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(delwedd B8725) (tudalen 100)
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100 Mais' Masked
Mais'. See Mace.
Make. ' That makes me out/ puzzles me (H.). N.W.
Malki . See Mawkin.
*Mammered. Perplexed (A.).
* Mammock, v. To pull to pieces (Leisure Hour, August,
1893). N.W. (Castle Eaton, &c.)
1 He did so set his teeth and tear it ; O, I warrant, how he
mammocked it ! ' SHAKESPEARE, Coriolanus, i. 3.
*Mander. To order about in a worrying dictatorial fashion
(S.). 'Measter do mander I about so.' S.W.
Mandy (long a). (i) Frolicsome, saucy, impudent (A. B.C.) :
now only used by very old people. N.W. * (2) Showy
(C.). N.W., obsolete.
Mar. See More.
Marlbro'-handed. People who used their tools awkwardly
were formerly called ' Marlbro'-handed vawlc,' natives of
Marlborough being traditionally famed for clumsiness and
unhandiness. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Marley. Streaky, marbled ; applied to fat beef, or bacon
from a fat pig, where the fat seems to streak and grain
the lean. N.W.
Martin, Free-martin. A calf of doubtful sex. N.W. An
animal with an ox-like head and neck, which never breeds,
but is excellent for fatting purposes. It is commonly sup-
posed that a female calf born twin with a male is always
a free-martin. Recent investigations, however, have proved
that though the external organs of a free-martin may be
female the internal are in all cases male. The rule laid
down by Geddes and Thomson is that twin calves are
always normal when of opposite sex or both female ; but
that if both are male one is invariably thus abnormal
(Evolution of Sex, ch. iii. p. 39). Compare Scotch ferotv
or ferry cow, a cow not in calf, and mart, an ox ; also A. S.
fear, a bullock (FolkrEtymology).
Masked. See A-masked.
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(delwedd B8726) (tudalen 101)
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Mathern Meg 101
Mathern, Mauthern. *(i) Chrysanthemum leucanthemum,
L., Ox-eye Daisy (A.D.H.Wr.). N.W. (2) Wild Camo-
mile (Great Estate, ch. viii). N.W.
*Maudlin. The Ox-eye Daisy (D.). N.W.
Mawk (pronounced MaaJc). To clean out the oven with the
'maakin,' before putting in the batch of bread. N.W.
Mawkin, Malkin, Maak, or Maakin. (i) An oven-swab
with which the charcoal sticks are swept out of the oven,
before putting in the batch (A.). N. & S.W.
'The malkin, being wetted, cleaned out the ashes . . . malkin [is]
a bunch of rags on the end of a stick.' Great Estate, ch. viii.
(2) Also used as a term of reproach. N.W.
* Thee looks like a girt maakin.' Great Estate, ch. viii.
* May-beetle. The cockchafer (A.BA
* May-blobs, May-blubs, or May-bubbles. Flowers and buds
of Caltha palustris, L., Marsh Marigold.
Mazzard. *(i) A small kind of cherry (English Plant
Names). Merry is the usual Wilts name, Mazzard being
Dev. and Som. (2) The head (A.), but only in such
threats as :
' I'll break thee mazzard vor thee ! 'Wilts Tales, p. 31.
Ben Jonson has mazzardcd, broken-headed. N.W. .
* Meadow-soot. Spiraea Ulmaria, L., Meadow-sweet (Great
Estate, ch. ii). Sote, or soot = sweet. N.W.
* Mealy. Mild and damp. "Twar a oncommon mealy
marninV N.W. (Bratton.)
Measle-flower. The garden Marigold, the dried flowers having
some local reputation as a remedy. Children, however, have
an idea that they may catch the complaint from handling
the plant. N. & S.W.
Med. See Mid.
Meg, Meggy. (i) In the game of Must, q.v., a small stone
called a ' meg ' or ' meggy ' is placed on the top of a large
one, and bowled at with other 'meggies,' of which each
player has one. N. & S.W. *(2) Maig. A peg (S.).
S.W.
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(delwedd B8727) (tudalen 102)
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102 Mere Middling
Mere. A boundary line or bank of turf. N. & S.W. A turf
boundary between the downs on adjoining farms : formed
by cutting two thick turves, one smaller than the other, and
placing them, upside down, with the smaller one on top, at
intervals of about a chain along the boundary line. N.W.
(Devizes.)
' The strips [in a " common field "] are marked off from one
another,
not by hedge or wall, but by a simple grass path, a foot or so wide,
which they call " balks " or " meres," 'Wilts Arch. Mag.
xvii. 294.
'Two acres of arable, of large measure, in Pen field, lying together
and bounded by meres on both sides.' HUmarton Parish Terrier, dated
1704.
Mere-stone. A boundary stone (Amateur Poacher, ch. iii).
N.W.
Merry. The cherry ; applied to both black and red varieties,
but especially the small semi-wild fruit. N. & S.W.
Merry-flower. The wild Cherry. S.W. (Barford.)
*Mesh (e long). Moss or lichen on an old apple-tree. S.W.
(Som. bord.)
Messenger. (i) A sunbeam reaching down to the horizon
from behind a cloud is sometimes said to be the sun
' sending out a messenger.' Cf. Cope's Hants Glossary. Used
by children in both N. & S. Wilts. (2) pi. The small
detached clouds that precede a storm (Greene Feme Farm,
ch. vi). N. & S.W.
*Mice's-mouths. Linaria vulgaris, Mill., Snapdragon. S.W.
(Farley.)
Michaelmas Crocus. Colchicum autumnale, L., Meadow Saffron.
N.W.
Mickle. Much (A.S.). A.S. micel N. & S.W., occasionally.
Mid, Med. v. Might or may (S.).-N.W.
Middling. (i) Ailing in health (H.) ; Middlinish (Wilts
Tales, p. 137). N. & S.W. (2) Tolerable, as 'a middlin'
good crop.' Middlekin is occasionally used in S. Wilts in
this sense. N. & S.W. 'Very middling' (with a shake of
the head), bad, or ill ; 'pretty middling ' (with a nod , good,
or well (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 112).
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(delwedd B8728) (tudalen 103)
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Midstay Minnies 103
*Midstay. The barn-floor between the mows. N.W. (Aid-
bourne.) Compare Middlestead, a threshing-floor : East of
England ; also
'The old and one-eyed cart-horse dun
The middenstead went hobbling round,
Blowing the light straw from the ground.'
W. MORRIS, The Land East of the Sun.
Midsummer men. Sedum Fabaria, Koch., a variety of the red
Orpine. N.W. occasionally ; S.W. (Farley.)
Mild. Of stone or wood, easily worked (Great Estate, ch. ix).
N.W.
* Milk-flower. Lychnis vespertina, Sibth., Evening Campion.
S.W. (Charlton All Saints.)
Milkmaids. Cardamine pratensis, L., Lady's Smock. In common
use in Hill Deverill and Longbridge Deverill, also at Farley
and Hamptworth. S.W.
Milkwort. Euphorbia Peplus, L., Petty Spurge. N. & S.W.
Mill. To clean clover-seed from the husk (D.). Milled Hop
(D.). N.W.
Miller, Millard, Mallard, or Dusty Miller. A large white
moth (A.S.) ; generally extended to any large night-flying
species. N. & S.W.
* Mill-peck. A kind of hammer with two chisel-heads, used
for deepening the grooves of the millstone (Great Estate,
ch. ix).
* Mill-staff. A flat piece of wood, rubbed with ruddle, by which
the accuracy of the work done by the mill-peck may be
tested (Great Estate, ch. ix).
Mind. (i) To remind. ' That minds I o' Lunnon, it do.'
N. & S.W. (2) To remember. ' I minds I wur just about
bad then.' N. & S.W. (3) ' To be a mind to anything,'
to be inclined to do it. N.W.
Minding. A reminder. After a severe illness you are apt to
have 'the mindings on't' now and again. N.W.
Minnies, Small fry of all kinds of fish. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8729) (tudalen 104)
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104 Mint Moochers
Mint. A cheese-mite (A.). The older form of mite (Skeat).
N.W.
Minty. Of cheese, full of mites (A.). N.W.
Mist-pond. A pond on the downs, not fed by any spring, but
kept up by mist, dew, and rain. Such ponds rarely fail,
even in the longest drought. More commonly called Dew-
ponds. S.W. (Broadchalke, &c.)
Mixen, Muxen. A dungheap (A.B.C.S.). N. & S.W.
Mix-muddle. One who muddles things imbecilely (Village
Miners). N.W.
Miz-maze. Puzzle, perplexity, confusion. S.W.
Miz-mazed. Thoroughly puzzled, stupefied. Stunned (S.).
S.W.
Mizzy-mazey. Confused. Used of print swimming before the
eyes. S.W.
Moile. Dirt, mud. Mwoile (A.). ' Aal in a mwoile.' N.W.
Moll 'era, Molly Heron. The Heron (Great Estate, ch. iv).
N.W.
Mommick, Mommet. A scarecrow. Cf. Mummock. N.W.
(Malmesbury.)
Money-in-both-pockets. Lunaria biennis, L., Honesty, from
the seeds showing on both sides of the dissepiment through
the transparent pod.
Monkey-musk. The large garden varieties of Mimulus, which
resemble the true musk, but are scentless, and therefore
merely monkey (i.e. mock, spurious) musk. N. & S.W.
Monkey Nut. Poa annua, L., Meadow Grass ; eaten by boys
for its nut-like flavour. S.W. (Salisbury.)
Monkey-plant. Garden Mimulus (Wild Life, ch. viii). N.W.
Mooch. See Mouch.
Moocher. See Moucher.
Moochers. Fruit of Eubm fruticosus, L., Blackberry (S.).
Cf. Berry-moucher (2). S.W.
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(delwedd B8730) (tudalen 105)
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Moon-daisy Mother-of-thousands 105
Moon-daisy. Chrysanthemum lewantliemum, L., Ox-eye Daisy
(Great Estate, ch. ii). A very general name, especially in
N. Wilts. The flowers are sometimes called Moons. N.
&S.W.
Moonied up. Coddled and spoilt by injudicious bringing up.
' Gells as be moonied up bean't never no good.' N. & S.W.
Moots. Roots of trees left in the ground (A.). See Stowls.
E.W.
Mop. (i) A Statute Fair for hiring servants (A.B.) ; also
used in Glouc. (Wilts Tales, p. 33). N.W. (2) A rough
tuft of grass.
Moral. A child is said to be the ' very moral, ' or exact likeness,
of its father. A form of < model.' N. & S.W.
More, Mar, Moir. (i) An old root or stump of a tree.
N. & S.W. (2) A root of any plant (A.B.G.S. : Aubrey's
Wilts MS.), as ' a strawberry more ' ; l fern mars ' ; ' cowslip
mars,' &c. (Amateur Poacher, ch. vii.) Occasionally Moir in
N. Wilts, as in Crazy Moir. N. & S.W.
Moreish. Appetizing, so good that you want more of it. ' Viggy
pudden be oncommon moreish.' N. & S.W.
Mort. n. A quantity. N. & S.W.
' Her talks a mort too vine.' Dark, ch. x.
' I stuck up to her a mort o' Sundays/ Ibid. ch. xv.
Most-in-deal. Usually, generally (A. B.C.). ' Where do 'e bide
now, Bill ? ' l Most-in-deal at 'Vize [Devizes], but zometimes
at Ziszeter [Cirencester]. ' Most-in-general is more commonly
used now. 1ST.W.
Most-in-general. Usually. N.W.
* Most in gen'ral I catches sight of you when I goes by wi' the
horses, but you wasn't in the garden this afternoon.' Dark, ch. i.
Mote, Maute. A morsel of anything, a very minute quantity.
S.W., formerly.
Mother-of-thousands. (i) Saxifraga sarmentosa, L. S.W.
(2) Linaria Cymbalaria, Mill., Ivy-leaved Toadflax. S.W.
(Salisbury. )
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(delwedd B8731) (tudalen 106)
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106 Mother Shimbles' Snick-needles Mouthy
* Mother Shimbles' Snick-needles. Stellarla Holostea, L.,
Greater Stitch wort (Sarum Dioc. Gazette). S.W. (Zeals.)
Mothery. Thick, muddy, as spoilt beer or vinegar (A.B.C.S.).
N. & S.W.
Mouch, Mooch. (1)0. To prowl about the woods and lanes,
picking up such unconsidered trifles as nuts, watercresses,
blackberries, ferns, and flower-roots, with an occasional turn
at poaching (Gamekeeper at Home, ch. vii) ; to pilfer out-of-
doors, as an armful of clover from the fresh-cut swathe
(Hodge and Ms Masters, ch. xxiii). N. & S.W.
* Probably connected with O.F. mucer, muchier, FT. musser, to hide, to
lurk about. It always implies something done more or less by stealth.'
SMYTHE-PALMER.
(2) v. To play the truant. N. & S.W. (3) v. To be
sulky or out of temper. N. & S.W. (4) n. * In a mouch,'
in a bad temper. 'On the mouch,' gone off mouching.
N. & S.W.
Moucher, Moocher. (i) A truant (A.B.). See Berry-moucher.
N. & S.W. (2) A man who lives by mouching (G-ameJceeper
at Home, ch. vii). N. & S.W.
Moulter. Of birds, to moult. N. W.
Mound. (i) n. A hedge. In general use in N. Wilts.
N. & S.W. (2) v. To hedge in or enclose. N.W.
' The Churchyard ... to be mounded partly by the manor, partly
by the parish and parsonage except only one gate to be maintained by
the vicar.' 1704, Hilmafton Parish Terrier.
Mouse. The * mouse ' is a small oblong piece of muscle, under
the blade-bone of a pig. N.W.
* The chief muscles of the body were named from lively animals ;
e.g. ... mus, mouse, the biceps muscle of the arm, and so in A.S. and
O.H.G. Cf. musculus, (i) a little mouse, (2) a muscle.' (Folk-Etymology,
p. 615, sub Calf.) SMYTHE-PALMER.
*Mousetails. A kind of grass, perhaps Cats'-tail, but not
Myosoms. N. W.
*Moutch. 'On the moutch,' shuffling (H.). Some meaning
of Mouch has probably here been misunderstood.
Mouthy, adj. Abusive, cheeky, impudent. S.W.
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(delwedd B8732) (tudalen 107)
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Mow Muggle 107
Mow. In a barn, the unbearded space at each end of the
threshing-floor, where the corn used to be heaped up for
threshing. N.W.
* Mo wing-machine Bird. Salicaria locustella, Grasshopper
Warbler, from its peculiar note (Birds of Wilts, p. 154).
S.W. (Mere.)
Much. (i) ' It's much if he do,' most likely he won't do
it. 'It's much if he don't,' most likely he will. N.W.
(2) v. To make much of, to pet. 'Her do like muching,'
i.e. being petted. - N.W.
Much-about. Used intensively. N.W.
1 1 was never one to go bellockin', though I've allus had much-about
raison to murmur.' Dark, ch. x.
Muck. Dirt, mud, earth. N. & S.W.
* Mucker. A miserly person (S.) Cf. Mouch. S.W.
' A fine old word, that I do not remember to have met with in other
counties. It Old Eng. mokerer (Old English Miscellany, E. E. T. S. p. 214),
a miser ; Scot, mochre, mokre, to hoard.' SMYTHE-PALMER.
Muckle. (i) n. Manure, long straw from the stable (Agric.
of Wilts, ch. vii). N. & S.W. (2) 'Muckle over,' to
cover over tender plants with long straw in autumn, to
protect them from frost. N.W.
Muddle-fuss. A persistent meddler with other people's
affairs. N.W. (Steeple Ashton.)
*Mudel over. The same as Muckle over, q.v. (Agric. of Wilts,
ch. vii).
Mud-up. (i) To pamper and spoil a child. S.W. (Hants
bord.) * (2) To bring up by hand (H.Wr.), as ' Mud the
child up, dooke ' (Monthly Mag., 1814).
Muggeroon. A mushroom. N.W.
Muggerum. Part of the internal fat of a pig. N.W.
Muggle. (i) n. Confusion, muddle (A.S.). N. & S.W.
' Here we be, ael in a muggle like.' Wilts Tales, p. 137.
(2) To live in a muddling, haphazard way. N.W. Cf. :
' Most on us 'ad a precious sight rather work for a faermer like the
old measter, an' have our Saturday night reg'lar, than go muggling the
best way we could, an' take our chance.' Jonathan Merle, xxxvii. 412.
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(delwedd B8733) (tudalen 108)
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108 Muggle-pin Nanny-fodger
Muggle-pin. The pin in the centre of a want-trap. S.W.
Mullin. The headstall of a cart-horse : sometimes extended
to the headstall and blinkers of a carriage horse. N.W.
Mullock. A heap of rubbish (A.B.), now applied to mine
refuse in Australia.
Mummock. A shapeless confused mass. A clumsily-swad-
dled baby or badly-dressed woman would be ' aal in
a mummock.' N.W.
Mum up. To make much of, pamper, pet, and spoil. ' A
granny-bred child's allus a-mummed up.' N. & S.W.
Mun. Used in addressing any person, as ' Doesn't thee knaw
that, mun?'(A.) N.W.
Must. A game played by children : a small stone ' a meggy '
is placed on the top of a large one, and bowled at with
other 'meggies,' of which each player has one. N.W.
Muxen. See Mixen.
Nacker. See Knacker.
Nail-passer. A gimlet (A.). Kennett has Nailsin in a similar
sense. N.W.
' " Here's the kay ' . . . holding up a small gimlet. "Whoy, thuck
ben't a kay . . . that 's nothing but a nail-passer." ' Wilts Tales, p.
44.
Nails. Sellis perennis, L., Daisy. S.W. (Mere.)
Naked Boys. ColcMcum autumnale, L., Meadow Saffron, the
flowers and leaves of which do not appear together (Aubrey,
Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 51, ed. Brit.). Naked Lady in Cornw.,
Yks., &c., and Naked Virgins in Chesh. N. & S.W. (Huish,
Stockton, &c.)
*Naked Nanny. ColcMcum autumnale, L., Meadow Saffron.
See Naked Boys. S.W. (Deverill.)
Nammet. See Nummet (S.).
'Nan. What do you say ? (A. B. C. ). See Anan.
Nanny-fodger, or Nunny-fudger. (i) A meddlesome
prying person. S.W. (2) Troglodytes vulgar is, the Wren.
-N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
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(delwedd B8734) (tudalen 109)
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Narration Neust of a neustness 109
Narration. Fuss, commotion. 'He do allus make such
a narration about anythin',' N. & S.W.
Nash, Naish, Nesh. (i) Tender, delicate, chilly (A.B.H.
Wr.). N. & S.W. (2) Tender and juicy: applied to
lettuces. S.W., occasionally.
Nation, Nashun, &c. Very, extremely, as nation dark (A.B.S.).
N. & S.W.
Nation-grass. Aira caespitosa, L., perhaps an abbreviation of
Carnation-grass. S.W. (Som. bord.)
Natomy, Notamy, Notamize, &c. A very thin person or
animal, an anatomy. N. & S.W.
*Naumpey. A weak foolish-minded person. N.W.
*Navigator. A drain-maker's spade, with a stout narrow
gouge-like blade (Amateur Poacher, ch. xi), more usually
known as a Graft.
Neal, Nealded. See Anneal.
Neck-headland, 'To fall neck-headland,' i.e. headlong.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Neet. See Nit (S.).
Neoust of a neoustness. Nearly alike (A.). See Aneoust.
N.W.
Nesh. See Nash.
Nessel-tripe, Nessel-trip, Nussel-trip. The smallest and
weakest pig in a litter. Commonly used in the Deverills,
and elsewhere. S.W,
Nettle-creeper. Applied generally in Wilts to the follow-
ing three birds: (i) Curruca cinerea^ Common White-
throat, (2) C. sylvatica, Lesser Whitethroat r and (3) C.
hortensis, Garden Warbler (Birds of Wilts, pp. 159-161).
N.W.
Neust. See Aneoust.
Neust alike. Nearly alike. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Neust of a neustness. See Aneoust.
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(delwedd B8735) (tudalen 110)
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1 10 Never-the-near Nippy
*Never-the-near. To no purpose, uselessly. ' I cwourted
she ten year, but there, 'twer aal niver-the-near.' N.W.
(Malmesbury.)
Next akin to nothing. Very little indeed. l There 's next
akin to nothen left in the barrel.' N.W.
Nibs. The handles of a scythe (A.). N.W.
Niche. See Knitch.
Nightcaps. (i) Convolvulus sepium, L., Great Bindweed.
N. & S.W. (2) Aquilegia vulgaris, L., the garden Colum-
bine. N.W. (Devizes, Huish, &c.)
Night-fall, n. A disease in horses. A humour in the fetlock
joint, recurring until it produces incurable lameness. S.W.
' Witness . . . told him his animal was very lame, and asked what
was the matter with it. He replied, " Nothing, it is only * night-
fall,' and it comes on several times during the year." ' Wilts County
Mirror, Oct. 27, 1893.
Nightingale. Stellaria Holostea, L., Greater Stitchwort.
S.W. (Hants bord.)
51 Night Violet. Habenaria chlorantha, Bab., Greater Butterfly
Orchis (Sarum Dioc. Gazette). N.W. (Lyneham.)
Nine-holes. A game played by children. N.W.
'This is mentioned among the "illegal games" in the Castle Combe
records.' Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. iii. p. 156.
' 1576. Lusum iUicitum vocatum nyne holes.' SCROPE'S History of Castle
Combe.
Nineter. (i) ; A nineter young rascal,' a regular scamp.
Not perverted from anoint (as if it meant set apart to evil
courses and an evil end), but from Fr. anoiente, aneanti,
brought to nothing, worthless (Folk-Etymology, p. 9).
N.W. (Seend.) "(2) A skinflint (S.).
Ninny-hammer. A fool, a silly person. N.W.
'Nint. See Anoint.
'Ninting (i long). A beating. See Anoint. N.W.
Nipper. A small boy (S.). N. & S.W.
Nippers. The same as Grab-hook. N.W. (Huish.)
Nippy. Stingy (S.).-N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8736) (tudalen 111)
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Nistn't Nurly ill
Nistn't. Need not. N.W.
'Thee nistn't hoopy at I I can hyar as well as thee.' Greene Ferne
Farm, ch. iii.
Nit, Neet. Nor yet. Wrongly defined by Akerman, Slow,
and others as not yet. 1 1 han't got no money nit no vittles.'
N. & S.W.
Nitch. See Knitch.
Nog. A rough block or small log of wood. N.W.
Nog-head. A blockhead (S.). Nug-head in W. Somerset.
S.W.
Nolens volens. Used in N. Wilts in various corrupted forms,
as ' I be gwain, nolus-bolus,' in any case; ' vorus-norus, '
rough, blustering ; and * snorus-vorus, ' vehemently.
Noodle along. To lounge aimlessly along, to move drowsily
and heavily, as a very spiritless horse. N.W.
*Noon-naw. A stupid fellow, a ' know-naught ' (G-reat Estate,
ch. iv).
Nor, Nur. Than ; as < better nur that ' (B.). N. & S.W.
Not-cow. A cow without horns (A.). A.S. knot, clipped,
shorn. N. & S.W.
Noust. See Aneoust.
Nummet. The ' noon-meat ' or noon-day meal (A.). Nammet
in S. Wilts. N. & S.W.
Numpinole. The Pimpernel. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Nuncheon, Nunehin. The noon-meal (A.S.). Nunch (Wilts
Tales, p. 117). N.W.
Nunchin-bag. The little bag in which ploughmen carry their
meals (A.). N.W.
Nunny-fudging. Nonsense. 'That's all nunny-fudgen. '--
N.W., now nearly obsolete.
Nunny-fudgy. ' A nunny-fudgy chap,' a poor sort of a fellow
with no go in him : now used only by old people. N.W.
Nur. See Nor.
*Nurk. The worst pig of a litter. See Binnick. N.W.
Nurly. Of soil : lying in lumps. - S.W. (Bratton.)
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(delwedd B8737) (tudalen 112)
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112 Nut Old Sow
Nut. The nave of a wheel (S.). S.W.
Nyst, Niest. Often used in Mid Wilts in same way as neust,
as * I be nyst done up,' i.e. over tired.
Nythe. A brood, as ' a nythe o' pheasants ' ; always used by
gamekeepers. N.W. Apparently a form of Fr. nid, a nest.
In the New Forest they say 'an eye of pheasants.' See
Cope's Hampshire Glossary (s. v. Nye).
Oak-tree loam or clay. The Kimmeridge Clay (Britton's
Beauties, 1825, vol. iii., also Davis's Agric. of Wilts,
p. 113, &c.).
Oat-hulls (pronounced Wut-hulls). Oat chaff and refuse. S.W.
Oaves. (i) Oat chaff. N. & S.W. (Huish, &c.) (2) The
eaves of a house (S.). S.W.
'A good old form. Mid. Eng. ovese (Old Eng. Miscell, E. E. T. S.
p. 15, 1. 465), = 0. H. Germ, opasa (Vocab. of S. Gaff)' SMYTHE- PALMER.
