The usefulness of works like the present is too generally admitted
to need any apology for their publication. There is,
notwithstanding, in their very nature a dryness, which requires
relief: the author trusts, therefore, that, in blending something
imaginative with the details of philological precision, his work
will afford amusement to the reader.
The Glossary contains the fruit of years of unwearied attention to
the subject; and it is hoped that the book will be of some use in
elucidating our old writers, in affording occasional help to the
etymology of the Anglo-Saxon portion of our language, and in
exhibiting a view of the present state of an important dialect of
the western provinces of England.
A late excursion through the West has, however, induced the Author
to believe that some valuable information may yet remain to be
gathered from our Anglo-Saxon dialect--more especially from that
part of it still used by the common people and the yeomanry. He
therefore respectfully solicits communications from those who feel
an interest in this department of our literature; by which a
second edition may be materially improved.
To a _native_ of the west of England this volume will be
found a vade-mecum of reference, and assist the reminiscence of
well-known, and too often unnoted peculiarities and words, which
are fast receding from, the polish of elegance, and the refinement
of literature.
In regard to the _Poetical Pieces_, it may be mentioned that
most of them are founded on _West Country Stories_, the
incidents in which actually occurred. If some of the subjects
should be thought trifling, it must not be forgotten that the
primary object has been, to exemplify the Dialect, and that common
subjects offered the best means of effectuating such an object. Of
such Poems as _Good Bwye ta thee Cot_; _the Rookery_;
and _Mary Ramsey's Crutch_, it may be observed, that had the
Author _felt_ less he might, perhaps, have written better.
_Metropolitan Literary Institution, London, March 25, 1825._