'Young bulls ... are ... easily "gallied," that is,
frightened.'--MARRYAT, _Poor Jack_, ch. vi.
=Gam=. A sticky mass, as 'all in a gam.' See ~Gaam~ (2).--N. & S.W.
In S. Wilts the _a_ in this word and its derivatives is usually
short, while in N. Wilts it is broad in sound.
=Gambrel=. The piece of wood or iron used by butchers for extending
or hanging a carcase (A.). ~Gamel~ (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Gamel=. See ~Gambrel~.
=Gammer=. A woodlouse.--S.W.
=Gammet=, =Gamut=. (1) _n._ Fun, frolicsome tricks. 'You be vull o'
gamuts.'--N.W. (2) _v._ To frolic, to play the fool. See ~Gammock~
and ~Gannick~. 'Thee bist allus a gammetting.'--N.W. (3) _v._ To play
off practical jokes; to take in any one.--N.W.
=Gammock=. _v._ To lark about, to play the fool, to frolic. See
~Gannick~ and ~Gammet~.--N.W. (Marlborough.)
=Gammotty=, =Gammutty=. (1) _adj._ Frolicsome, larky. See
~Gammet~.--N.W. (2) _adj._ Of cheese, ill-flavoured. See
~Cammocky~.--N.W.
=Gammy=. (1) Sticky. See ~Gaamy~.--S.W. (2) Lame, crippled, having a
'game leg.'--N. & S.W.
=Gamut=. See ~Gammet~.
=Gander-flanking, To go=. To go off larking or 'wondermenting.'
Perhaps a corruption of _gallivanting_.--S.W. (Upton Scudamore.)
=Gandigoslings=. _Orchis mascula_, L., Early Purple Orchis. Compare
_Gandergosses_ in _Gerarde_ (_Appendix_), and _Candle-gostes_
in _Folk-Etymology_. Also see ~Dandy-goslings~, ~Dandy-goshen~,
~Goosey-ganders~, ~Goslings~, ~Grampha-Griddle-Goosey-Gander~, and
~Granfer-goslings~.--N.W.
=Gannick=. To lark about, to play the fool. See ~Gammock~.--S.W.
(Warminster, &c.)
=Gapps=, =Gaapsey=. To gape or stare at anything. 'Thee'st allus a
gaapsin' about.'--N.W.
=Garley-gut=. A gluttonous person. Perhaps connected with _gorle_, to
devour eagerly (see Halliwell).
'"Let's go to bed," says Heavy-Head,
"Let's bide a bit," says Sloth,
"Put on the pot," says Garley-gut,
"We'll sup afore we g'auf" [go off].'--_Nursery Rhyme._
=Gashly=. See ~Ghastly~.
=Gate=. _n._ Excitement, 'taking.' 'Her wur in a vine gate
wi't.'--N.W.
=Gatfer=. See ~Gotfer~.
=Gauge-brick=. A brick which shows by its change of colour when the
oven is hot enough for baking. Cf. ~Warning-stone~.--N.W.
'She knew when the oven was hot enough by the gauge-brick:
this particular brick as the heat increased became spotted
with white, and when it had turned quite white the oven was
ready.'--_Great Estate_, ch. viii. p. 152.
=Gawl-cup=. See ~Gold-cup~.
=Gawney=. A simpleton (A.H.S.Wr.).--N. & S.W.
'Leave m' 'lone y' great gawney!'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 83.
=Gay=. Of wheat, rank in the blade (D.).--N.W.
=Gee=, =Jee=. To agree, to work well together (A.B.).--N.W.
=Genow=. See ~Go-now~.
*=Gentlemen's-and-ladies'-fingers=. _Arum maculatum_, L.,
Cuckoo-pint. Cf. ~Lady's-Finger~ (2).--S.W. (Farley.)
=Ghastly= (pronounced Gashly). This word is used in many ways, as
'Thick hedge wur gashly high, but it be ter'ble improved now.'--N.W.
(Huish.) At Etchilhampton, N.W., a 'gashly ditch' is one that is cut
too wide.--N. & S.W.
=Gibbles=. Onions grown from bulbs. Cf. ~Chipples~ and
~Cribbles~.--N. & S.W.
=Gicksey=. See ~Kecks~.
=Giggley=. See ~Goggley~.
=Gigletting=. _adj._ Fond of rough romping; wanton. Used only of
females. 'Dwoan't ha' no truck wi' thuck there giglettin' wench o'
his'n.'--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Gilcup=. Buttercups in general; occasionally restricted to _R.
Ficaria_. Cf. ~Gold-cup~.--S.W.
*=Gill=. A low four-wheeled timber-carriage (_Cycl. of Agric._).
*=Gilty-cup=. _Caltha palustris_, L., Marsh Marigold.--S.W. (Zeals.)
=Gin-and-Water Market=. See quotation.
'Some towns have only what is called a "gin-and-water" market:
that is, the "deal" is begun and concluded from small samples
carried in the pocket and examined at an inn over a glass of
spirits and water.'--_The Toilers of the Field_, p. 28.
=Gipsy=. Carnation grass, _Carex panicea_, L., because it turns so
brown.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Gipsy-rose=. _Scabiosa atropurpurea_, L., the Garden Scabious.--N.W.
=Girls=. The short-pistilled or 'thrum-eyed' blossoms of the
Primrose, _Primula vulgaris_, L. See ~Boys~.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Gix=, =Gicksey=, &c. See ~Kecks~.
=Glory-hole=. A place for rubbish or odds and ends, as a housemaid's
cupboard, or a lumber room.--N.W.
'This has nothing to do with Lat. _gloria_, but is connected
with M.E. _glorien_, to befoul (_Prompt. Parv._). Compare Prov.
Eng. _glorry_, greasy, fat. Thus _glory-hole_=a dirty, untidy
nook. See _Folk-Etymology_, p. 145.'--SMYTHE-PALMER.
*=Glox=. This is given by most authorities as a noun, and defined as
'the sound of liquids when shaken in a barrel' (A.B.H.Wr.); but it
is really a verb, and refers to the motion and peculiar gurgling of
liquids against the side of a barrel or vessel that is not quite full
(C.). In Hants _gloxing_ is the noise made by falling, gurgling water
(Cope). Cf. ~Lottle~.--N.W., obsolete.
'Fill the Barrel full, John, or else it will glox in
Carriage.'--_Cunnington MS._
=Glutch=. To swallow (A.B.C.S.). According to _Cunnington MS_, the
use of _glutch_ implies that there is some difficulty in swallowing,
while _quilt_ is to swallow naturally.--N. & S.W.
=Glutcher=. The throat (S.). See ~Glutch~.--N. & S.W.
*=Gnaa-post=. A simpleton (S.).--S.W.
=Gnaing=. To mock, to insult (S.). Also used in West of England and
Sussex.--S.W.
=Goat-weed=. _Polygonum Convolvulus_, L., Black Bindweed.--N.W.