Odds. (i) v. To alter, change, set right. 'I'll soon odds
that' (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 112). N.W.
(2) n. Difference. ' That don't make no odds to I. ' ' What 's
the odds to thee ? ' what does it matter to you ? N.W.
Oddses. Odds and ends.
Oddy. (i) See Huddy. (2) Strong, vigorous, in hearty
health. N.W.
Of. With. < You just come along o' I ! ' N. & S.W.
Offer. 'To offer to do a thing,' to make as though you were
going to do it, or to begin to do it. * He offered to hit I, '
i. e. did not say he would, but just put up his fists and let
out.- N.W.
Old man. (i) Artemisia Abrotanum, L., Southernwood.
N. & S.W. (2) Anagallis arvensis, L.. Scarlet Pimpernel.
S.W.
Old man's beard. (i) Clematis Vitalba, L., Traveller's Joy,
when in fruit. N. & S.W. (2) The mossy galls on the
dog-rose. N. & S.W.
Old Sow. Melilotus coerulea, L., from its peculiar odour
(Science G-ossip, Nov. 1868). N. & S.W., rarely.
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(delwedd B8738) (tudalen 113)
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Old woman's bonnet Over-right 113
*Old woman's bonnet. Geum rivale, Water Avens. S.W.
(Mere.)
*Old woman's pincushion. Orchis maculata, L., Spotted Orchis.
S.W.
Ollit. See Elet.
On. (i) =in, prep., as ' I run agen un on th' street ' (A.).
N. & S.W. (2) =in, prefix, as ondacent.'N. & S.W.
(3) =im, prefix, as onpossiUe (A.B.). N. & S.W. (4) =un,
prefix, as ongairily (B.). Onlight, to alight. N. & S.W.
(5) =of, as 'I never did thenk much on 'en.' N. & S.W.
(6) =&/, as ' He come on a mistake.' N. & S.W.
Once. (i) Some time or other (M.). 'Once before ten
o'clock,' some time or other before ten. N. & S.W.
'Send it once this morning, dooke.' Monthly Mag. 1814.
(2) 'I don't once (=for one moment) think as you'll catch
un.' N. & S.W.
Oo. Such words as hood, wood, want, a mole, wonder, &c., are
usually pronounced in N. Wilts as 'ood, 'oont, 'oonder.
*Qrgany. (i) Mentha Pulegium, L., Pennyroyal (A.B.).
(2) Origanum vulgare, L., Marjoram (English Plant Names).
Otherguise. Otherwise. N.W.
Out-axed. Of a couple, having had their banns fully asked,
or called for the last time (Wilts Tales, p. 100). The banns
are then out, and the couple out-axed. N.W.
Oven-cake. Half a loaf, baked at the oven's mouth. N.W.
Oven-lug. The pole used as a poker in an oven. See Lug (2).
N.W.
*Over-get. To overtake, to catch up. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
*Overlayer. See quotation.
' The waggons . . . seldom have any overlayers or out-riggers, either
at the ends or sides/ Agric. of Wilts, ch. xxxviii.
Overlook. To bewitch. Rare in Wilts, common in Dev. and
Som. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Over-right, Vorright. Opposite to. N.W.
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(delwedd B8739) (tudalen 114)
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114 Owl about Parters
Owl about. To moon about out of doors in the dark. N.W.
Owling. The same as Griggling, q.v. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Compare:
' Howlers. Boys who in former times went round wassailing the
orchards.' PAKISH, Sussex Glossary.
'The wenches with their wassail bowls
About the streets are singing ;
The boys are come to catch the owls.' G. WITHER.
* Owl-catchers. Gloves of stout leather (Amateur Poacher,
ch. xi).
Pack-rag Day. October 1 1, Old Michaelmas Day, when people
change house. Also used in Suffolk. N.W.
*Paint-brushes. Eleocharis palustris, Br. S.W. (Charlton
All Saints.)
Palm-tree. The Willow. Palms. Its catkins. S.W.
Pamper. To mess about, to spoil a thing. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard. )
Pancherd. See Panshard.
Pank. To pant (S.).- N. & S.W.
Panshard, Ponshard, Pancherd. (i) A potshard : a broken
bit of crockery (A.B.S.). N.W. (2) ' In a panshard,' out
of temper, in a rage. S.W. Also used in the New Forest.
Pantony. A cottager's pantry (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii.
p. ii 2\ Compare Entony, an entiy : Berks. There are
many slight variants, as Panterny. N. & S.W.
Paper Beech. Betula alba, L. N.W.
*Parasol. Sanguisorba officinalis, L., Salad Burnet. S.W.
(Little Langford.)
Parson. In carting dung about the fields, the heaps are shot
down in lines, and are all of much the same size. Sometimes,
however, the cart tips up a little too much, with the result
that the whole cartload is shot out into a large heap. This
is known as a ' Parson.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Parters. Pieces of wood in a waggon which join the dripple
to the bed. See Waggon. N.W.
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(delwedd B8740) (tudalen 115)
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Passover Pelt 115
Passover. ' A bit of a passover,' a mere passing shower.
S.W. (Som. bord.)
Payze. To raise with a lever (B.). Norman French peiser, cp.
Fr. poiser.TX. & S.W.
Peace-and-Plenty. A kind of small double white garden
Saxifrage. S.W.
Peakid, Peaky, Picked, Picky. Wan or sickly-looking.
N. & S.W.
Pearl-blind. See Purley.
Peart. (i) Impertinent (A.S.). N. & S.W. (2) In good
health. 'How be 'ee?' 'Aw, pretty peart, thank'ee.'
N. & S.W. (3) Clever, quick, intelligent. S.W.
(4) Stinging, sharp, as a blister. S.W. (5) Lively.
' Her 's as peart as ar' a bird, that 's what her is ! ' N. W.
Peck. (i) n. A pickaxe. N. & S.W. (2) v. To use
a pickaxe. N. & S.W. (3) v. Of a horse, to trip or
stumble : also Peck-down. N.W.
'Captain Middleton's horse "pecked" it is presumed through
putting its foot in a hole and threw the rider.' Daily Telegraph,
April n, 1892.
*Pecker. n. The nose (S.).- S.W.
Pecky. Inclined to stumble. 'Th'old hoss goes terr'ble
pecky.' N.W.
Peel. (i) A lace-making pillow (A.B.). A little 'Peel
lace' is still made about Malmesbury. A.S. pile. N.W.
(2) The pillow over the axle of a waggon (D.). See Waggon.
N.W. (3) The pole, with a flat board at end, for
putting bread into the oven. N.W.
Peggies. See Pig-all.
Pelt. Kage, passion (A. S.). 'A come in, in such a pelt.'
N. & S.W. The word occurs in this sense in some old plays.
Herrick alludes in Oberon's Palace to ' the stings of peltish
wasps,' and Topsell uses 'pelting ' for angry or passionate.
* You zims 'mazin afeert to zee your gran'fer in a pelt ! 'Ten't often
as I loses my temper, but I've a-lost 'un now.' Dark, oh. xii.
I 2
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(delwedd B8741) (tudalen 116)
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116 Penny moucher Pig-all
Penny (or Perry) moucher. A corruption of Berry-
moucher, q.v.
Perkins. The same as Ciderkin. N.W.
Perk up. To get better, to brighten up. S.W.
*Perseen. v. To pretend to (S.). S.W.
' There 's Jack White a comin' ; I wun't perseen ta know un.'
Mr. Slow.
Peter grievous. (i) n. A dismal person, or one who looks
much aggrieved. Pity grievous at Clyffe Pypard, and Peter
grievous at Salisbury. N. & S.W.
1 1 '11 tell you summat as '11 make 'ee look a pater grievous ! 'Dark,
ch. xv.
(2) adj. Dismal-looking. * He be a peter-grievious-looking
sort of a chap.' S.W.
*Peter-man. See Jackson's Aubrey, p. n. Obsolete.
* At Kington Langley . . . the revel of the village was kept on the
Sunday following St. Peter's Day (apth June\ on which occasions a
temporary officer called "the Peter-man " used to be appointed,
bearing
the office, it maybe presumed, of master of the sports.' Wilts Arch.
Mag. vol. xxiv. p. 83.
Peth. The crumb of bread. N.W.
Pethy. Crumby, as 'a pethy loaf.' N.W.
Pick. (i) A haymaking fork (A.B.D.\ a stable-fork (D.).
PttJ&=pitch, as in pitch-fork (Skeat). N. & S.W. (2) The
fruit of the sloe.
Picked (two syll.). (i) Sharp-pointed. Piggid on Som.
bord. ' Thuck there prong yun't picked enough.' N. & S.W.
(2) Looking ill (S.). With features sharpened by ill-health.
See Peakid. N. & S.W.
Pickpocket. Capsella Bursa-pastoris, L., Shepherd's Purse.
N. & S.W. (Enford, Mere, &c.)
Picky. See Peakid.
*Pie-curr. Fuligula cristata, Tufted Duck (Birds of Wilts,
p. 190). S.W.
Pig-all, Pig-haw. Fruit of the hawthorn (A.). Peggies
(Jefferies, Marlborougli Forest, &c.) N.W.
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(delwedd B8742) (tudalen 117)
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Pig-berry Pins 117
Pig-berry. Fruit of the hawthorn (S.). N. &-S.W.
Pigeon-pair. When a woman has only two children, a boy
and a girl, they are called a 'pigeon pair.' N. & S.W.
' So in N. Eng. " a dow's cleckin " (a dove's clutch) is used for
two
children/ SMYTHE-PALMER.
Piggid. See Picked ( i ).
Pig-haw. See Pig-all.
Pig-meat. The flesh of the pig in Wilts is, if fresh, l pig-
meat.' It is never 'pork' unless the animal is specially
killed as a ' little porker. '
*Pig-muddle. Disorder, mess. N.W.
Pig-nut. (i) Bunium jflexuosum, With., The Earth-nut.
N. & S.W. (2) The very similar root of Carum Bulbo-
castanum, Koch., Tuberous Caraway. N.W., occasionally.
Pig-potatoes. Small potatoes, usually boiled up for the pigs.
N. & S.W.
Pigs. (i) See Boats. S.W. (Hants bord.) (2) Woodlice.
N. & S.W. Also Guinea-pigs and Butchers' Guinea-pige.
Pig-weed. SympJiytum officinale, L., Comfrey. N.W. (Enford.)
Pillars. See Waggon.
Pimrose. A primrose. Also used in Hants. N. & S.W.
Pin-bone. The hip bone ; sometimes the hip itself. N.W.
Pincushion. (i) Antliyllis vulneraria, L., Kidney Vetch.
S.W. (Barford.) (2) Scabiosa arvensis, L., Field Scabious.
-S.W. (Charlton.)
Pinner. A servant's or milker's apron ; a child's pinafore
being generally called Pinney. N. & S.W.
'Next morn I missed three hens and an old cock,
And off the hedge two pinners and a smock.'
GAY, The Shepherd's Week.
Pinny-land. Arable land where the chalk comes close to the
<surface, as opposed to the deeper clay land. N. W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
Pins. The hips. A cow with hips above its back is said to
be 'high in the pins.' N.W.
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(delwedd B8743) (tudalen 118)
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Pip Pitched market
Pip. The bud of a flower (B.). N.W.
*Pish! or Pishty! A call to a dog (A.). In co. Clare,
Ireland, this is the order to a horse to stop.
Pissabed. Leontodon Taraxacum, L., Dandelion, from its
diuretic effects. N. & S.W.
*Pissing-candle. The least candle in the pound, put in to
make up the weight (Kennett's Paroch. Antiq.). Cp. Norman
French peiser, to weigh. Obsolete.
Pit. (i) n. A pond. N.W. (2) n. The mound in which
potatoes or mangolds are stored (Agric. of Wilts, ch. vii).
N. & S.W. (3) v. ' To pit potatoes,' to throw them up in
heaps or ridges, in field or garden, well covered over with
straw and beaten earth, for keeping through the winter.
N. & S.W.
Pitch. (i) n. A steep place. N.W. (2) n. 'A pitch of
work,' as much of the water-meadows as the water supply
will cover well at one time (Agric. of Wilts, ch. xii). S.W.
(3) n. The quantity of hay, &c., taken up by the fork each
time in pitching (Gamekeeper at Home, ch. iv). N. & S.W.
(4) v. To load up wheat, &c., pitching the sheaves with
a fork (S.). N. & S.W. (5) v. To fix hurdles, &c., in
place (Berts, ch. xxiii). N. & S.W. (6) v. To settle
down closely.
' Give the meadows a thorough good soaking at first ... to make
the land sink and pitch closely together.' Agric. of Wilts, ch. xii.
(7) v. To lose flesh, waste away. Still in use in N. Wilts.
'The lambs " pitch and get stunted," and the best summer food
will not recover them.' Agric. of Wilts, ch. xii.
(8) v. To set out goods for sale in market. 'There wur
a main lot o' cheese pitched s'marnin'.' N. & S.W.
(9) v. To pave with Pitchin, q. v. N.W. (10) v. Of
ground, to have an uneven surface. * The ground this
end o' the Leaze pitches uncommon bad.' S.W. (Hants
bord.)
Pitched market. A market where the corn is exposed for
sale, not sold by sample (D.). N.W.
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(delwedd B8744) (tudalen 119)
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Pitchin Plim 119
Pit chin. n. Paving is done with large flat stones, ' pitching '
with small uneven ones set on edge (A.S.). N. & S.W.
Pitching-bar. The iron bar used in pitching hurdles (Amateur
Poacher, ch. ii). N. & S.W.
Pitch-poll. When rooks are flying round and round, playing
and tumbling head over heels in the air (a sign of rain), they
are said to be 'playing pitch-poll.' N.W.
Pitch-up. A short rest, as when a cart is going up a steep
hill. N.W.
Pit-hole. The grave (S.). Used by children. N. & S.W.
1 They lies, the two on 'em, the fourth and fifth i' the second row,
for I dug pit-holes for 'em.' The Story of Dick, ch. vi. p. 66.
*Pixy. A kind of fairy. This is a Dev. and Som. word, but
is said to be in use about Malmesbury.
Plain. Straightforward, unaifected, as 'a plain 'ooman.'
N. & S.W.
Plan. * In a poor plan/ unwell, in a poor way, &c. N.W.
(Seend.)
* Plank-stone. A flag-stone.
'This soyle (at Easton Piers) brings very good oakes and witch
hazles ; excellent planke stones/ JACKSON'S Aubrey, p. 236.
' At Bowdon Parke, Ano 1666, the diggers found the bones of a man
under a quarrie of planke stones/ AUBREY'S Nat. Hist, of Wilts, p. 71,
ed. Brit.
* Plash, Pleach. To cut the upper branches of a hedge half
through, and then bend and intertwine them with those left
upright below, so as to make a strong low fence (A.). Also
Splash. N. & S.W.
Plat. The plateau or plain of the downs. S.W.
Pleach. See Plash.
Pleachers. Live boughs woven into a hedge in laying. -
S.W.
Plim. (i) v. To swell out (A.B.S.), as peas or wood when
soaked in water. N. & S.W. (2) v. Many years ago,
near Wootton Bassett, old Captain Goddard spoke to
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(delwedd B8745) (tudalen 120)
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120 Flocks Plurals
a farmer about a dangerous bull, which had just attacked
a young man. The farmer's reply was : ' If a hadn't
a bin a plimmin* an' vertin' wi' his stick so fashion (i.e.
flourishing his stick about in the bull's face), the bull
wouldn't ha' run at un.' No further explanation of these
two words appears to be forthcoming at present.
Flocks. Large wood, or roots and stumps, sawn up into
short lengths, and cleft for firewood (S.). Plock-wood (D.).
N. & S.W.
Plough. A waggon and horses, or cart and horses together,
make a plough (D.). See Kennett's Paroch. Antiq. N.W.
' The team of oxen that drew the plough came to be called the
plough, and in some parts of South Wilts they still call even a waggon
and horses a plough. This is needful for you to know, in case your
man should some day tell you that the plough is gone for coal' Wilts.
Arch. Mag. vol. xvii. p. 303.
1690. Paid William Winckworth for Worke downe with his Plough
to the causway." Records of Chippenham, p. 237.
' 1709. Paid for 41 days worke with a ploughe carrying stones to
the Causey.' Ibid. p. 239.
(2) For the various parts of the old wooden plough see as
follows :
' I should like to hear a Wiltshire boy who had been three years at
plough or sheep fold, cross-examine one of Her Majesty's Inspectors
of Schools, and ask him, in the article of a plough, to be so good as to
explain the difference between the vore-shoot and back-shoot, the
ground rest, the bread board, the drail, the wing and point, and the
whippence.' Wilts. Arch. Mag. vol. xvii. p. 303.
* Ploughman. A waggoner or carter. N.W., obsolete.
' 1690. Paid for beere for the plowmen and pitchers.' Records of
Chippenham, p. 237.
* Ploughman's- weatherglass. Anagattis arvensis, L., Scarlet
Pimpernel. S.W. (Barford.)
Plurals. (i) The old termination in en is still much used,
as Housen, Hi/psen, &c. See En (i). (2) Plurals in es
are very commonly used, as beastes, ghostes, nestes, posies,
gutses. Very often a reduplication takes place, as beastises,
&c. N. & S.W. (3) Plurals are used some-
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(delwedd B8746) (tudalen 121)
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Poach Pook 121
times instead of singulars. Examples : ' Nows and thens,'
'You'll find un a little ways furder on,' &c.
' These are rather an adverbial use of the genitive, like always, now-
a-days, needs, whiles, etc.' SMYTHE-PALMER.
(4) Plant-names are almost invariably used in the plural,
even where only a single blossom is referred to, as ' What
is that flower in your hand, Polly ? ' ' That 's Robins,
ma'am' (or Cuckoos, Poppies, Night-caps, &c., as the case may
be). N. & S.W.
Poach. (i) Of cattle, to trample soft ground into slush
and holes. N. & S.W. (2) Of ground, to become
swampy from much trampling (Wild Life, ch. xx). N. &
S.W.
* Podge. Anything very thick and sticky. Cf. Stodge.
*Pog. *(i) To thrust with the foot. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
*(2) To set beans. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Poison-berry. (i) Fruit of Arum maculatum, L., Cuckoo-
pint. N.W. (2) Fruit of Tamus communis, L., Black
Bryony. N.W.
Poison-root. Arum maculatum, L., Cuckoo-pint. N.W.
Pole-ring. The ring which fastens the scythe-blade to the
snead (A.). N.W.
Polly. A pollard tree. S.W. A Wiltshire man, on being
told by the hospital surgeon that his arms would have to be
amputated, exclaimed, 'Be I to be shrowded like a owld
polly? 5
Polt, Powlt. A blow (B.). A blow with a stick (A.). In
Glouc. apples, walnuts, &c., are beaten down with a
' polting-lug, ' or long pole. N.W.
Ponshard. See Panshard.
Pooch out. (i) To project or stick out. N.W. (2) To
cause to project. N.W. (3) 'To pooch out the lips,'
to pout. N.W.
Pook. (i) n. A small cock of hay, &c. (S.). N. & S.W.
(2) v. To put up in pooks (D.). N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8747) (tudalen 122)
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122 Pooker Pounceful
Pooker. A woman employed in pooking. S.W.
Pookers'-tea. The yearly treat given to the pookers. S.W.
Pooking-fork. The large prong, with a cross handle, for
pushing along in front of the pookers, to make up the hay
into pooks. S.W.
Pop-hole. A rabbit-hole running right through a bank, as
opposed to Blind-hole (Gamekeeper at Home, ch. vi). Any
hole through a hedge, wall, &c. N.W.
Popple-stone. A pebble (S.). A.S. papol. S.W.
Poppy, or Poppies. (i) Digitalis purpurea, L., Foxglove,
so called because children inflate and * pop ' the blossoms.
Papaver is only known as ' Kedweed ' by children about
Salisbury. S.W. (2) Sileneinflata, L., Bladder Campion/
also ' popped' by children. S.W. (Salisbury.) "(3) Stellaria
Holostea, L., Greater Stitchwort (Sarum Diocesan Gazette).
N. & S.W. (Lyneham and Farley.)
Posy. The garden Peony, from its size.
Pot, or Put. (The latter is the usual S. Wilts form.) *(i) A
tub or barrel (D.). Obsolete. (2) A two-wheeled cart,
made to tilt up and shoot its load (D.). N. & S.W. Manure
used formerly to be carried out to the fields in a pair of pots
slung across a horse's back. When wheels came into general
use the term was transferred to the cart used for the same
purpose (D.). See Dung-pot.
Pot-dung. Farmyard manure (Agric. of Wilts, ch. vii). N.W.
Pots-and- Kettles. Fruit of Buxus sempervirens, L., Box.
S.W. (Barford St. Martin, Deverill, &c.)
* Pot- walloper. A ' pot-waller,' or person possessing a house
with a * pot-wall,' or kitchen fireplace for cooking. All such
persons formerly had votes for the borough of Wootton
Bassett. See Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxiii. p. 172.
Poult. (i) 'A turkey poult,' a young turkey. N. & S.W.
(2) < A perfect poult,' an awkward girl. S.W. (Warminster. )
Pounceful. Masterful, self-willed. Cf. Bounceful. 'He
preached pouncefully,' i.e. powerfully, forcibly. S.W.
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(delwedd B8748) (tudalen 123)
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Powder-monkey Pronged 123
Powder-monkey. (i) Damp gunpowder, moulded into a
1 devil,' or cake which will smoulder slowly, used by boys
for stupefying a wasp's nest. (2) Ash leaves with an even
number of leaflets, worn by boys on the afternoon of May 29.
See Shitsack Day.
Power. i A power o' volk, ' a number of people. A quantity
of anything. N. & S.W.
'A's got a power of plaguy long spikes all auver's body.' Wilts
Tales, p. 1 1 8.
Powlts. (i) Peas and beans grown together. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.) (2) See Poult and Polt.
*Poyn. To pen sheep (D.).
Prawch. To stalk, to swagger. * I see un come a prawchin'
along up the coort.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Preterites. A few specimens may be given, as craup, or crope,
crept ; drowd, threw ; flod, flew ; fot, vot, or vaught, fetched ;
hod, hid ; hut, hit ; lod, led ; obloge, obliged ; raught,
reached ; scrope, scraped ; slod, slid ; woe, awoke ; seed,
seen, saw.
Pretty-money. Coins, such as old George-and-dragon crowns,
or new Jubilee pieces, given to a child to keep as curiosities,
not to be spent. N.W.
Pride. (i) The ovary of a sow. N.W. "(2) The mud
lamprey (H. ).
' Petromyzon branchialis. L., . . . in the southern part of England is
locally known as the Pride.' SEELEY, Fresh-ivater Fishes of Europe,
p. 427.
1 Lumbrici . . . are lyke to lampurnes, but they be muche lesse,
and somewhat yeolowe, and are called in Wilshyre prides.' Elyotes
Didionarie, 1559, quoted by Hal.
Primrose soldiers. Aquilegia vulgaris, L., Garden Columbine.
N.W. (Huish.)
*Prin it. Take it (A.H.Wr.). N.W.
Privet, Bri vet. 'To privet about, 'pry into things. 'To privet
out,' to ferret out anything. See Brevet.
Pronged. A scythe-blade with a small flaw in the edge which
may develop into a serious crack is said to be * pronged. '
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
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(delwedd B8749) (tudalen 124)
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124 Pronouns
Pronouns. I, he, and she do duty as accusatives, as ' He towld
I, but I bean't a-goin' to do nothen for he.' Her and us
are nominatives, as * Her be a girt vule, that her be ' ; 'Us
be at coal-cart s'marnin.' Thee is used for both thou and thy,
as ' What 's thee name ? ' 'What 's thee'se want to knaw vor ? '
' Never thee mind. ' Hyn, or more commonly un, = him, or it,
as ' I seed un a-doing on 't ' ; ' poor zowl on hyn ! ' This is
the old hime, the accusative of he. A=he, as * How a hackers
an bivers ! ' Thac, Thuck, or Thuck there = that. Themmin
= those. Thic, Thissum, Thease, Thic here, &c. =this.
Theesum, or Theesum here = these. Occasionally Theesen
in S. Wilts. Thick and Thuck require some explanation.
Thuck always=that, but is mainly a N. Wilts form, its
place in S. Wilts being usually taken by Thick. Thic or
Thick often =this in N. Wilts, but far more frequently =that,
in fact, the latter may probably now be taken as its normal
meaning, although it would appear to have been otherwise
formerly. In Cunnington MS., for instance, it is stated that
* The old terms thic and thoc almost constantly exclude the
expressions This and That, ' and similar statements are found
in other authorities. In Thick here and Thick there the
use of the adverb defines the meaning more precisely. As
regards the neighbouring counties, it may be said that in
Som. and Dors. tiaick=that ; while in N. Hants it never
does so (see Cope's Glossary], always there meaning this. It
should be noted that the tli is usually sounded dth, much as
in Anglo-Saxon. His'n=his; Hern, or occasionally Shis'n,
= hers ; Ourn = ours ; Theirn = theirs : Yourn = yours ;
Whosen= whose, as ' Whosen's hat 's thuck thur ? ' Mun=
them, is occasionally, but not often, used. Arra, Arra one,
Arn, &c. =any. Negatives, Narra, Narra one, Warn, &c.
