is a raised fence or earthen wall or mound,
and a dyke (or _sheuch_ as they call it in Donegal and elsewhere in
Ulster) is a deep cutting, commonly filled with water. In England both
words mean exactly the reverse. Hence 'hurlers on the ditch,' or 'the
best hurlers are on the ditch' (where speakers of pure English would
use 'fence') said in derision of persons who are mere idle spectators
sitting up on high watching the game--whatever it may be--and boasting
how they would _do the devil an' all_ if they were only playing.
Applied in a broad sense to those who criticise persons engaged in any
strenuous affair--critics who think they could do better.

Dollop; to adulterate: 'that coffee is dolloped.'

Donny; weak, in poor health. Irish _donaidhe_, same sound and meaning.
Hence _donnaun_, a poor weakly creature, same root with the diminutive.
From still the same root is _donsy_, sick-looking.

Donagh-dearnagh, the Sunday before Lammas (1st August). (Ulster.) Irish
_Domnach_, Sunday; and _deireannach_, last, i.e. last Sunday of the
period before 1st August.

Doodoge [the two _d_'s sounded like _th_ in _thus_]; a big pinch of
snuff. [Limk.] Irish _dudog_.

Dooraght [_d_ sounded as in the last word]; tender care and kindness
shown to a person. Irish {249} _duthracht_, same sound and meaning. In
parts of Ulster it means a small portion given over and above what is
purchased (Simmons and Knowles); called elsewhere a _tilly_, which see.
This word, in its sense of kindness, is very old; for in the Brehon Law
we read of land set aside by a father for his daughter through
_dooraght_.

Doorshay-daurshay [_d_ in both sounded as _th_ in _thus_], mere hearsay
or gossip. The first part is Irish, representing the sound of
_dubhairt-se_, 'said he.' The second part is a mere doubling of the
first, as we find in many English words, such as 'fiddle-faddle,'
'tittle-tattle' (which resembles our word). Often used by Munster
lawyers in court, whether Irish-speaking or not, in depreciation of
hearsay evidence in contradistinction to the evidence of looking-on.
'Ah, that's all mere _doorshay-daurshay_.' Common all over Munster. The
information about the use of the term in law courts I got from Mr.
Maurice Healy. A different form is sometimes heard:--_D'innis bean dom
gur innis bean di_, 'a woman told me that a woman told her.'

Dornoge [_d_ sounded as in doodoge above]; a small round lump of a
stone, fit to be cast from the hand. Irish _dorn_, the shut hand, with
the dim. _og_.

Double up; to render a person helpless either in fight or in argument.
The old tinker in the fair got a blow of an amazon's fist which 'sent
him sprawling and _doubled_ him up for the rest of the evening.'
(Robert Dwyer Joyce: 'Madeline's Vow.')

Down in the heels; broken down in fortune (one mark of which is the
state of the heels of shoes). {250}

Down blow; a heavy or almost ruinous blow of any kind:--'The loss of
that cow was a down blow to poor widow Cleary.'

Downface; to persist boldly in an assertion (whether true or no): He
downfaced me that he returned the money I lent him, though he never
did.

Down-the-banks; a scolding, a reprimand, punishment of any kind.

Dozed: a piece of timber is dozed when there is a dry rot in the heart
of it. (Myself for Limk.: Kane for North.)

Drad; a grin or contortion of the mouth. (Joyce.)

Drag home. (Simmons; Armagh: same as Hauling home, which see.)

Drass; a short time, a turn:--'You walk a drass now and let me ride':
'I always smoke a drass before I go to bed of a night.' ('Collegians,'
Limerick.) Irish _dreas_, same sound and meaning.

Drench: a form of the English _drink_, but used in a peculiar sense in
Ireland. A _drench_ is a philtre, a love-potion, a love-compelling
drink over which certain charms were repeated during its preparation.
Made by boiling certain herbs (_orchis_) in water or milk, and the
person drinks it unsuspectingly. In my boyhood time a beautiful young
girl belonging to a most respectable family ran off with an
ill-favoured obscure beggarly diseased wretch. The occurrence was
looked on with great astonishment and horror by the people--no wonder;
and the universal belief was that the fellow's old mother had given the
poor girl a _drench_. To this hour I cannot make any guess at the cause
of that astounding elopement: and it is {251} not surprising that the
people were driven to the supernatural for an explanation.

Dresser; a set of shelves and drawers in a frame in a kitchen for
holding plates, knives, &c.

Drisheen is now used in Cork as an English word, to denote a sort of
pudding made of the narrow intestines of a sheep, filled with blood
that has been cleared of the red colouring matter, and mixed with meal
and some other ingredients. So far as I know, this viand and its name
are peculiar to Cork, where _drisheen_ is considered suitable for
persons of weak or delicate digestion. (I should observe that a recent
reviewer of one of my books states that drisheen is also made in
Waterford.) Irish _dreas_ or driss, applied to anything slender, as a
bramble, one of the smaller intestines, &c.--with the diminutive.

Drizzen, a sort of moaning sound uttered by a cow. (Derry).

Drogh; the worst and smallest bonnive in a litter. (Armagh.) Irish
_droch_, bad, evil. (See Eervar.)

Droleen; a wren: merely the Irish word _dreoilin_.

Drop; a strain of any kind 'running in the blood.' A man inclined to
evil ways 'has a bad drop' in him (or 'a black drop'): a miser 'has a
hard drop.' The expression carries an idea of heredity.

Drugget; a cloth woven with a mixture of woollen and flaxen thread: so
called from Drogheda where it was once extensively manufactured. Now
much used as cheap carpeting.

Druids and Druidism, 178.

Drumaun; a wide back-band for a ploughing horse, {252} with hooks to
keep the traces in place. (Joyce: Limerick.) From Irish _druim_, the
back.

Drummagh; the back strap used in yoking two horses. (Joyce: Limerick.)
Irish _druim_, the back, with the termination _-ach_, equivalent to
English _-ous_ and _-y_.

Dry potatoes; potatoes eaten without milk or any other drink.

Dry lodging; the use of a bed merely, without food.

Drynaun-dun or drynan-dun [two _d_'s sounded like _th_ in _that_]; the
blackthorn, the sloe-bush. Irish _droigheanan_ [drynan or drynaun], and
_donn_, brown-coloured.

Ducks; trousers of snow-white canvas, much used as summer wear by
gentle and simple fifty or sixty years ago.

Dudeen [both _d_'s sounded like _th_ in _those_]; a smoking-pipe with a
very short stem. Irish _duidin_, _dud_, a pipe, with the diminutive.

Duggins; rags: 'that poor fellow is all in duggins.' (Armagh.)

Dull; a loop or eye on a string. (Monaghan.)