*=Gob=. (1) _n._ Much chatter (S.).--S.W. (2) _v._ To talk.--S.W.
*=Goche=. A pitcher (H.Wr.). Perhaps a mistake, as Morton (_Cycl. of
Agric._) gives _gotch_ under Norfolk.
=Gog=, =Goggmire=. A swamp or quagmire. Cf. ~Quavin-gog~. 'I be all
in a goggmire,' in a regular fix or dilemma.--N.W.
'In Minty Common ... is a boggie place, called the _Gogges_....
_Footnote_. Perhaps a corruption of _quag_, itself a
corruption of _quake_. "I be all in a goggmire" is a North
Wilts phrase for being in what appears an inextricable
difficulty.'--JACKSON'S _Aubrey_, p. 271.
=Goggle=. (1) _n._ A snail-shell. Cf. E. _cockle_ (Skeat).--N.W.
'=Guggles=, the empty shells of snails--not the large brown
kind, but those of various colours.'--MISS E. BOYER-BROWN.
(2) _v._ 'To go goggling,' to collect snail-shells (_Springtide_,
p. 89).--N.W. (3) _v._ To shake or tremble, as a table with one leg
shorter than the others. 'I do trembly an' goggly ael day.'--N. &
S.W. (4) _n._ 'All of a goggle,' shaking all over, especially from
physical weakness. 'How are you to-day, Sally?' 'Lor', Zur! I be aal
of a goggle.' 'What on earth do you mean?' 'Why, I be zo ter'ble
giggly, I can't scarce kip my lags nohow.'--S.W. (Steeple Ashton.)
=Goggles=. A disease in sheep (_Agric. of Wilts_, ch. xiv).--N.W.
(Castle Eaton.)
=Goggly=. Unsteady, shaky. Sometimes ~Giggly~ is used, as in example
given under ~Goggle~.--N. & S.W.
=Goggmire=. See ~Gog~.
=Gold=. Nodules of iron pyrites in chalk.--N.W. Heard once or twice,
near Clyffe Pypard, years ago.--G. E. D.
'On past the steep wall of an ancient chalk-quarry, where the
ploughboys search for pyrites, and call them thunderbolts and
"gold," for when broken the radial metallic fibres glisten
yellow.'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. v.
=Gold-cup= (pronounced _Gawl-cup_). The various forms of Buttercup.
Cf. ~Gilcup~.--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Golden Chain=. (1) Laburnum (S.). The general name for it
in Wilts.--N. & S.W. (2) _Lathyrus pratensis_, L., Meadow
Vetchling.--S.W. (Salisbury.)
=Goldlock=. _Sinapis arvensis_, L., Charlock.--S.W. (Zeals.)
=Go-now=, =Genow=, =Good-now=. Used as an expletive, or an address
to a person (S.). 'What do 'ee thenk o' that, genow!' Also used in
Dorset.--N. & S.W.
=Gooding Day=. St. Thomas' Day, when children go 'gooding,' or asking
for Christmas boxes.--N.W.
*=Good Neighbour=. Jefferies (_Village Miners_) speaks of a weed
called by this name, but does not identify it. See below.
=Good Neighbourhood=. (1) _Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus_, L., Good
King Henry.--N.W. (Devizes.) (2) _Centranthus ruber_, DC., Red Spur
Valerian (_English Plant Names_).--N.W. (Devizes.)
=Good-now=. See ~Go-now~ (S.). Used at Downton, &c.--S.W.
=Gooseberry-pie=. _Valeriana dioica_, L., All-heal.--S.W.
=Goosegog=. A green gooseberry (S.). Used by children.--N. & S.W.
=Goosehill=. See ~Guzzle~.
*=Goosen-chick=. A gosling (Wr.). *~Goosen-chick's vather~. A gander
(Wr.). Both these words would appear to belong to Som. and Dev.
rather than Wilts.
=Goosey-gander=. A game played by children (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Goosey-ganders=. _Orchis mascula_, L., Early Purple Orchis.--N.W.
*=Gore=. A triangular piece of ground (D.).
=Goslings=. _Orchis mascula_, L., Early Purple Orchis. See
~Gandigoslings~.--N.W.
=Goss=. _Ononis arvensis_, L., Restharrow. Gorse, _Ulex_, is always
'Fuzz.'--N.W.
=Gossiping=. A christening.--N.W., obsolete.
*=Gotfer=. An old man (H.Wr.). *~Gatfer~ is still in use about
Malmesbury.--N.W.
=Grab-hook=. A kind of grapnel used for recovering lost buckets from
a well.
=Graft=. (1) A draining spade.--N.W. (2) The depth of earth dug
therewith.--N.W.
=Grained=. Dirty (A.H.Wr.); ~Grainted~ (B.); the latter being a
mispronunciation.--N.W.
=Grains=. The tines of a gardening fork, as 'a four-grained
prong.'--N. & S.W.
=Gramfer=. Grandfather (A.B.). ~Granfer~ (S.) and ~Gramp~ are also
used.--N. & S.W.
=Grammer=. Grandmother (A.B.S.).--N. & S.W. Becoming obsolete.
=Grammered in=. Of dirt, so grained in, that it is almost impossible
to wash it off. ~Grammered~: Begrimed (H.).--N.W.
*=Grampha-Griddle-Goosey-Gander=. _Orchis mascula_, L., Early Purple
Orchis (_Sarum Dioc. Gazette_).--S.W. (Zeals.)
*=Granfer-goslings=. _Orchis maculata_, L., Spotted Orchis (_Village
Miners_).--N.W.
*=Granny-jump-out-of-bed=. _Aconitum Napellus_, L., Monks-hood.--S.W.
(Deverill.)
=Granny= (or =Granny's=) =Nightcap=. (1) _Anemone nemorosa_, L.,
Wood Anemone.--S.W. (Salisbury.) (2) _Aquilegia vulgaris_, L.,
Common Columbine.--N.W. (Huish.) (3) _Convolvulus sepium_, L., Great
Bindweed.--N.W. (4) _Convolvulus arvensis_, L., Field Bindweed.--N.W.
*=Grate=. Earth (D.).
*=Grate-board=. The mould-board of a plough (D.).
*=Gratings=. The right of feed in the stubbles (D.). See ~Gretton~.
=Gravel-Path, The=. The Milky Way.--N.W. (Huish.)
*=Gray Woodpecker=. _Picus major_, the Great Spotted Woodpecker
(_Birds of Wilts_, p. 253). See ~Black Woodpecker~.
=Great axe=. The large English woodman's axe (_Amateur Poacher_, ch.
iv).
=Greggles=, or =Greygles=. _Scilla nutans_, Sm., Wild Hyacinth. Cf.
~Blue Goggles~.--S.W.
*=Gretton=. Stubble (Aubrey's _Wilts MS._) See ~Gratings~.
