'Prick it and dack it and mark it with T,
And put it in the oven for baby and me.'--_Nursery Rhyme._
This seems to be identical with A.S. _dalc_, _dolc_, Dutch and Danish
_dolk_, Icel. _dálkr_, Germ. _dolch_, all meaning a sharp piercing
instrument, a skewer, a dagger, &c. (Smythe-Palmer).
=Dead hedge=. A wattled fence (_Agric. of Wilts_, ch. x).--N.W.
=Dead pen=. A sheep pen is occasionally so called in S. Wilts.
=Dead-roof=. A skilling roof made of bavins and thatched over.--N.W.
=Dead year=. Often used with possessive pronoun, as 'his dead year,'
the year immediately following his death (_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol.
xxii. p. 111). A widow should not marry again 'afore the dead year's
up.'--N.W.
=Deaf-nettle=. _Lamium album_, L., the Dead nettle. Cf.
~Dunch-nettle~.--S.W.
=Deaf-nut=. A rotten or empty nut. _Deaf_=useless, inactive.--S.W.
=Deedy=. (1) Industrious, busy, as 'He's a deedy man.'--N.W. (2)
Intent, as 'What bist looking so deedy at?'--N.W.
*=Dee-gee=. Mr. William Cunnington writes us as follows:--
'"Twas a Dee-gee" was the name of a kind of dance, which our
old nurse taught us as children, mostly performed by moving
sideways and knocking the feet together.'
This would seem to be a survival of the Elizabethan _heydeguies_. See
Spenser, _Shepherd's Calendar_, June.--N.W., obsolete.
*=Densher=. To prepare down-land for cultivation by paring and
burning the turf (Aubrey's _Wilts Nat. Hist._, p. 103, ed. Brit.).
See ~Bake~ and ~Burn-bake~.
=Desight=, =Dissight=. An unsightly object (H.Wr.).--N.W.
=Devil-daisy=. _Matricaria Parthenium_, L., Common Feverfew, and
_Anthemis Cotula_, L., Stinking Camomile, from their daisy-like
flowers and unpleasant odour.--S.W.
=Devil-in-a-hedge=. _Nigella damascena_, Love in a mist.--N.W.
=Devil-screecher=. _Cypselus apus_, the Common Swift.--N. & S.W.
=Devil's-ring=. A kind of hairy caterpillar which curls up on being
touched (_Wild Life_, ch. xvii).--N.W.
'Devyls-gold-rynge, the colewort worme.'--_Huloet._
'Oak-egger and fox moths, which children call "Devil's Gold
Rings."'--KINGSLEY, _Chalk-stream Studies_.
=Dew-beater=. A man who has large feet, or who turns out his toes, so
that he brushes the dew off the grass in walking (A.S.).--N. & S.W.
Compare:--
'The dew-beaters [early walkers, pioneers] have trod their way
for those that come after them.'--HACKET'S _Life of Williams_,
i. 57.
=Dew-bi=. A very early breakfast (A.).--N. & S.W.
=Dew-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. Also ~Mist-pond~.--N.W.
*=Dewsiers=. The valves of a pig's heart (A.B.G.); a corruption of
O.F. _jusier_.
=Deyhus=, =Da'us=, =Day'us=. A dairy, a cheese-room (A.B.). From
_deye_, a dairymaid; Icel. _deigja_ (Skeat). In this and similar
words, as Brewhouse, Woodhouse, &c., _house_ is always pronounced
as A.S. _hús_ (Akerman), the _h_, however, not being invariably
sounded.--N.W.
=Dibs=. A game played by boys with sheep's dibs or knuckle-bones
(S.).--N. & S.W.
*=Dick-and-his-team=. The Great Bear.--N.W. Compare Jack-and-his-team.
'I know the north star; there it is.... And the Great Bear; the
men call it Dick and his Team.'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. vi.
=Dicker=. (1) To bedeck. 'Gels be allus a dickerin' therselves up
now-a-days.'--N.W. (Huish.) (2) 'As thick as they can dicker,' very
intimate.--S.W. (Amesbury.) 'All in a dicker (or 'digger'),' very
close together.--S.W.
=Dicky=. (1) Of vegetables, decayed. (2) Of persons or plants,
weakly or in ill-health (_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. xxii. p. 110). Cf.
~Daddicky~.--N.W.
=Dicky-birds=. _Fumaria officinalis_, L., Common Fumitory.--S.W.
=Diedapper=. _Podiceps minor_, the Dabchick; _Divedapper_ in
Shakespeare. In common use at Salisbury until quite recently. Before
the streams running through the city were covered over, it was an
every-day occurrence to see a dripping urchin making for home, with
an escort of friends at his heels yelling 'Diedapper, Diedapper,
Diedapper, die!'--S.W.
*=Diggle=. _v._ To grow thickly together. 'They weeds be a coming
up agen as thick as ever they can diggle.' See ~Dicker~.--N.W.
(Potterne.).
=Diggled=, =Daggled=. Covered over or hung thickly with anything.
Compare ~Daglet~. 'Thick may-bush be aal diggled wi' berries.'--S.W.
(Salisbury.)
=Diggles=. _n._ Abundance, plenty (S.). 'Let's go a blackberryin';
there's diggles up Grovely.' See ~Diggle~.--S.W.
=Dill=, =Dill Duck=. A young duck.--N. & S.W.
=Dillcup=. _Ranunculus Ficaria_, L., Lesser Celandine (S.).--S.W.
=Diller=. The shaft-horse (H.Wr.). See ~Thiller~.--N.W.
=Dills=. See ~Thills~.
=Dimmets=. Dusk, twilight.--S.W.
=Ding=. To strike violently (_Dark_, ch. xv).--N.W.
=Dishabille=. A labourer's working clothes. The word is not used in
Wilts in its ordinary sense of undress or negligent costume, but a
common excuse for not appearing at church is that a man has nothing
but his _dishabille_ to wear. Fr. _déshabillé_.--N.W.