Dullaghan [_d_ sounded as _th_ in _those_]; a large trout. (Kane:
Monaghan.) An Irish word.

Dullaghan; 'a hideous kind of hobgoblin generally met with in
churchyards, who can take off and put on his head at will.' (From
'Irish Names of Places,' I. 193, which see for more about this spectre.
See Croker's 'Fairy Legends.')

Dullamoo [_d_ sounded like _th_ in _those_]; a wastrel, a scapegrace, a
_ne'er-do-weel_. Irish _dul_, going; _amudha_ [amoo], astray, to
loss:--_dullamoo_, 'a person going to the bad,' 'going to the dogs.'
{253}

Dundeen; a lump of bread without butter. (Derry.)

Dunisheen; a small weakly child. (Moran: Carlow.) Irish _donaisin_, an
unfortunate being; from _donas_, with diminutive. See Donny.

Dunner; to knock loudly at a door. (Ulster.)

Dunt (sometimes _dunch_), to strike or butt like a cow or goat with the
head. A certain lame old man (of Armagh) was nicknamed 'Dunt the pad
(path'). (Ulster.)

Durneen, one of the two handles of a scythe that project from the main
handle. Irish _doirnin_, same sound and meaning: diminutive from
_dorn_, the fist, the shut hand.

Durnoge; a strong rough leather glove, used on the left hand by faggot
cutters. (MacCall: Wexford.) _Dornoge_, given above, is the same word
but differently applied.

Duty owed by tenants to landlords, 181.

Earnest; 'in earnest' is often used in the sense of 'really and
truly':--'You're a man in earnest, Cus, to strike the first blow on a
day [of battle] like this.' (R. D. Joyce.)

Eervar; the last pig in a litter. This _bonnive_ being usually very
small and hard to keep alive is often given to one of the children for
a pet; and it is reared in great comfort in a warm bed by the kitchen
fire, and fed on milk. I once, when a child, had an eervar of my own
which was the joy of my life. Irish _iarmhar_ [eervar], meaning
'something after all the rest'; the hindmost. (Munster.) See Drogh for
Ulster.

Elder; a cow's udder. All over Ireland. {254}

Elegant. This word is used among us, not in its proper sense, but to
designate anything good or excellent of its kind:--An elegant penknife,
an elegant gun: 'That's an elegant pig of yours, Jack?' Our milkman
once offered me a present for my garden--'An elegant load of dung.'

I haven't the _janius_ for work,
For 'twas never the gift of the Bradys;
But I'd make a most _elegant_ Turk,
For I'm fond of tobacco and ladies.

(LEVER.)

'How is she [the sick girl] coming on?'

'Elegant,' was the reply. ('Knocknagow.')

Elementary schools, 159.

Exaggeration and redundancy, 120.

Existence, way of predicating, 23.

Eye of a bridge; the arch.

Faireen (south), fairin (north); a present either given in a fair or
brought from it. Used in another sense--a lasting injury of any
kind:--'Poor Joe got a faireen that day, when the stone struck him on
the eye, which I'm afraid the eye will never recover.' Used all over
Ireland and in Scotland.

Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou'lt get thy fairin',
In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.

(BURNS.)

Fair-gurthra; 'hungry grass.' There is a legend all through Ireland
that small patches of grass grow here and there on mountains; and if a
person in walking along happens to tread on one of them he is instantly
overpowered with hunger so as to {255} be quite unable to walk, and if
help or food is not at hand he will sink down and perish. That persons
are attacked and rendered helpless by sudden hunger on mountains in
this manner is certain. Mr. Kinahan gives me an instance where he had
to carry his companion, a boy, on his back a good distance to the
nearest house: and Maxwell in 'Wild Sports of the West' gives others.
But he offers the natural explanation: that a person is liable to sink
suddenly with hunger if he undertakes a hard mountain walk with a long
interval after food. Irish _feur_, grass; _gorta_, hunger.

Fairy breeze. Sometimes on a summer evening you suddenly feel a very
warm breeze: that is a band of fairies travelling from one fort to
another; and people on such occasions usually utter a short prayer, not
knowing whether the 'good people' are bent on doing good or evil. (G.
H. Kinahan.) Like the Shee-geeha, which see.

Fairy-thimble, the same as 'Lusmore,' which see.

Famished; distressed for want of something:--'I am famished for a
smoke--for a glass,' &c.

Farbreaga; a scarecrow. Irish _fear_, a man: _breug_ falsehood: a false
or pretended man.

Farl; one quarter of a griddle cake. (Ulster.)

Faumera [the _r_ has the slender sound]; a big strolling beggarman or
idle fellow. From the Irish _Fomor_. The _Fomors_ or _Fomora_ or
Fomorians were one of the mythical colonies that came to Ireland (see
any of my Histories of Ireland, Index): some accounts represent them as
giants. In Clare the country people that go to the seaside in summer
for the benefit of the 'salt water' are {256} called _Faumeras_. In
Tramore they are called _olishes_ [o long]; because in the morning
before breakfast they go down to the strand and take a good _swig_ of
the salt water--an essential part of the cure--and when one meets
another he (or she) asks in Irish '_ar olish_,' 'did you drink?' In
Kilkee the dogfish is called _Faumera_, for the dogfish is among the
smaller fishes like what legend represents the Fomorians in Ireland.

Faustus, Dr., in Irish dialect, 60.

Fear is often used among us in the sense of _danger_. Once during a
high wind the ship's captain neatly distinguished it when a frightened
lady asked him:--'Is there any fear, sir?' 'There's plenty of fear,
madam, but no danger.'

Feck or fack; a spade. From the very old Irish word, _fec_, same sound
and meaning.

Fellestrum, the flagger (marsh plant). Irish _felestrom_. (South.)

Fetch; what the English call a _double_, a preternatural apparition of
a living person, seen usually by some relative or friend. If seen in
the morning the person whose fetch it is will have a long and
prosperous life: if in the evening the person will soon die.

Finane or Finaun; the white half-withered long grass found in marshy or
wet land. Irish _finn_ or _fionn_, white, with the diminutive.

Finely and poorly are used to designate the two opposite states of an
invalid. 'Well, Mrs. Lahy, how is she?' [Nora the poor sick little
girl]. 'Finely, your reverence,' Honor replied (going on well). The old
sinner Rody, having accidentally {257} shot himself, is asked how he is
going on:--'Wisha, poorly, poorly' (badly). (G. Griffin.)

Finger--to put a finger in one's eye; to overreach and cheat him by
cunning:--'He'd be a clever fellow that would put a finger in Tom's
eye.'

First shot, in distilling pottheen; the weak stuff that comes off at
the first distillation: also called singlings.

