These words are, most probably, oaths of asseveration. The last
appears to be a corruption of _by godmothers_. Both are
thrown into discourse very frequently: _Begummers, I ont tell; I
cant do it begorz._
Begrumpled. _part._ Soured; offended.
To Belg. _v. n._ To cry aloud; to bellow.
Bell-flower. _s._ A daffodil.
To Belsh. _v. a._ To cut off dung, &c., from the tails of
sheep.
Beneäpt. _part._ Left aground by the recess of the spring
tides.
To Benge. _v. n._ To remain long in drinking; to drink to
excess.
Ben'net. _v._ Long coarse grass.
Ben'nety. _adj._ Abounding in bennets.
Ber'rin. _s._ [burying] A funeral procession.
To Beskum'mer. _v. a._ To foul with a dirty liquid; to
besmear.
To Bethink' _v. a._ To grudge.
Bettermost. _adj._ The best of the better; not quite
amounting to the best.
Betwat'tled. _part._ In a distressing and confused state of
mind.
To Betwit'. _v. a._ To upbraid; to repeat a past circumstance
aggravatingly.
To Bib'ble. _v. n._ To drink often; to tope.
Bib'bler. _s._ One who drinks often; a toper.
Bil'lid. _adj._ Distracted; mad.
Billy. _s._ A bundle of wheat straw.
Bi'meby. _adv._ By-and-by; some time hence.
Bin. _conj._ Because; probably corrupted from, being.
Bin'nick. _s._ A small fish; minnow; _Cyprinus
phloxinus._
Bird-battin. _s._ The catching of birds with a net and lights
by night. FIELDING uses the expression.
Bird-battin-net. _s._ The net used in bird-battin.
Birch'en. _adj._ Made of birch; relating to birch.
Bis'gee. _s._ (g hard), A rooting axe.
Bisky. _s._ Biscuit. The pronunciation of this word
approximates nearer to the sound of the French _cuit_ ["twice
baked"] the t being omitted in this dialect.
To Bi'ver. _v. n._ To quiver; to shake.
Black-pot, _s._ Black-pudding.
Black'ymoor. _s._ A negro.
Blackymoor's-beauty. _s._ Sweet scabious; the musk-flower.
Blanker. _s._ A spark of fire.
Blans'cue. _s._ Misfortune; unexpected accident.
Blather. _s._ Bladder. To blather, _v. n._ To talk fast,
and nonsensically [_to talk so fast that bladders form at the
mouth_]
Bleâchy. _adj._ Brackish; saltish: applied to water.
Blind-buck-and-Davy. _s._ Blind-man's buff. _Blindbuck and
have ye_, is no doubt the origin of this appellation for a
well-known amusement.
Blis'som. _ad._ Blithesome.
Blood-sucker. _s._ A leech.
Bloody-warrior. _s._ The wall-flower.
Boar. _s._ The peculiar head or first flowing of water from
one to two feet high at spring tides, in the river Parret a few
miles below and at Bridgewater, and in some other rivers.
[In Johnson's Dictionary this is spelt _bore_; I prefer the
above spelling. I believe the word is derived from the animal
_Boar_, from the noise, rushing, and impetuosity of the
water, Todd gives it "a tide swelling above another tide." Writers
vary in their opinions on the causes of this phenomenon. St.
Pierre. Ouvres, tom vi., p. 234, Ed. Hamburgh, 1797, describes it
not exactly the same in the Seine as in the Parret:--"Cette
montagne d'eau est produite par les marèes qui entrent, de la mer
dans la Seine, et la font refluer contre son cours. On l'appelle
la _Barre_, parce-qu'elle _barre_ le cours de la Seine.
Cette barre est suivée d'une seconde barre plus elevèe, qui la
suit a cent toises de distance. Elles courent beaucoup plus vîte
qu'un cheval au galop." He says it is called _Bar_, because
it _bars_ the current. In the Encyclop. Metropol., art.
_Bore_, the editor did not seem more fortunate in his
derivation.]
Bobbish. _adj._ In health, and spirits. [_Pirty
bobbish_, pretty well.] Bonk. _s._ Bank.
Booät. _s._ Boat.
Booäth. _pron._ Both. "_Boo'äth o' ye_; both of you.
Bor'rid. _adj._ A sow is said to be borrid when she wants the
male.
Bote. _part._ Bought.
Bow. _s._ A small arched bridge.
Boy's-love. _s._ Southernwood; a species of mugwort;
_artemisia abrotonum_.
Brave. _adj._ Well; recovering.
Bran. _s._ A brand; a stump of a tree, or other irregular and
large piece of wood, fit only for burning.
Bran-viër. _s._ A fire made with brands.
Bran'dis. _s._ A semicircular implement of iron, made to be
suspended over the fire, on which various things may be prepared;
it is much used for warming milk.
Brash. _s._ Any sudden development; a crash.
Brick'le, Brick'ly. _adj._ Brittle; easily broken.
Brim'mle. _s._ A bramble.
To Bring gwain. _v. a._ [_To bring going._] To spend; to
accompany some distance on a journey.
To Brit. _v. a._ To indent; to make an impression: applied to
solid bodies.
Brock. _s._ An irregular piece of peat dried for fuel; a
piece of turf. _See_ TURF.
Bruck'le, Bruck'ly. _adj._ Not coherent; easily separable:
applied to solid bodies. "My things are but in a bruckle state."
Waverley, v. 2, p. 328, edit. 1821. _See_ BRICKLE.
Bruck'leness. _s._ The state of being bruckle.
To Buck. _v. n._ To swell out.
To Bud'dle. _v._ To suffocate in mud.
To Bulge. _v. a._ To indent; to make an irregular impression
on a solid body; to bruise. It is also used in a neuter sense.
Bulge. _s._ An indentation; an irregular impression made on
some solid body; a swelling outwards or depression inwards.
Bul'len. _adj._ Wanting the bull.
Bul'lins. _s. pl._ Large black sloes; a variety of the wild
plum.
Bun'gee. _s._ (g hard), Any thing thick and squat.
Bunt, Bunting, _s._ Bolting cloth.
Bunt. _s._ A bolting-mill.
To Bunt. _v. a._ To separate flour from the bran.
Bur'cot. _s._ A load.
Buss. _s._ A half grown calf.
But. _s._ A conical and peculiar kind of basket or trap used
in large numbers for catching salmon in the river Parret. The term
_but_, would seem to be a generic one, the actual meaning of
which I do not know; it implies, however, some containing vessel
or utensil. _See_ BEE-BUT. _But_, applied to beef,
always means _buttock._
Butter-and-eggs. _s._ A variety of the daffodil.
Bwile. _v._ Boil.
Bwye. _interj._ Bye! adieu. This, as well as _good-bye_
and _good-bwye_, is evidently corrupted from _God be with
you_; God-be-wi' ye, equivalent to the French _à Dieu_, to
God. Bwye, and good-bwye, are, therefore, how vulgar soever they
may seem, more analogous than _bye_ and _good-bye_.