'Hev'ee got arra pipe, Bill?' 'No, I han't got narn.' In
the Pewsey Vale Ma is occasionally used for I, in such
phrases as 1 1 '11 go we 'ee, shall ma ? ' or ' I don't stand so
high as he, do ma ? ' About Malmesbury (and elsewhere in
N. Wilts) the following forms may be noted : Wither,
other ; Theasamy, these ; Themmy, those ; Totherm or
Tothermy, the other.
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(delwedd B8750) (tudalen 125)
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Proof Pummy 125
Proof, n. Of manure, hay, &c., the strength or goodness.
1 The rain hev waished aal the proof out o' my hay. ' ' That
there muckle bain't done yet ; the proof yun't gone out on't.'
N. & S.W. A thriving tree is said to be in ' good proof.'
Proofey. Stimulating, fattening. N.W.
'The Monkton pastures used to be of good note in Smithfield, from
the very feel of the beasts. There are no more "proofey" fatting
grounds in Wilts.' Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. vi. p. 29.
Proof maggot. The larva of the gadfly, which causes warbles
in cattle. -N.W.
Proper. 'Her's a proper beauty,' is extremely handsome.
'He 's a proper fool,' an utter idiot. N.W.
Proud. When wheat is too rank and forward in winter, it is
said to be * winter-proud ' (D.). N.W.
Pucker. Perplexity, dilemma (S.V ' I be in a main pucker
'bout what to do wi' they taters.' N. & S.W.
Pucksey. (i) A quagmire. ' The roads wer aal in a pucksey, '
i. e. very muddy. 'Out of the mucksey (=mixen) into the
pucksey,' from bad to worse. S.W. (2) Hence, a mess
or muddle. ' What a pucksey the house be in ! ' i. e. a dirty
untidy state. S.W.
Pud. The hand ; a nursery word. N. & S.W.
*Pud-beggar, Pudbaiger. The Water Spider (S.). S.W.
' A very interesting word. M.E. padde, a toad, paddock, Dev. and East
Anglia. M.E. pode, tadpole, Icelandic padda, used of any beetles or
insects that inhabit stagnant water.' SMYTHE-PALMER.
Puddle or Piddle about. To potter about, doing little jobs
of no great utility. N. & S.W.
*Pue. The udder of a cow or sheep (A.). Fr. pis, Lat.
pectus.
Pug. (i) n. The pulp of apples which have been pressed for
cider. N.W. "(2) v. To eat (H.Wr.) *( 3 ) To ear,
plough, till (Wr.).
Pummy. n. A soft mass. ' To beat all to a pummy ' ; from
pomace, the apple-pulp in cider-making. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8751) (tudalen 126)
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126 Purdle Quanked
Purdle. To turn head over heels in a fall. N.W.
Pure. In good health. 'Quite purely,' quite well (A.).
N. & S.W.
Purler. A knock-down blow, a heavy fall. N.W.
'One of them beggars had come up behind, and swung his gun
round, and fetched him a purler on the back of his head.' Gamekeeper
at Home, ch. ix.
Purley. Weak-sighted ( A. H.Wr.). Pearl blind is sometimes
similarly used.
Pussy-cats, Pussies, and Pussies'-tails. Catkins of willow
and hazel, more commonly of willow only (S.). N. & S.W.
Pussyvan. See Puzzivent.
Pussy-willow. Salix. S. W.
Put. See Pot (S.).
Put about. To vex, to worry. ' Now dwoan't 'ee go an' put
yourself about wiV N.W.
Puzzivent. A flurry or taking. ' He put I in such a puzzi-
vent.' Formerly used in both N. and S. Wilts, but now
almost obsolete. Fr. poursuivant. According to a note in
The Astonishing History of Troy Town, by ' Q,' ch. xvii, the
phrase originated from the contempt with which the West-
country sea-captains treated the poursuivants sent down by
Edward IV to threaten his displeasure. Hence pussivanting,
ineffective bustle, Dev. and Corn. N. & S.W. Pussyvan
(S.). S.W.
Puzzle-pound. The game of Madell, q.v. S.W. (Longbridge
Deverill, &c.)
*Pwine-end. The whole gable-end of a house, which runs up
to a sharp point orpwine. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Quakers. Brisa media, L., Quaking-grass. N. & S.W.
Quamp. Still, quiet (A. E.G.). N.W.
*Quamped, Quomped. Subdued, disappointed. See Quamp.
-N.W. (Malmesbury.)
51 Quanked. Overpowered by fatigue (A.). Compare Cank.
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(delwedd B8752) (tudalen 127)
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Quar Quiddle 127
Quar, Quarr. (i) n. A stone-quarry (A.B.G.S.). N. & S.W.
(2) v. To work as a quarryman (A.B.). N. & S.W.
Quar-Martin. Hirundo riparia, Sand-Martin, from its breeding
in holes drilled in the face of sandy quarries (Wild Lift,
ch. ix). N.W.
Quat, Qwot, or Qwatty. (i) To crouch down (sometimes,
but not always, remaining quite still), as a scared partridge
(Amateur Poacher, ch. iii). To squat (A.); to sit (S.).
N. & S.W. (2) To flatten, to squash flat. N.W.
*Quavin-gog or Quaving-gog. A quagmire (A.B.H.Wr.).
See Gog. N.W.
' In the valley below the hill on which Swindon is built, are some
quagmires, called by the inhabitants quaving-gogs, which are con-
sidered of great depth, and are consequently shunned as places of
danger.' Beauties of Wilts, vol. iii. p. 8.
* Quean. A woman. N.W. (Castle Eaton.)
' The Saxon word quean, woman, is still used without any objection-
able meaning, but its use is rare.' Leisure Hour, Aug. 1893.
' When a man says of his wife that " th' old quean " did so and so,
he means no disrespect to her, any more than if he were speaking of
his child as " the little wench." ' Miss E. BOYER-BROWN.
Queed, Quid. (i) n. The cud. 'To chamme the queed'
is given as a Wiltshire phrase in MS. Lansd. 1033 (H.).
N.W. *(2) Quid. v. To suck (A.). N.W.
Queen's-cushion. A seat for a little girl, made by two persons
crossing hands, and so carrying her between them. When
a boy is so carried the term used is King's-cushion. N.
&S.W.
Quest, Quist. The Woodpigeon, Columba palumbus (A.B.) ;
Quisty. 'Thee bist a queer quist,' i.e. a strange sort of
fellow. N. & S.W.
' The Wiltshire labourers invariably call it ... the " Quisty." '
Birds
of Wilts, p. 318.
Quid. See Queed.
Quiddle. (i) n. A fussy person ; one hard to satisfy in
trifling matters of diet, &c. S.W. (2) n. To make a fuss
over trifles (S.). S.W.
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(delwedd B8753) (tudalen 128)
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128 Quiet Neighbours Quop
* Quiet Neighbours. Centrantlms ruber, DC., Red Spur Valerian.
S.W. (Longbridge Deverill.)
Quiff. A knack, a trick. ' Ther 's a quiff about thuck old gate-
latch. 'N.W. Compare :
1 Mr. F. J. Kennedy, secretary of the Belfast Angling Association
..." worked a quiff," to use a slang phrase, on a well-known Lagan
poacher." Fishing Gazette, Aug. 20, 1892, p. 154.
*Quile. A heap of hay ready for carrying. Fr. cueiller,
N.W. (Cherhill.)
Quill. The humour, mood, or vein for anything. ' I can work
as well as or a man, when I be in the quill for 't. ' To t Quill
a person ' in the language in use at ^Winchester College is to
please, or humour him. This is very near the Wilts use.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Quilt. (i) v. To swallow (A.B.C.G.). ' The baby wur that
bad, it couldn't quilt nothen.' This is used of swallowing
in the natural way, while glutch is to swallow with difficulty
(C.). N.W. (2) n. A gulp, a mouthful of liquid. 'Have
a quilt on 't ? ' have a drop of it. N.W.
Quinnet. n. (i) A wedge, as the iron wedge fastening the
ring of the scythe nibs in place, or the wooden wedge or
cleat which secures the head of an axe or hammer. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.) (2) See Scythe.
Quirk. To complain (A.B.G.); spelt Quisk by Akerman in
error. To grunt (S.) ; to croak. A frog often quirks, and
a toad sometimes. N. & S.W.
Quiset about. To pry about ( Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 112).
N.W.
Quisk. See Quirk.
Quist, Quisty. See Quest.
Quob. (i) A soft wet place, a piece of marsh or bog. N.W.
Cp. W. of Eng. quob, a bog ; quob-mire, Salop. (2) Hence
' all in a quob,' said of a bad bruise. N.W.
Quomped. See Quamped.
*Quop. To throb (A. B. G. ).
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(delwedd B8754) (tudalen 129)
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R Ramping 129
B. ( i ) In pronunciation r often has d or t affixed or prefixed,
as Cavaltry, horsemen ; Crockerty, crockery ; Millard, miller,
&c. (2) See Har. (3) Transpositions frequently occur,
as cruds, curds ; cruddle, to curdle ; girn, to grin ; girt, great ;
gird'l, a great deal ; him, to run.
Babbit-flower. Dielytm spectaUlis, DC., the flowers of which,
when pulled apart, form two little pink rabbits. S.W.,
occasionally.
Babbits. Blossoms of Snapdragon when pinched oif the
stem. S.W.
*Bace. The heart, liver and lungs of a calf (A.B.).
Back. (i) A rude narrow path, like the track of a small
animal (A.S.). See Gen. Pitt-Kivers' Excavations in
Crariborne Chase, vol. i. ch. i. On Exmoor the wild deer
always cross a wall or hedge at the same spot. The gap thus
formed is called a 'rack.' See Bed Deer, ch. iv. Also in
W. Somerset. S.W. (2) Apparently also sometimes
used in the sense of a boundary. S.W.
Badical. ' A young radical, ' a regular young Turk, a trouble-
some young rascal. Also used in Somerset. N.W.
Bafter. To plough so as to leave a narrow strip of ground
undisturbed, turning up a furrow on to it on each side,
thus producing a succession of narrow ridges (Agric. of Wilts,
ch. vii). See Balk-ploughing. N.W.
Bafty, Basty, Busty. Of bacon, rancid (A.B.S.). N. & S.W.
Bag-mag. A ragged beggar, or woman all in tatters. N. &
S.W.
Bail. To crawl or creep about, to walk slowly (Wilts Arch.
Mag. vol. xxii. p. 112). 'I be that weak I can't hardly
rail about.' N.W.
Bairns, Beams. A mere bag of bones, a very thin person.
' He do look as thin as a raims/-^-N. & S.W.
Baimy. Very thin. N. & S.W.
Bamp. A curve (S.). S.W.
Bamping. Tall, as 'a rampin' gel.' N.W,
K
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(delwedd B8755) (tudalen 130)
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130 Randin Rathe-ripes
*Bandin. Eiotous living. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Bandy. (i) n. A noisy merry-making (S.). N. & S.W.
(Malmesbury, etc.) (2) n. l On the randy/ living in
a riotous or immoral manner. N. & S.W. (3) adj. A
woman who used to be a regular attendant at all the tea-
meetings and other gatherings of the kind in her neighbour-
hood in N. Wilts was usually spoken of as being ' a randy
sort o' a 'ooman ' randy apparently being there applied to
such gatherings.
*Bange. Two drifts or rows of felled underwood (D.).
Bangle. To twine round anything as a climbing plant does.
S.W. (Som. bord.)
Bank, Bonk. (i) Audacious. 'Hands off! Thee bist a bit
too ronk ! ' N.W. (2) Outrageous, as applied to a fraud
or a lie. N.W.
*Bannel. adj. Kavenously hungry. N.W.
' A man comes in rannel vor 's food, and plaguey little dacent vittles
can a get.' Dark, ch. ii.
Bant. (i) v. To tear. N.W.
' She " ranted " the bosom of her print dress.' Field Play.
(2) n. A tear or rent. N.W.
Bantipole. Daucus Carota, L., Wild Carrot (English Plant
Names). N.W.
Bap, Wrap. A thin strip of wood. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Bapid. 'A rapid pain,' 'rapid weather/ i.e. very violent.
Always so used at Clyffe Pypard. So in W. Somerset.
N.W.
' This is a Latin use : cf. Virgil's rapidus aestus (Bucol. ii. 10) and
rapidussol (Georg. ii. 321)= strong, violent/ SMYTHE-PALMER.
Bare. Underdone, but not raw. Beer (A.). Pronounced Eaa.
Bash. To burn in cooking (H.Wr.). Sometimes used of
malt.
Basty. See Bafty.
*Bathe-ripes. (i) An early kind of pea (B.). (2) An early
kind of apple.
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(delwedd B8756) (tudalen 131)
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Rattle-basket Red-Robins 131
*Battle-basket. (i) RMnantJms Crista-galli, L., Yellow
Rattle. S.W. (Zeals.) "(2) Erica cinerea? Heath. Heard
only from one person. S.W. (Deverill.)
Battle-thrush. Turdus viscivorus, the Missel-thrush,
occasionally extended to any veiy large Song-thrush.
Bassel-thrush at Huish. N. & S.W. (Salisbury, &c.)
*Battle-weed. Silene inflata, L., Bladder Campion. N.W.
(Lyneham.)
Bave. The ring of twisted hazel by which hurdles are fastened
to their stakes or shores. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Baves, Beaves. The waggon rails (D.S.). At Clyffe Pypard
applied to the flat woodwork projecting over the wheels
from the side of the forward part of a waggon. N. & S.W.
Bawmouse, Baamouse. The reremouse or bat ; used at
Tormarton, Clyffe Pypard, &c. Bat-mouse is, however, in
more general use. Bye-mouse (A.B.). N.W.
Bawney, Bowney. (i) adj. Thin, poor, and uneven, as
applied to badly manufactured cloth (A. B.C.). N.W.
(2) adj. Of persons, extremely thin. S.W. (Som. bord.),
occasionally.
Bay, or Array, v. To dress and clean corn (D.). N.W.
Bay-sieve, n. A sieve used to get the dust out of horses'
chaff. Bayen-sieve on Dorset bord. N.W.
Beams. See Bairns.
Beap-hook. The ' rip-hook ' is a short-handled hook without
teeth, the blade bent beyond the square of the handle ; used
to cut to the hand a handful at a time (D.). The old
reaping-sickle was toothed or serrated. See Hal. s.v. Hook.
Bed Bobby's eye. Geranium Eobertianum, L., Herb-Robert.
S.W. (Redlynch.)
Bed Fiery Bang-tail. See Bangtail.
Bed Bobin Hood. Lychnis diurna, Sibth., Red Campion.
S.W. (Zeals.)
Bed-Bobins. Lychnis diurna, Sibth., Red Campion. N. & S.W.
K 2
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(delwedd B8757) (tudalen 132)
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1 32 Red- weed Rick-stick
Red-weed. Eed Poppy (D.). The only name for Papavcr
Ehoeas, &c., used about Salisbury and Warminster, Digitalis
being the ' Poppy ' of those parts. One of our oldest plant-
names. N. & S.W.
Heed. Unthreshed and unbroken straw reserved for thatch-
ing (S.). A Somerset and Devon word. 'Reed ' is seldom
used in Wilts, where ordinary threshed straw, made up into
' elms,' is the common material. S.W.
Beer. See Rare.
Reeve. To draw into wrinkles. N.W. (Malmesbury, Clyffe
Pypard, &c.)
Remlet. A remnant. N.W.
Reneeg, Renegue (g always hard). To back out of an engage-
ment, to jilt. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) In Ireland a horse
refusing a fence would be said to renage. See Why te-Melville's
Satanella, ch. i. p. 7 : Lear, ii. 2, &c.
Revel. A pleasure fair ; a parochial festival, a wake (A.B.), as
1 Road Revel.' A village Club Feast (S.). N. & S.W,
There was a revel held at Cley Hill formerly, on Palm
Sunday, and one at Kington Langley on the Sunday follow-
ing St. Peter's Day.
Rhaa. Hungry, ravenous. See Rhan. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard,
rarely.)
Rhan (pronounced ETiaan). To eat voraciously (S.). A form
of raven. Cf. West of Eng. ranish, ravenous. S.W.
*Rhine (pronounced Keen). A water-course. This is a Som.
word. N.W. (Malmesbury.) Mr. Powell mentions a Wilt-
shire poem, which begins :
'There once were a frog that lived in a ditch,
Or 'twere may be a rheen, it don't matter which.'
Rick-barken. A rickyard (A.). See Barken. N.W.
Rick-stick. In thatching, after the ' elms ' are fastened down
with ' spicks ' or ' spars ' the thatch is then lightly combed
over with the ' rick-stick,' a rod with a few teeth at one end
and an iron point at the other by which it can be stuck into
the thatch when not in actual use. S.W. (Warminster.)
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(delwedd B8758) (tudalen 133)
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Riddle Rook Hawk 133
Riddle, (i) n. A coarse sieve (A.B.). Cp. A.S. hridder.
See Rudder. N. & S.W. (a) v. To sift. Hev'ee
riddled they ashes well s'marnin' ? ' N. & S.W.
Ridge-tie. A back chain for shafts. Wridgsty (S.). S.W.
*Riffle. A knife-board on which * callus-stone ' is used (Wilts
Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 113). N.W. (Cherhill.)
Rig. (i) n. A horse which has not been ' clean cut/ i.e. is
only half gelded, owing to one of its stones never having
come down. N.W. (2) v. To climb up upon (S.), or
bestride anything, either in sport or wantonness. < To rig
about ' is commonly used in S. Wilts of children clambering
about on wood-piles, walls, &c. N. & S.W.
Rigget. A woodlouse. S.W. (Heytesbury.)
Ring. i To ring bees, ' to make a noise with poker and shovel
when they swarm. N.W.
Rinnick. The smallest and worst pig of a litter. Sometimes
abbreviated into Nurk. Cf. North of England RannacJc,
a worthless fellow. N.W. (Olyffe Pypard.)
Robin's eyes. Geranium Eobertianum, L., Herb Robert.
S.W.
Rock. The 'fur* or calcareous deposit inside a kettle.
N. & S.W.
Rocket. 'Don your rocket,' put on your bonnet. S.W.
(Downton.) No doubt originally this meant a woman's
dress or cloak (rochet}, as in M.E., but it has long been
transferred to the bonnet. In Devon rochet is still some-
times applied to female dress.
Roke. Smoke. S.W., occasionally.
Rollers (o short), (i) n. The long lines into which hay is
raked before pooking. S.W. (Warminster, &c.) (2) v.
RoUy. To put grass into rollers (Cycl. ofAgric.). S.W.
*Rommelin. Kank, overgrown (A.).
Ronk. See Rank.
*Rook Hawk. Falco subbuteo, the Hobby (Birds of Wilts,
p. 72).
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(delwedd B8759) (tudalen 134)
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134 Ropey Rowey
Ropey, adj. (i) 'Rawpey bread,' a term applied to that
peculiar condition of home-made bread, known only in dry
summer weather, and caused by a kind of second fermenta-
tion, when the inside of the loaf appears full of minute
threads, and has a disagreeable taste. N.W. (2) Also
applied to thick drink (S.). S.W.
Bough. (i) adj. Unwell, as 'He bin terr'ble rough this
fortnight.' N. & S.W.
' There, she was took rough as it might be uv a Monday, and afore
Tuesday sundown she was gone, a-sufferin' awful.' The Story of Dick,
ch. viii. p. 85.
(2) 'To sleep rough,' or 'lay rough,' to sleep about out of
doors like a vagabond. N. & S.W. (3) v. To treat
roughly, to ill-use. ' Thuck there hoss '11 kick 'ee, if so be
as you do rough un.' N.W.
Bough Band. A housset. See Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. i.
p. 88.
Bough-carpenter. The same as Hedge-carpenter. N.W.
Bough. Music. The same as Housset and SJcimmenton. N.
&S.W.
*Bound-tail. v. To clip the dirty locks of wool off the tail
and legs of sheep, previously to shearing. Very commonly
used in many parts of the county. N. & S.W.
*Bound-tailings. The locks so dipt, which are washed and
dried, and usually sold at half-price. N.W.
*Bouse. 'To catch and rouse,' see Catch.
Bowet-grass. The long rough grass in hedges, &c., which
cattle refuse ; rowan or coarse aftergrass. N.W.
Bowetty. Of grass, coarse and rough. N.W.
' Tangled dead ferns and rowetty stuff.' Gamekeeper at Home, ch. ii.
'That "rowetty" grass seen in the damp furrows of the meadows.'
Wild Life, ch. ii.
'Our low meadowes is .... rowtie, foggie, and full of flags.'
HARRISON'S Description of Britain.
Bowey. Rough (C.). See Bowetty.
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(delwedd B8760) (tudalen 135)
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Rowless-thing Rumple 135
*Bowless-thiug. In the Diary of the Parliamentary Committee
at Falstone House, S. Wilts, 1646-7, this curious phrase fre-
quently occurs, apparently meaning waste and unprofitable
land. It is once applied to a living. Several forms of it are
used, as Rowlass-thing, Rowlist-thing, and Rowless-tliing. See
Wilts Arch. Mag., Nov. 1892, pp. 343-391. We have been
unable to trace the word elsewhere, so that it may possibly
be of local origin.
1 George Hascall is become tenant for a Rowlass thing called Dawes-
Frowd, land of Lord Arundell and estated out to Mrs. Morley a recu-
sant . . . John Selwood and Eichard Hickes tenants unto Sir Giles
Mompesson for his farm at Deptford and his Rowless-thing called
Hurdles at Wiley.' Diary, &c.
Sir Fras. Dowse, of Wallop, is said to have been possessed
of 'another thing called the Broyl [Bruellii = woods] of
Collingbourne.' See ' Wiltshire Compounders/ Wilts Arch.
Mag. vol. xxiv. p. 58. In the New Forest a * rough ' is a kind
of enclosure.
1 Philips promised to feed the horse in a " rough " or enclosure .
. .
which was well fenced in, but the bank foundered and the animal got
out.' Salisbury Journal) Aug. 5, 1893.
Bowney. See Bawney.
Rubble. (i) In Wilts usually applied to the hard chalk
used in making roadways through fields (Wild Life, ch. ii),
N. & S.W. (2) Kubbish (A.B.C.S.). N. & S.W.
Bubbly, adj. Of soil, loose from being full of broken bits of
chalk (Agric. Survey).
Bucksey. Muddy, dirty, untidy, as applied to road, weather,
or house. S.W.
Budder. (i) n. A sieve. A.S. hridder. See Riddle. N.W.
(2) v. To sift. N.W.
Budderish. Passionate, hasty (A. E.G.). S.W. (Som. bord.)
Budge, n. The space between two furrows in a ploughed field.
N. & S.W.
Bumple. v. To seduce. The full force of the word can only
be given by futuere, as : * He bin rumplin' that wench o'
Bill's again laas' night.' N.W.
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(delwedd B8761) (tudalen 136)
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136 Rumpled-skein Scat
*Bumpled-skein. Anything in confusion; a disagreement
(A.).
Rumpum-Scrumpum. n. A rude kind of musical instrument,
made of a piece of board, with an old tin tied across it as
a bridge, over which the strings are strained. It is played
like a banjo, or sometimes with a sort of fiddle-bow. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
Busty. See Bafty.
Byemouse. The bat (A.B.). A form of Keremouse. N.W.
Saat. * Saat bread/ soft, sweet puddingy bread, which pulls
apart in ropes or strings, made from 'grown-out' wheat.
Cp. Halliwell (s.v. Sad) : l Sad bread, panis gravis, Coles/
See Zaad-paul.
Sails. The upright rods of a hurdle (D.). Hurdle-zailin',
sing. (Clyffe Pypard). N.W.
Sally- withy. A willow (A.H.Wr.). A curious reduplication,
both parts of the word having the same meaning in Anglo-
Saxon.
Sar. (i) To serve (S.) or feed (Wilts Tales, p. 112). * Sar the
pegs, wull 'ee,' i.e. 'Give them their wash.' N. & S.W.
(2) ' 'T won't sar a minute to do't,' will not take a minute.
N.W.
Saturday's Pepper. Euphorbia Helioscopia, L., Sun-spurge
(English Plant Names)* Saturday-night's-pepper (Village
Miners).
Sauf. As if (S.). 'Looks sauf 'twur gwain to rain.' N. &
S.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Scallot. Quarrymen's term for one of the upper beds of the
Portland series a fine white stone (Britton's Beauties of
Wilts, vol. iii).
Scambling. 'A scambling meal/ one taken in a rough and
hurried way. N.W.
In the Percy Household Book, 1511, " Scamlynge days " is of
constant
occurrence for jours maigres.' SMYTHE-PALMEK.