Flahoolagh, plentiful; 'You have a flahoolagh hand, Mrs. Lyons': 'Ah,
we got a flahoolagh dinner and no mistake.' Irish _flaith_ [flah], a
chief, and _amhail_ [ooal], like, with the adjectival termination
_ach_: _flahoolagh_, 'chieftain-like.' For the old Irish chiefs kept
open houses, with full and plenty--_launa-vaula_--for all who came.
(South.)

Flipper; an untidy man. (Limerick.)

Flitters; tatters, rags:--'His clothes were all in _flitters_.'

Flog; to beat, to exceed:--'That flogs Europe' ('Collegians'), i.e. it
beats Europe: there's nothing in Europe like it.

Fluke, something very small or nothing at all. 'What did you get from
him?' 'Oh I got flukes' (or 'flukes in a hand-basket')--meaning
nothing. Sometimes it seems to mean a small coin, like _cross_ and
_keenoge_. 'When I set out on that journey I hadn't a fluke.' (North
and South.)

Fockle; a big torch made by lighting a sheaf of straw fixed on a long
pole: fockles were usually lighted on St. John's Eve. (Limerick.) It is
merely the German word _fackel_, a torch, brought to Limerick by the
Palatine colony. (See p. 65.)

Fog-meal; a great meal or big feed: a harvest dinner. {258}

Fooster; hurry, flurry, fluster, great fuss. Irish _fustar_, same sound
and meaning. (Hayden and Hartog.)

'Then Tommy jumped about elate,
Tremendous was his _fooster_--O;
Says he, "I'll send a message straight
To my darling Mr. Brewster--O!"'

(Repeal Song of 1843.)

Forbye; besides. (Ulster.)

For good; finally, for ever: 'he left home for good.'

Fornent, fornenst, forenenst; opposite: he and I sat fornenst each
other in the carriage.

'Yet here you strut in open day
Fornenst my house so freely--O.'

(Repeal Song of 1843.)

An old English word, now obsolete in England, but very common in
Ireland.

Foshla; a marshy weedy rushy place; commonly applied to the ground left
after a cut-away bog. (Roscommon.)

Four bones; 'Your own four bones,' 127.

Fox; (verb) to pretend, to feign, to sham: 'he's not sick at all, he's
only foxing.' Also to cut short the ears of a dog.

Frainey; a small puny child:--'Here, eat this bit, you little
_frainey_.'

Fraughans; whortleberries. Irish _fraoch_, with the diminutive. See
Hurt.

Freet; a sort of superstition or superstitious rite. (Ulster.)

Fresh and Fresh:--'I wish you to send me the butter every morning: I
like to have it fresh and fresh.' {259} This is English gone out of
fashion: I remember seeing it in Pope's preface to 'The Dunciad.'

Frog's jelly; the transparent jelly-like substance found in pools and
ditches formed by frogs round their young tadpoles, 121.

Fum; soft spongy turf. (Ulster.) Called _soosaun_ in Munster.

Gaatch [_aa_ long as in _car_], an affected gesture or movement of
limbs body or face: _gaatches_; assuming fantastic ridiculous
attitudes. (South.)

Gad; a withe: 'as tough as a gad.' (Irish _gad_, 60.)

Gadderman; a boy who puts on the airs of a man; a mannikin or
_manneen_, which see. (Simmons: Armagh.)

Gaffer; an old English word, but with a peculiar application in
Ireland, where it means a boy, a young chap. 'Come here, gaffer, and
help me.'

Gag; a conceited foppish young fellow, who tries to figure as a swell.

Gah'ela or gaherla; a little girl. (Kane: Ulster.) Same as _girsha_.

Gaileen; a little bundle of rushes placed under the arms of a beginner
learning to swim. (Joyce: Limerick.) When you support the beginner's
head keeping it above water with your hands while he is learning the
strokes: that we used to designate '_giving a gaileen_.'

Galbally, Co. Limerick, 156.

Galoot: a clownish fellow.

Galore; plenty, plentiful. Irish adverb _go leor_, 4.

Gankinna; a fairy, a leprachaun. (Morris: South Mon.) Irish _gann_,
small. {260}

Gannoge; an undefined small quantity. (Antrim.) Irish _gann_, small,
with diminutive _og_.

Garden, in the South, is always applied to a field of growing potatoes.
'In the land courts we never asked "How many acres of potatoes?"; but
"How many acres of garden?"' (Healy.) A usual inquiry is 'How are your
gardens going on?' meaning 'How are your potato crops doing?'

Garlacom; a lingering disease in cows believed to be caused by eating a
sort of herb. (P. Moran: Meath.)

Garland Sunday; the first Sunday in August (sometimes called Garlick
Sunday.)

Garron, garraun; an old worn-out horse. (Irish _gearran_.)

Gash; a flourish of the pen in writing so as to form an ornamental
curve, usually at the end. (Limerick.)

Gatha; an effeminate fellow who concerns himself in women's business: a
_Sheela_. (Joyce: Limerick.)

Gatherie; a splinter of bog-deal used as a torch. (Moran: Carlow.) Also
a small cake (commonly smeared with treacle) sold in the street on
market days. Irish _geataire_ [gatthera], same meanings.

Gaug; a sore crack in the heel of a person who goes barefooted. (Moran:
Carlow.) Irish _gag_ [gaug], a cleft, a crack.

Gaulsh; to loll. (MacCall: Wexford.)

Gaunt or gant; to yawn. (Ulster.)

Gaurlagh; a little child, a baby: an unfledged bird. Irish _garlach_,
same sound and meanings.

Gawk; a tall awkward fellow. (South.) {261}

Gawm, gawmoge; a soft foolish fellow. (South.) Irish _gam_, same
meaning. See Gommul.

Gazebo; a tall building; any tall object; a tall awkward person.

Gazen, gazened; applied to a wooden vessel of any kind when the joints
open by heat or drought so that it leaks. (Ulster.)

Gallagh-gunley; the harvest moon. (Ulster.) _Gallagh_ gives the sound
of Irish _gealach_, the moon, meaning whitish, from _geal_, white.

Geck; to mock, to jeer, to laugh at. (Derry.)

Geenagh, geenthagh; hungry, greedy, covetous. (Derry.) Irish _gionach_
or _giontach_, gluttonous.

Geens; wild cherries. (Derry.)

Gentle; applied to a place or thing having some connexion with the
fairies--haunted by fairies. A thornbush where fairies meet is a
'gentle bush': the hazel and the foxglove (fairy-thimble) are gentle
plants.

Geocagh; a big strolling idle fellow. (Munster.) Irish _geocach_, same
sound and meaning.

Geosadaun or Yosedaun [_d_ in both sounded like _th_ in _they_]; the
yellow rag-weed: called also boliaun [2-syll.] and booghalaun.