=Dishwasher=. (1) _Motacilla flava_, the Yellow Wagtail (A.S.).--N. &
S.W. (2) _M. Yarrellii_, the Pied Wagtail (A.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Do=. 'To do for any one,' to manage or keep house for him.--N. & S.W.
*=Dock=. _Malva sylvestris_, L., Common Mallow (A.). Now restricted
to _Rumex_.
=Dodder=, =Dudder=, =Duther=, &c. (1) _v._ To bewilder, to deafen
with noise (A.B.H.S.Wr.). 'I be vinny doddered, they childern do
yop so.'--N. & S.W. (2) _n._ 'All in a dudder,' quite bewildered
(H.).--N. & S.W. (3) _v._ To deaden anything, as pain. 'It sort o'
dudders the pain.'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*=Doddle-grass=. _Briza media_, L., Quaking Grass (_English Plant
Names_).
=Doddler=. 'A bit of a doddler,' a small boy.--N. & S.W.
=Dog, how beest=? This phrase seems worth noting. At Clyffe Pypard
a person complaining of loneliness, or the want of sociability or
kindness amongst the neighbours, will say, 'There isn't one as 'll so
much as look in and say, "Dog, how beest?"'
=Dog-Cocks=. _Arum maculatum_, L., Cuckoo-pint. Compare _Dogs-dibble_
in N. Devon.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Dog-daisy=. Any large daisy-like white flower, such as
_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_, L., Ox-eye Daisy.--N. & S.W.
=Dogged=. (2 syl.) Very, excessively; as _dogged cute_ (A.).--N. &
S.W.
'Maester was dogged deep, but I was deeper!'--_Wilts Tales_, p.
110.
*=Dog out=. To drive out anything, as a sheep out of a quagmire, by
setting the dog furiously at it (_Great Estate_, ch. viii).
=Dog's-mouth=. _Linaria vulgari_s, Mill., Yellow Toadflax.--N.W.
*=Dom=. A door case (H.Wr.): probably a mistake for _Dorn_ or _Doorn_.
=Domel=. See ~Dumble~.
=Doner=. A man, animal, &c., 'done for' and past hope (S.). 'Thuck
old sow be a dunner; her 'll be dead afore night.'--N. & S.W.
*=Donnings=. Clothes (A.B.).
*=Dooke=. (2 syl.) Do ye, will ye. 'Be quiet, dooke' (H.M.Wr.).
'Obsolete, having been superseded by _do 'ee_. It was
pronounced as a dissyllable.'--SKEAT.
=Door-Drapper= (i.e. Dropper or Dripper). The piece of wood fastened
to the bottom of cottage doors to shoot the water off the 'Dreshol'
(threshold).--N.W.
*=Doorn=. A door frame (H.Wr.). Also ~Durn~ (S.). At Warminster
applied only to the sides of a door-frame.--S.W.
=Double=. 'He is a double man,' i.e. bent double with age or
infirmity.--S.W.
*=Double-Dumb-Nettle=. _Ballota nigra_, L., Black Horehound.--S.W.
(Charlton.)
*=Double-ladies'-fingers-and-thumbs=. _Anthyllis vulneraria_, L.,
Kidney Vetch.--N.W. (Enford.)
=Double-mound=. A double hedge (_Amateur Poacher_, ch. xi; _Wild
Life_, ch. ix. p. 152). See ~Mound~.--N.W.
*=Double Pincushion=. _Anthyllis vulneraria_, L., Kidney Vetch.--S.W.
(Barford.)
=Doublets=. Twin lambs (_Annals of Agric._).--N.W.
=Dough-fig=. The same as ~Lem-feg~. A Turkey Fig.--N.W.
=Dout=. To put out, as 'Dout the candle' (A.B.S.): to smother or
extinguish fire by beating.--N. & S.W.
'An extinguisher "douts" a candle; the heel of a boot "douts"
a match thrown down. But the exact definition of "dout" is to
smother, or extinguish by beating.'--_Village Miners._
=Dowl=. The fine down of a bird.--N.W.
'Coots and moor-hens must be skinned, they could not be plucked
because of the "dowl." Dowl is the fluff, the tiny featherets
no fingers can remove.'--_Bevis_, ch. vii.
=Down=. To tire out, to exhaust. 'That there 'oss's downed.'--N.W.
(Wroughton.)
=Down-along=. 'He lives down-along,' a little way down the street
(S.), as opposed to 'up-along.'--S.W.
=Down-arg=. To contradict in an overbearing manner (A.B.S.), to
browbeat.--N. & S.W.
=Down-dacious=. Audacious (S.). 'Her's a right downdacious young
vaggot, that her is!'--S.W.
*=Down-haggard=. Disconsolate (S.).--S.W.
=Down-hearten=. To feel disheartened. 'A be vurry bad, but I don't
down-hearten about un.'--N.W.
=Dowse=. A blow (A.B.C.S.), as 'a dowse in the chops.'--N. & S.W.
=Dowst=. (1) Chaff or cave. ~Dust~ (D.). (2) 'To go to dowst,' go
to bed, perhaps from _dowst_ (chaff) being used to fill mattresses.
Heard at Huish occasionally, but not traced elsewhere.
=Dowst-coob=. The chaff cupboard in a stable.--N. & S.W.
=Drag=. A harrow (D.).--N. & S.W.
=Drail=. (1) In a plough, the iron bow from which the traces draw,
and by which the furrow is set (D.).--N.W. (2) _Crex pratensis_, the
Landrail.--N.W.
*=Drainted=. Of dirt, ingrained (H.Wr.).
=Drang=, =Drangway=, =Drung=. (1) A narrow lane. ~Drun~
(H.Wr.).--S.W. (2) A narrow passage between walls or houses. Drun
(H.Wr.).--S.W.
=Drangway=. See ~Drang~ (S.).
=Drashel=, =Dreshol=, &c. A flail (D.). The correct term for a flail
is a _drashel_, but '_a pair o' drashells_' (or 'dreshols') is more
commonly used, as two men generally work together.--N. & S.W.
*=Drattle=. Much talk (S.).--S.W.
=Draught=. A cart-shaft. ~Draats~ (S.).--S.W.