Scat. v. To whip, beat, smack, slap. S.W., occasionally,
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(delwedd B8762) (tudalen 137)
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Scant Scraamb 137
Scant. (i) v. To strain with the foot in supporting or
pushing (A.) ; as at football, or in drawing a heavy load
uphill ; to stretch the legs out violently. Scote in S. Wilts.
N. & S.W.
' Stick your heels in the ground, arch your spine, and drag with
all your might at a rope, and then you would be said to " scaut."
Horses going uphill, or straining to draw a heavily laden waggon
through a mud hole " scaut " and tug.' Village Miners.
(2) n. The pole attached to the axle, and let down behind
the wheel, to prevent the waggon from running back while
ascending a hill (A.S.). N. & S.W.
*School-bell. Campanula rotundifolia, L., Harebell. N.W.
(Enford.)
Scoop. (i) A shovel (D.). N.W. (2) Allowance or
start in a race, &c. ' How much scoop be you a going to
gie I?' N. & S.W. (Baverstock, &c.)
' Alwaies dyd shroud and cut theyre fuel for that purpose along all
the Raage on Brayden's syde alwaies taking as much Skoop from the
hedge as a man could through [throw] a hatchet/ Perambulation of the
Great Park of Fasterne near Wootton Bassett, 1602.
The original document is in the Devizes Museum. N.W.
Scotch. A chink, a narrow opening. The spaces between the
boards in a floor are scotches. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, Huish,
&c.)
Scote. See Scaut.
*Scottle. To cut badly or raggedly (H.Wr.). 'Her did scottle
the stuff so, that my new gownd 's 'tirely sp wiled.' N.W.
Scraamb. 'To scraamb a thing down' is to reach up to it
and pull it down violently (S.), in the manner thus de-
scribed by Jefferies :
' Suppose a bunch of ripe nuts high up and almost out of reach ; by
dint of pressing into the bushes, pulling at the bough, and straining
on tiptoe, you may succeed in " scraambing " it down. "
Scraambing,"
or " scraambed," with a long accent on the aa, indicates the action
of
stretching and pulling downwards. Though somewhat similar in sound,
it has no affinity with scramble : people scramble for things which
have been thrown on the ground.' Village Miners.
It would not be used of such an action as scrambling
about on rocks. N.W.
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(delwedd B8763) (tudalen 138)
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138 Scram Scrupet
* Scram, Skram. Awkward, stiff as if benumbed. N.W.
(Malmesbury.)
Scran. *(i) A bag (A.H.Wr.) in which food is carried.
N. & S.W. (2) Victuals (S.). S.W.
Scratch Cradle. Cat's-cradle (A.B.).
Screech, (i) The Missel Thrush, Turdus viscivorus (A.).
N.W. (2) Cypselus apus, the Swift (Birds of Wilts, p. 309).
N. &S.W.
Screechetty. adj. Creaky (S.). S.W.
Screech Thrush. The Missel Thrush, Turdus viscivorus (Birds
of Wilts, p. 129). S.W. (Sutton Benger.)
*Scricele. To creak or squeak. See Scruple. N.W.
(Wroughton.)
Scriggle. To take the last apples. See Griggles. N.W.
Scroff, Scruff. Fragments of chips (S.). The refuse of
a wood-shed ; ashes and rubbish for burning. S.W.
Scrouge. To squeeze, press, or crowd any one (A.B.). ' Now
dwoan't 'ee come a scrougin' on I zo ! '
Scrow. (i) Angry, surly (A.H.). N.W. *(2) Sorry,
vexed. N. & S.W., occasionally.
1 Lawk, zur, but I be main screw to be ael in zich a caddie.' Wilts
Tales, p. 137.
Scrump. (i) n. A very dried up bit of anything (S.), as
toast or roast meat ' done all to a scrump ' (Cottage Ideas).
N. &. S.W. (2) Hence, sometimes applied to a shrivelled -
up old man. N. & S.W. (3) v. i Don't scrump up your
mouth like that!' i.e. squeeze it up in making a face.
N. & S.W. (4) v. To crunch. A sibilated form of
Crump. N. & S.W.
Scrumpshing. Rough play : used by boys (Bevis, ch. ix).
N.W.
Scrupet. To creak or grate, as the ungreased wheel of
a barrow (Village Miners). Also Scroop, Scripet, Scrupetty,
Scroopedee (S.), &c. N. & S.W. .
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(delwedd B8764) (tudalen 139)
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Scruple Shab off 139
Scruple. To squeak or creak. * When the leather gets old-
like, he sort o' dries up, an' then he do scruple he do
scricele, Sir! ' i.e. the saddle squeaks. Cf. Scroop. N.W.
(Wroughton.)
Scuff about or along. To drag one's feet awkwardly, as in
too large slippers ; to ' scuff up ' the dust, as children do for
amusement, by dragging a foot along the road. N. & S.W.
Scuffle. An oven-swab. S.W.
Scythe. The various parts of the scythe are as follows in
N. Wilts : Snead, or Snaith, the pole ; Nibs, the two
handles ; Pole-ring, the ring which secures the blade ;
Quinnets (i) the wedges which hold the rings of the nibs
tight, *(2) the rings themselves (A.) ; Crew, the tang of the
blade, secured by the pole-ring to the snead.
Seed-lip. The box in which the sower carries his seed (D.)
(Village Miners). A.S. leap, basket, Icel. laujpr. N. &S.W.
Misprinted Seed-tip in Davis.
Seer! or Sire! 'I say, look here!' a veiy usual mode of
opening a conversation when the parties are some distance
apart. N. & S.W.
Seg, Sig. Urine. S.W.
Seg-cart. The tub on wheels in which urine is collected
from house to house for the use of the cloth mills.
S.W.
Sewent , She went, Suant. ( i ) adj. Even, regular (A. B. C. S. ),
working smoothly. Formerly used all over the county, but
now growing obsolete, although it is not infrequently heard
still in S. Wilts. O.Fr. suant, pr. part, of suivre, to follow.
N. & S.W.
' A Piece of Cloth is said to be sliewent when it is evenly wove
and not Kowey it is also applied in other cases to denote a thing Level
and even.' Cunnington MS.
*(2) Demure (C.). N.W., obsolete.
'To Look Shewent, is to Look demure.' Cunnington MS.
*Shab off. To go off (S.). S. W.
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(delwedd B8765) (tudalen 140)
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140 Shackle Shaul
Shackle. (i) A hurdle wreath or tie (S.) : a twisted band of
straw, hay, &c. N. & S.W. (2) 'All in a shackle, 'loose,
disjointed (S.). N. & S.W. (Devizes, Huish, Salisbury, Clyffe
Pypard, &c.)
Shaft-tide, or Shrift. Shrove-tide. S.W.
Shaggle. Of a bough, &c., to shake. S.W.
Shakers. Briza media, L., Quaking-grass. N. & S.W.
*Shally-gallee. Poor, flimsy (G-reat Estate, ch. iv). Compare
Spurgally, wretched, poor, Dors. ; and SkoBpwaUy, a term of
contempt in N. of England. N.W.
*Shame-faced Maiden. Anemone nemorosa, L., Wood Anemone
(SarumDioc. Gazette). S.W. (Farley.)
Shammock. To shamble or shuffle along hastily.
*Shandy. A row about nothing (S.). Probably a form of
Shindy. S.W.
Shape (pronounced shop). To manage, arrange, attempt, try.
' I '11 shap to do V try to do it. Compare the similar use of
frame in some counties. N.W. (Devizes.)
Shard, Shord, Sheard. (i) A gap in a hedge (A.B.).
N. & S. W.
4 1 went drough a sheard in th' hedge, instead o' goin' drough th'
geat.' Wilts Tales, p. 167.
' 1636. Itm. to Kobert Eastmeade for mendinge a shard in Englands
ijd.' Records of Chippenham, p. 207.
(2) A narrow passage between walls or houses; usually
Shord. S.W. (3) 'To put in a shard, or shord,' to bay
back or turn the water in a meadow trench by a rough
dam, such as a piece of wood or a few sods of turf. N.W.
(4) 'A cow-shard,' a cow-clat.
*Shares. The cross-bars of a harrow (D.).
Sharpish. Considerable. 'I be eighty-vive to-year, an' 'tis
a sharpish age.' N.W. (Huish, &c.)
Sharps. The shafts of a cart (A.S.). N. & S.W.
Shaul. v. To shell nuts. Compare Shalus, husks (Chron.Vilod.).
N.W.
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(delwedd B8766) (tudalen 141)
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Sheening Shewent 141
Sheening. Thrashing by machinery ( Wild Life, ch. vi). N. W
Sheep. See Agric. of Wilts, p. 260 ; also quotation below.
* In the article of sheep what strange nomenclature ! Besides the
intelligible names of ram, ewe, and lamb, we have wether hogs, and
chilver hogs, and shear hogs, ram tegs, and theaves, and two-tooths,
and four-tooths, and six-tooths. So strange is the confusion that the
word hog is now applied to any animal of a year old, such as a hog
bull, a chilver hog sheep. " Chilver " is a good Anglo-Saxon word,
"cylfer" [this should be "cilfer"] ... a chilver hog
sheep simply
means, in the dialect of the Vale of Warminster, a female lamb a year
old.' Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xvii. p. 303.
* Sheep-bed (Ship-bed). When a labourer had drunk too much,
he would Hake a ship-bed,' i.e. lie down like a sheep to sleep
in a grass-field, till he was sober. N.W., obsolete.
Sheep's-cage. The same as Lamb's-cage. N.W.
Sheep-sleight. See Sleight (D.). Common in Wilts (Jackson's
Aubrey, p. 10).
Sheer. Sharp, cutting. 'Uncommon sheer air s'marnin',
yunnit ? 'N.W.
Shekel. (i) The old reaping sickle, now quite superseded
by the vagging-hook. The first e is long. An old labourer,
on being asked how he used to sharpen his ancient reaping-
sickle, said, 1 1 did allus use to car' a grab [crab-apple] wi' me,
an' draa my shekel droo un,' the acid biting like aquafortis
into the curiously serrated edge of the steel, and renewing it
without injury. Farm-lads still sharpen their knives thus.
See Great Estate, ch. v ; also Summer in Somerset. N.W.,
obsolete. (2) The fork in which 'elms' are carried up
to the thatcher. N.W.
Shepherds'-crowns. Fossil Echini. N.W.
*Shepherds'-pedler. Capsella Bursa-pastoris, L., Shepherds'
purse.
Shepherds'-Thyme. Poly gala calcarea, Sch., Chalk Milkwort.
S.W. (Salisbury, Bishopstone, Little Langford, &c.).
Shepherds'-weatherglass. Anagallis arvensis, L., Scarlet
Pimpernel. N. & S.W.
Shewent. See Sewent.
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(delwedd B8767) (tudalen 142)
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142 Shick-Shack Shore
Shick-shack. See Shitsack.
*Shim. It seems. ' He's a fine fellow, shim 5 (A. B.C. H.Wr.).
N.W.
' This word is rather of Glocestershire, but it is nevertheless in use
on the North Border of Wilts.' Cunnington MS.
*Shimmy. Convolvulus sepium, L., Great Bindweed. Keported
to us as ' Chemise.' S.W. (Little Langford.)
Shirp, or Shrip. (i) ' To shirp off/ to shred or cut off a little
of anything. S.W. (2) 'To shrip up,' to shroud up the
lower boughs of roadside trees, to cut off the side twigs of
a hedge or bush. N.W.
*Shirt-buttons. Flowers of Stellaria Holostea, Greater Stitch-
wort. S.W. (Deverill.)
Shitabed. Leontodon Taraxacum, L., Dandelion (H.). N.W.
Shitsack, or Shitzack. An oak-apple (H.Wr.). Oak-apple
and leaf (S.). N. & S.W.
Shitsack, or Shick-shack Day. King Charles' day, May 29.
The children carry Shitsack, sprigs of young oak, in the
morning, and Powder-monkey, or Even- Ash, ash-leaves with
an equal number of leaflets, in the afternoon. See Wild Life,
ch. v. N. & S.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Shivery-bivery. All in a shake with cold or fright. N.W.
Shog. To sift ashes, &c., by shaking the sieve. N.W.
(Devizes, Huish, &c.)
Shog off. To decamp in a hurried, stealthy, or cowardly
manner (A. B.C.). N.W.
Shoot, Shute. (i) A young female pig of three or four
months old (D.). N. & S.W. (2) Fore-shoot and Backward-
shoot, the pieces of wood immediately behind the coulter of
a plough (D.). (3) A precipitous descent in a road ;
a steep narrow path. N. & S.W.
Shord. See Shard.
Shore, n. The edge of a ditch on the meadow side (Wild
Life, ch. xviii). N.W.
' A Mearstone lyinge within the Shoore of the Dyche.' Perambula-
tion of the Great Park of Fasterne, 1602.
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(delwedd B8768) (tudalen 143)
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Shot Shurne 143
Shot, or Shut of, to be. To rid one's self of a thing. ' Her
can't get shut o' thuck there vool of a bwoy.' N. & S.W.
Shoulder, to put out the. At Clyffe Pypard and Hilmarton
it is customary to ask a man whose banns have been
published once, * How his shoulder is ? ' because you have
heard that it has been 'put out o' one side/ owing to his
having ' vallen plump out o' the pulput laas' Zunday.' Next
Sunday will 'put'n straight agean.' This implies that the
banns were formerly published from the pulpit. N.W.
Showl. A shovel (A.B.D.) ; occasionally a spade (D.).
N. & S.W.
Shrammed. Chilled to the bone, benumbed, perished with
cold (A.B.M.S.). N. & S.W.
' I was half-shrammed (i. e. perished with cold) on the downs.'
Monthly Mag. 1814.
Shrift. See Shaft-tide.
*Shrigging. Hunting for apples (S.). See Griggles and
Scriggle. S.W.
Shrill. To shudder. * I never couldn't eat fat bacon I do
alms shrill at it.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Shrimps. A particular kind of sweets. N. & S.W.
Shrowd. (i) To trim off the lower boughs of a tree (S.).
N. & S.W. (2) To cut a tree into a pollard. See Polly.
N. & S.W.
Shrub. To rub along somehow, to manage to live after some
sort of a fashion. ' I do shrub along middlin' well, when
I bain't bad wi' the rheumatiz.' A sibilated form of rub.
N. & S.W., occasionally.
Shrump up. To hunch up the shoulders. ' Don't shrump up
your shoulders like that ! ' N.W.
Shucks. Husks of oats, &c. S.W.
Shuffet. To shuffle along hurriedly. N.W.
*Shurne. Cacare (MS. Lansd* 1033, f. 2), Cp. A.S. scearn.
dung. Obsolete.
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(delwedd B8769) (tudalen 144)
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144 Shut Simbly
Shut. (i) v. To join together ; used of welding iron,
splicing a rope, joining woodwork, laying turf, &c.
N. & S.W. (2) n. The point of junction, as where rick
is built against rick. N. & S.W. (3) adj. See Shot.
Shutleck, Shutlock (S.). See Waggon.
Sibilated words. These are somewhat common in Wilts, as
Snotch, notch ; Spuddle, puddle ; Scrunch, crunch ; Spyzon,
poison ; Spicier, picture.
Sick. ' Turnip-sick,' of land, exhausted as regards turnip-
growing (Great Estate, ch. i). ' Tater-sick, ' &c. N. W.
Sideland ground. Sloping ground on a hill-side. N.W.
Sidelong, Sideling. (i) With one side higher than the
other (Wild Life, ch. vi). ' I wur nigh upset, th' rwoad wur
that sideling.' N. & S.W. (2) Sitting sidelong, i. e. with
the side towards the spectator (Gamekeeper at Home, ch. ii).
Sig. See Seg (S.). S.W.
Sight. A quantity, as 'a sight o' vawk,' ' a main sight o' rain/
N. & S.W.
*Sil. Seldom. 'Sowle-grove sil lew,' February is seldom
warm (H.). Obsolete.
Silgreen. Sempervivum tectorum, L., Houseleek ( Village Miners),
A.S. singrene. See Sungreen N.W.
*Sillow, Sullow, or Sul. A kind of plough (D.). A.S. sulh.
S.W., obsolete.
' Sylla, a plough, was used at Bratton within the memory of persons
still living. Sylla-foot, or Zilla-fut, was a guiding piece of wood
alongside of the share/ Miss WAYLEN.
*Silver-bells. The double Guelder-rose of gardens. N.W.
(Cherhill.)
Silver-fern or Silver-grass. Potentilla Anserina, L., which
has fern-like silvery foliage. N. & S.W.
Sim. n. A smell, as of burning wool or bone. * That there
meat hev got a main sim to 't.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*Simbly. To seem. N.W.
'He've a bin and tuk dree bottles o' doctor's stuff; but I'll be
whipped if a do zimbly a bit th' better var't.' Wilts Tales, p. 137.
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(delwedd B8770) (tudalen 145)
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Simily Skimmenton 145
Simily. Apparently, as 'Simily 'tis a bird.' N.W.
Simmin. It seems. ' Simmin to I 'tis gwain' thic wav. ' N.W.
Sinful. Excessively, as 'sinful ornary,' very ugly. N.W.
Sinful-ordinary. Plain to the last degree in looks. N.W.
'I once knew a young gentleman in the Guards who was very
ordinary-looking what is called in Wiltshire " sinful ordinary." '
lllust. London News, March 23, 1889.
Singreen. See Sungreen. S.W.
Skag, Skeg. (i) v. To tear obliquely. N.W. (2) n. A
ragged or oblique tear in clothes, such as is made by a nail.
N.W.
Skeart. To cause to glance off, as a pane of glass diverts shot
striking it at an angle. N.W.
Skeer. (i) To skim lightly and quickly over a surface,
barely touching it, as a ball does along ice. N.W. (Malmes-
bury.) *(a) To mow summer-fed pastures lightly. N.W.
(Malmesbury.)
Skeer-devil, Skir-devil. Cypselus apuSj the Common Swift.
N.W. (Malmesbury, &c.)
Skewer- wood. Euonymus Europaeus, L, , Spindle-tree. N.W.
Skewy, Skeowy. When the sky shows streaks of windy-looking
cloud, and the weather seems doubtful, it is said to 'look
skeowy.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) Compare:
' Skew : thick drizzle or driving mist.' JAGO'S Cornish Glossary.
*Skiel. A cooler used in brewing beer (A.B.G.H.Wr,).
Skiffley. Showery. Perhaps from O.E. skyfte, to change.
S.W.
Skillet. A round pot to hang over the fire. N.W.
Skillin, Skilling. A pent-house (A.C.S.) ; an outhouse or cow-
shed. A.S. scyldan, to protect ; Old Germ. scMllen, to cover
(A.). Skillion is used in Australia for a small outhouse.
N. & S.W.
Skimmenton, Skimmenton-riding. A serenade of rough music
got up to express disapproval in cases of great scandal and
immorality. The orthodox procedure in N. Wilts is as
follows : the party assembles before the houses of the
L
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(delwedd B8771) (tudalen 146)
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146 Skimmer-cake Slat
offenders, armed with tin pots and pans, and performs a
Serenade for three successive nights. Then after an interval
of three nights the serenade is repeated for three more.
Then another interval of the same duration and a third
repetition of the rough music for three nights nine nights
in all. On the last night the effigies of the offenders are
burnt. Housset is the same thing. The word and the
custom have emigrated to America. N.W.
Skimmer-cake. A cake made of odd scraps of dough (S.). See
Skimmer-lad. S. W.
Skimmer-lad. A dunch- dumpling, or piece of dough put on
a skimmer and held in the pot while boiling. N.W. (Clyife
Pypard.)
Skippet. The long-handled ladle used for filling a water-cart,
emptying a hog-tub, &c. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Skipping-ropes. Sprays of Clematis Vitalba, L., Traveller's Joy.
S.W. (Bishopstone.)
Skit. A passing shower (Great Estate, ch. i). N.W.
*Skive. To shave or slice (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 113).
N.W. (Cherhill.)
Skram. See Scram.
Skug, Sqwug. A squirrel. ' I say, there 's a skug ! Let 's
have a cock-shot at him with your squailer.' N. & S.W.
Slack. Impudence, cheek (S.). ' I '11 ha' none o' your slack ! '
S.W.
Slammock, Slummock. A slattern. Slammick (S.). N. &
S.W.
Slan. A sloe (A.). A.S. sldn, pi. ofsZa, sloe. N.W. (Castle
Eaton, &c.)
' Those eyes o' yourn be as black as slans.' Wilts Tales, p. 81.
Slang-up, or Slang-uppy. Untidy, slatternly. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
Slat. (i) v. To split or crack (A.B.S.). 'Thuc plate's
slat.' N. & S.W. (2) n. A crack. 'What a girt slat
thur is in un.' N. & S.W. (3) n. A slate (A.). < Thur 's
a slat blowed off.' N.W.
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(delwedd B8772) (tudalen 147)
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Slay Sloe 147
Slay. See Sleight.
Sleek. (i) adj. Slippery. ' The rwoad's terrible sleek.'
N.W. (2) n. Sleet. N.W.
Sleight, Slay. (i) v. To pasture sheep on the downs (D.).
N.W. (2) n. Sheep-sleight, a sheep-down (D.) ; a pas-
ture good for sheep. N.W.
Slent. (i) v. To tear (S.). 'I've a bin an' slent ma
yeppurn.' S.W. (2) n. A tear or rent in clothes. S.W.
Slewed, Slewy. Drunk (S.). N. & S.W.
*Slickit. (i) A long thin slice (not a curly shaving) of
wood (Village Miners'). N.W. (Berks bord.) (2) 'A
slickitofa girl,' a young undeveloped girl (Ibid.). N.W.
(Berks bord.) Cp. Slacket, slim, Cornw.
Slide. The cross-bar on the tail of the fore-carriage of a waggon.
See Waggon. N.W.
Slip. To shed. Of a horse, to shed its coat. N. & S.W.
Slippetty-sloppetty. Draggle-tailed, slovenly. ' I never
zeed zich a slippetty-sloppetty wench in aal my barn days.'
N.W.
Slire. v. To look askance or out of the corners of your eye
at anything. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
' "Why should you suspect him?" "Aw, a' be a bad 'un ; a'
can't
look'ee straight in the face ; a' sort of slyers [looks askance] at
'ee." '
Greene Feme Farm, ch. ix.
*Slize. To look sly (A.B.H.Wr.). To look askance at any
one. N.W.
Slocks. See Slox.
Slocks about. To go about in an untidy slatternly way.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Sloe. In S. Wilts, about' Salisbury, the large fruit is known
as Sloes or Slues, and the small as Snags ; in N. Wilts, at
Huish, Sl6ns are large and Hedge-speaks small, while at
Clyife Pypard the same terms are used, but the latter is
not confined to the small fruit. At Cherhill Hilps and
Picks are the names. Slues is used in both N. and S. Wilts,
and Slons or Slans in N. Wilts.
L 2
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(delwedd B8773) (tudalen 148)
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148 Slommakin Smother
Slommakin. adj. Of females, untidy, slatternly (S.). N. &
S.W. (Malmesbury, &c.)
* Sloop. To change (A.H.Wr.). Perhaps a perversion of
slew, or a misreading of swop in badly written MS.
Slop about. To shuffle about in a slipshod slovenly fashion.
N. & S.W.
Sloppet. (i) v. The same as Slop about. N.W.
'He "sloppets" about in his waistcoat and shirt-sleeves.' Hodge and
his Masters, ch. xxiii.
*(2) v. Applied to a rabbit's peculiar gait, and the manner
in which it wears away and covers with sand the grass near
its bury (Amateur Poacher, ch. ii).
Slouse. To splash about, as a horse or dog does in water.
N.W.
* Sloven's year. A wonderfully prosperous season, when even
the bad farmer has good crops (Great Estate, ch. viii).
Slox, Slocks. To waste, to pilfer from employers (A.B.C.H.
Wr.). N.W.
Slummock. See Slammock.
Sly. * A sly day ' looks bright and pleasant, but the air has
a chill nip in it. ' Sly cold ' is the treacherous kind of cold
raw weather that was very prevalent during the influenza
epidemic two or three years ago. N.W. (Huish.)
Smaak. n. l Aal in a smaak,' quite rotten ; used of potatoes.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Smarm. To bedaub. 'Don't smarm me aal auver wi' they
dirty paws o' yourn.' Smaam (S.). N. & S.W.
Smart. A second swarm of bees. N.W.
Smart, Smartish, adj. Considerable (H.), as 'a smartish lot
o'vawk.' N. &S.W.
Smeech. Dust. S.W. (Salisbury, Hill Deverill, &c.)
Smeechy. Dusty. N.W. (Cherhill.)
*Smicket. A smock or shift (A.).
Smother. A weed and rubbish fire in a garden. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8774) (tudalen 149)
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Snag Snop 149
Snag, Snaig. (i) A badly shaped or decayed tooth ; often
used of a child's first teeth. N.W. (2) Fruit of the sloe,
q.v. (S.). S.W.