Get; a bastard child. (North and South.)

Gibbadaun; a frivolous person. (Roscommon.) From the Irish _giob_, a
scrap, with the diminutive ending _dan_: a _scrappy_ trifling-minded
person.

Gibbol [_g_ hard as in _get_]; a rag: your jacket is all hanging down
in gibbols.' (Limerick.) Irish _giobal_, same sound and meaning.

Giddhom; restlessness. In Limerick it is applied to cows when they
gallop through the fields with {262} tails cocked out, driven half mad
by heat and flies: 'The cows are galloping with giddhom.' Irish
_giodam_, same sound and meaning.

Gill-gowan, a corn-daisy. (Tyrone.) From Irish _geal_, white, and
_gowan_, the Scotch name for a daisy.

Girroge [two _g_'s sounded as in _get_, _got_]. Girroges are the short
little drills where the plough runs into a corner. (Kildare and
Limerick.) Irish _gearr_, short, with the diminutive _og_: _girroge_,
any short little thing.

Girsha; a little girl. (North and South.) Irish _geirrseach_ [girsagh],
from _gearr_, short or small, with the feminine termination _seach_.

Gistra [_g_ sounded as in _get_], a sturdy, active old man. (Ulster.)
Irish _giostaire_, same sound and meaning.

Gladiaathor [_aa_ long as in _car_]; a gladiator, a fighting
quarrelsome fellow: used as a verb also:--'he went about the fair
_gladiaatherin_,' i.e. shouting and challenging people to fight him.

Glaum, glam; to grab or grasp with the whole hand; to maul or pull
about with the hands. Irish _glam_ [glaum], same meaning.

Glebe; in Ireland this word is almost confined to the land or farm
attached to a Protestant rector's residence: hence called _glebe-land_.
See p. 143.

Gleeag; a small handful of straw used in plaiting straw mats: a sheaf
of straw threshed. (Kildare and Monaghan.)

Gleeks: to give a fellow the gleeks is to press the forefingers into
the butt of the ears so as to cause pain: a rough sort of play.
(Limerick.)

Glenroe, Co. Limerick, 68, 146. {263}

Gliggeen; a voluble silly talker. (Munster.) Irish _gluigin_
[gliggeen], a little bell, a little tinkler: from _glog_, same as
_clog_, a bell.

Gliggerum; applied to a very bad old worn-out watch or clock.
(Limerick.)

Glit; slimy mud; the green vegetable (_ducksmeat_) that grows on the
surface of stagnant water. (Simmons: Armagh.)

Gloit; a blockhead of a young fellow. (Knowles.)

Glory be to God! Generally a pious exclamation of thankfulness, fear,
&c.: but sometimes an ejaculation of astonishment, wonder, admiration,
&c. Heard everywhere in Ireland.

Glower; to stare or glare at: 'what are you glowerin' at!' (Ulster.)

Glugger [_u_ sounded as in _full_]; empty noise; the noise made by
shaking an addled egg. Also an addled egg. Applied very often in a
secondary sense to a vain empty foolish boaster. (Munster.)

Glunter: a stupid person. (Knowles: Ulster.)

Goaling: same as Hurling, which see.

Gob; the mouth including lips: 'Shut your gob.' Irish _gob_, same
meaning. Scotch, 'greedy _gab_.' (Burns.)

Gobshell; a big spittle direct from the mouth. (Limerick.) From Irish
_gob_, the mouth, and _seile_ [shella], a spittle.

Gobs or jackstones; five small round stones with which little girls
play against each other, by throwing them up and catching them as they
fall; 'there are Nelly and Sally playing gobs.'

Gods and goddesses of Pagan Ireland, 177.

Godspeed: see Back of God-speed. {264}

God's pocket. Mr. Kinahan writes to me:--'The first time I went to the
Mullingar hotel I had a delicate child, and spoke to the landlady as to
how he was to be put up [during the father's absence by day on outdoor
duty]. "Oh never fear sir," replied the good old lady, "the poor child
will be _in God's pocket_ here."' Mr. K. goes on to say:--I afterwards
found that in all that part of Leinster they never said 'we will make
you comfortable,' but always 'you will be in God's pocket,' or 'as snug
as in God's pocket.' I heard it said of a widow and orphans whose
people were kind to them, that they were in 'God's pocket.' Whether
Seumas MacManus ever came across this term I do not know, but he has
something very like it in 'A Lad of the O'Friels,' viz., 'I'll make the
little girl as happy as if she was _in Saint Peter's pocket_.'

Goggalagh, a dotard. (Munster.) Irish _gogail_, the cackling of a hen
or goose; also doting; with the usual termination _ach_.

Going on; making fun, joking, teasing, chaffing, bantering:--'Ah, now I
see you are only _going on_ with me.' 'Stop your _goings on_.'
(General.)

Golder [_d_ sounded like _th_ in further]; a loud sudden or angry
shout. (Patterson: Ulster.)

Goleen; an armful. See Gwaul.

Gombeen man; a usurer who lends money to small farmers and others of
like means, at ruinous interest. The word is now used all over Ireland.
Irish _goimbin_ [gombeen], usury.

Gommul, gommeril, gommula, all sometimes shortened to _gom_; a
simple-minded fellow, a half {265} fool. Irish _gamal_, _gamaille_,
_gamairle_, _gamarail_, all same meaning. (_Gamal_ is also Irish for a
camel.) Used all over Ireland.

Good deed; said of some transaction that is a well-deserved punishment
for some wrong or unjust or very foolish course of action. Bill lends
some money to Joe, who never returns it, and a friend says:--''Tis a
good deed Bill, why did you trust such a schemer?' Barney is bringing
home a heavy load, and is lamenting that he did not bring his
ass:--''Tis a good deed: where was I coming without Bobby?' (the ass).
('Knocknagow') 'I'm wet to the skin': reply:--''Tis a good deed: why
did you go out without your overcoat?'

Good boy: in Limerick and other parts of Munster, a young fellow who is
good--strong and active--at all athletic exercises, but most especially
if he is brave and tough in fighting, is 'a good boy.' The people are
looking anxiously at a sailing boat labouring dangerously in a storm on
the Shannon, and one of them remarks:--''Tis a good boy that has the
rudder in his hand.' (Gerald Griffin.)

Good people; The fairies. The word is used merely as _soft sawder_, to
_butter them up_, to curry favour with them--to show them great respect
at least from the teeth out--lest they might do some injury to the
speaker.

Googeen [two _g_'s as in _good_ and _get_]; a simple soft-minded
person. (Moran: Carlow.) Irish _guag_, same meaning, with the
diminutive: _guaigin_.