=Greybeard=. _Clematis Vitalba_, L., Traveller's Joy, when in
seed.--N.W.
=Greygles=. See ~Greggles~.
=Griggles=. Small worthless apples remaining on the tree after the
crop has been gathered in.--N.W.
=Griggling=. Knocking down the 'griggles,' as boys are allowed by
custom to do.--N.W.
=Grindstone Apple=. The crab-apple; used to sharpen reap-hooks, its
acid biting into the steel. The 'Grindstone Apple' mentioned in the
_Eulogy of R. Jefferies_, p. iv. is probably the 'Grindstone Pippin'
of _Wood Magic_, not the crab.--N.W.
=Grip=, or =Gripe=. (1) To _grip_ wheat is to divide it into bundles
before making up the sheaves.--N.W. (2) _n._ 'A grip of wheat,' the
handful grasped in reaping (A.). It is _laid down in gripe_ when laid
ready in handfuls untied (D.).--N.W. (3) _v._ To drain with covered
turf or stone drains, as opposed to _frith_. To _take up gripe_, is
to make such drains (D.).--S.W.
=Grist=, =Griz=. To snarl and show the teeth, as an angry dog or man
(A.H.Wr.).--N.W.
=Grizzle=. To grumble, complain, whine, cry.--N. & S.W.
*=Grom=. A forked stick used by thatchers for carrying the bundles of
straw up to the roof (A.B.G.).
*=Gropsing=. 'The gropsing of the evening,' dusk.--Obsolete.
'Both came unto the sayd Tryvatt's howse in the gropsing of the
yevening.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ xxii. 227.
=Ground=. A field.--N.W.
'A whirlewind took him up ... and layd him down safe, without
any hurt, in the next ground.'--AUBREY'S _Nat. Hist. Wilts_ p.
16, ed. Brit.
*=Ground-sill stone=. Quarrymen's term for one of the beds of the
Portland oolite--useful for bridges, &c., where great strength is
required (Britton's _Beauties_, vol. iii).
=Ground-rest=. The wood supporting the share, in the old wooden
plough (D.). _Rest_ is a mistake for _wrest_ (Skeat).--N.W.
=Grout=. (1) _v._ To root like a hog.--N.W. (2) _v._ Hence, to
rummage about.--N.W.
=Grouty=. _adj._ Of the sky, thundery, threatening rain. It looks
'ter'ble grouty' in summer when thunder clouds are coming up.--N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
=Grump=. 'To grump about,' to complain of all sorts of ailments.--N.W.
*=Grupper=. To give up (Wr.). There would appear to be some mistake
here, as we cannot trace the word elsewhere.
*=Gubbarn=. _n._ A filthy place, a foul gutter or drain (A.H.Wr.),
~Gubborn~ (B.). Should not this be _adj._ instead of _n._? Compare
Devon _gubbings_, offal, refuse.
=Guggles=. See ~Goggles~.
=Guinea-pigs=, =Pigs=. Woodlice. See ~Butchers'-Guinea-Pigs~.--N. &
S.W.
*=Gule=. To sneer or make mouths at (A.). Also used in Hereford.
=Guley=, =Guly=. _adj._ (1) Of sheep, giddy, suffering from a
disease in the head which affects the brain and causes a kind of
vertigo.--N.W. (2) Of persons, queer, stupid, or silly-looking.
Compare _Guled_, bewildered, Berks. After being very drunk
over-night, a man looks 'ter'ble guley' in the morning.--N.W.
=Gullet-hole=. A large drain-hole through a hedge-bank to carry off
water.--N.W.
*=Gurgeons=. Coarse flour (A.).
=Gushill=. See ~Guzzle~.
=Guss=. (1) _n._ The girth of a saddle (A.B.).--N.W. (2) _v._ To
girth; to tie tightly round the middle. A bundle of hay should be
'gussed up tight.' A badly dressed fat woman 'looks vor aal the world
like a zack o' whate a-gussed in wi' a rawp.'--N.W.
=Gustrill=. See ~Guzzle~.
=Gutter=. To drain land with open drains (D.).--N.W.
=Guzzle=. (1) The filth of a drain (B.). (2) A filthy drain (A.B.).
~Goosehill~ (Wr.), ~Gushill~ (K.), and ~Gustrill~ (H.Wr.), the latter
being probably a misprint.--N.W.
=Guzzle-berry=. Gooseberry. Used by children.--N. & S.W.
=H=. It should be noted that the cockney misuse of _H_ is essentially
foreign to our dialect. Formerly it was the rarest thing in the
world to hear a true Wiltshire rustic make such a slip, though the
townsfolk were by no means blameless in this respect, but now the
spread of education and the increased facilities of communication
have tainted even our rural speech with cockneyisms and slang phrases.
=Hack=. (1) _v._ To loosen the earth round potatoes, preparatory
to earthing them up. This is done with a 'tater-hacker,' an old
three-grained garden-fork, which by bending down the tines or
'grains' at right angles to the handle has been converted into
something resembling a rake, but used as a hoe. In Dorset hoeing is
called _hacking_.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) *(2) _n._ The shed in which
newly-made bricks are set out to dry.--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
*=Hacka=. _n._ A nervous hesitation in speaking (_Village
Miners_).--N.W.
'He speaks with so many hacks and hesitations.'--DR. H. MORE.
=Hacker=. (1) _v._ See ~Hakker~. (2) _n._ The instrument used in
'hacking' potatoes; also known as a ~Tomahawk~.--N.W.
=Hacketty=. See ~Hicketty~.
=Hackle=. *(1) _n._ The mane of a hog (A.H.Wr.). (2) _n._ The straw
covering of a bee-hive or of the apex of a rick (A.).--N.W. *(3) To
agree together (A.). (4) To rattle or re-echo.--N.W.
=Hagged=. Haggard, worn out, exhausted-looking. 'He came in quite
hagged.' 'Her 've a had a lot to contend wi' to-year, and her 's
hagged to death wi't aal.'--N. & S.W.
=Hagger=. See ~Hakker~.
=Haggle=. To cut clumsily. See ~Agg~.--N.W.
'They took out their knives and haggled the skin
off.'--_Bevis_, ch. vii.
=Hag-rod=. Bewitched, hag-ridden, afflicted with nightmare.
*~Haig-raig~, bewildered (S.).--S.W.
=Hail=. The beard of barley. See ~Aile~, which is the more correct
form (Smythe-Palmer).--N. & S.W.
'The black knots on the delicate barley straw were beginning to
be topped with the hail.'--_Round about a Great Estate_, ch. i.
p. 8.
=Hain=, =Hain up=. _v._ To reserve a field of grass for mowing
(A.B.D.).--N.W. Treated as a noun by Akerman.
'Three acres of grass ... to be hayned by the farmer at
Candlemas and carried by the Vicar at Lammas.'--_Hilmarton
Parish Terrier_, 1704.