* Snag-bush. Prunus spinosa, L., the Sloe (Miss Plues).
Snake-fern. Pteris aquilina, L., Bracken. S.W. (Deverill.)
Snake-flower. (i) Verbascum nigrum, L., Black Mullein.
Children are cautioned not to gather it, because a snake may
be hiding under the leaves. S.W. (Salisbury.) (2) Stel-
laria Holostea, L., Greater Stitchwort. S.W. (Barford.)
*Snake's-head. PotentiHa Tormentilla, Sibth., Tormentil.
S.W. (Zeals, Hill Deverill, &c.)
* Snake-skin Willow. Salix triandra, L., so called because it
sheds its bark (Great Estate, ch. v).
*Snake's-victuals. Arum maculatum, L. Cuckoo-pint. N.W.
' In August . . . she found the arum stalks, left alone without leaves,
surrounded with berries . . . This noisome fruit .... was " snake's
victuals," and .... only fit for reptile's food.' Great Estate, ch. ii.
Snap. A trap, as Mouse-snap, Wont-snap. N. & S.W., occa-
sionally.
Snaps, Snap-jacks. Stellar ia Holostea, L., Greater Stitchwort.
S.W.
*Snap- willow. Salix fragilis, L., from its brittleness (Great
Estate, ch. v).
Snead, Snaith. The pole of a scythe (A.). A.S. snced. N.W.
Sing. A small eel. S.W.
Sniggle. (i) To snigger. S.W. (2) { To sniggle up,' to
toady or endeavour to ingratiate yourself with any one.
S.W.
* Sniggling. ' A sniggling frost/ a slight frost that just makes
the grass crisp. S.W. (Steeple Ashton.)
Snig-pot. An eel-trap. S.W.
Snippy. Mean, stingy.
Snivett. A newt. Perhaps a sibilated form of Evet. N.W.
Snop. (i) v. To hit smartly, as in chipping a stone.
N. & S.W. (2) n. A smart blow (S.), as 'A snop on
theyead.' N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8775) (tudalen 150)
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1 50 Snotter-gall Sog
Snotter-gall. The yew-berry, probably from its slimy pulp.
N. & S.W.
Snotty. (i) 'A snotty frost,' a slight crisp rime frost.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard,) (2) Nasty, dirty, mean.
N. & S.W.
Snowball-tree. The double Guelder-rose. Snowballs, its
blossoms. N. & S.W.
Snow-blunt. A slight snowstorm. N. & S.W. See Blunk.
Snow-in-harvest, or Snow-in-summer. Cerastium tomentosum,
L. S.W.
Snowl. (i) n. A large piece of anything (S.). 'Gie
I a good snowl o' bread, mother!' N. & S.W. *(2) n.
The head. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Snow-on-the-mountains. (i) Saxifraga granulata, L., White
Meadow Saxifrage. S.W. (2) White Cress. N. & S.W.
Snuff-rag. A pocket-handkerchief (S.). N. & S.W. (Locke-
ridge, &c.) Also used formerly at Clyffe Pypard, N.W.
Sobbled. Soddened, soaked with wet (Village Miners). N.W.
*Soce. Friends ; addressed to the company generally, as * Well,
soce, an' how be ye all to-day?' N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Very rarely heard in Wilts, but common in Dev. and Som.
It is probably a relic of Socii, as used by monkish preachers.
In the old ghost-story in Jefferies' G-oddard Memoir (see
Waylen's History of Maryborough, p. 555), the use of the
word soas (there spelt source) by one of the characters is
alluded to in such a way as to show that it was looked
on as a curious peculiarity of his. See W. Somerset
Words.
Sod- apple. Epilobium hirsutum, L., Great Hairy Willow-herb,
from its smell when crushed. N.W.
' Willow herb . . . country folk call it the sod-apple, and say the
leaves crushed in the fingers have something of the scent of apple-pie.'
Great Estate, ch. ii.
*Soft-tide. The three days next before Lent (Wilts Arch.
Mag. vol. xxii. p. 113). N.W. (Cherhill.)
Sog. Soft boggy ground (S.). N. & S.W. (Malmesbury, &c.)
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(delwedd B8776) (tudalen 151)
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Sogging-wet Spear 151
Sogging-wet. Soaked. N. & S.W.
Soldiers. Papaver Rhoeas, &c., Eed Poppy. S.W.
Soldiers'-buttons. Arctium Lappa, L., Burdock. S.W.
(Hamptworth. )
Soldiers-sailors-tinkers-tailors. Lolium perenne, L. S.W.
Souse. 'Pigs'-sousen,' pigs'-ears. N.W. (Malmesbury, Clyffe
Pypard, &c.)
*Sow-flower. Sonchus oleraceus, L., Sowthistle. (Lyneham.)
* So wle-gro ve. February. (A. H. Wr. ) Obsolete.
The shepherds and vulgar people in South Wilts call Februarie
" sowlegrove," and have this proverb of it: "Soulgrove sil
lew,"
February is seldome warme sil pro seld, seldome.' AUBREY, Anecdotes,
Camden Society, cxlvii.
Spade. The congealed gum of the eye (A.B.). Also Spady in
N. Wilts. A.S. sped, phlegm. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
*Spances. t Eaves or sides, spances, compose the waggon-bed '
(D.).
Spanky. Showy, dashing (A.B.). N.W.
Spar. In thatching, the t elms ' are fastened down with
1 spicks' or 'spars,' split hazel rods, pointed at both ends,
and bent into hairpin shape, with a twist just at the bend
to give them a tendency when fixed to spring outwards, and
so hold faster. S.W.
Sparked, Sparky. Of cattle, mottled or of two colours (D.) ;
pied, variegated (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 225).
N. & S.W.
' One of the earliest indictments on the roll of the Hilary Sessions
[Wilts], 1603-4, tells of quatuor vaccas quar' due color sparked et una alia
colons rubri et alter a color browne.' Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 225-6.
Sparked-grass. Phalaris arundinacea, L., Striped Eibbon-
grass. S.W. (Som. bord.)
*Spawl. A chip or splinter from a stone. N.W. (Malmes-
bury.)
Spear. (i) n< A stalk of reed-grass (S.).-N.W. (2) v. See
Spurl. S.W.
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(delwedd B8777) (tudalen 152)
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152 Spend Sprawing
Spend. To turn out. 'How do your taters spend to-year ?'
N.W.
Spick. (i) In thatching, the same as Spar. S.W.
(2) Lavender. Spick (Som. bord.), and Spike (Hants
bord.). S.W.
Spikenard. (i) Lavender. N.W. , occasionally. (2) An-
thoxanthum odoratum, L., Sweet Vernal-grass. N.W.
(Bromham.)
Spill. (i) The long straight stalk of a plant. N.W.
(Malmesbury.) *(2) 'To run to spill,' to run to seed.
N.W. (Malmesbury.) *(s) Hence, figuratively, to be un-
productive. N.W. (Malmesbury, occasionally.)
Spit, Spet. (i) n. 'The very spit of his father,' his very
image (Wilts Tales, p. 31). Of. Spit, to lay eggs (Skeat). Just
like (S.). N. & S.W. (2) v. 'To spit up the ground/
to work the surface lightly over. N. & S.W.
Splash. Commoner form of Plash, q.v. N.W.
* Split-fig. A short-weight grocer (S.). S.W.
Sploach. To splutter (S.). S.W.
Sprack. (i) Lively, active (A.B.C.S.); also Sprag (B.).
. N. & S.W.
1 That 's a sprack mare o' yourn.' Wilts Tales, p. 68.
(2) Intelligent, quick (A.C.).-N. & S.W.
' He had picked up a few words and phrases with which he some-
times " bothered " his neighbours, who thought Jem " a mortal
sprack
chap" ; but in truth he was a great fool.' Wilts Tales, p. 65.
Sprank. A sprinkling of anything. ' There be a good sprank
o' fruit to-year.' Also used in Somerset. N.W. (Mildenhall. )
* Sprawing. A sweetheart. This word is given for Wilts by
Britton, Akerman, Halliwell, Wright, and others, but should
be treated as a ' ghost-word,' and struck out of our glossaries.
Jn Cunnington MS. it is written as Sprawny, q.v., but
Britton when transcribing from that source would appear to
have misread it as Sprawing, probably not being himself
acquainted with the word, while Akerman and others must
simply have taken it blindly on his authority.
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(delwedd B8778) (tudalen 153)
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Sprawny Squab 153
*Sprawny. A sweetheart (Cunnington MS.). A variant of
Sptunny. See note on Sprawing. A male sweetheart in
Glouc. N.W., obsolete.
' Whipped to some purpose will thy sprunny be.' COLLINS,
Miscellanies, 1762.
Spreader. The thin pole or bar which keeps the traces apart
(Wilts Tales, p. 173). N.W.
*Spreath, Spreeth. Active, nimble, able (A.B.H.Wr.). ' He
is a spreeth young fellow' (B.).
Spreathed. Of the skin, roughened or chapped by cold (B.S.)
Spreazed (A.). N. & S.W.
Spreyed. Of the skin, roughened by cold, but not chapped.
Spryed on Som. bord. S.W.
Spring. Of a cow, to show signs of calving. N.W.
Spring-dag. A chilblain. Cf. Dag, a twinge of pain.
S.W.
Spring-flower. The garden Polyanthus. N.W.
Spuddle. (i) v. To stir about (A.B.), to fuss about at doing
trifles. ' He 's allus a-spuddling about like, but there yen't
nothen to show for't ses I.' N.W. (2) v. To make
a mess (S.). A sibilated form of puddle. S.W.
Spudgel. A wooden scoop (S.). N. & S.W.
Spuds. Potatoes (S.). Perhaps introduced by Irish harvesters.
N. & S.W.
*Spur. See Spurl. S.W.
Spurl. To spread dung about the fields (S.). Also Spear,
Spur, and Spurdle. N. & S.W.
*Spurling-boards. Boards set to prevent the corn from flying
out of the threshing-floor (D.).
Spur-stone. A projecting stone, set in the ground as a support
to a post, or to protect anything near the roadway
(Bevis, ch. v).
* Squab. The youngest or weakest bird of a brood or pig of
a litter (A.). The ' darling ' of a litter. N.W. (Lockeridge.)
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(delwedd B8779) (tudalen 154)
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154 Squall Squailer
Squall, Sqwoil. (i) To throw (A.H.S.) ; used of sticks, not
stones. N. & S.W.
' In the orchard Bevis and Mark squalled at the pears with short
sticks/ Bevis, ch. xvi.
' They would like to squail a stick at his high and ancient hat.'
Ibid. ch. xvi.
(2) Fig. To do a thing awkwardly (H.), as t Her went up
the street a squailing her arms about.' N.W. "(3) Cock-
squoilin, throwing at cocks at Shrovetide (A.). Obsolete.
Bird-squoilin, killing birds with stones (S.). (4) Of
a candle, to gutter. N. & S.W.
Squailer, Squale, Squoile. A stick or loaded cane, used by boys
for throwing at apples, rabbits, squirrels, &c. N. & S.W.
* The handle of a " squailer " projected from Orion's coat-pocket.
For making a squailer a tea-cup was the best mould : . . . A ground ash
sapling with the bark on, about as thick as the little finger, pliant
and tough, formed the shaft, which was about fifteen inches long.
This was held upright in the middle of a tea-cup, while the mould was
filled with molten lead. It soon cooled, and left a heavy conical knob
on the end of the stick. If rightly thrown it was a deadly missile,
and would fly almost as true as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could
thus be knocked over ; and it was peculiarly adapted for fetching
a squirrel out of a tree, because, being so heavy at one end, it rarely
lodged on the boughs, as an ordinary stick would, but overbalanced
and came down.' Amateur Poacher, ch. iii.
' The " squaler " came into use very early in the school's history,
and was for years almost as much a part of the ordinary equipment
of a Marlborough boy as a cricket-bat would now be. To later genera-
tions the very name probably conveys no meaning. The weapon itself
was simple enough, though extremely formidable. It consisted of
a piece of lead something the shape and about the size of a pear, with
a cane handle about eighteen inches long. A squaler could be thrown
a great distance and with terrific force, and at short ranges by the
practised hands of the Marlburians of those days with great accuracy.
Its ostensible purpose was squirrel-hunting, as the name suggests [No,
it is not a contraction of " squirreller," but is from squail, to
throw.
G.E.D.~], but it came in handy for the larger quarry which the more
adventurous tribes pursued and slew, such as rabbits, hares, and very
frequently even deer. It lingered on as an article of local sale till the
middle of the sixties ; but . . . was made contraband, and finally died
out.' History of Marlborough College, ch. ix. p. 94.
'To make a squailer you provide yourself with an eighteen-inch
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(delwedd B8780) (tudalen 155)
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Squalling Squoil 155
length of half-inch cane, two inches of which you sheath with tow
and then insert in a ladle of molten lead. There you manipulate it in
such sort that there is presently left to cool at the end of your cane
a pear-shaped lump of lead of the weight experience has shown you to
be proper. With this weapon an adept can bring down a squirrel from
on high, or stop one on the level at five-and-twenty yards, almost to
a certainty.' W. F. WALLER in Notes & Queries, 8th series, ii. p. 197,
' Another Marlborough mode of making it is to pour the melted lead
into a cone composed of many folds of well-wetted paper, tied round
the slightly notched upper end of the cane or ground ash.' G. E.
DABTNELL in N. & Q., 8th series, ii. p. 257. Also see various letters
in N. & Q., 8th series, ii. pp. 149, 197, 257. Squailers were in use at
the
Grammar school as well as at the College, up to about 1867.
Squalling. Clumsy, badly, or irregularly shaped, as l a squatt-
ing loaf,' 'a squalling sort of a town,' &c. (H.). N.W.
Square. Thatching is paid by the ' square,' which is 100 square
feet. N.W.
Squat. See Squot.
Squeak-Thrush. The Missel Thrush. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Squeeze-beUy. A V-shaped stile. N.W.
Squelch, Squelp. (i) adv. l A veil down squelch,' he fell
heavily (A.B.). N.W. (2) v. To squash to pieces, as
a heavy stone would an egg. N.W.
Squinney. (i) v. 'To squinney round,' to peep about.
S.W. (2) n. 'Squinney-hole,' a peep-hole. Sometimes
also used of a hagioscope in a church. S.W.
Squish. (i) v. Of soft or boggy ground, to give under foot
with the peculiar spirt and sound that denote a water-logged
condition. ' The rwoad wer squishing under I ael the waay
to 'Vize.' N. & S.W. (2) v. Of mud, to spirt and splash
up as it does in a boggy place. ' It wer main hocksey, an'
the muck squished up ael over I, purty nigh up to my eyes. '
N. & S.W.
Squishey. adj. Soft, wet, swampy. N. & S.W.
' The ploughing engine be stuck fast up to the axle, the land be so
soft and squishey.' Wild Life, ch. vii.
Squoil. See Squail (S. ). S. W.
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(delwedd B8781) (tudalen 156)
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156 Squot Stars
Squot or Squat. (i) n. A bruise (Aubrey's Wilts MS.).
N.W. (2) v. To bruise or crush (S.), as 'I've bin an'
squot my thumb.' To bruise by compression (B.). N.W.
Sqwawk. To squall out as a hen does when pulled off the
nest. N.W.
Stabble. v. Of ground, to poach up by continual treading, as
near a field gateway (Village Miners). Children are always
'stabbling about' indoors, making a mess and litter.
N. & S.W.
Stack. ' A stack of elms' = either one score or two score of
' elms. 'N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Staddles, Staddle-stones. The pillars on which a rick stands
(A.B.S.). Cf. Stavel (Steevil in S.W.). A.S. staffol N. &
S.W.
Stael. See Stale.
Stag, Steg. A rent in clothes. N. & S.W.
Staid. Of mature age, elderly (S.). N. & S.W.
Stake-and-ether-hedge. A wattled fence. See Ether. N.W.
Stale, Stael, or Steale. The long handle of any husbandry
tool (A.B.). A.S. stel (in compounds). N.W.
'A was as lang and as lane as a rake-stael.' Wilts Taks, p. 177.
' The peculiar broad-headed nail which fastens the mop to the stout
ashen " steale," or handle.' Wild Life, ch. iv.
*Standing, Stannin. A stall or small booth at a fair. Stannen
(S.). S.W.
Star-flower. (i) Potentilla Tormentilla, Sibth., Tormentil.
S.W. (Barford.) (2) Lysimachia nemorum, L., Wood
Loosestrife. S.W. (Barford.)
Stark, v. To dry up. i The ground is got so stark you see
the hot sun after the rain did stark the top on't.' N.W.
(Hilmarton.)
Starky. (i) Stiff, dry (A.B.). Shrivelled up, as applied to
things. N.W. (2) Shrivelled and wasted by ill-health.
N.W.
* Stars. Campanula glomerata, L., Clustered Bellflower.
N.W. (Enford.)
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(delwedd B8782) (tudalen 157)
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Start Stew up 157
Start. (i) An outing or pleasure-party. ' Wher be th'
missus, Bill?' 'Whoy, off on a bit of a start.' S.W.
(2) A ' go.' ' That 's a rum start, yun' it ? 'N.W.
Starve. (i) v. * To starve with cold,' to be extremely cold ;
to cause anything to be cold. Chiefly used in past par-
ticiple, as 'starved wi' th' cowld,' perished with cold. A.S.
steorfan, to die. 'My old man he do starve I at nights wi'
the cowld, 'cause he got a crooked leg, and he do sort o' cock
un up 'snaw, and the draaft do get in under the bed-claus,
and I be fairly starved wi' the cowld.' N. & S.W. (2)
See Bird-starving. N.W.
*Stavel-barn. A barn on stone pillars (Agric. Survey). See
Staddles.
Steale. See Stale.
Stean. (i) v. To * stone,' or cover a path or road with
gravel or small stones. N.W. (2) 'To stean a well,' to
line its sides with stone (S.). S.W.
Steaner. The man who lays the second and inner rows of
sheaves in building a wheat rick. N.W.
Steanin. (i) A road made with small stones (A.). N.W.
(2) The built-up portion of a well. S.W. See Stean.
Steart. (i) n. The tang which fastens anything ; the ring
of a button, &c. N.W. (2) n. The small iron rod, on
the head of which the cappence of the old-fashioned flail
played. N.W. (3) n. A young ox. Apparently steer,
with t excrescent. N.W.
Steer. The starling. A form of Stare. N.W.
Steip. See Stipe.
Stem. A period of time (A.H.S.), as 'a stem o' dry weather.'
Work on the roads, &c., is done ' on the stem,' or ' by the
stem.' A.S. stemn.'N. & S.W.
Stepple. A hoof-mark (Village Miners}. Cf. Stabble. N.W.
Stewer, Stour, Sture. Fuss, commotion. S.W.
Stew up. To tidy up. S.W.
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(delwedd B8783) (tudalen 158)
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158 Stick Stodge
Stick. To decorate with evergreens, &c. 'We allus sticks
th' Church at Christmas/ the decorations formerly con-
sisting only of sprigs of holly stuck into holes in the backs
of the pews. N.W.
Stickle. To stick. * They 're as thick as they can stickle on
it.' S.W.
Stick-up, v. To make the first tentative advances towards
courtship. N. W. , occasionally.
'I've bin a-stickin* up to another young ooman this summer, wi'
a view to keepin' comp'ny wi' she.' Dark, ch. xv.
Stipe. ' The stipe o' the hill,' the steepest part. N.W.
*Stipe, Steip. A dozen and a half of < elms ' (H. Wr.). ' Strip
of helms, eighteen helms : Wilts.' Hollo way 's Diet. S.W.
Stived up. Shut up in a warm close place. Fighting cocks
were formerly kept warm in a 'stive,' or kind of straw
basket like a hive, whilst waiting their turn to fight.
N. & S.W.
Stoach. To plant potatoes with a * stoacher.' In some coun-
ties stoach= poach, to trample into holes. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard, &c.)
Stoacher. 'Atater stoacher,' a thick stake, with projecting
notch on which the foot is placed to drive the sharpened
point into the ground. The potatoes are dropped into the
holes so made. N.W.
Stobball-play. An old game, played with a withy-staff and
a small ball, stuffed full of quills, said by Aubrey (Nat. Hist.
Wilts, p. 117, ed. Brit.) to be peculiar to North Wilts, North
Gloucester, and the neighbourhood of Bath ; but probably
a form of stool-loll (H.Wr.). N.W., obsolete.
' Illegal games . . . mentioned are . . . hand-ball, foot-ball, and stave-
ball or " stobball " ; (pilum manual&m, pedalem, sive
baculinam), " nine-
holes " and " kittles." ' On the Self-government of Small
Manorial Com-
munities, as exemplified in the Manor of Castle Combe. Wilts Arch. Mag. vol.
iii.
p. 156.
Stodge. (i) n. Substantial food. N.W. (2) v. To
stuff gluttonously. Stodged, quite unable to cram down
another morsel. N.W.
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(delwedd B8784) (tudalen 159)
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Stodgy Striddling 159
Stodgy, adj. Of food, causing a feeling of repletion. N.W.
Stogged. Stuck in the mud, bogged (S.). N. & S.W.
Stoggy. Wet and sticky ; used of ground that * stogs ' you,
or in which you get l stogged.' N.W.
Stomachy, adj. Unbending (S.). Obstinate, headstrong,
self-willed. N. & S.W.
* Stone-bruise. A kind of corn on the foot. In an American
trouting-yarn in Fishing Gazette, December 17, 1892, p. 429,
the following occurs :
'It's just the age for "stone-bruises" in a boy, and he must have
a pair of shoes any way.'
*Stone-osier. Salix purpurea, L. (Gamekeeper at Home,
ch. viii). N.W.
Stop. A hole in the ground not in a hedge-row, but a few
yards away, or on cultivated ground where the doe rabbit
has her young ; said to be from her ' stopping ' or covering
it over when she leaves it. Also used in Hants. N.W.,
common.
Storm-cock. Turdus viscivorus, Missel Thrush (Birds of Wilts,
p. 129). S.W.
Stout. The gadfly (A.B.). ' They stowuts be so terrifyin'.'
N.W.
Stowl. (i) n. The root of a timber-tree left in the ground
after felling (A. B.C.) ; the stump of a bush or tree, in hedge
or copse, cut off low down so as to form a stock from which
underwood may spring (C.D.S.). N. & S.W. (2) v. 'To
stowl out,' to shoot out thickly, as a bush cut off low down,
or wheat which has been fed off when young. N.W.
Strafe. To wander about. N.W., occasionally.
Strapper. An Irish harvester or tramping labourer. N.W.
Strawberry-leaved Geranium. Saxifraga sarmentosa, L. See
Hanging Geranium. S. W.
Strick. See Strike.
* Strickle. See Stritch.
* Striddling. The right to lease fallen apples after the gather-
ing in of the crop. Cf. Griggling.
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(delwedd B8785) (tudalen 160)
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160 Strike Stun
Strike, Strick. To slip up ; to slip and swing out as a vehicle
does when turning a corner fast on a slippery road. ' Her
stricked up on thuck there slide, an' come down vlop. ' N. &
S.W.
*Strim-strum. adj. Unmusical (S.). S.W.
* Stripe. A fool, a simpleton (H.Wr.). Probably a mistake
for Stupe.
Strip-up, v. To shroud the lower part of a tree, as is usually
done with hedgerow timber at intervals. N. & S.W.
*Stritch, Strickle. A piece of wood used for striking off the
surplus grain from a corn measure. A.S. stricol. N.W.
(Malmesbury.)
*Strommellmg. *(i) Awkward, ungainly (A.B.H.).
*(2) Unruly (A.B.H.), as 'a strommellin' child.'
Strong. ' Strong a-dying,' at the point of death. N.W.
*Str outer. A strut or support in the side of a waggon (S.).
S.W.
Stub. (i) n. A stump of a tree ; a projecting root. N.
& S.W. (2) v. In walking, to strike the foot against
a stub or projecting root. N.W. *(%) v. 'To stub off,'
to cut off a bush or tree close to the ground (Agric. of Wilts,
ch. x). (4) ' Stubs,' stubble, as wheat- stubs, barley stubs
(D.). N.W.
Stubbed. A i stubbed ' broom is one much worn down by use,
as opposed to a new one. S.W.
* Stuck. A spike (A.).
Stud. v. To ponder over, think about. * Don't 'ee stud upon 't
so much.' N. & S.W.
Studdle. To stir up water so as to make it thick and muddy.
N. & S.W.
Studdly, Stoddly. Thick, as beer before it settles after
moving. N.W. (Berks bord.)
*Stultch. A crutch, a boy's stilt (MS. Lansd. 1033, f. 2).
(H.Wr.). Stelch in Glouc. Obsolete.
Stun. v. To cause to make no growth, ' Grass was stunned
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(delwedd B8786) (tudalen 161)
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Sture Summer field 161
in its growth this season' (1892). N.W. (Clyffe Pypard,
Potterne, &c.)
Sture. See Stewer.