=Draughts=. Hazel-rods selected for hurdle-making (D.). A 'draught'
is not a rod, but a bundle of long wood suitable for hurdles or
pea-sticks, bound with a single withe.--N.W.
=Drave=. 'I be slaving an' draving (i.e. working myself to death) for
he, night and day.'--N. & S.W.
=Draw=. (1) A squirrel's dray or nest.--N.W. (Marlborough.) (2)
Rarely applied to a large nest, as a hawk's. Compare:--'_Draw_, to
build a nest (_Berners_),' an old hawking term.--N.W. (Marlborough.)
=Drawing=. See ~Drawn~.
=Drawn=. In a water-meadow, the large open main drain which carries
the water back to the river, after it has passed through the various
carriages and trenches.--S.W. In every-day use about Salisbury, and
along the Avon and Wiley from Downton to Codford, but rarely heard
elsewhere.
'Many of the meadows on either length [near Salisbury] abound
in ditches and "drawns."'--_Fishing Gazette_, July 18, 1891, p.
40, col. 2.
'I ... descried three birds, standing quite still [at Britford]
by the margin of a flooded "drawing."'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ xxi.
229.
=Dredge=, =Drodge=. Barley and oats grown together.--S.W.
=Dribs-and-Drabs=. Odds and ends. 'All in dribs and drabs,' all in
tatters.--N. & S.W.
=Drieth=. See ~Dryth~.
=Drift=. A row of felled underwood (D.).--N.W.
=Dripple= See ~Waggon~.
=Drive=. Of manure, to stimulate growth. 'Thur, that'll drive th'
rhubub, _I_ knaws!'--N. & S.W.
=Drock=. (1) A short drain under a roadway, often made with a hollow
tree.--N. & S.W. (2) A broad flat stone laid as a bridge across a
ditch (_Amaryllis at the Fair_).--N.W. (Castle Eaton, &c.)
'Drock, a water-way, or sometimes the stone slab over a narrow
ditch.'--_Leisure Hour_, Aug. 1893.
'1674. Item Paid Richard Serrell for a Stone to make a
Drocke.--_Records of Chippenham_, p. 230.
*(3) A water-course (H.Wr.). A water-way (_Leisure Hour_, Aug.
1893).--N.W. (Castle Eaton, &c.)
'Where meaning a water way, it is usually spoken of as
a Drockway, "drock" alone being the passage over the
ditch.'--MISS E. BOYER-BROWN.
*(4) Used in compounds such as ~Well-drock~, windlass.
=Drockway=. See ~Drock~ (3).
=Drodge=. See ~Dredge~ .
*=Dromedary=. (1) _Centaurea nigra_, L., Black Knapweed.--S.W.
(Barford St. Martin.) (2) _Centaurea Scabiosa_, L., Hardheads.--S.W.
(Barford St. Martin.)
=Dropping=. 'A dropping summer,' one when there is a shower every two
or three days (_Wild Life_, ch. ii).--N.W.
=Drove=. A green roadway on a farm.--N. & S.W.
=Drown=. To turn the water over the meadows.--S.W.
=Drowner=. The man who attends to the hatches, managing the supply
of water, and turning it on and off the meadows at the proper
times.--S.W.
*=Drowning-bridge=. A water-meadow sluice-gate (A.B.G.H. Wr.).
=Drowning-carriage=. A large water-course for drowning a meadow. See
~Carriage~.--S.W.
*=Droy=. A thunderbolt (Aubrey's _Wilts MS._, H.Wr.).--Obsolete.
*=Drucked=. Filled to overflowing (S.).--S.W.
=Drug=. (1) 'To drug timber,' to draw it out of the woods under a
pair of wheels (D.).--N.W. (2) 'To drug a wheel,' to put on some kind
of drag or chain.--N.W.
*=Druid's-hair=. Long moss (H.Wr.).
=Drun=. See ~Drang~ (H.Wr.).
=Drunge=. (1) _n._ A crowd or crush of people (H.Wr.)--N.W. (2) _v._
To squeeze (S.).--S.W.
=Drunkards=. Flowers of _Caltha palustris_, L., Marsh Marigold;
probably from the way in which they suck up water when placed in a
vase. The reason assigned by children for the name is that if you
look long at them you will be sure to take to drink.--S.W. (Som.
bord.)
=Dry Cuckoo=, or =Dryland Cuckoo=. _Saxifraga granulata_, L., White
Meadow Saxifrage. See ~Cuckoo~.--S.W.
=Dryth=, or =Drieth=. Dryness, drought.--N.W.
'1633. The cryer ... to give warninge to the inhabitants to
sett payles of water at their doores in the late tyme of drieth
and heate.'--_Records of Chippenham_, p. 206.
=Dub=. To pelt with stones. 'Just dub that apple down out of the
tree, will 'ee?' See ~Frog-dubbing~.--S.W.
=Dubbed=. Blunt, pointless (A.B.).
*=Dubbing=. 'A dubbin' o' drenk,' a pint or mug of beer (A.B.H.Wr.).
=Dubby=. Oily.--N.W.
=Duck's-frost=. A very slight white frost.--N.W.
'That kind of frost which comes on in the early morning, and is
accompanied with some rime on the grass--a duck's frost, just
sufficient to check fox-hunting.'--_Gamekeeper at Home_, ch.
vii.
=Duckstone=. A game played by boys with stones (S.).--S.W.
=Dudder=. See ~Dodder~.
=Dudge=. (1) A bundle of anything used to stop a hole.--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.) *(2) 'Peg the dudge,' tap the barrel (A.B.G.H.Wr.).
=Dudman=. A scarecrow.--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Dumb-Ague=. A kind of ague which is not accompanied by the usual
shaking fits. ''Tis what 'ee do caal the dumb-agey.'--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
=Dumble=. Stupid, dull (A.B.H.Wr.); also ~Domel, Dummel, &c.~--N.W.
'Severe weather ... makes all wild animals "dummel" in
provincial phrase,--i.e. stupid, slow to move.'--_Gamekeeper at
Home_, ch. vii.