=Haito=. A horse; used by mothers and nurses concurrently with
_Gee-gee_. A contraction of _Hait-wo_, the order to a horse to go to
the left. _Highty_ is similarly used in N. of England.--N. & S.W.
=Hait-wo=. See above.
=Hakker=, =Hacker=. To tremble (S.), as with passion (A.), cold, or
ague. ~Hagger.~ To chatter with cold (H.Wr.).--N. & S.W.
'Bless m' zoul, if I dwon't think our maester's got the ager!
How a hackers an bivers, to be zhure!'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 55.
=Half-baked=, or =Half-saved=. Half-witted.--N. & S.W.
*=Hallantide=. All Saints' Day (B.).
=Hallege=, =Harrige=. _n._ The latter seems to be the original form
of the word, and is still occasionally heard; but for at least
seventy years it has been more commonly pronounced as _hallege_,
_l_ and _r_ having been interchanged. We have met with it at Clyffe
Pypard, Bromham, Huish, and elsewhere in N. Wilts; but, so far as
we know, it is not used in S. Wilts. _Havage_=disturbance, which
the Rev. S. Baring-Gould heard once in Cornwall, and made use of
in his fine West-Country romance, _John Herring_, ch. xxxix, is
doubtless a variant of the same word. (1) Of persons, a crowd; also,
contemptuously, a low rabble. 'Be you a-gwain down to zee what they
be a-doing at the Veast?' 'No, _I_ bean't a-gwain amang such a
hallege as that!'--N.W. (2) Of things, confusion, disorder. Were a
load of _top and lop_, intended to be cut up for firewood, shot down
clumsily in a yard gateway, it would be said, 'What a hallege you've
a-got there, blocking up the way!--N.W. (3) Hence, it sometimes
appears to mean rubbish, as when it is applied to the mess and litter
of small broken twigs and chips left on the ground after a tree has
been cut and carried.--N.W. (4) It is also occasionally used of a
disturbance of some sort, as 'What a hallege!' what a row!--N.W.
=Ham=. (1) A narrow strip of ground by a river, as ~Mill-ham~ (A.D.).
(2) See Haulm (S.).
=Hames=. Pieces of wood attached to a horse's collar in drawing
(A.D.).--N. & S.W.
=Hanch= (_a_ broad). Of a cow or bull, to thrust with the horns,
whether in play or earnest.--N.W.
=Hand=. (1) _n._ Corn has 'a good hand' when it is dry and slippery
in the sack, 'a bad hand' when it is damp and rough (D.).--N.W. (2)
_v._ To act as a second in a fight.--N.W. (3) _v._ 'To have hands
with anything,' to have anything to do with it. 'I shan't hae no
hands wi't.--N.W. See ~Hank~.
=Hand-box=. See ~Box~.
=Hander=. The second to a pugilist (A.). See ~Hand~ (2).--N.W.
=Handin'-post=. A sign-post.--N.W.
=Hand-staff=. The part of the 'drashell' which is held in the hand.
=Hand-wrist=. The wrist.--N.W.
=Handy=. Near to, as 'handy home,' 'handy ten o'clock' (A.B.M.S.). 'A
gied un vower days' work, or handy.'--N. & S.W.
=Hang=. 'To hang up a field,' to take the cattle off it, and give it
a long rest, so as to freshen up the pasture.--N.W.
=Hang-fair=. A public execution, as 'Hang-fair at 'Vize,' formerly
treated as a great holiday.--N.W., obsolete. The Pleasure Fair at
Warminster on August 11 is known as 'Hang-Fair,' perhaps from the
hanging of two murderers there on that day in 1813. See _Wilts Notes
and Queries_, i. 40, 139.
=Hang-gallows=. A gallows-bird (S.).--N. & S.W.
'"Where's the money I put in th' zack, you hang-gallus?" roared
Mr. Twink.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 55.
=Hanging=. (1) The steep wooded slope of a hill.--N. & S.W. (2) A
hillside field (S.).--S.W.
=Hanging Geranium=. _Saxifraga sarmentosa_, L.; from the way in
which it is usually suspended in a cottage window; also known as
~Strawberry Geranium~, from its strawberry-like runners.--S.W.
=Hanging-post=. The hinder upright timber of a gate, by which it
is hung to its post. Frequently heard, although ~Har~ is much more
commonly used.--N.W. (Huish, &c.)
=Hanglers=. The hooks by which pots and kettles are suspended over
open fireplaces in old cottages and farm-houses. See ~Coglers~.--N.W.
*=Hank=. Dealings with (S.). 'I won't ha' no hank wi' un,' will have
nothing at all to do with him. Cf. ~Hand~ (3).--S.W.
*=Hants-sheep=, =Hants-horses=. See quotation.
'They were called [in Wilts] hants sheep; they were a sort of
sheep that never shelled their teeth, but always had their
lambs-teeth without shedding them, and thrusting out two
broader in their room every year.... There were such a sort of
horses called hants horses, that always showed themselves to be
six years old.'--LISLE'S _Husbandry_, 1757.
=Happer-down=. To come down smartly, to rattle down, as hail, or
leaves in autumn.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Haps=. (1) _n._ A hasp (A.B.).--N. & S.W. (2) _v._ To hasp, to
fasten up a door or box (A.B.)--N. & S.W.
=Har=. The hinder upright timber of a gate, by which it is hung to
its post. A.S. _heorre_, M.E. _herre_, the hinge of a door. See
~Head~ and ~Hanging-post~.--N.W. (Marlborough; Huish; Clyffe Pypard.)
'We wants some more heads and hars cut out.' Carpenters about
Marlborough usually reduce the word to a single letter in
making up their accounts, as 'To a new R to Cow-lease gate,
&c.'--Rev. C. SOAMES.
=Hardhead=. _Centaurea nigra_, L., Black Knapweed.--N. & S.W.
=Harl=. (1) _v._ To thrust a dead rabbit's hind-foot through a slit
in the other leg, so as to form a loop to hang it up or carry it
by (_Gamekeeper at Home_, ch. ii). _Hardle_ in Dorset.--N. & S.W.
(2) _v._ To entangle (C.). _Harl_, knotted (A.S.), is a mistake for
_harled_.--N. & S.W. (3) _n._ An entanglement (B.C.). 'The thread
be aal in a harl.' A knot (Aubrey's _Nat. Hist. Wilts_, p. 51, ed.
Brit.)--N. & S.W. *(4) Of oats, _well-harled_ is well-eared (D).
=Harrige=. See HALLEGE.
*=Harrows=. The longitudinal bars of a harrow (D.).
=Harvest-trow=. The shrew-mouse (_Wild Life_, ch. ix); ~Harvest-row~
(A.H.Wr.)--N.W.
*=Hask=. A husky cough to which cows are subject (Lisle's
_Husbandry_). See HUSK.