Suant. See Sewent.
Succour. (i) n. Shelter; a sheltered place. A tender plant is
set ' in the succour of the wall ' ; and cattle on a cold wet day
get 'in the succour of the hedge.' l 'Tes gwain' to rain, for
the wind's down in the succours,' i.e. hollows and sheltered
places generally. On bleak parts of the Downs the cottages
are mostly to be found in the succours. N.W. (Huish,
Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
' Goddard the elder being a copyholder of lands in Eylden within
the Manner of Ogburne near adjoyning to His Majesties Chace being
a place that in winter time was a special and usual succour for preserv-
ing the breed of young deer belonging to the Chace.' Extract from
Bond v. Goddard and others, 1636. See Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxiii. p. 259.
(2) v. To shelter. An old-fashioned bonnet is said to 'suc-
cour ' the ears. A cold wind cuts up cabbages, except where
they are l succoured ' by bushes or walls. N.W.
Suck-blood. The Common Leech. Zuckblood (S.). S.W.
Suffer. To punish, to make to suffer. ' I '11 suffer you, you
young rascal ! ' N.W.
*Suffy. To draw a deep and quick breath. N.W. (Malmes-
bury.)
Sugar-codlins. Epilobium Mrsutum, L., Great Hairy Willow-
herb. N.W.
Suggy. Wood that is soaked with wet is said to be 'suggy.'
See Sog. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*Suity. Even, regular (A.B.).
*Sultedge. A coarse apron, worn by poor women (A.B.C.).
Sultredge (H. Wr.). By which is probably intended that the
apron is made of sultedge, or a kind of coarse sheeting.
N.W.
^
*Summer field. See quotation.
' In the four-field system, where the clover is sown the second year,
and mowed the third, the field becomes in the fourth year what is
called, in Wiltshire, a summer field.' Agric. of Wilts, ch. vii.
M
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(delwedd B8787) (tudalen 162)
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162 Summer ground Sweeten
* Summer ground. See quotation.
'A custom upon two farms . . . of feeding six oxen through the full
range of all the summer ground belonging to the hither Beversbrook
. . . being the Home Close, the Middle Marsh, the Course Marsh, the
Upper Lease, and Brewer's Lease ; through the full range likewise of
such summer grounds as belong to the yonder Beversbrook to be put
in at Mortimers Gate and to feed to Burfurlong Corner, through all the
afore mentioned grounds from the third of May to Michaelmas.'
Hilmarton Parish Terrier, 1704. See Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxiv. p. 126.
Summer rick. A windmow, or very large cock of hay, thrown
up in the field, to remain there some time (Gamekeeper at
Home, ch. iv). N.W.
Summers or Bed-summers. See Waggon.
Summer Snipe. Totanus hypoleucos, Common Sandpiper.
N. & S.W.
Sungreen. Sempervivum tectorum, L., Houseleek. Occasionally
Singreen in S. Wilts, and Silgreen in N. Wilts. A.S. sin-
grene.W. & S.W.
*Swaft. Thirst (H.Wr.). Probably from Fr. soif.
*Swank. To work in a slow lazy fashion, to idle. ' Her bain't
no good for your place, ma'am, her do go swanking about
so over her work.' S.W. (Salisbury.)
*Swankey. *(i) adj. Boisterous, swaggering, strutting
(A.B.H.Wr.). *( 2 ) n. Weak beer; drink (S.). S.W.
Swash, Swosh. (i) n. A torrent or great rush of water.
N.W.
' A man in answer to my question of how the rain seemed to fall,
said, "It came down in swashes," and I think it may also be said
that occasionally the wind came in swashes too/ The Great Wiltshire
Storm, Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. vi. p. 380.
(2) v. To swill out. 'I've bin swoshing out the back-
kitchin.' N.W.
* Sweeps. Hypericum calycinum, L., Large-flowered St. John's
Wort. S.W. (Farley.)
Sweet-briar. The young succulent suckers of any rose, which
are peeled and eaten by children. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
* Sweeten. Some land requires sweetening, or chalking, to take
out the acidity, before it will bear barley (Agric. Survey],
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(delwedd B8788) (tudalen 163)
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Sweethearts Tail 163
Sweethearts. Galium Aparine, L., Goosegrass, because its burs
have such an affectionate way of clinging to one. S.W.
(Salisbury. )
Swilter. To smoulder away to ashes, without breaking into
flame (A.B.). N.W.
*Swittle. To cut or whittle (A.H.Wr.).
Sythe. To sigh (A.B.). N.W.
T. Thr, at the beginning of a word, is usually sounded as dr,
as draish, dree. After liquids d or t will often be added, as
varmint, vermin ; sarment, sermon ; steart, a steer ; dillard,
thiller. F and v sometimes become th, as thetches for fitches
or vetches. Th will also occasionally become Ss, as lattermass,
latter-math. Conversely, Ss rarely becomes th, as moth, moss.
Tack. (i) A shelf, as chimney-tack (A. B.C.). N.W. (2)
Pasture for horses and cattle (A.B.). N.W. (3) 'Out to
tack,' at agistment, applied to cattle that are put out to keep
by the week or month. N.W.
Tackle. Stuff, any material, as food, solid or liquid (A.).
1 This here yale be oncommon good tackle ' ; or dress material,
' Haven't 'ee got any gingham tackle ? ' (Great Estate, ch. iv).
Also used of food for cattle. N.W.
' Thaay [the sheep] be goin' into th' Mash to-morrow . . . We be got
shart o' keep . . . Thur 's a main sight o' tackle in the Mash vor um.'
Green Ferne Farm, ch. v.
Taffety. Dainty in eating (S.). S.W.
Tag. (i) When a lawn-mower or barrow is too heavy for
one man to manage alone, a rope is attached for a boy to
draw by, who is said to 'pull tag.' N.W. (Clyife Pypard.)
(2) n. A game played by boys. One touches another, saying
Tag ! and the touched person has then to run after and touch
another, who becomes Tag in his turn. N. & S.W. "(3) v.
To tease, to torment (C.). N.W., obsolete.
Tail. (i) n. The whole skirt of a woman's dress. 'Hev'ee
got ar' a owld taail to gie I, Miss?' N. & S.W.
(2) * Seconds ' of flour (Great Estate, ch. vi) ; also Tailing-
M 2
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(delwedd B8789) (tudalen 164)
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164 Tail Pole Tear
flour. N.W. (3) Tail-ends or Tailings. Refuse wheat,
not saleable in market, kept for consumption on the farm
(A. E.G.); also Tail, Tailing-wheat, and Tailens (S.).
N. & S.W.
Tail Pole. See Waggon.
*Take. n. The sciatica (Aubrey's Wilts MR). Obsolete.
Take up. Of weather, to become fine. N. & S.W.
Tallet, Tallot. A hay-loft over a stable (A.B.G.S.). Welsh
taftod.'N. & S.W. See N. $ Q. 8th Ser. iv. 450, &c.
"Tamed. ' By that time the ground will be tamed/ Said in
Lisle 's Husbandry to be a Wilts agricultural term, but not
there explained.
Tan. Then is so pronounced in such phrases as Now'-an'-Tan
and Twitch-an'-Tcm.
Tang. (i) 'To tang the bell/ to pull it (A.). N.W.
(2) * To tang bees,' to follow a swarm, beating a fire-shovel
or tin pan (A.). N.W. (3) v. To make a noise (S.).
S.W. (4) n. A small church bell is a Ting-Tang.
N.W.
Tankard. A sheep-bell. N.W. It is said that the whole
of the 'tankards' in use in England are made at Great
Cheverell.
'Hilary . . . turned back, remarking, "It's Johnson's flock ; I know
the tang of his tankards." The flat-shaped bells hung on a sheep's
neck are called tankards, and Hilary could distinguish one flock from
another by the varying notes of their bells.'. Great Estate, ch. vi. p. 123.
*Tasker. A tramping harvester or casual labourer who works
by the piece (Agric. of Wilts, p. 24).
*Tawney, Ta'aney. The Bullfinch, Pyrrhula vulgaris. N.W.
Tazzle. n. l Her hair be aal of a tazzle,' in great disorder, all
tangled and knotted and tousled. N.W.
Tear. (i) A rage. * He wur in just about a tear.' S.W.
(2) In N. Wilts old folk used formerly to tear their crockery,
and "break their clothes, but tear now seems obsolete in this
sense there. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8790) (tudalen 165)
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Teart Terrify 165
Teart. (i) Painfully tender, sore, as a wound (A.). N.W.
(2) Stinging, as a blister. N.W. (Rowde.) (3) Tart, as
beer turning sour (S.) : acrimonious. See Addenda. S.W.
Ted. To throw about hay for the first time (D.S.).
N. & S.W.
Teel, Tile. To place anything leaning against a wall
(A.B.H.Wr.). Generally used with up, as 'Teel it up agen
th' wall, wull 'ee ? 'N.W.
Teft. The same as Heft (A.B.C.) N.W.
Teg-man. A shepherd. S.W. (Salisbury.)
'I am a teg-man (or shepherd) in the employ of Mr. White.' Wills
County Mirror, October 28, 1892, p. 8, col. 5.
Temper. t To temper down dripping,' to melt it and refine
with water. N.W.
Temtious. Tempting, inviting. N. & S.W.
*Temzer. A riddle or sieve. Cp. Fr. tamis. Obsolete.
' A temzer, a range, or coarse searche : Wilts.' MS. Lansd. 1033, f. 2.
Tentful. Attentive, careful. N.W.
Terrible. Extremely. * 'Tes a terr'ble bad harvest to-year.'
N. & S.W.
Terrify. (i) v. To worry, irritate, annoy ; used especially
of very troublesome children. 'The vlies be terrible
terrifying.' N. & S.W,
' 'Twer mostly losing of a hoss as did for 'em, and most al'ays wi'
bad shoeing. They gived 'em scant measure shoed 'em too tight,
they did, a-terrifying o' the poor beasts.' Jonathan Merle, ch. xlviii.
p. 520.
* Her own folks mightn't a-like so well to come and stay, if ther was
al'ays a terrifying old woman to put up with.' Ibid, ch. liv. p. 596.
' Her husband, who had been out in the fields, came home and began
to "terrify" her.'Marlborough Times, November 26, 1892.
' I be turrivied wi' rheumatics.' Dark, ch. x.
(2) n. A source of worry or trouble. A bed-ridden woman
who has to get her neighbours to do everything for her is
'a terrible terrify ' to them. N.W. "(3) v. To injure,
as a hailstorm does apple-blossom (Wilts Arch. Mag.
vol. xxii. p. 113). N.W. (Cherhill.)
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(delwedd B8791) (tudalen 166)
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1 66 Te wley Throw
Tewley, Tuley. Weakly (S.). Sickly, tired-looking. S.W.
Thatches. See Thetches.
Thauf. Although, or although if ; as ' A never vound un,
thauf he'd gone dree lug vurder on, a cudden a bin off
seem' on un.' Cp. Sauf. N.W. (Malmesbury, etc.)
Theave. A ewe of the third year.
'We have wether hogs and chilver hogs, and shear hogs, ram tegs,
and theaves, and two-tooths, and four-tooths, and six-tooths.' Wilts
Arch. Mag. ch. xvii. p. 303.
There-right. (i) 'Go straight forward,' order to ahorse
at plough (A.). N.W. (2) On the spot. N.W.
Thert. v. To plough land a second time, at right angles to
the first ploughing, so as to clean it more effectually. Cp.
Thwart. N.W.
Thetches, Thatches. Vetches. Lent thetches are an early
spring kind. N.W.
Thill, or Dill. The shaft of a cart. N.W.
Thiller, Diller, Thill-horse. The shaft-horse of a team.
N.W.
Thimbles. Campanula rotundifolia, L., the Harebell. S.W.
(Hampt worth.)
Thorough-pin. The pin which fastens the waggon-bed to the
carriage (D.). See Waggon. N.W.
* Three-pound-tenner. The name given by bird-catchers
about Salisbury to the * Chevil ' variety of Goldfinch, it
being more valuable than the ordinary kind (Birds of Wilts,
p. 203). S.W.
Threshles. ' A pair of threshles, drashols, or flyals, a flail ' (D.).
The usual term for a flail. See Drashel. N. & S.W.
Throw. (i) n. 'A throw of timber,' the quantity felled at
any one time. N.W. (2) v. To fell timber (Bevis, ch. i).
N.W. (3) 'To throw a gin or snare,' to spring or set
it off (Amateur Poacher, ch. vi). N.W. .
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(delwedd B8792) (tudalen 167)
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Thunder-bolts Tile 167
Thunder-bolts, (i) The concretionary nodules of iron pyrites
so frequently found in the chalk. See Gold ; also Thunder-
stones in Addenda. N. & S.W.
' The ploughboys search for pyrites, and call them thunderbolts/
Greene Feme Farm, ch. v.
(2) Fossil belemnites. N. & S.W.
Thunder-flower. Papaver Ehoeas, &c., Red Poppy. S.W.
Thunder-fly. A black midge. So called because they appear
mostly in thunder weather. N. & S.W.
' Tiny black flies alighting on my hands and face, irritated the skin ;
the haymakers call them " thunder-flies." ' Great Estate, ch. v.
pp. 96-97.
*Thurindale. A flagon holding about three pints (H.Wr.).
M.E. thriddendele, a third part. Obsolete.
Thurtifer. Unruly, self-willed (H.Wr.). S.W.
TickyPig. The smallest pig of a litter. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard. )
Tid. *(i) Lively, playful (E.G.). (2) Childish, affecting
simplicity (A.), shy. 'Coom, coom, dwon't'e be tid' (A.).
A.S. tyddr, tender, weak, imbecile. N.W.
Tiddle. (i) v. To bring up a lamb by hand (A.). A.S. tyd-
drian, to nourish, feed. N.W.
' " Shall I get a drap o' milk, and tiddle un a leetle, maester ? "
. . .
" Ha ! to be sure ! . . . Put un into the basket . . . and get us a
bottle
wi' some milk." Tom, who had often assisted the young lambs in the
same way, soon procured the therewith to fashion the pseudo teat,
and master and man did their best to perform the office of wet nurse
to the unfortunate foundling.' Wilts Tales, pp. 5-6.
(2) v. To tickle (S.). S.W.
Tiddlin* lamb. A lamb brought up by hand (A.). See Tiddle
(!)._N.W.
*Tiddy. adj. Weakly, delicate. See Tiddle (i). N.W. (Castle
Eaton, &c.)
Tide-times. Christmas, Easter, &c. ' He do have a drop,
tide-times and that.' N. & S.W.
Tie. Of wood, to pinch the saw while working. N.W.
*Tig. A little pig (Dark, ch. i). N.W., occasionally.
Tile. See Teel.
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(delwedd B8793) (tudalen 168)
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168 Tiller Titty-wren
Tiller. The upper handle of a sawyer's long pit-saw. See Box.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Tiller out. To sprout out with several shoots, as wheat after
being eaten off when young. N. & S.W.
Timersome. Timid (A.S.). N.W.
Tine. *( i ) v. To light a fire or candle (A. C. ). Tin'd (B. ). Cf.
A.S. tendan, on-tendan, to kindle, and E. tinder. *(2) To
finish off a laid hedge or stake-fence by weaving in the
top-band of boughs (A. B.). *(3) v. To divide or enclose
a field with a hedge (A.B.C.). A.S. tynan.X.W.
' To tine in a piece of waste ground is to enclose it with a fence of
wood or quickset.' Cunnington MS.
(4) n. A drag or harrow tooth (D.). N.W. *(s) To give
the ground two or three linings is to draw the harrow two or
three times over the same place. See Cope's Hants Gloss.
' They drag it two, three, or four times, and harrow it four, five,
or six times, viz. (provincially speaking), they give it "so many tine
with the drag, and so many with the harrow." ' Agric. of Wilts, ch. vii.
Ting-tang. A small church-bell (S.). See Tang. N.W.
*Tining. (i) n. A new enclosure made with a dead hedge
(D.H.Wr.). N.W. (2) n. A fence of wood, either brush-
wood, pale, or quickset (C.). N.W., obsolete.
Tippem, Tippum. A game played by six boys, three on each
side of the table. The centre one 'works the piece,' i. e.
passes it from hand to hand up and down under his side of
the table. Then all the hands are placed on the table, and
the opposite side guesses which hand the ' piece ' is in, and
scores or loses a mark according as the guess is right or
wrong. The * piece ' may be anything available, from a knife
to a pebble or bean. N.W.
Tippy, Tippity. Easily upset. N. & S.W.
Tistie-tostie, Tostie. A child's name for both cowslip and
cowslip-ball. N. & S.W.
Tithing, Tething. A shock of ten sheaves, for convenience in
tithe-taking (D.). The same as Hyle. N.W.
Titty- wren. The wren. N.W.
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(delwedd B8794) (tudalen 169)
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Toad's-cheese Tom Thumb's Honeysuckle 169
*Toads'-cheese. Toadstool, fungus (A.).
*Toads'-heads. Fritillaria Meleagris, L., Snake's-head (English
Plant Names). N. W. (Minety.)
Toads'-meat. Toadstools ; fungi (S.). S.W.
Toad-stabber. A bad blunt knife (S.). Commonly used by
boys about Clyffe Pypard. N. & S.W.
Todge. Any thick spoon-meat, as gruel (A. B.C.). See Stodge.
N.W.
Token. *(i) A fool (H.Wr.). (2) A 'young token' is
a young rascal. N.W. (3) Formerly used also as a term
of endearment. A man would call his children his ' little
tokens.' N.W. (4) ' Blackberry-token,' the Dewberry.
Toll. To entice or decoy. Tawl (S.). 'Hev' a bit o' cheese,
to toll the bread down wi', will 'ee ? ' Still in common use.
A cow given to wandering, when she breaks out of bounds,
generally 'tolls' the rest of the herd after her. N. & S.W.
Toll-bird. (i) n. A trained decoy-bird ; also a stuifed bird
used as a decoy. N. & S.W. (2) 'To give anything just
as a toll-bird,' to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel. Trades-
men will sell some one article far below cost-price, as a toll-bird
to attract custom. S.W.
Tom-bird. The male of any bird is generally so called in
N. Wilts.
Tom Cull. The Bullhead, Coitus goUo (A.). N. & S.W.
Tommy. Food in general (S.), especially when carried out
into the fields. -N. & S.W.
Tommy-bag. The bag in which labourers take food out with
them (S.). N. & S.W.
Tommy-hacker. The same as Hacker. S.W. (Steeple
Ashton.)
Tommy-hawk. A potato hacker. See Hacker. N.W.
"'Tom Thumbs. Lotus comiculatus, L., Bird's-foot Trefoil.
S.W. (Mere.)
*Tom Thumb's Honeysuckle. Lotus comiculatus, L., Bird's-
foot Trefoil (Sanm Dioc. Gazette). S.W. (Zeals.)
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(delwedd B8795) (tudalen 170)
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1 70 Toppings Tree-mouse
Toppings. Bran and mill-sweepings ground up together. N.W.
Totty, Tutty, Tutto. A nosegay. Used all over Wilts, in
slightly varying pronunciations, the stress sometimes falling
on the first and sometimes on the last syllable. An apple-
tree in full blossom is 'all a totty.' At Hungerford the
tything-men are known as Tutti-men, and carry Tutti-poles,
or wands wreathed with flowers. Minsheu's Diet., Eng.
and Spanish ed. 1623, 'a posie or tuttie.' N. & S.W.
Touch. Coarse brown paper soaked in saltpetre and dried,
used instead of matches for lighting a pipe in the open air,
the spark to kindle it being struck with a knife and a flint.
Commonly used up to a very recent date. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
Touchwood. A boy's game, in which the pursued endeavours
to escape by touching wood, i. e. tree or post, before his
pursuer can seize him. N. & S.W.
Toward. (i) Order to a horse to come towards you. N.W.
(2) Hence applied to anything near or leaning towards you
(Great Estate, ch. viii). N.W.
Towardly. Docile, as opposed to froward. N.W.
To-year, T'year. This year. ' I bain't a-gwain' to set no taters
to-year.' N. & S.W.
Traipse, Trapes, Traipsey. (i) n. A slattern. N. & S.W.
(2) To walk in a slatternly manner ; used chiefly of women.
N. & S.W.
* Trammel Hawk. Falco peregrinus, Peregrine Falcon (Birds
of Wilts, p. 72). S.W.
Trant. To move goods. N.W.
Tranter. A haulier. N.W.
Trapes, n. An untidy person (S.). See Traipes. N. & S.W.
*Traveller's-ease. Adiillea Millefolium, L., Common Yarrow.
S.W. (Little Langford.)
Tree-mouse. Certhia familiar is, the Common Creeper. S.W.
' It may be seen creeping like a mouse up and down the bole of a
tree. Hence it is known in the south of the county as the "Tree-
mouse.* " Birds of Wilts, p. 259.
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(delwedd B8796) (tudalen 171)
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Trendle Truckles 171
Trend le. (i) n. A circular trough or tray in which
bakers mix their dough. N. & S.W. (2) n. Hence,
a circular earthwork. N.W.
1 Chisenbury Camp, or Trendle, as it is vulgarly called.' BRITTON'S
Top. Descr. Wilts, p. 407.
Triangle. * To plant cabbages triangle/ to set them in quin-
cunx order. N.W.
Trig. (i) v. To fasten, make firm (Wilts Arch. Mag.
vol. xxii. p. 113). N.W. (2) adj. 'Pretty trig,' in fairly
good health. S.W. (Steeple Ashton.)
Trigger. The rod let down to * trig up ' the shafts of a cart.
N.W.
* Trim-tram. A gate which swings in a V-shaped enclosure
of post and rail, so as to prevent cattle from passing through.
-N.W. (Cherhill.)
Trins. Calves' trins, i.e., calves' stomachs, are used in cheese-
making. N. W.
Trip. To take off in jumping. N.W.
Tripping. The ' take-off ' in jumping. N.W.
' Sometimes they could not leap because the tripping was bad . . .
sometimes the landing was bad ... or higher than the tripping.'
Bevis, ch. v.
Trounce. To have the law of a man, to punish by legal
process (A.B.S.) ; never used of physical punishment.
N.W.
Truckle. (i) v. To roll. N.W. (2) n. Anything that
may be rolled. N.W. (3) n. A small cheese (S.)
N. & S.W.
Truckle-cheese. A small barrel-shaped cheese of about 6 or
8 Ibs. N. & S.W.
Truckles. (i) 'Sheep's-truckles,' sheep dung; the usual
term in N. Wilts. Cf. 'trottles' in Line., and 'trestles' in
Sussex. N.W. (2) 'To play truckles,' to roll anything,
such as a reel, the top of a canister, &c., from one player to
another, backwards and forwards. S.W.
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(delwedd B8797) (tudalen 172)
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172 Trumpery Tun-dish
Trumpery. Weeds growing in cultivated ground. N.W.
1 If he'd a-let us have it rent free first year ('cause that land wer all
full o' trump'ry that high) we could ha' done.' Jonathan Merle,
ch. xxxvii. p. 412.
Tuck. (i) 'To tuck a rick,' to pull out the uneven hay
all round the sides, until they look smooth and even.
N.W. (2) To smart with pain (H.Wr.). N. & S.W.
(3) To blow gustily. l The wind is so tucking to-day/ i.e.
gusty, veering, blowing from all quarters, uncertain.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Tuffin, Tuffin-hay, Tuff-mowing. Late hay made of the
rough grass left by the cattle. Turvin (Great Estate, ch. iv).
N.W.
*Tufwort. Probably the nest of Vespa Britannica, which in
hot summers has occurred frequently in our hedges in some
parts of the county.
' Between Crook wood and what is called " The Folly," they observed
a large cluster in one of the fir-trees . . . which turned out to be a
wasps' nest. The nest, which was nearly as large as a quartern
measure, was fully matured, and is described by an expert in taking
wasps' nests as what is known as " the tufwort " nest. It consisted
of
three splendid cakes of comb, enclosed in a web.' Local Papers, July,
1893.
Tugs. Pieces of chain attached to the hames of the thiller,
by which he draws. N.W.
Tuley. See Tewley.
Tulip-tree. Acer pseudo-platanus, L., Sycamore, the smell
or taste of the young shoots being supposed by children to
resemble that of the tulip. S.W. (Salisbury.)
Tump. A hillock (A.B.). N. & S.W.
Tumpy. Hillocky, uneven (A.) N.W.
Tun. (i) n. Chimney, chimney-top (A. B.C.). ' Chimney-
tun ' (Wild Life, ch. viii). N. & S.W. (2) v. ' To tun,' or
1 to tun in,' to pour liquid through a Hun-dish ' into a cask.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, Devizes, Huish.)
Tun-dish, or Tun-bowl. A kind of wooden funnel, like
a small bucket, with hoops round it, and a tube at the
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(delwedd B8798) (tudalen 173)
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Turf T'y ear 173
bottom, used for pouring liquids into a cask. N.W.
(Devizes, Clyffe Pypard, Huish.) See Measure for Measure,
iii. 2.