=Dumbledore=, or =Dumble=. The Humble-bee (A.B.S.).--N. & S.W.
'Th' mak'st a noise like a dumbledore in a pitcher.'--_Wilts
Tales_, p. 68.
=Dumb Nettle=. _Lamium album_, L., White Dead-nettle.--S.W.
(Charlton.)
=Dump=. (1) _n._ 'A treacle dump,' a kind of coarse sweetmeat.--S.W.
(2) _v._ To blunt, as 'I've dumped my scythe against a stone.'--N.W.
(3) A pollard tree, as 'Ash-dump,' or 'Willow-dump.'--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
=Dum-put=. See ~Dung-pot~.
=Dunch=. (1) Deaf (A.B.C.); now rarely so used. In _Cunnington MS._
said to be at that time the usual N. Wilts term for _deaf_.--N & S.W.
'Ah! Molly, ye purtends to be as dunch as a bittle, but I
kneows 'e hears ev'ry word I zays.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 81.
(2) Stupid, heavy; now the common use. 'The wapses gets dunch' in
late autumn. A labourer who can't be made to understand orders is
'dunch.'--N. & S.W. (3) Of bread, heavy (_Wild Life_, ch. vii). Cf.
~Dunch-dumpling.~--N. & S.W. ~Dunchy~ is frequently used in S. Wilts
instead of ~Dunch~, but usually means deaf.
=Dunch-dumpling=. A hard-boiled flour-and-water dumpling (A.B.C.) See
~Dunch~ (3).--N.W.
=Dunch-nettle=, =Dunse-nettle=. (1) _Lamium purpureum_, L., Red
Dead-nettle. ~Dunch~=stupid, inactive. Cf. ~Deaf-nettle~.--S.W. (2)
_Lamium album_, L., White Dead-nettle.--S.W. (Barford.)
=Dung-pot=. A dung-cart (D.); rarely ~Dum-put~. See ~Pot~.--N. & S.W.
*=Dup=. 'To dup the door,' to open or unfasten it (_Lansd. MS._
1033).--Obsolete. Cf. :--
'Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door.'--_Hamlet_, iv. 5.
The word now means the very reverse.
=Dutch Elder=. _Aegopodium Podagraria_, L., Goutweed.--S.W. (Farley,
&c.)
=Duther=, =Dutter=. See ~Dodder~.
=Ea-grass=. After-grass (D.); Lammas grass as well as aftermath.--S.W.
=Eass= (sometimes =Yees=). An earthworm.--S.W.
*=Edge-growed=. Of barley, both growing and ripening irregularly; the
result of a want of rain after it is first sown (D.).
=Eel-scrade=. A kind of eel-trap.--S.W.
'A trap used to catch eels, placed near a weir. The water is
turned into the scrade when high, and the fish washed up to
a stage through which the water finds an outlet, the fish,
however, being retained on the platform by a piece of sloping
iron.'--F. M. WILLIS.
=Eel-sticher=. An eel-spear.--S.W.
'Wishing to secure [a Little Grebe] in summer plumage, I asked
the old "drowner" in our meadows to look out for one for
me--and this he very soon did, fishing one out from under the
water between the spikes of his eel-sticher, as it was diving
under the water.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ xxii. 193.
=Effet=, =Evet=. _Lissotriton punctatus_, the Newt (A.S.)--N. & S.W.
'She ... sometimes peered under the sage-bush to look at the
"effets" that hid there.'--_Great Estate_, ii.
=Eggs-and-Bacon=. _Linaria vulgaris_, Mill., Yellow Toadflax. Cf.
~Bacon-and-Eggs~.--N. & S.W.
*=Eggs-eggs=. Fruit of the hawthorn.--S.W. (Farley.)
*=Elet=. Fuel (H.Wr.). *~Ollit~ (Aubrey's _Wilts MS._).--N.W.,
obsolete.
=Elm=, =Helm=, or =Yelm=. (1) _v._ To make up 'elms.'--N. & S.W.
'Two or three women are busy "yelming," i.e. separating the
straw, selecting the longest and laying it level and parallel,
damping it with water, and preparing it for the yokes.'--_Wild
Life_, ch. vi.
(2) _n._ (Almost invariably pl.,'elms' being the usual form). Small
bundles or handfuls of fresh straw, damped and laid out straight for
the thatcher's use (_Wild Life_, ch. vi). See _Wilts Arch. Mag._
vol. xxii. p. 111. According to Prof. Skeat _yelm_, seldom now
used in Wilts, is the correct form, from A.S. _gilm_, a handful.
About Marlborough it is usually pronounced as _Yelms_, but at Clyffe
Pypard there is not the slightest sound of _y_ in it. Elsewhere it is
frequently pronounced as _Ellums_.--N. & S.W.
=Eltrot=. _Heracleum Sphondylium_, L., Cow-parsnip (S.). *~Altrot~ at
Zeals.--S.W.
=Emmet=. The Ant (S.). 'Ant' is never used in Wilts.--N. & S.W.
=Emmet-heap=. An anthill.--N. & S.W.
=En=. (1) _pl. termination_, as ~Housen~, houses; ~Hipsen~,
rose-berries; ~Keyn~, keys; ~Facen~, faces; ~Wenchen~, girls;
~Bluen~, blossoms; ~Naas'n~, nests (rarely heard, _Nestises_ being
the usual form); ~Pigs'-sousen~, pigs'-ears.--N. & S.W.
'In North Wilts ... the formation of the Plural by affixing
_en_ to the Noun is almost universal, as house housen,
&c.'--_Cunnington MS._
(2) _adj. term._, as ~Harnen~, made of horn; ~Stwonen~, of stone;
~Elmin~, of elm wood, &c. '~Boughten~ bread,' baker's bread, as
opposed to home-made. 'A ~dirten~ floor,' a floor made of earth,
beaten hard. 'A ~tinnin~ pot.' 'A ~glassen~ cup.' ~Boarden~, made of
boards; ~Treen-dishes~, wooden platters, &c. 'There's some volk as
thinks to go droo life in glassen slippers.'--N. & S.W.