=Hatch=. (1) _n._ A 'wallow,' or line of raked-up hay.--N.W. (2) _v._
'To hatch up,' to rake hay into hatches.--N.W. (3) _n._ A half-door
(A.B.C.). 'Barn-hatch,' a low board put across the door, over which
you must step to enter.--N.W.
=Haulm=, =Ham=, =Haam=, =Helm=. A stalk of any vegetable (A.B.),
especially potatoes and peas.--N. & S.W.
=Haycock=. A much larger heap of hay than a 'foot-cock.'--N. & S.W.
*=Hayes=. A piece of ground enclosed with a live hedge; used as a
termination, as ~Calf-Hayes~ (D.). A.S. _hege_ (Skeat).
=Hay-home=. See quotation.
'It was the last day of the hay-harvest--it was "hay-home" that
night.'--R. JEFFERIES, _A True Tale of the Wiltshire Labourer_.
=Hay-making=. Grass as it is mown lies in _swathe_ (N. & S.W.); then
it is _turned_ (S.W.), preparatory to being _tedded_ (N. & S.W.), or
_spread_; then raked up into lines called _hatches_ (N.W.), which
may be either _single hatch_ or _double hatch_, and are known in
some parts as wallows (N.W.); next _spread_ and _hatched up_ again,
and put up in small _foot-cocks_, _cocks_ (N.W.), or _pooks_ (N. &
S.W.); finally, after being thrown about again, it is _waked up_
into _long wakes_ (N.W.), or _rollers_ (S.W.), and if not made
temporarily into _summer-ricks_ (N.W.), is then carried. No wonder
that John Burroughs (_Fresh Fields_, p. 55) remarks that in England
hay 'is usually nearly worn out with handling before they get it into
the rick.' Almost every part of the county has its own set of terms.
Thus about Warminster meadow-hay is (1) turned, (2) spread or tedded,
(3) put in rollers, (4) pooked; while at Clyffe Pypard it is tedded,
hatched, waked and cocked, and at Huish waked and pooked. _Roller_ is
pronounced as if it rhymed with _collar_. Hay is 'put in rollers,' or
'rollered up.'
=Hazon= (_a_ broad). To scold or threaten (A.B.C.H.Wr.). 'Now dwoan't
'ee hazon the child for 't.'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Head=. The front upright timber of a gate. See Har and
Falling-post.--N.W. (Marlborough; Huish; Clyffe Pypard.)
=Headland=. (1) _adj._ Headlong, as to 'fall headland' or
'neck-headland.'--N.W. (2) The strip where the plough turns at bottom
and top of a field, which must either be ploughed again at right
angles to the rest, or dug over with the spade; generally called the
~Headlong~ by labourers in S. Wilts.
=Headlong=. See ~Headland~.
=Heal=, =Hele=. Of seeds, to cover or earth over (D.); ~Heeld~,
~Yeeld~ (_Great Estate_, ch. viii). When the ground is dry and hard,
and the wheat when sown does not sink in and get covered up at once,
it is said not to _heal well_, and requires harrowing.--N.W.
=Heartless=. 'A heartless day' is a wet day with a strong south-west
wind.--S.W.
=Heater= (pronounced _Hetter_). A flat iron (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Heave=, =Eve=. Of hearthstones, &c., to sweat or become damp on the
surface in dry weather, a sign of coming change and wet. ~Eave~, to
sweat (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Heavy= (pronounced _Heevy_). Of weather, damp. See ~Heave~.--N.W.
=Heaver=. Part of the old-fashioned winnowing tackle.--N.W.
*=He-body=. A woman of masculine appearance.--S.W. (Deverill.)
*=Hecth=. Height (A.).
=Hedge-carpenter=. A professional maker and repairer of rail fences,
&c. (_Gamekeeper at Home_, ch. iii).--N.W.
=Hedge-hog=. The prickly seed-vessel of _Ranunculus arvensis_, L.,
Corn Buttercup (_Great Estate_, ch. vii).--N.W.
=Hedge-peg=. The fruit of the Sloe, q.v. Cf. ~Eggs-eggs~.--N.W.
(Marlborough.)
=Hedge-pick=, =Hedge-speäk=. See ~Sloe~.--N.W.
=Heeld=. See ~Heal~.
=Heft=. (1) _n._ The weight of anything as poised in the hand
(A.B.C.M.S.).--N. & S.W. (2) _v._ To weigh or test weight in the hand
(A.B.), to lift.--N. & S.W.
=Hele=, =Heel=, =Hill=. (1) To pour out (A.B.H.Wr.), to serve out or
dispense.--S.W. (2) See ~Heal~.
=Hellocky=. See ~Hullocky~.
=Helm= (1) See ~Elm~. (2) See ~Haulm~.
=Helyer=. A tiler. An old word, but still in use.--N.W.
=Hen-and-Chicken=. (1) _Saxifraga umbrosa_, L., London Pride.--N.W.
(2) _Saxifraga sarmentosa_, L., from its mode of growth.--N.W.
=Henge=. See ~Hinge~.
=Hen-hussey=. A meddlesome woman.--N.W.
=Here and there one=. 'I wur mortal bad aal the way [by sea] and as
sick as here and there one.'--N. & S.W.
*=Herence=. Hence (A.B.).
=Hereright=. (1) Of time: on the spot, immediately (A.B.), the only
use in N.W. (2) Of place: this very spot (S.).--S.W. (3) Hence (A.),
probably a mistake.
=Hesk=. See ~Husk~.
=Het=. 'A main het o' coughing,' a fit of coughing.--S.W.
=Hetter=. See ~Heater~ (S.).
=He-woman=. The same as ~He-body~.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, &c.)
=Hicketty=. Hacking, as a cough.--S.W. ~Hacketty~.--N.W.
=Hidlock=. 'In hidlock,' in concealment. Akerman, by some mistake,
treats this as verb instead of noun. 'Her kep' it in hidlock aal this
time.'--N.W.
=Hike=. To hook or catch. 'I hiked my foot in a root.' See ~Hook~ and
~Uck~.--N.W.
=Hike off=. To decamp hastily, to slink off (A.B.C.S.); mostly used
in a bad sense.--N. & S.W.
=Hile=. See ~Hyle~.
=Hill=. See ~Heal~.
=Hill-trot=. Apparently a corruption of ~Eltrot~. (1) _Heracleum
Sphondylium_, L., Cow-parsnip. *(2) _Oenanthe crocata_, L., Water
Hemlock.--S.W. (Charlton and Barford.)
=Hilp=. Fruit of the sloe.--N.W.
=Hilp-wine=. Sloe-wine.--N.W.
=Hilt=. A young sow kept for breeding (A.).--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Hinge=, =Henge=. The heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep or pig (A.).
In some parts of S. Wilts used only of the latter.--N. & S.W.
=Hinted= Harvested, secured in barn (D.). 'Never zeed a better crop
o' wheat, if so be could be hinted well.' A.S. _hentan_, to seize on,
to secure.--N.W.