Gopen, gowpen; the full of the two hands used together. (Ulster.)
Exactly the same meaning as _Lyre_ in Munster, which see. {266}

Gor; the coarse turf or peat which forms the surface of the bog.
(Healy: for Ulster.)

Gorb; a ravenous eater, a glutton. (Ulster.)

Gorsoon: a young boy. It is hard to avoid deriving this from French
_garcon_, all the more as it has no root in Irish. Another form often
used is _gossoon_, which is derived from Irish:--_gas_, a stem or
stalk, a young boy. But the termination _oon_ or _un_ is suspicious in
both cases, for it is not a genuine Irish suffix at all.

Gossip; a sponsor in baptism.

Goster; gossipy talk. Irish _gastair[)e]_, a prater, a chatterer.
'Dermot go 'long with your goster.' (Moore--in his youth.)

Gouloge; a stick with a little fork of two prongs at the end, for
turning up hay, or holding down furze while cutting. (South.) Used in
the North often in the form of _gollog_. Irish _gabhal_ [gowl], a fork,
with the dim. _og_.

Gounau; housewife [huzzif] thread, strong thread for sewing, pack
thread. Irish _gabhshnath_ (Fr. Dinneen), same sound and meaning: from
_snath_, a thread: but how comes in _gabh_? In one of the Munster towns
I knew a man who kept a draper's shop, and who was always called
_Gounau_, in accordance with the very reprehensible habit of our people
to give nicknames.

Goureen-roe: a snipe, a jacksnipe. (Munster.) Irish _gabhairin-reo_,
the 'little goat of the frost' (reo, frost): because on calm frosty
evenings you hear its quivering sound as it flies in the twilight, very
like the sound emitted by a goat.

Gra, grah; love, fondness, liking. Irish _gradh_ {267} [graw]. 'I have
great gra for poor Tom.' I asked an Irishman who had returned from
America and settled down again here and did well:--'Why did you come
back from America?' 'Ah,' he replied, 'I have great _gra_ for the old
country.'

Graanbroo; wheat boiled in new milk and sweetened: a great treat to
children, and generally made from their own gleanings or _liscauns_,
gathered in the fields. Sometimes called _brootheen_. (Munster.) The
first from Irish _gran_, grain, and _brugh_, to break or bruise, to
reduce to pulp, or cook, by boiling. _Brootheen_ (also applied to
mashed potatoes) is from _brugh_, with the diminutive.

Graanoge, graan-yoge [_aa_ in both long like _a_ in _car_], a hedgehog.
Irish _graineog_, same sound.

Graanshaghaun [_aa_ long as in _car_]; wheat (in grain) boiled. (Joyce:
Limerick.) In my early days what we called _graanshaghaun_ was wheat in
grains, not boiled, but roasted in an iron pot held over the fire, the
wheat being kept stirred till done.

Graffaun; a small axe with edge across like an adze for grubbing or
_graffing_ land, i.e. rooting out furze and heath in preparation for
tillage. Used all through the South. 'This was the word used in Co.
Cork law courts.' (Healy.) Irish _grafan_, same sound and meaning.

Graip or grape; a dung-fork with three or four prongs. Irish _grapa_.

Grammar and Pronunciation, 74.

Grammel; to grope or fumble or gather with both hands. (Derry.)

Graves, Mr. A. P., 58, &c.

Grawls; children. Paddy Corbett, thinking he is {268} ruined, says of
his wife:--'God comfort poor Jillian and the grawls I left her.'
(Edward Walsh.) 'There's Judy and myself and the poor little grawls.'
(Crofton Croker: p. 155.)

Grawvar; loving, affectionate:--'That's a grawver poor boy.' (Munster.)
Irish _gradhmhar_, same sound and meaning: from _gradh_, love.

Grazier; a young rabbit. (South and West.)

Great; intimate, closely acquainted:--'Tom Long and Jack Fogarty are
very great.' (All over Ireland.) 'Come gie's your hand and sae we're
_greet_.' (Burns.)

Greedy-gut; a glutton; a person who is selfish about stuffing himself,
wishing to give nothing to anyone else. Gorrane Mac Sweeny, when his
mistress is in want of provisions, lamenting that the eagles (over
Glengarriff) were devouring the game that the lady wanted so badly,
says:--'Is it not the greatest pity in life ... that these greedy-guts
should be after swallowing the game, and my sweet mistress and her
little ones all the time starving.' (Caesar Otway in 'Pen. Journ.')

Greenagh; a person that hangs round hoping to get food (Donegal and
North-West): a 'Watch-pot.'

Greesagh; red hot embers and ashes. 'We roasted our potatoes and eggs
in the greesagh.' (All over Ireland.) Irish _griosach_, same sound.

Greet; to cry. 'Tommy was greetin' after his mother.' (Ulster.)

Greth; harness of a horse: a general name for all the articles required
when yoking a horse to the cart. (Knowles: Ulster.)

Griffin, Gerald, author of 'The Collegians,' 5, &c. {269}

Grig (greg in Sligo): a boy with sugarstick holds it out to another and
says, 'grig, grig,' to triumph over him. Irish _griog_, same sound and
meaning.

Grinder; a bright-coloured silk kerchief worn round the neck. (Edward
Walsh: all over Munster.)

Gripe; a trench, generally beside a high ditch or fence. 'I got down
into the gripe, thinking to [hide myself].' (Crofton Croker.)

Griskin or greeskeen; a small bit of meat cut off to be
roasted--usually on the coals. Irish _griscin_.

Grisset; a shallow iron vessel for melting things in, such as grease
for dipping rushes, resin for dipping torches (_sluts_ or _paudioges_,
which see), melting lead for various purposes, white metals for
coining, &c. If a man is growing rapidly rich:--'You'd think he had the
grisset down.'

Groak or groke; to look on silently--like a dog--at people while they
are eating, hoping to be asked to eat a bit. (Derry.)

Grogue; three or four sods of turf standing on end, supporting each
other like a little pyramid on the bog to dry. (Limerick.) Irish
_gruag_, same meaning.

Groodles; the broken bits mixed with liquid left at the bottom of a
bowl of soup, bread and milk, &c.

Group or grup; a little drain or channel in a cow-house to lead off the
liquid manure. (Ulster.)

Grue or grew; to turn from with disgust:--'He grued at the physic.'
(Ulster).

Grug; sitting on one's grug means sitting on the heels without touching
the ground. (Munster.) Same as Scotch _hunkers_. 'Sit down on your grug
and thank God for a seat.'

Grumagh or groomagh; gloomy, {270} ill-humoured:--'I met Bill this
morning looking very _grumagh_.' (General.) From Irish _gruaim_
[_grooim_], gloom, ill-humour, with the usual suffix _-ach_, equivalent
to English _-y_ as in _gloomy_.

Grumpy; surly, cross, disagreeable. (General.)