'Almost as universal too is the transformation of the
Substantive into an adjective by the same termination as ... a
Leatheren Shoe, an elmen Board, &c.'--_Cunnington MS._
(3) See ~Pronouns~.
'The pronoun Possessive too is formed in the same way, as hisn
hern Ourn theirn.'--_Cunnington MS._
=English Parrot=. _Picus viridis_, the Green Woodpecker (_Birds of
Wilts_, p. 251).--S.W. (Salisbury.)
=Ether=, =Edder=. The top-band of a fence, the wands of hazel, &c.,
woven in along the top of a 'dead hedge,' or wattled fence, to keep
it compact (A.B.). A 'stake and ether' fence. A.S. _edor_.--N.W.
'Mughall [Midghall] had nothing to doe withought [without]
the Eyther [hedge] between Bradene Lane and Shropshire
Marsh.'--1602, MS., _Perambulation of the Great Park of
Fasterne, N.W._, in Devizes Museum.
'An eldern stake and blackthorn ether
Will make a hedge to last for ever.'--_Wilts Saying_ (A.).
=Eve=. See ~Heave~.
=Even-ash=. Ash-leaves with an equal number of leaflets, carried by
children in the afternoon of the 29th May (_Wild Life_, ch. v). See
~Shitsac~.--N.W.
=Evet=. See ~Effet~.
=Ex=, pl. =Exes=. An axle (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Eyles=. See ~Ailes~.
=F=. (1) _F_ for _th_. Examples :.--_Fust_, thirst; _afust_, athirst.
An old characteristic of the Western and South-Western groups of
dialect. (2) F, at the beginning of a word, is frequently sounded as
_v_, as fall, _vall_; flick, _vlick_; font, _vant_.
=Fadge=. See ~Fodge~.
=Fag=. See ~Vag~.
=Faggot=, =Fakket=. (1) A woman of bad character is 'a nasty stinking
faggot (or vaggot).' Often used in a milder sense, as 'You young
vaggot! [you bad girl] what be slapping the baby vor?'--N. & S.W.
'Damn you vor a gay wench, vor that's what you be, an' no
mistake about it; a vaggot as I wun't hae in _my_ house no
longer.'--_Dark_, ch. xii.
(2) A rissole of chopped pig's-liver and seasoning, covered with
'flare': also known as ~Bake-faggot~.--N. & S.W.
'Tripe an mince meat,
Vaggots an pigs veet,
An blackpuddins stale, on which to regale.'--SLOW'S _Poems_, p. 26.
=Falarie=. Disturbance, excitement, commotion.--N. & S.W.
'"Look'ee here, there 've bin a fine falarie about you, Zur."
He meant that there had been much excitement when it was
found that Bevis was not in the garden, and was nowhere to be
found.'--_Wood Magic_, ch. ii.
'Used about Wilton, but not so extensively as its synonym
_rumpus_.'--_Letter from Mr. Slow._
=Fall about=. _v._ Of a woman: to be confined. 'His wife bin an' fell
about laas' night.'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Fall down=. Of arable land: to be allowed to relapse of itself into
poor rough pasture.--N.W.
'Some of the land is getting "turnip-sick," the roots come
stringy and small and useless, so that many let it "vall
down."'--_Great Estate_, ch. i. p. 6.
=Falling=. _n._ A downfall of snow. 'I thenks we shall have some
vallen soon.' Only used of snow.--N. & S.W.
=Falling-post=. The front upright timber of a gate. Occasionally
heard at Huish; ~Head~, however, being the more usual term
there.--N.W.
=Falsify=. Of seeds, young trees, &c.: to fail, to come to
nought.--N.W.
=Fancy man=. A married woman's lover. 'He be Bill's wife's fancy man,
that's what _he_ do be.'--N.W.
*=Fang=. To strangle; to bind a wounded limb so tightly as to stop
the flow of blood (A.B.H.Wr.).
=Fantag=, =Fanteague=, &c. (1) _n._ Fluster, fuss. ~Fantaig~
(S.).--N. & S.W. (2) Vagaries or larks, as 'Now, none o' your
fantaigs here!' At Clyffe Pypard, N.W., 'a regular fantaig' would be
a flighty flirting lad or girl, a 'wondermenting or gammotty sort of
a chap.'--N. & S.W.
*=Fardingale=. A quarter of an acre (H.Wr. _Lansd. MS._). The old
form is _Farding-deal_ (Wr.). Compare _Thurindale_, &c.--Obsolete.
'1620. Itm, to the same Thomas & Nicholas Lea for theire helpe
to laye the Acres into ffarendells.'--_Records of Chippenham_,
p. 202.
'1649. Twoe ffarthendels of grasse.'--_Ibid._ p. 217.
=Farewell Summer=. The Michaelmas Daisy.--N. & S.W.
=Fashion=. The farcey, a disease in horses (A.H.Wr.). Fr.
_farcin_.--N.W.
'An old Wiltshire farmer, when his grand-daughters appeared
before him with any new piece of finery, would ask what it all
meant. The girls would reply, "_fashion_, gran'váther!" when
the old man would rejoin, "Ha! many a good horse has died o'
th' fashion!"'--_Akerman._
=Favour=. To resemble in features, &c. 'He doesn't favour you,
Sir.... He is his mother's own boy.'--N. & S.W.
=Featish=. Fair, tolerable (A.B.). Used of health, crops, &c. 'How be
'e ?' 'Featish, thank 'e.'--'There's a featish crop o' grass yander!'
(A.). M.E. _fetis_ (in Chaucer), O.F. fetis, _faitis_.--N.W.
'The worthy farmer proceeded to ask how the children got on
at the Sunday-school. "Oh, featish, zur ... Sally, yander ...
her's gettin' on oonderful."'--_Wilts Tales_, pp. 139-140.
'"How's your voice?" "Aw, featish [fairish]. I zucked a
thrush's egg to clear un."'--_Greene Ferns Farm_, ch. i.
'"Ees, this be featish tackle," meaning the liquor was
good.'--_Ibid._ ch. vii.
'A' be a featish-looking girl, you.'--_Ibid._ ch. i.