=Hit=. (1) To bear a good crop, to succeed: as 'Th' apples hit well
t' year.' Treated by Akerman as a noun instead of a verb.--N.W. (2)
_v._ To pour out or throw out. 'You ought to het a quart o' drenk
into 'ee.' 'Hit it out on the garden patch.'--N.W.
=Hitchland=. See ~Hookland~.
=Hitter=. A cow which is ill and appears likely to die is said to be
'going off a hitter.'--N.W.
=Hittery=. Of cows: suffering from looseness, ill.--N.W.
=Hobby=. _Yunx torquilla_, the Wryneck.--S.W. (Bishopstone.).
*=Hob-lantern=. Will-o'-the-Wisp (A.B.).
=Hock about=. To treat a thing carelessly; drag it through the mud.
'Now dwoan't 'ee gwo a-hocken on your new vrock about.'--N.W. The
usual form in S. Wilts is ~Hack-about~.
=Hocks=. (1) To cut in an unworkmanlike manner (A.). (2) To trample
earth into a muddy, untidy condition.--N.W.
=Hocksy=, =Hoxy=. Dirty, muddy, miry.--N.W.
'It's about two miles in vine weather; but when it's hocksey
like this, we allows a mile vor zlippin' back!'--_Wilts Tales_,
p. 179.
*=Hodmandod=, =Hodmedod=. _adj._ Short and clumsy (B.).
=Hodmedod=. (1) _n._ A snail.--N.W. (Mildenhall.) *(2) Short and
clumsy (B.). See ~Hodmandod~.
=Ho for=. (1) To provide for. See ~Howed for~.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard;
Malmesbury.) (2) To desire, to long for. 'I did hankeran' ho a'ter
'ee zo.'--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Hog=. (1) n. Originally a castrated animal, as a hog pig (D.). (2)
Now extended to any animal of a year old, as a chilver hog sheep (D.).
'We have wether hogs, and chilver hogs, and shear hogs ... the
word hog is now applied to any animal of a year old, such as a
hog bull, a chilver hog sheep.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ xvii 303.
'1580 ... Una ovis vocata a hogge.'--SCROPE'S _History of
Castle Combe_.
(3) To cut a mane or hedge short (D.), so that the stumps stick up
like bristles (_Village Miners_).--N. & S.W.
=Hogo=. (Fr. _haut goût_). A bad smell (_Monthly Mag._ 1814). Still
frequently used of tainted meat or strong cheese.--N. & S.W.
*=Hollardy-day=. The 3rd of May. Apparently a perversion of 'Holy
Rood Day.'--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Home, to be called=. To have the banns of marriage published.--S.W.
'They tells I as 'ow Bet Stingymir is gwain to be caal'd whoam
to Jim Spritely on Zundy.'--_Slow._
=Honesty=. _Clematis Vitalba_, L., Traveller's Joy, occasionally.
*~Maiden's Honesty~ (Aubrey's Wilts MS.).--N.W.
=Honey-bottle=. (1) Heather. (2) Furze. It is not clear which is
intended in _Great Estate_, ch. i.
*=Honey-plant=. Some old-fashioned sweet-scented plant, perhaps the
dark Sweet Scabious, which used to be known as 'Honey-flower' in some
counties.
'In the garden, which was full of old-fashioned shrubs
and herbs, she watched the bees busy at the sweet-scented
"honey-plant."'--_Great Estate_, ch. ii.
Also see _Reproach of Annesley_, vol. i. p. 119, for Hants use of the
name:--
'Sibyl bent over a honey plant encrusted with pink-scented
blossoms, about which the bees ... were humming--an
old-fashioned cottage plant.'
=Honey-suckle=. (1) _Lamium album_, L., White Dead Nettle, sucked by
children for its honey.--S.W. (Salisbury.) (2) Also applied to both
Red and White Clover, _Trifolium pratense_ and _T. repens._--N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.)
=Hook=. Of a bull, to gore (S.). See ~Uck~.--N. & S.W.
'Compare _huck_, to push, lift, gore, Hants; and Prov. _hike_,
to toss.'--SMYTHE-PALMER.
=Hookland= (or =Hitchland=) =Field=. A portion of the best land in a
common field, reserved for vetches, potatoes, &c., instead of lying
fallow for two years (_Agric. of Wilts_, ch. vii). Parts of some
fields are still known as ~Hooklands~ in S. Wilts, though the system
has died out. Sometimes defined as 'land tilled every year.'--N. &
S.W.
=Hoop=. _Pyrrhula vulgaris_, the Bullfinch (A.B.); also ~Red
Hoop~.--N.W.
=Hoops=, or =Waggon-Hoops=. The woodwork projecting from the sides of
a waggon so as to form an arch over the hind wheels.--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
=Hooset=. See ~Housset~.
=Hop-about=. An apple dumpling (B.C.), probably from its bobbing
about in the pot. Cf. ~Apple-bout~.--N.W.
=Hopper=. A grig (_Amateur Poacher_, ch. i).
=Horse-daisy=. _Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_, L., Ox-eye Daisy.--N. &
S.W.
*=Horse-Matcher=. _Saxicola rubicola_, the Stonechat (_Birds of
Wilts_, p. 150).
'Horse-matchers or stonechats also in summer often visit the
rick-yard.'--_Wild Life_, ch. x. p. 159.
=Horses=. In N. Wilts the orders given to a plough or team are as
follows:--to the front horse, _Coom ether_, go to the left, and
_Wowt_, to the right: to the hinder horse, _Wo-oot_, to the right,
and _Gie aay_ or _Gie aay oot_, to the left. The orders to oxen are
somewhat different.
=Horse-shoe=. _Acer Pseudo-platanus_, L., Sycamore.--S.W. (Barford
St. Martin.)
*=Horse's-leg=. A bassoon.
=Horse-Snatcher=. _Saxicola oenanthe_, the Wheatear (_Birds of
Wilts_, p. 152).--N.W. (Huish, &c.)
=Horse-stinger=, =Hosstenger=. The Dragon-fly (A.B.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Hound=. The fore-carriage of a waggon.--N.W.
=House=, =Houst=. To grow stout. 'Lor, ma'am, how you've
a-housted!'--N.W.
=Housset=, =Hooset=, =Wooset=. (1) _n._ A serenade of rough music,
got up to express public disapproval of marriages where there is
great disparity of age, flagrant immorality, &c. See article on _The
Wooset_ in _Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. i. p. 88; cp. _N. & Q._ 4 Ser. xi.
p. 225. In Berks the 'Hooset' is a draped horse's head, carried at a
'Hooset Hunt.' See Lowsley's _Berks Gloss_.--N.W. (2) _v._ To take
part in a housset.--N.W.
*=Howe=. _n._ 'To be in a howe,' to be in a state of anxiety about
anything (C.). See ~Ho for~.--N.W., obsolete.
*=Howed-for=. Well provided for, taken care of (A.B.C.H.Wr.).