Gubbadhaun; a bird that follows the cuckoo. (Joyce.)

Gubbaun; a strap tied round the mouth of a calf or foal, with a row of
projecting nail points, to prevent it sucking the mother. From Irish
_gob_, the mouth, with the diminutive. (South.)

Gubbalagh; a mouthful. (Munster.) Irish _goblach_, same sound and
meaning. From _gob_, the mouth, with the termination _lach_.

Gullion; a sink-pool. (Ulster.)

Gulpin; a clownish uncouth fellow. (Ulster.)

Gulravage, gulravish; noisy boisterous play. (North-east Ulster.)

Gunk; a 'take in,' a 'sell'; as a verb, to 'take in,' to cheat.
(Ulster.)

Gushers; stockings with the soles cut off. (Morris: Monaghan.) From the
Irish. Same as triheens.

Gurry; a _bonnive_, a young pig. (Morris: Mon.)

Gutter; wet mud on a road (_gutters_ in Ulster).

Gwaul [_l_ sounded as in _William_]; the full of the two arms of
anything: 'a gwaul of straw.' (Munster.) In Carlow and Wexford, they
add the diminutive, and make it _goleen_. Irish _gabhail_.

Hain; to hain a field is to let it go to meadow, keeping the cows out
of it so as to let the grass grow: possibly from _hayin'_. (Waterford:
Healy.) In Ulster _hain_ means to save, to economise. {271}

Half a one; half a glass of whiskey. One day a poor blind man walked
into one of the Dublin branch banks, which happened to be next door to
a public-house, and while the clerks were looking on, rather puzzled as
to what he wanted, he slapped two pennies down on the counter; and in
no very gentle voice:--'Half a one!'

Half joke and whole earnest; an expression often heard in Ireland which
explains itself. 'Tim told me--half joke and whole earnest--that he
didn't much like to lend me his horse.'

Hand; to make a hand of a person is to make fun of him; to humbug him:
Lowry Looby, thinking that Mr. Daly is making game of him, says:--''Tis
making a hand of me your honour is.' (Gerald Griffin.) Other
applications of _hand_ are 'You made a bad hand of that job,' i.e. you
did it badly. If a man makes a foolish marriage: 'He made a bad hand of
himself, poor fellow.'

Hand-and-foot; the meaning of this very general expression is seen in
the sentence 'He gave him a hand-and-foot and tumbled him down.'

Hand's turn; a very trifling bit of work, an occasion:--'He won't do a
hand's turn about the house': 'he scolds me at every hand's turn,' i.e.
on every possible occasion.

Handy; near, convenient:--'The shop lies handy to me'; an adaptation of
the Irish _laimh le_ (meaning _near_). _Laimh le Corcaig_, lit. _at
hand with Cork_--near Cork. This again is often expressed _convenient
to Cork_, where _convenient_ is intended to mean simply _near_. So it
comes that we in Ireland regard _convenient_ and _near_ as exactly
synonymous, {272} which they are not. In fact on almost every possible
occasion, we--educated and uneducated--use _convenient_ when _near_
would be the proper word. An odd example occurs in the words of the old
Irish folk-song:--

'A sailor courted a farmer's daughter,
Who lived _convaynient_ to the Isle of Man.'

Hannel; a blow with the spear or spike of a pegging-top (or
'castle-top') down on the wood of another top. Boys often played a game
of tops for a certain number of hannels. At the end of the game the
victor took his defeated opponent's top, sunk it firmly down into the
grassy sod, and then with his own top in his hand struck the other top
a number of hannels with the spear of his own to injure it as much as
possible. 'Your castle-tops came in for the most hannels.'
('Knocknagow.')

Hap; to wrap a person round with any covering, to tuck in the
bedclothes round a person. (Ulster.)

Hard word (used always with _the_); a hint, an inkling, a tip, a bit of
secret information:--'They were planning to betray and cheat me, but
Ned gave me the hard word, and I was prepared for them, so that I
defeated their schemes.'

Hare; to make a hare of a person is to put him down in argument or
discussion, or in a contest of wit or cunning; to put him in utter
confusion. 'While you were speaking to the little boy that made a hare
of you.' (Carleton in Ir. Pen. Journ.)

'Don't talk of your Provost and Fellows of Trinity,
Famous for ever at Greek and Latinity,
Faix and the divels and all at Divinity--
Father O'Flynn 'd make hares of them all!'

(A. P. GRAVES.)

{273}

Harvest; always used in Ireland for autumn:--'One fine day in harvest.'
(Crofton Croker.)

Hauling home; bringing home the bride, soon after the wedding, to her
husband's house. Called also a 'dragging-home.' It is always made the
occasion of festivity only next in importance to the wedding. For a
further account, and for a march played at the Hauling home, see my
'Old Irish Folk Music and Songs,' p. 130.

Hausel; the opening in the iron head of an axe, adze, or hammer, for
the handle. (Ulster.)

Haverel: a rude coarse boor, a rough ignorant fellow. (Moran: Carlow.)

Havverick; a rudely built house, or an old ruined house hastily and
roughly restored:--'How can people live in that old havverick?'
(Limerick.)

Hayden, Miss Mary, M.A., 5, &c.

Healy, Mr. Maurice, 178, &c.

Head or harp; a memorial of the old Irish coinage, corresponding with
English _head or tail_. The old Irish penny and halfpenny had the
king's head on one side and the Irish harp on the other. 'Come now,
head or harp,' says the person about to throw up a halfpenny of any
kind.

Heard tell; an expression used all throughout Ireland:--'I heard tell
of a man who walked to Glendalough in a day.' It is old English.

Heart-scald; a great vexation or mortification. (General.) Merely the
translation of _scallach-croidhe_ [scollagh-cree], _scalding_ of the
heart.

Hearty; tipsy, exhilarated after a little 'drop.'

Hedge schools, 149. {274}

Higgins, The Rev. Father, p. 244, and elsewhere.

Hinch; the haunch, the thigh. To hinch a stone is to _jerk_ (or _jurk_
as they say in Munster), to hurl it from under instead of over the
shoulder. (Ulster.)

Hinten; the last sod of the ridge ploughed. (Ulster.)

Ho; equal. Always used with a negative, and also in a bad sense, either
seriously or in play. A child spills a jug of milk, and the mother
says:--'Oh Jacky, there's no _ho_ to you for mischief' (no equal to
you). The old woman says to the mischievous gander:--'There's no ho
with you for one gander.' (Gerald Griffin: 'The Coiner.') This _ho_ is
an Irish word: it represents the sound of the Irish prefix _cho_ or
_chomh_, equal, as much as, &c. 'There's no ho to Jack Lynch' means
there's no one for whom you can use _cho_ (equal) in comparing him with
Jack Lynch.