*=Fern Buttercup=. _Potentilla Anserina_, L., Silverweed.--S.W.
(Zeals.)
=Fess=. (1) Of animals: bad-tempered, fierce. A cat with its back up
looks 'ter'ble fess.'--N. & S.W. (2) Cocky, impudent, confident. Also
used in Hants.--S.W., occasionally. (3) Proud, stuck-up (S.).--S.W.
=Fet=. See ~Preterites~.
=Fevertory=. _Fumaria_, Fumitory, from which a cosmetic for removing
freckles used to be distilled.--S.W.
'If you wish to be pure and holy,
Wash your face with fevertory.'--_Local Rhyme._
=Few=. 'A goodish few,' or 'a main few,' a considerable quantity or
number.--N. & S.W.
'I ferrets a goodish few rabbits on bright nights in
winter.'--_Amateur Poacher_, ch. vii.
=Fiddle-strings=. The ribs of the Plantain leaf, when pulled out. See
~Cat-gut~.--N.W.
*=Field=. The space, or bay, between beam and beam in a barn, as 'a
barn of four fields.' (D.).
=Figged= (_two syll._), =Figgedy=, =Figgetty=, =Figgy=. (1) Made with
a few 'figs,' or raisins, as 'viggy pudden.' Figged Pudding, Plum
pudding (_Monthly Mag._, 1814). Figgetty Pooden (S.).--N. & S.W. (2)
~Figged.~ Spotted all over, as a pudding is with plums.--S.W. A
true-born Moon-raker, describing his first night in 'Lunnon,' where
he made the acquaintance of numerous members of the 'Norfolk-Howard'
family (_Cimex lectularius_), spoke of his face as being 'vigged aal
auver wi' spots an' bumps afore marning.'
=Fighting-cocks=. _Plantago media_, L., and other Plantains. Children
'fight' them, head against head.--N.W.
=Filtry=. Rubbish. 'Ther's a lot o' filtry about this house.'--N.W.
=Fine=. Of potatoes, very small.--N.W.
=Fingers-and-Thumbs=. Blossoms of _Ulex Europaeus_, L., Common Furze
(S.).--S.W.
*=Fire-deal=. A good deal (H.Wr.).
=Fire-new=, =Vire-new=. Quite new (A.)--N.W.
=Firk=. (1) To worry mentally, to be anxious; as 'Don't firk so,' or
'Don't firk yourself.' A cat does not _firk_ a mouse when 'playing'
with it, but the mouse _firks_ grievously.--N.W. (Marlborough). (2)
To be officiously busy or inquisitive, as 'I can't abear that there
chap a-comin' firkin' about here.' A policeman getting up a case
_firks about_ the place, ferreting out all the evidence he can.--N.W.
*=Fitten=. A pretence (A.B.).--Obsolete. Compare:
'He doth feed you with fittons, figments, and
leasings.'--_Cynthia's Revels._
=Fitty=. In good health. 'How be 'ee?' 'Ter'ble fitty.'--N.W.
*=Flabber-gaster=. _n._ Idle talk (S.).--S.W.
=Flag=. The blade of wheat.--N.W.
'The wheat was then showing a beautiful flag.... The flag is
the long narrow green leaf of the wheat.'--_Great Estate_, ch.
i. p. 8.
=Flake=. _n._ (1) A frame, barred with ash or willow spars, somewhat
resembling a light gate, used as a hurdle where extra strength is
needed (_Bevis_, ch. xii; _Wild Life_, ch. iv). 'Flake' hurdles
are used to divide a field, or for cattle, the ordinary sheep
hurdles being too weak for the purpose.--N.W. (2) _v._ To make
'flakes.'--N.W.
=Flamtag=. A slatternly woman.--N.W. (Huish, &c.)
=Flare=. (1) The flick, or internal fat of a pig, before it is melted
down to make lard.--N. & S.W. (2) The caul, or thin skin of the
intestines of animals, used for covering 'bake-faggots,' &c.--N. &
S.W.
=Fleck=. See ~Flick~.
=Flews=. A sluice is occasionally so called. See ~Flowse~.--S.W.
=Flewy=. Of a horse, troubled with looseness. 'He's what we calls a
flewy 'oss, can't kip nothing in 'im.' Cf. North of Eng. _Flewish_,
morally or physically weak. In Hants a horse of weakly constitution
is said to be _flue_ or _fluey_ (Cope).--N.W.
=Flick=, =Fleck=. (1) _n._ The internal fat of a pig (A.B.C.S.).--N.
& S.W. *(2) _v._ To flare (S.).--S.W.
=Flig-me-jig=. A girl of doubtful character. 'Her's a reg'lar
flig-me-jig.'--N.W.
=Flirk=. To flip anything about (H.Wr.), as a duster in flicking a
speck of dust off a table (_Village Miners_). Flirt is the S. Wilts
form of the word.--N.W.
*=Flitch=. (1) Pert, lively, officious (A.B.H.Wr.).
'Right flygge and mery.' _Paston Letters_, iv. 412.
*(2) To be _flick_ or _flitch_ with any one, to be familiar or
intimate (C.).--N.W., obsolete.
=Flitmouse=. The bat. A shortened form of _Flittermouse_.--N.W.
(Marlborough.)
=Flitters=. Pieces. A cup falls, and is broken 'aal to
vlitters.'--N.W.
*=Floating= or =Flowing meadow=. A meadow laid up in ridges with
water-carriages on each ridge and drains between (D.). A lowland
meadow watered from a river, as opposed to Catch-meadow (_Annals of
Agric._). ~Floted meadowes~ (Aubrey's _Nat. Hist. Wilts_, p. 51, ed.
Brit.).
=Flod=. See ~Preterites~.
=Flop-a-dock=. _Digitalis purpurea_, L., Foxglove.--S.W. (Hants
bord.)
=Floppetty=. _adj._ Of a woman, untidy, slatternly in dress or
person. ~Flopperty~ (S.).--S.W.
=Flowing Meadows=. See ~Floating Meadows~.