=Huckmuck=. (1) A strainer placed before the faucet in brewing
(A.B.H.Wr.).--N.W. (2) _Parus caudatus_, the Long-tailed Titmouse
(_Birds of Wilts_, p. 173).--N. & S.W. (3) General untidiness and
confusion, as at a spring-cleaning. A very dirty untidy old woman is
'a reg'lar huckmuck.'--N.W.
=Hucks=, =Husks=. (1) The chaff of oats (_Village Miners_).--N.W.
(Clyffe Pypard.) (2) Grains of wheat which have the chaff still
adhering to them after threshing, and are only fit for feeding
poultry.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Hud=. (1) _n._ The husk of a walnut, skin of a gooseberry, shell
of a pea or bean, &c.--N. & S.W. (2) _v._ To take off the husk of
certain fruits and vegetables. Beans are _hudded_ and peas _shelled_
for cooking.--N.W. (3) A finger-stall or finger of a glove (S.). Also
~Huddick~ (S.).--N. & S.W. (4) A lump or clod of earth.--N.W. Cf.
~Hut~.
=Huddy=, =Oddy=. Of soil, full of lumps and clods.--N.W.
*=Hudgy=. Clumsy, thick (A.B.C.H.Wr.).
=Hudmedud=. (1) _n._ A scarecrow (A.). In common use in N. Wilts.
'Mester Cullum i sends you back your saddell koz its such a
cusnashun rum looking hudmedud of a theng that pipl woll no it
direckly.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 79.
'"That nimity-pimity odd-me-dod!"... Little contemptible
scarecrow.'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. iii.
*(2) _adj._ Short and clumsy (B.). See ~Hodmedod~.
=Hullocky!= 'Hullo! look here!' exclamation denoting surprise, or
calling attention to anything (S.). This is usually pronounced
_Hellucky_, and is a contraction of 'Here look ye!' Also
_Yellucks_.--N. & S.W.
'"Now which way is it?"... "Yellucks," said the boy, meaning
"Look here."'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. v.
'"This be the vinest veast ... as ever I zeed....
Yellucks!"--as much as to say, Look here, that is my
dictum.'--_Ibid._ ch. xi.
=Humbug=. A sweet or lollipop.--N.W.
=Humbuz=. A cockchafer.--N.W.
*=Humdaw=. To speak hesitatingly (_Village Miners_).
=Humming-bird=. _Regulus cristatus_, the Golden-crested Wren.--N.W.
(Huish.)
'We always calls 'em humming-birds here, and they are
humming-birds!' said the school-children at Huish, in the most
decided manner, when cross-examined as to the Gold-crest.
Apparently the same use obtains in Devon, as Martin speaks of
the 'humming-bird' as occurring in certain localities about
Tavistock, which are assigned to the Gold-crest by other
writers. See MRS. BRAY'S _Description of Devon_, 1836, vol. ii.
p. 146.
*=Hummocksing=. Clumsy, awkward, loutish.
'She had a lover, but he was "a gurt hummocksing noon-naw" ...
a "great loose-jointed idiot."'--_Great Estate_, ch. iv.
=Humstrum=. A home-made fiddle (S.). Sometimes applied also to a
large kind of Jew's-harp.--S.W.
=Hunch about=. To push or shove about.--S.W.
*=Hunder-stones=. Thunder-bolts (Aubrey's _Wilts, Roy. Soc. MS._).
Probably either belemnites, or else the concretionary nodules of iron
pyrites, called 'thunder-bolts' by the labourers, are here intended.
See ~Thunder-stones~.
=Hunked=. See ~Unked~ (A.H.).
=Hurdle-footed=. Club-footed.--S.W.
=Hurdle-shore=. The same as ~Fold-shore~.--S.W.
=Hurkle=. To crowd together, as round the fire in cold weather. An
old form of _hurtle_.
'_Hurtelyn_, as too thyngys togedur (al. _hurcolyn_, hurchyn
togeder). _Impingo_, _collido_.'--_Prompt. Parv._ c. 1440
(SMYTHE-PALMER).
=Husk=, =Hesk=. A disease of the throat, often fatal to calves. See
~Hask~.--N.W.
=Husks=. See ~Hucks~.
=Hut=. A lump of earth.--N.W. See ~Hud~ (4).
=Hutty=. Lumpy, as ground that does not break up well.--N.W.
=Hyle=, =Hile=, =Aisle=, &c. (1) _n._ A shock or cock of wheat,
consisting of several sheaves set up together for carrying.
The number of sheaves was formerly ten, for the tithing man's
convenience, but now varies considerably, according to the crop.
~Tithing~ in N.W. ~Hile-a-whate~ (S.) The forms given by Davis,
_aisle_, _aile_, and _isle_, seem purely fanciful, as also does the
derivation there suggested, a _hyle_ being merely a single shock.
In some parts of Wilts the shape and size of a hyle will depend
largely on the weather at harvest-time. Thus in a stormy season it
will usually be built compact and round, while in a calm one it may
sometimes form a line several yards in length.--S.W.
''Tis merry while the wheat's in hile.'--BARNES, _Poems_.
(2) _v._ To make up into hyles. Wheat and rye are always hyled, and
oats usually so, about Salisbury.--S.W.
=Ichila-pea=. The Missel-thrush: only heard from one person, but
perhaps an old name.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Iles=. See ~Ailes~.
=Imitate=. To resemble. 'The childern be immitatin' o' their vather
about the nause.' Participle only so used.--N.W.
=In-a-most=. Almost.--N. & S.W.
'It inamwoast killed our bwoy Sam.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 145.
=Innocent=. Small, neat, unobtrusive, as 'a innocent little
primrose.' Virtually restricted to flowers.--N.W.
=Iron Pear=. _Pyrus Aria_, L., White Beam.--N.W. (Heddington, &c.)
Iron-Pear-Tree Farm, near Devizes, is said to take its name from this
tree.
*=Isnet=. _Alkanet bugloss_ (D.).
*=Ivors=. Hanging woods (_Slow_).--S.W. There would appear to be
some misunderstanding here. The word may refer to the coverts on the
hillside above Longbridge Deverill, which are known as _The Ivors_,
the farm below being _Long Ivor Farm_. At Wroughton a field is called
'_The Ivory_,' but this is perhaps a family name.
=Izzard=. The letter Z (A.S.). Still in use in S.W.
*=Jack=. A newt.--N.W. (Swindon.)
=Jack=, =Jack Ern=. _Ardea cinerea_, the Heron (_Birds of Wilts_, p.
395).--N.W. Also ~Moll 'ern~.
=Jack-and-his-team=. The Great Bear.--N.W. (Huish.) See
~Dick-and-his-team~.
=Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon=. _Tragopogon pratensis_, L., Goat's
Beard.--N. & S.W.
=Jack-in-the-green=. (1) _Adonis autumnalis_, L.,
Pheasant's-eye.--S.W. (2) The hose-in-hose variety of Polyanthus.--N.