Hobbler; a small cock of fresh hay about 4 feet high. (Moran: Carlow.)

Hobby; a kind of Irish horse, which, three or four centuries ago, was
known all over Europe 'and held in great esteem for their easy amble:
and from this kind of horse the Irish light-armed bodies of horse were
called hobellers.' (Ware. See my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient
Ireland,' p. 487.) Hence a child's toy, a hobby-horse. Hence a
favourite pursuit is called a 'hobby.'

Hoil; a mean wretched dwelling: an uncomfortable situation. (Morris:
South Monaghan.)

Hollow; used as an adverb as follows:--'Jack Cantlon's horse beat the
others hollow in the race': i.e. beat them utterly. {275}

Holy show: 'You're a holy show in that coat,' i.e. it makes quite a
show of you; makes you look ridiculous. (General.)

Holy well; a well venerated on account of its association with an Irish
saint: in most cases retaining the name of the saint:--'Tober-Bride,'
St. Bride's or Brigit's well. In these wells the early saints baptised
their converts. They are found all through Ireland, and people often
pray beside them and make their _rounds_. (See 'Smaller Social History
of Ancient Ireland.')

Hool or hooley; the same as a Black swop.

Hot-foot; at once, immediately:--'Off I went hot-foot.' 'As soon as
James heard the news, he wrote a letter hot-foot to his father.'

Houghle; to wobble in walking. (Armagh.)

Hugger-mugger: see Cugger-mugger.

Huggers or hogars, stockings without feet. (Ulster.)

Hulk; a rough surly fellow. (Munster.) A bad person. (Simmons: Armagh.)
Irish _olc_, bad.

Hungry-grass: see Fair-gurtha.

Hunker-slide; to slide on ice sitting on the hunkers (or as they would
say in Munster, sitting on one's _grug_) instead of standing up
straight: hence to act with duplicity: to shirk work:--'None of your
hunker-sliding for me.' (Ulster.)

Hurling; the common game of ball and hurley or _commaun_. The chief
terms (besides those mentioned elsewhere) are:--_Puck_, the blow of the
hurley on the ball: The _goals_ are the two gaps at opposite sides of
the field through which the players try to drive the ball. When the
ball is thrown high up between two players with their {276} commauns
ready drawn to try which will strike it on its way down: that is
_high-rothery_. When two adjacent parishes or districts contended
(instead of two small parties at an ordinary match), that was
_scoobeen_ or 'conquering goal' (Irish _scuab_, a broom: _scoobeen_,
_sweeping_ the ball away). I have seen at least 500 on each side
engaged in one of these _scoobeens_; but that was in the time of the
eight millions--before 1847. Sometimes there were bad blood and
dangerous quarrels at scoobeens. See Borick, Sippy, Commaun, and Cool.
(For the ancient terms see my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient
Ireland,' p. 513.) For examples of these great contests, see Very Rev.
Dr. Sheehan's 'Glenanaar,' pp. 4, 231.

Hurt: a whortleberry: hurts are _fraughans_, which see. From _whort_.
(Munster.)

Husho or rather huzho; a lullaby, a nurse-song, a cradle-song;
especially the chorus, consisting of a sleepy _cronaun_ or croon--like
'shoheen-sho Loo-lo-lo,' &c. Irish _suantraighe_ [soontree]. 'The
moaning of a distant stream that kept up a continual _cronane_ like a
nurse _hushoing_.' 'My mother was hushoing my little sister, striving
to quieten her.' (Both from Crofton Croker.) 'The murmur of the ocean
_huzhoed_ me to sleep.' (Irish Folk Song:--'McKenna's Dream.')

Idioms; influence of the Irish language on, 4:--derived from Irish, 23.

If; often used in the sense of _although_, _while_, or some such
signification, which will be best understood from the following
examples:--A Dublin {277} jarvey who got sixpence for a long drive,
said in a rage:--'I'm in luck to-day; but _if I am_, 'tis blazing _bad_
luck.' 'Bill ran into the house, and if he did, the other man seized
him round the waist and threw him on his back.'

If that. This is old English, but has quite disappeared from the
standard language of the present day, though still not unfrequently
heard in Ireland:--'If that you go I'll go with you.'

'_If_ from Sally _that_ I get free,
My dear I love you most tenderlie.'

(Irish Folk Song--'Handsome Sally.')

'And _if that_ you wish to go further
Sure God He made Peter His own,
The keys of His treasures He gave him,
To govern the old Church of Rome.'

(Old Irish Folk Song.)

Inagh' or in-yah' [both strongly accented on second syll.]; a satirical
expression of dissent or disbelief, like the English _forsooth_, but
much stronger. A fellow boasting says:--'I could run ten miles in an
hour': and another replies, 'You could _inah_': meaning 'Of course I
don't believe a word of it.' A man coming back from the other world
says to a woman:--'I seen your [dead] husband there too, ma'am;' to
which she replies:--'My husband _inah_.' (Gerald Griffin:
'Collegians.') Irish _an eadh_, same sound and meaning.

Inch; a long strip of level grassy land along a river. Very general.
Irish _inis_ [innish], of the same family as Lat. _insula_: but _inis_
is older than _insula_ which is a diminutive and consequently a derived
form. 'James, go out and drive the cows down to the inch.'

Insense'; to make a person understand;--'I can't {278} insense him into
his letters.' 'I insensed him into the way the job was to be done.'
[Accent on -sense'.]

In tow with; in close acquaintance with, courting. John is in tow with
Jane Sullivan.

Ire, sometimes _ira_; children who go barefoot sometimes get _ire_ in
the feet; i.e. the skin chapped and very sore. Also an inflamed spot on
the skin rendered sore by being rubbed with some coarse seam, &c.

Irish language; influence of, on our dialect, 1, 23.

Jackeen; a nickname for a conceited Dublin citizen of the lower class.

Jack Lattin, 172.

Jap or jop; to splash with mud. (Ulster.)

Jaw; impudent talk: _jawing_; scolding, abusing:--

'He looked in my face and he gave me some jaw,
Saying "what brought you over from Erin-go-braw?"'

(Irish Folk Song.)

Jingle; one of Bianconi's long cars.

Johnny Magorey; a hip or dog-haw; the fruit of the dog-rose. (Central
and Eastern counties.)

Join; to begin at anything; 'the child joined to cry'; 'my leg joined
to pain me'; 'the man joined to plough.' (North.)

Jokawn; an oaten stem cut off above the joint, with a tongue cut in it,
which sounds a rude kind of music when blown by the mouth. (Limerick.)
Irish _geocan_, same sound and meaning.

Jowlter, fish-jowlter; a person who hawks about fish through the
country, to sell. (South.)