=Flowse=. (1) _v. act._ You 'flowse,' or splash, the water over you
in a bath.--N. & S.W. (2) _v. neut._ Water is said to be 'flowsing
down' when rushing very strongly through a mill hatch. A horse likes
to 'flowse about' in a pond.--S.W. (3) _n._ The rush of water through
a hatch.--S.W. (4) _n._ Occasionally also applied to the narrow
walled channel between the hatch gate and the pool below.--S.W.
=Flucksey=. _adj._ 'A flucksey old hen,' i.e. a hen who makes a
great fuss over her chickens.--S.W. (Bishopstrow, &c.) Cope's _Hants
Glossary_ has:--'_Flucks_, to peck in anger like a hen.'
=Flump=. 'To come down flump, like a twoad from roost,' to fall
heavily (A.B.S.); also used alone as a verb, as 'Her vlumped down in
thic chair.'--N. & S.W.
=Flunk=. A spark of fire; probably a form of ~Blink~, q.v. ~Vlonker~
(S.).--S.W.
=Flush=. *(1) _n._ Of grass, a strong and abundant growth (_Agric.
of Wilts_, ch. xii). (2) _adj._ Of grass, &c., luxuriant.--N.W. (3)
_adj._ Of young birds, fledged (A.B.).--N. & S.W.
=Flustrated=. (1) Taken aback, flustered.--N.W.
'A didn't zay anything ... but a looked a leetle flustrated
like.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 119.
(2) Tipsy.--N.W.
=Fluttery=. Of weather, catchy, uncertain, showery. ''T ull be a main
fluttery hay-making to-year, I warnd.'--N.W. (Huish.)
*=Fodder=. A labourer 'fodders' his boots--stuffs soft hay into them
to fill up, when they are too large for him (_Village Miners_).
*=Fodge= (rarely =Fadge=). In packing fleeces of wool, when the
quantity is too small to make up a full 'bag' of 240 lbs., the ends
of the bag are gathered together as required, and the sides skewered
over them, thus forming the small package known as a 'fodge.'--N.W.
=Fog=. _v._ To give fodder to cattle. Cf. Welsh _ffwg_, dry
grass.--N. & S.W.
'_Fogging_, the giving of fodder ... from a Middle English root
... is common in Mid-Wilts.'--_Leisure Hour_, Aug. 1893.
=Fog off=. To damp off, as cuttings often do in a greenhouse.--N.W.
(Marlborough.)
=Fogger=. A man who attends to the cows and takes them their fodder
morning and evening (_My Old Village_, &c.). A groom or man-servant
(H.Wr.), the duties of groom and fogger being usually discharged by
the same man on farms about Marlborough.--N. & S.W.
*=Foldsail=, =Fossel=. A fold-shore (D.). See ~Sails~.--N.W.
'A fold stake, locally called a "fossle."'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._
xxi. 132.
'The "fossels" means the _fold-shores_, or the _stakes_ to
which the hurdles are shored up, and fastened with a loose twig
wreath at the top.'--_Ibid._ xvii. 304.
=Fold-shore=. A stake pitched to support a hurdle (D.H.).--S.W.
=Follow or Follow on=. To continue.--N.W.
'If you do want a good crop, you must _follow on_ a hoeing
o' the ground; but you can't do no hoeing so long as it do
_follow_ raining.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. xxii. p. 111.
=Folly=. A circular plantation of trees on a hill, as 'Harnham
Folly,' or 'The Long Folly' on Compton Down. This seems quite
distinct from its more general use as applied to a tower or other
building which is too pretentious or costly for its builder's
position and means.--N. & S.W.
'"Every hill seems to have a Folly," she said, looking round.
"I mean a clump of trees on the top."'--_Greene Ferne Farm_,
ch. vi.
*=Foot-cock=. The small cock into which hay is first put (D.).
=Footy=. Paltry (A.B.), as a present not so large as was expected
(_Village Miners_).--N.W.
=For=. Often affixed to the verbs _say_ and _think_. ''Tean't the
same as you said for'; 'I bean't as old as you thinks for.'--N.W.
=Fore-eyed=. Fore-seeing, apt to look far ahead (S.).--S.W.
=Fore-spur=. A fore-leg of pork (S.).--S.W.
=Forefeed=, =Vorfeed=. To turn cattle out in spring into a pasture
which is afterwards to be laid up for hay.--N.W.
=Foreright=, =Vorright=. (1) _adj._ Headstrong, self-willed. 'He's
that vorright there's no telling he anything.'--N. & S.W. (2) _adj._
Blunt, rude, candid.--N.W. (Malmesbury.) (3) Just opposite. 'The
geat's vorright thuck shard.'--N.W.
*=Forel=. The actual cover of a book, not the material in which it is
bound. This is the usual term in Som. Old Fr. _fourrel_, a sheath,
case.--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Fork=. The apparatus used by thatchers for carrying the elms up to
the roof.--N.W.
=Forester=. (1) A New Forest horse-fly.--S.W. (2) Any very tall
thistle growing among underwood.--N.W. (Marlborough.)
*=Fossel=. See ~Foldsail~.
=Fot=. See ~Preterites~.
=Frame= A skeleton. 'Her's nothing in the world but a frame.'--N.W.
*=Frea=, =Fry=. To make a brushwood drain (D.).
=Freglam=. Odds and ends of cold vegetables, fried up with a little
bacon to give a relish. Compare Lanc. _Braughwham_, cheese, eggs,
clap-bread, and butter, all boiled together.--N.W., obsolete.
*=French Grass=. _Onobrychis sativa_, L., Sainfoin.--N.W. (Enford.)
=Fresh liquor=. Unsalted hog's-fat (A).--N.W.
=Frickle=, =Friggle=. (1) To potter about at little jobs, such as an
old man can do. 'I bain't up to a day's work now; I can't do nothing
but frickle about in my garne.'--N. & S.W. (2) To fidget, to worry
about a thing.--N.W.
'He freggled [fidgetted] hisself auver thuck paason as come a
bit ago.'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. vii.
=Frickling=, =Friggling=. _adj._ Tiresome, involving much minute
attention or labour. Used of fiddling little jobs.--N.W.