Turf. Refuse oak-bark from the tanner's, made into cakes for
firing (B.H.Wr.). N.W. (Marlborough, &c.)
*Turn or Torn. A spinning-wheel. N.W. (obsolete). This
word frequently occurs in the Mildenhall parish accounts,
as :
' 1793. To Box and Spokes to Torn, is. zd. To a Standard, hoop
4 spokes to Torn, is. 3^. To a Hoop 3 spokes to a Torn, nd. To 4 legs
and standard a hope 5 spokes to Sal's Torn, as. 7^. To Mending Bery's
Torn, is. 6d. 1784. Paid John Kawlins for a Turn, 33.'
In 1809-10 the word Turn gives place to Spinning-ivheel.
* Turnpike. A wire set by a poacher across a hare's run
(Amateur Poacher, chs. ii. and vii). N.W.
Turvin. See Tuffin.
Tutto. See Totty. N.W.
Tutty. See Totty (S.). N. & S.W.
*Tut-work. Piece-work (S.). S.W.
Twinge. (i) n. A long flat cake or loaf of bread. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.) (2) n. A piece of dough, moulded for
making into bread. S.W. (Deverill.)
*Twire. To look wistfully at anything (A. B.C.). ' How he
did twire an' twire at she, an' her wouldn't so much as
gie 'un a look ! ' In Cunnington MS. the word is said to have
been in common use at that time in N. Wilts.
' The wench . . . twired and twinkled at him.' FLETCHER, Women
Pleased, p. 41.
1 Compare Prov. Germ, swiren, to take a stolen glance at a thing/
SMYTHE-PALMEB.
*Twi-ripe. Kipening unevenly (D.).
Twit. In cider-making, the same as Perkins, q.v. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
T'year. This year (A.S.) See To-year. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8799) (tudalen 174)
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174 U Upsides
U. U is often sounded ow, as fowsty, fusty, dowst, dust, or
chaff.
Tick. This very characteristic N. Wilts verb is used in many
ways. Stable-litter is ucked about with a fork in cleaning
out ; weeds are ucked out of a gravel path with an old knife ;
a cow ucks another with the thrust of her horn ; or a bit of
cinder is ucked out of the eye with a bennet. See Great
Estate, ch. iv, where it is said that anything stirred with
a pointed instrument is ' ucked ' ; also Gamekeeper at Home,
ch. ii. * It is apparently not a perversion of hook, and should
be compared with huck, to push, lift, gore, Hants ; huck,
a hard blow, Suss., and huck, to spread about manure (see
Parish, Sussex Gloss.). It is perhaps a by-form of Prov.
hike, to toss, throw, or strike ' (Rev. A. Smythe-Palmer).
Unbelieving. Of children, disobedient. 'He be that un-
believin', I can't do nothin' wi' un.' N. & S.W.
Under-creeping. Underhanded. S.W.
Unempty, Unempt, Unent. v. To empty (S.). N. & S.W.
Unked or Hunked. Lonely (A.), but always with an idea of
uncanniness underlying it. ' 'Tes a unked rwoad to take
late o' nights.' Also Unkid, Unkerd (B.C.), Unkert (C.),
and Unket (B.). N.W.
' The gamekeeper . . . regards this place as " unkid " i. e. weird,
uncanny.' Gamekeeper at Home, ch. iv.
'Related to uncouth = (i) unknown, (a) strange, uncanny, lonely.'
SMYTHE-PALMER.
1 What be the matter with thuck dog you ? How he do howl it
sounds main unkid ! ' Greene Feme Farm, ch. ix.
Here unkid = ominous and uncanny.
Unthaw. To thaw (S.Wr.). N. & S.W.
Up-along. A little way up the street or road (S.). See
Down-along. N. & S.W.
Upping-stock. A horse-block (A.B.). N.W.
Upsides. ; I'll be upzides wi' un ! ' I'll be even with him
(S)., or a match for him. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8800) (tudalen 175)
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V Velt 175
V. Many words, as Voreright, usually pronounced with a V,
will be found under F.
Vag. To reap in the modern style, with a broad ' rip-hook '
and a crooked stick, chopping the straw off close to the
ground, so as to leave little or no stubble (Walks in the
Wheatfields). True reaping should be done with the hand
instead of the crooked stick. N. & S.W.
Vagging-hook. The hook used in vagging. N. & S.W.
Vagging-stick. The crooked stick, usually hazel, with which
the corn is drawn towards the reaper in vagging (Amateur
Poacher, ch. iv). N. & S.W.
*Valiant Sparrow. Yunx torquilla, the Wryneck (Birds of
Wilts, p. 257).
Vallens. See Falling (S.). S.W.
Vamp. To walk about (S.). Much more used in Dorset.
*I zeed she a- vamping half round the town.' S.W.
*Vamplets. Kude gaiters to defend the legs from wet (A.H.).
Cf. Bams. Also used in the New Forest. See Cradock Nowell,
ch. xviii, ' Not come with me . . . and you with your
vamplets on, and all ! ' where the word is applied to
shooting gaiters. N.W.
Veer. (i) n. A furrow. N.W. (Glouc. bord.) (2) v.
1 To veer out the rudges,' to mark out with the plough the
Drudges' or 'lands' before ploughing the whole field.
N.W.
Veer weather. Chopping, changeable weather.
Veldevare or Veldever. See Velt.
*Vell. The salted stomach of a young calf, used for making
rennet. N.W. (Malmesbury).
*Velleys. The drain where the eaves of a cottage meet.
Velt. The fieldfare. Turdus pilaris (Wild Life, ch. xvi), the
usual name for the bird in N. Wilts, there being a few local
variants, as Vulver at Huish and Veldever at Clyffe
Pypard. Also Veldevare. N.W.
' Tom was a regular gawney . . . and went about wi' a handful o' zalt
to catch the veldevares.' Wilts Tales, p. 177.
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(delwedd B8801) (tudalen 176)
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176 Vert Wag
Vert. See Plim.
"Vessel. See quotation. N.W. (Castle Eaton.)
' To wash up the vessel (sing, not pi.} is to wash up plates, dishes,
&c.' Miss E. BOYER-BROWN.
Vinney. (i) adj. Mouldy (A.C.S.), as applied to bread or
cheese. A. S. fynig. Cunnington MS. points out that it is
only used of white or blue mould, never of black or rotten
mould. It was said at Hill Deverill of a woman feigning to
be bed-ridden, that ' she would lie there abed till she were
vinney.' See Blue-vinnied. (2) adj. Nervous. 'Do'ee
stop telling about they ghostises, or 'tull make I vinny.'-
N. & S.W.
Vlonkers. See Flunk (S.). S.W.
Vrail. The whip part of the old-fashioned flail. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
Vrammards, Vrammerd. (i) Order to a horse to go from
you, as opposed to Toward. N.W. (2) Hence sometimes
used as adj. by ploughmen and others in speaking of anything
distant or leaning away from them (Great Estate, ch. viii),
as a load of hay or corn with a list to the off. N.W.
(3) n. A vrammerd is a blade set at right angles on a short
handle, used for splitting laths or rails. N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
Vrow. See Brow.
*Vuddles, Vuddels. A spoilt child (A.B.C.H.). In Hants to
vuddle a child is to spoil it by injudicious petting. N.W.,
obsolete.
Vulver. See Velt.
W. Often not sounded at the beginning of a word. Thus want,
a mole, becomes 'oont, and within and without are usually
athin and athout.
Waddle up. To wrap up with an excess of clumsily arranged
clothing ; usually applied to infants. N.W.
Wag. (i) 'To wag the Church bells,' to set them ringing.
Also used of tolling the bell for a funeral. N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8802) (tudalen 177)
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Waggon Wallow 1 77
(2) To move (S.). 'I be that bad I can't scarce wag.'
N. & S.W. (3) In carrying, the boy who stands at the
horses' heads, to move them forward as required, is said to
1 wag hoss,' and the order given is ' wag on ! ' N. W.
Waggon. The various parts of a waggon in N. Wilts bear the
following names: the bottom is the Waggon-bed. The
transverse pieces which support this over the Exes (axles)
are the Pillars, Peel (A. ). The longitudinal pieces on each
side on which the sides rest are the Waggon-blades. The
similar pieces under the centre of the bed are the Bed-
summers. The cross piece at the back into which the Tail-
board hooks is the Shetlock or Shutleck. The Tail Pole joins
the front and hind wheels together underneath. The Hound
is the fore-carriage over the front wheels. The Slide is the
crossbar on the tail of the ' Hound.' The Dripple is the strip
running along the top of the side of the waggon from which
over the hind wheels project the Waggon-hoops, and over the
front wheels the Haves. The shafts are the Dills or Thills.
The Parters are detached pieces of wood at the side, joining
the ' Dripple 'to the 'Bed.' The Thorough-pin is the pin
which fastens the * Waggon-bed ' to the ' Carriage.' Also see
Arms, Hoops, Overlayer, Sharps, Draughts, Limbers,
Strouter, Ridge-tie, Blades, and Spances.
Wagtails. Briza media, L., Quaking Grass. N. & S.W.
Wag- wants. Briza media, L., Quaking Grass (S.). Also
Weg- wants, Wigwaiits, Wing- Wang, and Wagtails. N. &
S.W.
Wake. (i) n. The raked-up line (broader than a hatch or
wallow) of hay before it is made up into pooks (Wild Life,
ch. vii). N.W. (2) v. To rake hay into wakes (D.).
N.W.
Wake-at-noon. Ornithogalum umbellatum, L. , Star of Bethlehem.
-N.W.
Wallow. (i) n. A thin line of hay (Great Estate, ch. iv).
Weak in Dorset. (2) v. To rake hay into lines.
N.W.
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(delwedd B8803) (tudalen 178)
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178 Want Wat chet
Want. A mole (B.S.) ; also Woont (B.) and 'oont ( Wilts Tales,
p. 173 ; Gamekeeper at Home, ch. ii). N. & S.W.
4 1620. Itm. to William Gosse for killing of wants, xijd.' Records
of Chippenham, p. 202.
Want-catcher, 'oont-catcher. n. A professional mole
catcher. N. & S.W.
Want-heap. A mole-hill. N. & S.W.
* Want-rear. A mole-hill. S.W.
Waps, Wopse. A wasp (A.S.). A.S. weeps. N. & S.W.
Warnd, Warn. To warrant (A.S.). * You '11 get un, I warnd.'
N. & S.W.
Warning-stone. See Gauge-brick. Also see Addenda.
Wart- wort. (i) Chelidonium majus, L., The Greater Celan-
dine, the juice of which is used to burn away warts. N.
& S.W. (2) Euphorbia Peplus, L., Petty Spurge. N.W.
Wassail. A drinking-song, sung by men who go about at
Christmas wassailing (A.B.). N.W.
Wassailing, Waysailing. Going about singing and asking for
money at Christmas (A.B.). N.W.
*Wasset-man. A scarecrow (A.B.G.H.Wr.) ; also Wusset
. N.W.
Watch. If a hay-rick is so badly made that it heats, the owner
is often so ashamed of it that he attempts to set the matter
right before his neighbours find it out. If a passer-by
notices him poking about the hay as if searching for some-
thing in it, the ironical question is asked * Have you lost
your watch there?' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) Cp. 'To drop
your watch in the bottom of the rick.' Upton-on-Severn
Words, p. 34-
Watchet, Wetched, Wetchet. Wet about the feet. Wotshed
at Cherhill. Wetched (A.). N.W.
' Either way, by lane or footpath, you are sure to get what the
country folk call " watchet," i.e. wet.' Wild Life, ch. vi.
' You'd best come along o' me to the lower lands . . . for it be mighty
wet there these marnins, and ye'll get watshed for certin.' The Story
of Dick, ch. xii. p. 142.
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(delwedd B8804) (tudalen 179)
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Water Anemone Wheeling 179
* Water Anemone. Ranunculus hederaceus, L., Ivy-leafed Crow-
foot. S.W. (Zeals.)
*Water-blobb. Nuphar lutea, Sm., The Water-lily (A.B.).
See Blobbs.
* Water-butter cup. Ranunculus Flammula, L., Lesser Spear-
wort. S.W. (Zeals.)
Water-Cuckoo. Cardamine pratensis, L., Lady's Smock. See
Cuckoo. S.W.
Water-lily. (i) Caltha palustris, L., Marsh Marigold.
N. & S.W. *(2) Ranunculus aquatilis, L., Water Crowfoot.
S.W. (Charlton All Saints.)
* Way side-bread. Plantago major, L., Plantain (English Plant
Names). Cp. M.E. wey-lrede in the 'Promptorium.'
Weather-glass. Anagallis arvensis, L., Scarlet Pimpernel.
See Shepherd's Weather-glass. N. & S.W.
Weeth. (i) adj. Tough and pliable (A.B.C.S.). N.W.
(2) adj. Of bread, moist and yet not too soft. ' I puts my
lease bread on the pantony shelf, and it soon gets nice and
weeth.' Often pronounced as wee. N. & S.W.
Weffet, We vet. A spider. S.W., occasionally.
Weg-wants. See Wag-wants.
Weigh-jolt. A see-saw (A.B.H.Wr.). Formerly in common
use at Clyffe Pypard, N.W.
Welch-nut. A walnut (MS. Lansd.).^. & S.W.
*Well-at-ease. In good health, hearty. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Well-drock. The windlass over a well. S.W.
West (pronounced Waasf). A stye in the eye. See Wish.
S.W.
Wheat-reed. Straw preserved unthreshed for thatching (D.).
See Elms and Reed. S.W., obsolete.
* Wheeling. l It rains wheeling,' i.e. hard or pouring. N.W.
(Lockeridge. )
N 2
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(delwedd B8805) (tudalen 180)
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180 Whicker White Couch
Whicker, Wicker. (i) To neigh or whinny as a horse,
bleat as a goat, whine as a dog, &c. (S. ; Village Miners ; Wilts
Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 114). N.W. (2) To giggle.
N.W. *(s) 'To find a wicker's nest/ to be seized with
an irrepressible fit of giggling (Village Miners). N.W.
*Whip land. Land not divided by meres, but measured out,
when ploughed, by the whip's length (D.).
Whippence. The fore-carriage of a plough or harrow, &c. (D.).
N.W.
Whipwhiles. Meanwhile (S.). A Somersetshire word. S.W.
Whissgig. (i) v. To lark about. Wissgigin, larking (S.).
N. & S.W. (2) n. A lark, a bit of fun or tomfoolery.
' Now, none o' your whissgigs here ! ' N.W.
Whissgiggy. adj. Frisky, larky. N.W.
* White. ' Cow white ' = cow in milk. * Calf white ' = sucking
calf.
' All the small tithes such as wool and lamb, cow white and calf &c.
throughout all parts of the parish unexpressed in the several foregoing
particulars. The usual rates at present being fourpence a cow white
sixpence a calf . . . the sheep, lambs and calves are due at St. Mark's
tide the cow white, and fatting cattle at Lammas.' Hilmarton Parish
Terrier, 1704. See Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxiv. p. 126.
Usually defined as above, but perhaps more correctly written
as cow-wite and calf-wife, i.e. the mulct or payment for a cow
or calf.
' Tythes of Wool and Lambs and Calves, and three half pence which
is due and payable at Lammas being Composition Money for the Tythe
White of every Cow.' Wilcot Parish Terrier, 1704.
As regards the ordinaiy derivation, compare white-house,
a dairy, white-meat, milk, whites, milk.
' Wheatly (On the Common Prayer, ed. 1848, pp. 233-4) quotes from a
letter of one G. Langbain, 1650, as follows : " certe quod de Lacte
vaccarum refert, illud percognitum habeo in agro Hamtoniensi (an et
alibi nescio) decimas Lacticiniorum venire vulgo sub hoc nomine, The
Whites of Kine ; apud Leicestrenses etiam Lacticinia vulgariter dicuntur
Whitemeat." ' SMYTHE- PALMER.
White Couch. See Couch.
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(delwedd B8806) (tudalen 181)
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White-flower Will-jill 181
White-flower. Stellaria Holostea, L., Greater Stitchwort.
N.W. (Huish.)
* White-house. A dairy (H.Wr.).
White-livered. Pale and unhealthy-looking (S.). N. & S.W.
At Clyffe Pypard the word has a yet stronger idea of disease
about it, and a l white-livered ' woman is popularly supposed
to be almost as dangerous as was the poison-nurtured Indian
beauty who was sent as a present to Alexander the Great.
How the ' whiteness ' of the liver is to be detected is not
very clear, but probably it is by the pallor of the face. At
any rate, if you discover that a young woman is i white-
livered,' do not on any account marry her, because the white-
ness of the liver is of a poisonous nature, and you assuredly
will not live long with a white-livered young woman for your
wife. It is most unhealthy, and if she does not die, you will !
The word is so used of both sexes.
White Robin Hood. Silene inflata, L., Bladder Campion.
S.W. (Zeals.)
White-wood. Viburnum Lantana, L., Mealy Guelder-rose.
N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) White-weed. S.W. (Farley).
*Whitty-tree. Viburnum Lantana, L. (Aubrey, Nat. Hist.
Wilts, p. 56, ed. Brit.)
Whiver. (i) To quiver, hover, flutter. Wiver (S.). S.W.
(2) To waver, hesitate. S.W.
*Who'say, Hoosay. An idle report. N.W. (Malmesbury. )
Wicker. See Whicker.
Wig-wants. See Wag-wants.
Wild Asparagus. Ornithogalum pyrenaicum; L., Spiked Star
of Bethlehem. S.W. (Som. bord.)
Wildern (i short). An apple-tree run wild in the hedges, as
opposed to a true crab-tree. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*Wild Willow. Epilobium hirsutum, L., Great Hairy Willow-
herb (Great Estate, ch. ii).
Will-jill. An impotent person or hermaphrodite. N.W.
Compare Wilgil and John-and-Joan in Hal.
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(delwedd B8807) (tudalen 182)
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1 82 Willow- wind Wonderment
* Willow- wind. (i) Convolvulus, Bindweed (Great Estate,
ch. viii). (2) Polygonum Fagopyrum, L., Buckwheat (Ibid.).
Wiltshire Weed, The. The Common Elm. See notice in
Athenaeum, 1873, of Jefferies' Goddard Memoir, also Wilts
Arch. Mag. vol. x. p. 160. This is a term frequently
occurring in books and articles on Wilts, but it would not be
understood by the ordinary Wiltshire folk.
Wim. To winnow. S.W.
Wind-mow. A cock of a waggon-load or more, into which
hay is sometimes put temporarily in catchy weather (D.),
containing about 15 cwt. in N. Wilts, and a ton elsewhere.
N. & S.W.
Wing-wang. See Wag-wants.
Winter-proud. Of wheat, too rank (D.), as is frequently the
case after a mild winter. See Proud. N.W.
Wirral, Worral, or Wurral. Ballota nigra, L., Black Hore-
hound. S.W. (Som. bord.)
Wish, Wisp. A sty in the eye. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Wissgigin. See Whissgig (i).
With wind, or With wine. Convolvulus sepium, L., Great Bind-
weed, and other species (A.B.D.S.). Wave- wine or Wither-
wine (Cycl. ofAgric.) ; Withy wind on Som. border. N. &
S.W.
Wivel, Wyvel. To blow as wind does round a corner or
through a hole. N.W.
Wivelly, or Wivel-minded. Undecided, wavering, fickle, and
untrustworthy (Village Miners). N.W.
Wiver. See Whiver.
Womble. v. To wobble about from weakness, &c. (Dark, ch. iv,
where it is used of children who come to school without
having had any breakfast). N. &. S.W., occasionally.
Wombly. adj. Wobbly (Dark, ch. iv).
Wonderment. (i) n. A sight or pastime of any kind.
N.W. (2) n. Any occupation that appears fanciful and
unpractical to the rustic mind. Thus a boy who had a turn
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(delwedd B8808) (tudalen 183)
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Wood-sour Wosbird 183
for inventions, drawing, verse-making, butterfly- collecting,
or anything else of a similar nature which lies outside the
ordinary routine of a labourer's daily life, would be described
as always ' aater his 'oonderments.' N.W. (3) v. To play
the fool, waste time over unprofitable work. N.W.
* Wood-sour, adj. Of soil, loose, spongy. Also Woodsere.
N.W., obsolete.
' The strong red land on the high level parts of the Downs . . . once
woodland, and sometimes expressly called "wood-sour" land/ Agric.
of Wilts, ch. xii.
' A poor wood-sere land very natural for the production of oaks.'
AUBREY, Miscell. p. 211.
' It is a wood-sere country abounding much with sour and austere
plants.' AUBKEY, Nat. Hist, of Wilts, p. n, ed. Brit.
Wood- wax. *(i) Genista tinctoria, L., Dyer's Green weed
(D.}, Aubrey's Nat. Hist. Wilts, pp. 34 and 49, ed. Brit.
N. & S.W. (2) Genista Anglica, L., Needle Whin. S.W.
(Farley.)
Wooset. See Houssett.
Wooster-blister. A smack in the face or box on the ear.
S.W. (Som. bord.) Cf. Som. Whister-twister, and Dev.
Whister-poop.
*Works. In a water-meadow, the system of trenches and
carriages by which the water is brought in and distributed
(Agric. of Wilts, ch. xii).
Worsen, v. To grow worse. ' You be worsened a deal since
I seen 'ee laast, I d' lot as you bean't a gwain' to live long.'
N. &S.W.
Wosbird. A term of reproach (A.), = whore's brood. There are
many variants, as Hosebird, Husbird, and Oozebird. Much
commoner in Devon. N.& S.W.
'They're a couple o' th' ugliest wosbirds in the vair.' Wilts Tales,
P- 89.
In his Dictionary of Provincial English, Wright defines this
as 'a wasp,' a mistake too amusing to be passed over!
Probably his informant heard a rustic who had got into
a wasp's nest, and been badly stung, * danging they wosbirds,'
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(delwedd B8809) (tudalen 184)
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.184 Wout Y
and on asking what he meant by ' wosbirds ' was told that
they were the 'wopses,' and not unnaturally concluded that
the two words were synonyms.
Wout. A carter's order to a horse to bear off. The opposite
to Coom hether.
Wrap. n. A thin strip of wood. See Rap.
Wrastle. To spread, as cancer, fire, roots, &c. N.W.
1 These fires are, or were, singularly destructive in villages the
flames running from thatch to thatch, and, as they express it, " wrast-
ling " across the intervening spaces. A pain is said to "
wrastle," or
shoot and burn.' Wild Life, ch. iv. p. 68.
* Wreaths. The long rods used in hurdle-making (D.).
Wrick, Kick. To twist or wrench. ' I've bin an' wricked
me ankly.' M.E. wrikken. N. & S.W.
Wridgsty. See Ridge-tie.
Wrist. To twist, especially used of wringing the neck of
a rabbit or fowl (Amateur Poacher, ch. xi). N.W.
Wug, Woog. Order to a horse (S.). K & S.W.
Wusset. See Wasset-man.
Wusted. Looking very ill, grown worse. N.W.
Many words beginning with H, G, or a vowel, are usually
sounded with Y prefixed, as YacJcer, acre ; Yeppern, apron ;
Yat, or Yeat, gate ; Yeldin, a hilding ; and Yerriwig,
earwig.
Verbs ending in y often drop that letter. Thus empty
and study become empt and stud.
The free infinitive in y was formerly much used, but is
now dying out. It was used in a general question, as ' Can
you mowy?' Were a special piece of work referred to,
mowy would not be correct, the question then being simply
' Can you mow thuck there mead ? '
The following example of the 'free infinitive' is given
in Cunnington MS. :
' There is also here a Peculiar mode of forming active verbs from
Nouns, which are generally in use as apellations for professions take
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(delwedd B8810) (tudalen 185)
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Yap Yop 185
an Example. Well Mary, how do you get on in Life ? what do you
and your family do now to get a Living in these times Wy Zur we do
aal vind Zummut to do Jan, ye know, he do Smithey [work as a smith]
Jin the beggist wench do spinney the Little one do Lace makey
I do Chorey [go out as a Chore Woman] and the two Boys do Bird
keepey that is One works as a smith one spins one makes Lace one
goes out as a Chore woman & two are Bird keepers which Latter term
were more to the purpose if expressed Bird frightener or driver.'
Yap, Yop. (i) To yelp as a dog (S.). N. & S.W. (2)
To talk noisily. 'What be a yopping there for?'-
N.W.
* Yard-land. Land sufficient for a plough of oxen and a yard
to winter them; an ancient copyhold tenure (D.).
Obsolete.
*Yard of land. A quarter of an acre, because formerly, in
common lands forty poles long, the quarter acre was a land-
yard wide (D.). Obsolete.
Yea-nay. l A yea-nay chap,' one who does not know his own
mind. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Yeemath. Aftermath (B.). Youmath (A.B.). Yeomath
(A.H.Wr.). Probably = young math, cp. young grass in
W. Somerset. Cp. Ea-math, Amead at Cherhill, Ea- grass in
S. Wilts. N.W.
Yees. An earthworm. See Eass.