Just: often used as a final expletive--more in {279} Ulster than
elsewhere:--'Will you send anyone?' 'Yes, Tommy just.' 'Where are you
going now?' 'To the fair just.'

Keenagh or keenagh-lee: mildew often seen on cheese, jam, &c. In a damp
house everything gets covered with _keenagh-lee_. Irish _caonach_,
moss; _caonach-lee_, mildew: _lee_ is Irish _liagh_ [lee], grey. (North
and North-West of Ireland.)

Keeping: a man is _on his keeping_ when he is hiding away from the
police, who are on his track for some offence. This is from the Irish
_coimead_, keeping; _air mo choimead_, 'on my keeping.'

Keeroge; a beetle or clock. Irish _ciar_ [keer], dark, black, with the
diminutive _og_: _keeroge_, 'black little fellow.'

Kelters, money, coins: 'He has the kelthers,' said of a rich man.
_Yellow kelters_, gold money: 'She has the kelthers': means she has a
large fortune. (Moran: Carlow.)

Kemp or camp; to compete: two or more persons kemp against each other
in any work to determine which will finish first. (Ulster.) See
Carleton's story, 'The Rival Kempers.'

Keolaun; a contemptible little creature, boy or man. (South and West.)

Keowt; a low contemptible fellow.

Kepper; a slice of bread with butter, as distinguished from a _dundon_,
which see.

Kesh; a rough bridge over a river or morass, made with poles,
wickerwork, &c.--overlaid with bushes and _scraws_ (green sods).
Understood all through Ireland. A small one over a drain in a bog is
{280} often called in Tipperary and Waterford a _kishoge_, which is
merely the diminutive.

Kib; to put down or plant potatoes, each seed in a separate hole made
with a spade. Irish _ciob_, same sound and meaning.

Kickham, Charles, author of 'Knocknagow,' 5, &c.

Kiddhoge, a wrap of any kind that a woman throws hastily over her
shoulders. (Ulster.) Irish _cuideog_, same sound and sense here.

Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, 147.

Killeen; a quantity:--'That girl has a good killeen of money. (Ulster.)
Irish _cillin_ [killeen].

Killeen; an old churchyard disused except for the occasional burial of
unbaptised infants. Irish _cill_, a church, with the diminutive _in_.

Kimmeen; a sly deceitful trick; kimmeens or kymeens, small crooked
ways:--'Sure you're not equal to the _kimmeens_ of such complete
deceivers at all at all.' (Sam Lover in Ir. Pen. Mag.) Irish _com_,
crooked; diminutive _cuimin_ [kimmeen].

Kimmel-a-vauleen; uproarious fun. Irish _cimel-a'-mhailin_, literally
'rub-the-bag.' There is a fine Irish jig with this name. (South.)

Kink; a knot or short twist in a cord.

Kink; a fit of coughing or laughing: 'they were in kinks of laughing.'
Hence _chincough_, for whooping-cough, i.e. _kink_-cough. I know a holy
well that has the reputation of curing whooping-cough, and hence called
the 'Kink-well.'

Kinleen or keenleen, or kine-leen; a single straw or corn stem.
(South.) Irish _caoinlin_, same sound.

Kinleen-roe; an icicle: the same word as last with the addition of
_reo_ [roe], frost: 'frost-stem.' {281}

Kinnatt', [1st syll. very short; accent on 2nd syll.: to rhyme with
_cat_]; an impertinent conceited impudent little puppy.

Kippen or kippeen; any little bit of stick: often used as a sort of pet
name for a formidable cudgel or shillelah for fighting. Irish _cip_
[kip], a stake or stock, with the diminutive.

Kish; a large square basket made of wattles and wickerwork used for
measuring turf or for holding turf on a cart. Sometimes (South) called
a _kishaun_. Irish _cis_ or _cisean_, same sounds and meanings: also
called _kishagh_.

Kishtha; a treasure: very common in Connaught, where it is often
understood to be hidden treasure in a fort under the care of a
leprachaun. Irish _ciste_, same sound and meaning.

Kitchen; any condiment or relish eaten with the plain food of a meal,
such as butter, dripping, &c. A very common saying in Tyrone against
any tiresome repetition is:--'Butter to butter is no kitchen.' As a
verb; to use sparingly, to economise:--'Now kitchen that bit of bacon
for you have no more.'

Kitthoge or kitthagh; a left-handed person. Understood through all
Ireland. Irish _ciotog_, _ciotach_, same sounds and meaning.

Kitterdy; a simpleton, a fool. (Ulster.)

Knauvshauling [the _k_ sounded distinctly]; grumbling, scolding,
muttering complaints. (Limerick.) From Irish _cnamh_ [knauv: _k_
sounded], a bone, the jawbone. The underlying idea is the same as when
we speak of a person giving _jaw_. See Jaw.

'Knocknagow ': see Kickham.

Kybosh; some sort of difficulty or 'fix':--'He put the kybosh on him:
he defeated him.' (Moran: Carlow.) {282}

Kyraun, keeraun; a small bit broken off from a sod of turf. Irish
_caor_, or with the diminutive, _caoran_, same sound and meaning.

Laaban; a rotten sterile egg (Morris: for South Monaghan): same as
_Glugger_, which see. Irish _lab_ or _laib_, mire, dirt, with
diminutive.

Lad; a mischievous tricky fellow:--'There's no standing them lads.'
(Gerald Griffin.)

Lagheryman or Logheryman. (Ulster.) Same as Leprachaun, which see.

Lambaisting; a sound beating. Quite common in Munster.

Langel; to tie the fore and the hind leg of a cow or goat with a
spancel or fetter to prevent it going over fences. (Ulster.) Irish
_langal_, same sound and meaning.

Lapcock; an armful or roll of grass laid down on the sward to dry for
hay. (Ulster.)

Lark-heeled; applied to a person having long sharp heels. See
Saulavotcheer.

Larrup; to wallop, to beat soundly. (Donegal and South.)

Lashings, plenty: lashings and leavings, plenty and to spare: specially
applied to food at meals. (General.)

Lassog, a blaze of light. (Morris: South Monaghan.) From Irish _las_,
light, with the diminutive.

Lauchy; applied to a person in the sense of pleasant, good-natured,
lovable. Irish _lachaiidhe_, same sound and sense. (Banim: general in
the South.) 'He's a _lauchy_ boy.'

Laudy-daw; a pretentious fellow that sets up to be a great swell.
(Moran: Carlow; and South.) {283}

Launa-vaula; full and plenty:--There was launa-vaula at the dinner.
Irish _lan-a-mhala_ (same sound), 'full bags.'

Lazy man's load. A lazy man takes too many things in one load to save
the trouble of going twice, and thereby often lets them fall and breaks
them.