=Friggle=. _n._ A worrying little piece of work. 'I be so caddled
wi' aal these yer friggles, I caan't hardly vind time vor a bit o'
vittles.' See ~Frickle~.--N.W. (Huish.)
=Frith=. (1) _n._ 'Quick,' or young whitethorn for planting
hedges.--N.W. *(2) _n._ Thorns or brush underwood (D).--N.W.
'1605. Itm to James Smalwood for an Acre & halfe of
hedginge frith out of Heywood.... Item for felling the same
frith.'--_Records of Chippenham_, p. 194.
(3) _v._ To make a brushwood drain, as opposed to ~Grip~, q.v. (D).
=Froar=. Frozen (A.B.S.); generally ~Vroar~ or ~Vrŏr~ in N.
Wilts, but the usual form at Wroughton, N.W., is ~Froren~. A.S.
_gefroren_.--N. & S.W.
=Frog-dubbing=. Boys throw a frog into a shallow pool, and then 'dub'
or pelt it, as it tries to escape. See ~Dub~.--S.W.
=Froom=. See ~Frum~.
=Frout=. Of animals: to take fright. 'My horse frouted and run
away.'--S.W.
=Frouten=, =Froughten=. To frighten (S.).--N. & S.W.
'Lor, Miss, how you did froughten I!'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch.
vii.
=Frow=. See ~Brow~.
=Frum=, =Froom=. Of vegetables, grass, &c.: fresh and juicy (A.B.);
strong-growing or rank. A.S. _from_, vigorous, strong.--N.W.
*=Fry=. (1) _n._ A brushwood drain (H.Wr.). See ~Frith~ (3).--N.W.
(2) _v._ To make a brushwood drain (D.). Also ~Frea~ and ~Frith~
(D.).--N.W.
'1790. For 234 Lugg Hollow frying in Englands
2.18.6.'--_Records of Chippenham_, p. 248.
=Fullmare=. _n._ In my childhood I remember being told more than
once by servants at Morden, near Swindon, N.W., that a colt which
was playing about in a field near was 'a fullmare.' Could this
possibly have been a survival of the old word '_Folymare_, a young
foal,' which is given by Halliwell and Wright as occurring in a
fifteenth-century MS. at Jesus College, Oxford? I have never heard
the word elsewhere.--_G. E. D._
=Fur=. _n._ The calcareous sediment in a kettle, &c.--N. & S.W.
=Furlong= (pronounced ~Vurlin~). The strip of newly-ploughed land
lying between two main furrows.--N.W. (Lockeridge.)
=Fur up=. Water-pipes, kettles, &c., when coated inside with 'rock,'
or the calcareous sediment of hard water, are said to 'fur up,' or to
be 'furred up.'--N. & S.W.
*=Furze-hawker=. _Saxicola oenanthe_, the Wheatear.--N.W.
*=Furze Robin=. _Saxicola rubicola_, the Stonechat (_Birds of Wilts_,
p. 150).--N.W. (Sutton Benger.)
=Fuzz-ball=. _Lycoperdon Bovista_, L., Puffball.--N. & S.W.
=Gaa-oot!= See ~Horses~ (A.).
=Gaam=. (1) _v._ To smear or bedaub with anything sticky. ~Gaamze~
(_Village Miners_). (2) _n._ A sticky mass of anything. See
~Gam~.--N. & S.W. Many years ago, at a Yeomanry ball in a certain
town in N. Wilts, the Mayor, who had done his duty manfully up to
then, stopped short in the middle of a dance, and mopping his face
vigorously, gasped out to his astonished partner, a lady of high
position, 'Well, I don't know how _you_ be, Marm, but _I_ be ael of a
gaam o' zweat!'--N.W.
=Gaamy=, =Gammy=. Daubed with grease, &c., sticky. In Hal. and Wr.
'~Gaam~, _adj._ sticky, clammy,' is apparently an error, _gaamy_
being probably intended.--N.W.
=Gaapsey=. _n._ A sight to be stared at. See ~Gapps~.--N.W.
=Gaapus=. _n._ A fool, a stupid fellow. 'What be at, ye girt
gaapus!'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Gabborn=. Of rooms or houses, comfortless, bare (B.C.). ~Gabbern~
(A.H.) and ~Gabern~ (_Great Estate_, ch. iv. p. 78). This term
always denotes largeness without convenience or comfort (_Cunnington
MS._).--N.W. ~Gabberny~ on Berks bord.
*=Gage-ring=. An engagement ring (_Great Estate_, ch. x).--N.W.
=Galley-bagger=. A scarecrow (S.).--S.W.
=Galley-crow=. A scarecrow (A.H.Wr.).--N. & S.W.
'"Maester," said the child, "wull 'e let m' chainge hats wi'
thuck galley-crow yander?" ... pointing to a scarecrow at the
other end of the garden.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 103.
=Gallivant=. To be gadding about on a spree with a companion of the
opposite sex (S.): to run after the girls, or 'chaps,' as the case
may be.--N. & S.W.
=Gallow=. See ~Gally~.
=Gallows= (pronounced _Gallus_). *(1) A pair of braces. (2)
Exceedingly. Used with any adjective; as 'Gallus dear,' very
expensive (_Great Estate_, ch. iv. p. 75).--N. & S.W.
'A gallus bad wench her be!'--_Dark_, ch. xviii.
*(3) 'He's a gallus chap,' i.e. plucky.
=Gallows-gate=. A light gate, consisting only of a hinged style,
top-rail, and one strut.--N.W.
=Gallus=. See ~Gallows~.--N.W.
=Gally=, =Gallow=. To frighten or terrify. ~Gallow~ (B.H., _Lansd.
MS._), ~Gally~ (A.B.S.), Pret. _gallered_, astonished, frightened
(A.B.C.S.) 'He gallered I amwost into vits.' Still in use about
Marlborough and in S.W. From M.E. _galwen_; A.S. _agælwan_, to
stupefy.--N. & S.W.
'The wrathful skies
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark.'--_Lear_, iii. 2.