Yelding, Yeldin. n. A hilding (A) : a woman of bad cha-
racter (Wilts Tales, p. 3). N.W.
' I've allus bin respectable wi' my women volk, and I wun't ha'e no
yeldin' belongin' to ma.' Dark, ch. xix.
Yellucks. See Hullocky.
Yelm, Yelms. See Elms (S.). N. & S.W.
* Yellow-cups. Buttercups in general. S.W. (Zeals.)
Yellow-Thatch. Lathyrus pratensis, L., Meadow Vetchling.
N. & S.W.
*Yoke. See Fork (Wild Life, ch. vi).
Yop. See Yap.
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(delwedd B8811) (tudalen 186)
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1 86 You Zam-zodden
*You. This word is often thrown in at the end of a sentence,
sometimes as a kind of query ' Don't you think so ? ' but
usually to give a strong emphasis to some assertion.
N.W.
' A' be a featish-looking girl, you.' Greene Feme Farm, ch. i.
' Fine growing marning, you.' Ibid. ch. i.
' That be a better job than ourn, you.' Hodge and his Masters, ch. vii.
Yuckel, Yuckle. A woodpecker (A.H.Wr.). So called from
its ciy, Yuc, yuc. N.W.
Yaught, Yawt. To swallow, to drink. * There 's our Bill
he can yaught down drenk like anything,' or 'He can
yaught a deal.' N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, Huish, &c.)
Z. Among the old people S is still usually sounded as Z, as
Zaat or Zate, soft ; Zound, to swoon ; Zotrens, servings, &c.
See S for many such instances.
*Zaad-paul. This term used to be commonly applied about
Aldbourne to an utterly good-for-nothing fellow, but is
gradually dying out now. It probably means ' soft head. '
See Saat.
*Zam. To heat anything for some time over the fire, without
letting it come to the boil. N.W. (Malmesbury.)
Zammy. (i) n. A simpleton, a soft-headed fellow (S.).
S.W. *(2) adj. 'Zammy tea,' half-cold, insipid tea.
N.W. (Hullavington.)
Zam-zodden. Long-heated over a slow fire, and so half
spoilt. This and the last two words belong to Som. rather
than Wilts. A.S. sam-soden, half boiled. N.W. (Malmes-
bury.)
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(delwedd B8812) (tudalen 187)
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ADDENDA
Afterclaps. Consequences, results. Atterclaps (S.). N. &
S.W.
All-amang. Add :
' Zweethearts, an wives, an children young,
Like sheep at vair, be ael among.'
E. SLOW, Smilin Jack.
All as is. All there is to be said, the final word in the matter.
Used when giving a very peremptory order to a labourer to
carry out your instructions without any further question.
* Aal as is as you've a-got to do be to volly on hoein' they
turmuts till I tells 'ee to stop ! ' N. W.
Along of. (i) On account of. "Twer aal along o' she's
bwoy's bad ways as her tuk to drenk.' N. & S.W. (2) In
company with. ' Here, you just coom whoam along o' I,
an I'll gie 'ee summut to arg about ! ' N. & S.W.
Aloud. Add : S.W. (Deverill.)
*Altrot. Heracleum Sphondylium, L., Cow-parsnip. See Eltrot.
-S.W. (Zeals.)
Apple-scoop. A kind of scoop or spoon, made from the
knuckle-bone of a leg of mutton, and used for eating apples,
the flavour of which it is supposed to improve. N.W.
At. (i) Add: S.W. (2) Add: S.W.
Away with. Add : N. & S.W.
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(delwedd B8813) (tudalen 188)
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188 Babes-in-the-Cradle Bolster-pudding
* Babes-in-the-Cradle. Scrophularia aquatica, L., Water Fig-
wort. S.W. (Little Langford.)
Bachelor's Buttons. Add : "(3) Aguilegia vulgaris, L., Garden
Columbine. S.W. (Deverill.)
Back-friends. Add : S.W.
Bag. (2) Add : S.W.
Bake-faggot. -Add: S.W.
Bannix. To drive away poultry, or to hunt them about. * Go
an' bannix they vowls out.' *D won't bannix about they
poor thengs like that ! ' S.W.
Barley-buck. A boy's game, played by guessing at the number
of fingers held up. S.W. (Deverill.)
Bash, Bashet. At Harnham, Salisbury, a small raised foot-
path is known as the Bashet, while at Koad certain houses
built on the upper side of a similar footpath, close to the
boundary line dividing Wilts and Somerset, are spoken of
as being ; on the Bash.'
Bay. (i)Add:8.W. (2) Add: S.W.
*Bayle. Some plant which we cannot identify. Obsolete.
* In this ground [near Kington St. Michael, grows] bayle.'
AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 49, ed. Brit.
Bee-hackle. The straw covering of a hive. See H ackle (2)
S.W.
*Belly-vengeance. Add : Also used of very inferior cider.
Bennets. (i) Add : S.W.
Bird's-eye. Add : (4) Veronica Buxbaumii, Ten., Buxbaum's
Speedwell. S.W. (Charlton.)
Bivery. Add: S.W.
Bleat. Add: S.W.
*Blicker. To shine intermittently, to glimmer. 1 1 zeen a light
a blickerin' droo th' tallot dwoor.' S.W.
Blind-house. Add: N. & S.W., obsolete.
Blooms. Flushes in the face. i Ther you knaws as I do allus
get the hot blooms ter'ble bad.' S.W.
Bolster-pudding. A roly-poly pudding. N.W.
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(delwedd B8814) (tudalen 189)
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Bookin' Buttercup 189
*Bookin'. See Buck.
Bossy. Add : S.W. '
Boys. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Brash, Braish. Of weather, cold and bracing. N.W.
Brashy. Full of small stones and grit. ' Th' vier wer ter'ble
braishy 'smarnin',' the coal was bad and stony. N.W.
Bread-and-Cheese. (3) Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Break, (i) Add: Still used in this sense at Deverill, S.W.
(2) Of a spring, to rise. N. & S.W.
' When the springs doe breake in Morecombe-bottom, in the north
side of the parish of Broade Chalke, which is seldome, 'tis observed
that it foretells a deer yeare for corne.' AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts,
p. 34, ed. Brit.
Breeding-bag. The ovary of a sow. N.W.
Brevet, (i) Add: 'Brevettin' into other folks' business.'
S.W. (Deverill.)
*Brimmer. A broad-brimmed hat. S.W. (Deverill.)
Brit, Brittle out. (i) Add : S.W. (2) Add : S.W.
Broken-mouthed. Children are said to be 'broken-mouthed,'
when they are losing their teeth. N.W.
Broom. 1 1 bain't a-gwain to hang out the broom,' I intend to
be very particular as to character, &c., before engaging any
servants or labourers, N.W. (Wedhampton. ) In Berks,
'to hang th' brum out o' winder,' means that the wife is
away, and so the husband is at liberty to entertain any
bachelor friends of his who like to drop in.
Buck. Add : At Deverill ' Bookin' ' is used instead, a * good
bookin' o' clothes' being a large wash. S.W.
Buck-hearted. Of cabbages, the same as Crow-hearted. S. W.
(Deverill.)
* Budget. The leather pouch in which a mower carries his
whetstone. S. W. (Deverill. )
* Bunt-lark. The Common Bunting. S.W. (Deverill.)
Buttercup. Add:~N.W. (Huish) ; S.W. (Charlton.)
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(delwedd B8815) (tudalen 190)
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190 Butter-flower Clamp about
*Butter-flower. Calfha palustris, L., Marsh Marigold.
' The watered meadows all along from Maryborough to Hungerford,
Ramesbury, and Littlecot, at the later end of April, are yellow with
butter flowers.' AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 51, ed. Brit.
Buzzel-hearted. A cabbage or broccoli plant that has lost its
eye is said to be 'buzzel-hearted.' Compare Crow-hearted.
S.W.
Caddling. Under (3) add : * A caddlin' place ' is one where
as soon as a servant begins one piece of work he or she is
called off to another, and can never get a chance of finishing
anything off satisfactorily. N. & S.W.
Call over. To publish the banns. S.W. (Deverill.)
Callus or Callis. v. To become hard, as soil in frosty weather :
to cake together (Witts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 109). N.
ft aw.
Cank. Add : *(2) n. Idle gossip.
Canker, (i) Add : Also Cankie.
Cankers. 'The baby hev a-got the cankers,' viz. white-mouth
or thrush. N.W.
Carpet. Add : S. W.
Cart. Add: S.W.
Chap. Add as example : ' Hev 'ee zeed how thuck ther ground
is aal chapped wi' th' dry weather ? They chaps be so gashly
big, the young pa'tridges 'ull purty nigh vail in. '
Chin-cough. The whooping cough. N.W.
Chip. Add : See Davis's Agric. of Witts, p. 262.
A
Clacker. Add : (2) A couple of pieces of wood, rattled to-
gether to scare birds off the crops. N. & S.W.
Clam. (i) To over-fill and choke up anything, as a water-
pipe. The throat sometimes gets quite ' clammed up ' with
phlegm. N.W. (2) To surfeit any one with food. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Clamp about. To stump about noisily. N.W.
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(delwedd B8816) (tudalen 191)
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Clean-and-wholly Criddlin Pudden 191
Clean-and- wholly. Entirely. * 'Tes aal gone clean-an'-wholly
out o' she's yead ! ' N. W.
Cleaty. Add : S.W.
Clinkerballs. Balls of dried dung or dirt in a sheep's wool.
S.W. (Wilton, &c.)
Cloddy. Add as example : ' He 's a cloddy sart o' a chap.'
Clogweed. Acid: (2) Arctium Lappa, L., Burdock. S.W.
Cludgy. Clingy, sticky ; used especially of bad bread. N.
&S.W.
Collets. Young cabbage plants. A man will say in spring,
'I got a good lot o' collets, but they bean't cabbages.' N.W.
Come away. To spring up. N.W.
' Owing to the long drought [barley] came away from the ground
at different periods, which will, without doubt, materially injure the
sample for malting purposes.' Devizes Gazette, June 22, 1893.
Comical. Add : Kound Warminster everything but a tom-cat
is he.
Conigre. Add : Other localities which may be noted are
Blacklands, Winterbourne Bassett, and Mildenhall. See
Smith's Antiq. N. Wilts.
Conks, Conkers. (i) Add: S.W. (Deverill.) (2) Add:
S.W. (Deverill.)
Count. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Coward. Dele *, and add : Clyffe Pypard.
* Cow-down. Add: On the Ordnance Map there are 'Cow-
downs ' marked at Deverill, Wylye, Steeple Langford, and
Westbury.
* Creeping Jane. Lysimachia Nummularia, L., Moneywort.
N.W. (Heddington.)
Creep-mouse. To play 'creep-mouse,' to tickle babies and
make them laugh. N.W.
Criddlin Pudden. A kind of pudding, made of the nubbly
bits left over when pigs' fleck has been boiled and pounded
and strained. Crittens in Berks. N.W.
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(delwedd B8817) (tudalen 192)
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192 Crutch - Duck's-frost
Crutch. (i) A large earthen jar, such as butter is potted
in. Cf. Critch. N. & S.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) (2) A cheese-
pan. N.W.
* Cuckoo-pint. Cardamine pratensis, L., Lady's smock. S.W.
(Charlton.)
Daffy. Add : S.W.
Devil's-ring. Add : S.W. (Deverill.)
*Devourous. Ravenous. N.W. (Berks bord.)
Dicky-birds. After S.W. add : (Deverill. )
Dillcup. Add : *(2) Ranunculus acris, L., Meadow Crowfoot.
S.W. (Charlton, Little Langford.)
Do. To thrive (used reflexively). ' He does (o pronounced as
in the infinitive) hissel well, dwon't he ? ' said of an animal
that does credit to its owner by the way in which it thrives.
N. & S.W.
Doer. A pig that thrives well, even on poor food, is a * good
doer,' while a ' bad doer' refuses to fatten, give it what you
will. N. & S.W.
Dog, how beest ? Add : Also used at Deverill, S.W.
Dog-in-a-blanket. A roly-poly pudding N.W.
Dough-fig. Add:$.W. (Deverill.)
*Down-lanterns. Heaps of chalk, marking the tracks from
village to village over the downs, to prevent people going
astray at night. S.W.
Drashel. Dele : As two men generally work together.
* Draw-sheave. (Pronounced Draa-sheave.} A wheelwright's
draw-knife. S.W.
*Druck. n. 'A druck of people,' a great crowd. S.W.
(Wilton.)
Drug. (i) Add : S.W. (Deverill.) (2) Add : Drugshoe at
Deverill, S.W.
Duck's-frost. Add: Ironically used at Deverill, as, ' Ther'll
be a frost to-night.' 'Ah, a duck's-frost, ' viz. none at all.
S.W.
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(delwedd B8818) (tudalen 193)
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Dumble Priggle 193
Bumble. Add : Dummil (C.).
Dunch-dumpling. Add : S. W.
*Elm- stock (Yelm-stocK). A forked stick for carrying straw for
thatching. S.W.
Enemy. Anemone nemorosa, L., Wood Anemone. So generally
used in Wilts that it seems advisable to note it, in spite of
its being a mere corruption. N. & S.W.
Ent. See Ploughing terms.
Faggot. Add : Used as a general term of abuse. S.W.
Falling. Add :- This requires some slight modification. ' We'm
a-gwain to ha' a vallen ' seems to be restricted to snow ; but
when there is some doubt as to what sort of weather is
coming, the phrase would be 'A vallen o' zum zart,' or 'zum
vallen,' thus covering snow, rain, or hail.
*Feggy. Fair. N.W., obsolete.
'Their persons [in North Wilts] are generally plump and feggy.'
AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. n, ed. Brit.
Fiddler's-money. Small change (threepenny and fourpenny
bits). N. & S.W.
*Fiddle-sticks. ScropJiularia aquatica, L., Water Figwort.
S.W. (Little Langford.)
Fighting-cocks. Add: Plantago lanceolata, L., Eibwort Plan-
tain. S.W. (Charlton.)
Firk. (2) Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Flashy heats. Hot flushes, that come and go when one is
feverish and weak, as a woman after her confinement.
N.W.
Flask. A limp straw-basket used to carry food and tools.
Used in Glouc. S.W., occasionally.
Flip, Flip-tongued. Smooth-spoken, glib. N.W.
Folly. Add : In Berks the word is frequently applied to
a round clump of fir-trees on a hill.
For. Add: S.W.
Friggle. Add :- S.W. (Deverill.)
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(delwedd B8819) (tudalen 194)
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194 Purze-tacker Granny Nightcap
*Furze-tacker ( Vuzz-tacker). Saxicola rubetra, the Whinchat.
aw.
Fussicky. Fussy, fidgetty. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
Gallows-gate. Add : S.W. (Deverill.)
Gawley. adj. Patchy : used especially of root-crops that grow
unequally. S.W., in common use.
Gay. Add: (2) In good health. 'I do veel main gay
agean 'smarnin', but I wur gashly bad aal laas' wick wi' th'
rheumatiz.' N. & S.W.
Get out. To t get out ' a drawn or carriage in the water
meadows is to clean it well out and make up the banks.
To ' get out ' a set of posts and rails is to cut them out
and prepare them for putting up. N. & S.W.
Gibbles. Add : Underground Onions.
*Gilliflower-grass. Carex glauca, L., and Carex panicea, L.
N.W., obsolete.
' In Bradon Forest growes ... a blew grasse they call July-flower
grasse, which cutts the sheepes mouthes, except in the spring.'
AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 49, ed. Brit.
* Gipsy-nuts. Hips and haws. S.W. (near Trowbridge.)
Girls. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Good liver. A person who lives an exceptionally good and
pious life. N.W.
Good-living. Leading a very pious life. ' Her wur allus
a good-living sart o' a 'ooman.' N.W.
Grained. Add : Grinted in Berks.
Gramfer (or Granfer) Grig. Awoodlouse. At Deverill, S.W.,
children try to charm it into curling up, when held in the
hand, by singing :
'Granfer Grig killed a pig,
Hung un up in corner ;
Granfer cried and Piggy died,
And all the fun was over.'
Granny (or Granny's) Nightcap. Add : *(s) Gcum rivalc,
L., Water Avens. S.W. (Little Langford.)
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(delwedd B8820) (tudalen 195)
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Grigger cake Hitch off 195
Grigger cake. Fine paste spread thin like a pancake, and
baked on a gridiron over a mass of glowing wood-coals.
aw.
Ground. A dd : S. W.
*Gubbarn. Dele ' Should not this be adj. instead of n. ? ' and
add : Also used in Glouc. as a noun.
Guss. (2) Add: S.W.
Hack, (i) Add : To hoe ; frequently used in S. Wilts.
Hackle. (2) Add : Hackle, and sometimes Shackle, are used
at Deverill, while elsewhere in S. Wilts Bee-hackle is the
word employed.
Hames. Dele 'in drawing,' and add 'with staples to take the
traces.'
Hand. (3) Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Hand-staff. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Hanging-post. Add : S.W. (Deverill), where Har is seldom
used.
Hanglers. Add : In Deverill, a hook used for this purpose is
known as * a hangles.' S.W.
Har. Add: S.W. (Deverill, occasionally.)
Harl. Add : Hardle is also used in S. Wilts.
*Harvest-man. A kind of Spider with long legs. S.W.
(Deverill.)
Heal. Add : A house is said to be ' unhealed,' or uncovered,
when the thatch has been stripped off by a storm. S.W.
(Deverill.)
Hearken-back. To recall. N. & S.W.
Heartless. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Heaver. Add : 'Van, heavier, caffin or caving rudder, the
winnowing fan and tackle ' (D.).
Hill- trot. Add: *(s) Anlhriscus sylvestris, Hoffm., Wild
Beaked-Parsley. S. W. (Charlton. )
"Hitch off. To release horses from work. S.W.
o 2
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(delwedd B8821) (tudalen 196)
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196 Honey-pot Jiffle
*Honey-pot. A children's game, in which one child lifts
another. S.W.
Hop-about. Add : S.W.
*Hopped. Cracked, as a boiler, by heat. S.W. (Deverill.)
Htick down. To beat down in bargaining. *I hucked un
down vrom vive shillin' to vower an* zix.' Formerly used
at Clyffe Pypard, but not known there now. N.W.
Huckmuck. (3) Add : S.W. (Deverill). Add : (4)
v. To mess about. S.W.
* Hun-barrow (or -barrer). A tumulus. S.W.
*Hunger-bane. To starve to death. See Bane. Obsolete.
* At Bradfield and Dracot Cerne is such vitriolate earth . . . [which]
makes the land so soure, it bears sowre and austere plants ... At
summer it hunger-banes the sheep : and in winter it rotts them.'
AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 35, ed. Brit.
*Idle. Full of fun. S.W.
It. Sometimes used in a peculiar way, as ' We'm best be
gwain, hadn't it?' or, 'We can aal on us ha' a holiday
to-day, can't it?' S.W.
Jack-and-his-team. Add : S.W. (Deverill) ; also Jack-and-
his-team-goin'-to-pit, the constellation's motion seeming to
be from Deverill towards Kadstock collieries, as if it were
a farmer's team going by night to fetch coal thence. S.W.
(Deverill.)
Jag. Add : (2) *Wull, to be shower, they chrysantums is
beautiful ! They be aal in a jag ! ' i, e. all out in large
heads of flowers. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Jerry-shop. A ' Tommy-shop, ' conducted on the truck system,
now illegal. Much used about Swindon at the time the
railway was being made there. Obsolete.
*Jiffle. Add : Mr. F. M. Willis writes us that he once heard
this word used in connexion with a horse, when a bad rider
who was pulling its head about was told not to jifne it.
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(delwedd B8822) (tudalen 197)
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Job Min 197
Job, or Jobble about. To do little jobs. ' I cain't do moor'n
jobble about now.' N.W.
* July-flower grass. See * Gillyflower-grass.
Kiss-me-quick. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Lady-cow. Add : S. W.
Lily, or Lilies. Add: *($) Ranunculus aquatilis, L., Water
Crowfoot. S.W. (Charlton.)
Linnard. A linnet, as *a brown linnard,' 'a green linnard.'
Formerly used at Clyife Pypard, where, however, it is obsolete,
the pronunciation there now being distinctly Linnut. Con-
versely, orchard becomes arcket. N.W. (Clyife Pypard, &c.)
Long-winded. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Lords-and-Ladies. Add : The purple spadices are the l Lords,'
and the yellow or very light-coloured ones the ' Ladies.'
Maggotty-pie. Add : At Deverill, thirty years ago, there
was a nursery rhyme as follows :
'Hushaby, baby, the beggar shan't have 'ee,
No more shall the maggotty-pie ;
The rooks nor the ravens shan't carr' thee to heaven,
So hushaby, baby, by-by.'
Mandrake. Bryonia dioica, L., White Bryony. The root is
popularly supposed to be Mandrake. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard,
Heddington.)
Mask. To collect acorns. A variant of mast. N. W. (Potterne. )
Melt. The spleen of a pig, which forms a favourite dish when
stuffed. N. & S.W.
*Milkmaid's-Way. The Milky Way. S.W. (Deverill.)
Mimp. To make believe, to sham. ' Look at she a-settin' up
ther, mimpin' !' idling, playing the fine lady. N. & S.W.
*Min. An exclamation, used like 'snaw, as ' I'll ketch thee,
min!' = Note that well. See Barnes, Glossary to Poems.
S.W. (Deverill.)
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(delwedd B8823) (tudalen 198)
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198 Monkey Must Ploughing terms
* Monkey Must. Melampyrum arvense, L., Cow- wheat. N.W.
(Heddington.)
Mump. To sulk. ' How ter'ble mumping she do look !
N.W.
Nammet-bag. A luncheon-bag. S.W.
Neck-headland. Add : Common at Deverill. S.W.
Noddy. Weakly, ailing. N.W.
Nog. Add : Also used of a lump of cheese, &c. S.W.
Not-cow. Add : S.W.
Nuncheon. Add : About Salisbury Nuncheon is between 10
and 10.30 a.m., and again at 4 p.m., and is a very small
meal, merely a piece of bread and glass of beer, while
Nammet is at 1 2, and is equivalent to dinner.
Off. ' A can't be off puttin' up a covey o' pa'tridges, if so be
as a goes whoam athert Four-Acre,' i. e. he cannot possibly
help doing it. N.W.
Out. n. The outcome or result of an attempt to do a thing.
1 A offered vor to do some draishin', but a made a ter'ble poor
out on't,' i. e. he had little to show for his labour. N.W.
Parson's nose. A goose's tail, when served up at table. N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
Peter Grievous. Add : Children who look as if they thought
themselves sadly ' put upon ' by their elders are said to be
* Peter-grievous.'
Pigs. (2) Add : In Berks wood-lice are called Church-pigs.
*Pimple, Pumple. The head. Used by children. S.W.
(Deverill).
*Pisty-poll. A child riding with his legs on your shoulders is
said to be carried 'a pisty-poll.' S.W. (Deverill.)
Ploughing terms. The first furrows ploughed are those
'veered out' to mark the l lands.' On each side of this
'veering out' furrow a fresh furrow is ploughed, turning
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(delwedd B8824) (tudalen 199)
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Plumb Ramblers 1 99
the earth into it. This is ' topping up, ' or ' shutting the
top up,' and becomes the centre and highest point of the
i land.' When the ' lands ' have been all but ploughed, there
remains between them a strip, two furrows wide, still un-
ploughed. This is 'the Ent,' and is halved by the plough,
one half being turned up one way, and the other half the
other way. There remains then a furrow just twice the
ordinary width. The plough is taken down this, and half
of it is turned up again on one side, the result being a narrow
furrow some inches deeper than any other, called the t Zid-
furrer' or Seed-furrow. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Plumb. 'A plumb man,' an upright man, one who always
keeps his word. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*Polly Dishwasher. Motatilla, The Wagtail. S.W. (Deverill.)
*Pot-hangel. The same as Hanglers, q.v. S.W. (Deverill.)
Prick- timber. Euonymus Europaeus, L., Spindle-tree. N. &
S.W., obsolete.
' Prick-timber ... is common, especially in North Wilts. The
butchers doe make skewers of it, because it doth not taint the meate-
as other wood will doe : from whence it hath the name of prick-timber. '
-AUBREY'S Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 56, ed. Brit.
Purry. Turnips sometimes get quite 'purry,' i. e. become
spongy and bad and full of holes. Perhaps a contraction of
purrished (perished). N.W.
*Quag. n. A shake, a state of trembling. l He 's all of a quag
with fear.' S.W.
*Quean. Add: S.W. (Deverill.)
Quob. (2) Add : S.W. (Deverill.)
Quobble. n. and v. After being a long while at the wash-
tub a woman's hands are apt to get 'all in a quobble,' or
' ter'ble quobbled,' that is, shrivelled and drawn and wrinkled
up. See Sob. N.W.
Ramblers. Potatoes left by chance in the ground, which come
up again the next year. N.W.
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RHAN 3. Tudalennau 200-235.
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