& S.W.
=Jack-run-along-by-the-hedge=. _Alliaria officinalis_, Andrzj., Hedge
Mustard.
=Jacky-Dinah=. _Sylvia sylvicola_, the Wood Warbler.--S.W.
(Bishopstone.)
=Jacob's-ladder=. _Polygonatum multiflorum_, All., Solomon's
Seal.--S.W. (Farley, &c.)
=Jag=. The awn and head of the oat. Oats are spoken of as
'well-jagged,' 'having a good jag,' 'coming out in jag,' &c.--N.W.
'The despised oats were coming out in jag ... in jag means the
spray-like drooping awn of the oat.'--_Round about a Great
Estate_, ch. i. p. 8.
=Jan-Chider=. See ~Johnny Chider~.
=Jarl=. To quarrel, to 'have words.'--N.W.
=Jaw-bit=. Food carried out in the fields by labourers, to be eaten
about 10 or 11 o'clock.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Jee=. See ~Gee~.
=Jew-berry=. _Rubus caesius_, L., Dewberry; a corruption of the
proper name (_Wild Life_, ch. xi).--N. & S.W.
=Jibbets=. Small pieces. 'You never did see such a slut! her gownd
a-hangin' in dirty jibbets [rags] aal about her heels!'--N. & S.W.
*=Jiffle=. At Bishopston, N. Wilts, an old bell-ringer was recently
heard to accuse the younger men of having got into a regular 'jiffle'
(? confusion) while ringing. We have not met with the word elsewhere,
but Hal. and Wright have _jiffle_, to be restless, var. dial.
=Jiggery-poke=. Hocus-pocus. ~Jiggery-pokery.~ Unfair dealing (S.):
deception.--N. & S.W.
=Jigget=. _v._ To ride or walk at a jog-trot. 'Here we go a
jiggettin' along.'--N. & S.W.
=Jiggetty=. _adj._ (1) Jolty, shaky. 'This be a ter'ble jiggetty
train.'--N.W. *(2) Fidgetty (S.).--S.W.
=Jimmy=, =Sheep's Jimmy=. A sheep's head (S.).--N. & S.W.
*=Jimmy-swiver=. _n._ A state of trembling. Apparently connected with
_whiver_ or _swiver_.--N.W.
'"Lor, Miss, how you did froughten I! I be all of a
jimmy-swiver," and she visibly trembled, which was what she
meant.'--_Greene Ferne Farm_, ch. vii.
*=Jitch=, =Jitchy=. Such.--N.W. (Malmesbury.)
=Jobbet=. A small load (A.).--N.W.
*=Jod=. The letter J (A.S.).
=Johnny Chider=, =Chan-chider=. The Sedge Warbler, _Salicaria
phragmitis_. So called 'because it scolds so.'--S.W. Jan Chider (S.).
=Jolter-headed=. Wrong-headed; used generally of a jealous spouse.
'Her wur allus a jolter-headed 'ooman.'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Jonnick=. Honest, fair, straightforward in dealings (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Joseph-and-Mary=. _Pulmonaria officinalis_, L., Common Lung-wort,
the flowers being of two colours, red and blue.--N.W.
=Joy-bird=. The Jay, _Garrulus glandarius_. The name commonly used in
N. Wilts for the Jay. Fr. _geai_.--N.W. (Savernake Forest, &c.)
=Jumble=. A kind of coarse dark brown sweetmeat (_My Old
Village_).--N.W.
=Jumping Jesuses=. The long-legged water-flies, _Gerris_, which skim
along the surface of streams.--N.W. (Hilmarton.)
=Junk=. A hunch of bread-and-cheese, &c.; a lump of wood or coal. A
solid piece (S.).--N.W.
=Junket=. A treat or spree; still in use. When potatoes were not so
common as now, a man would complain of his wife's 'junketing wi' the
taters,' i.e. digging them up before they were ripe, as a treat for
the children.--N.W.
=Just about=. Extremely. See ~About~ (1).--N. & S.W.
*=Jut=. To nudge, to touch (S.).--N.W.
=K=. _K_ sometimes becomes _t_, as _bleat_, bleak; _blunt_, blunk.
Conversely, _t_ becomes _k_, as _sleek_, sleet.
=Keach=, &c. See ~Catch~ (1).
=Keavin=. See ~Cave~ (1).
=Keck=. To retch as if sick (A.); to cough; also ~Cack~.--N.W.
=Kecker=. The windpipe (A.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Kecks=. Dry stalks of hemlock (A.B.). Hemlock must here be taken
to mean several of the larger _Umbelliferae_, and to include
occasionally growing plants as well as dry stems. There are many
variants of the word, as ~Keeks~ (A.), ~Kecksey~ (A.B.), ~Gix~
(A.B.H.Wr.), ~Gicksies~ (_Amateur Poacher_, ch. iii), ~Gicks~ (_Great
Estate_, ch. v).--N. & S.W.
=Keep=, =Kip=. Growing food for cattle, &c. (A.B.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Kerf=. A layer of turf or hay (A.B.C.). A truss of hay.--N.W.
=Ketch=. See ~Catch~ (1).
=Keys, or Keyn=. Fruit of ash and sycamore (A.B.).--N. & S.W.
*=Kibble=. *(1) To chip a stone roughly into shape (A.). Cf. Glouc.
_cabble_, to break smelted pig-iron into small pieces, before
proceeding to draw it into bar-iron. *(2) To cut up firewood (_Wilts
Arch. Mag._ vol. xxiv. p. 210).--Obsolete.
=Kid=. (1) _n._ The cod or pod of peas, beans, &c.--N. & S.W. (2)
_v._ To form pods; used of peas and beans. _Well-kidded_, of beans or
peas, having the stalks full of pods (D.).--N. & S.W.
=Kidney-stones=. Dark water-worn pebbles (_Eulogy_, p. 28).--N.W.
='Kin=. The same as ~Ciderkin~.
=Kind=. Some woods and soils 'work kind,' i.e. easily,
pleasantly.--N.W.
=King's-cushion=. See ~Queen's-cushion~.
=Kiss-behind-the-garden-gate=. _Saxifraga umbrosa_, L., London
Pride.--S.W. (Som. bord.)
=Kissing-gate=. A 'Cuckoo-gate,' or swing gate in a V-shaped
enclosure.--N. & S.W.
=Kiss-me-quick=. _Centranthus ruber_, DC., Red Spur Valerian.--N.W.
*=Kite's Pan=. _Orchis maculata_, L., Spotted Orchis.--S.W. (Farley.)
=Kitty Candlestick=. _Ignis fatuus_, Will-o'-the-Wisp. ~Kit of the
Candlestick~ (Aubrey's _Nat. Hist. Wilts_, p. 17, ed. Brit.).--S.W.
(Deverill.)
=Kiver=. A cooler used in brewing (A.B.).--N. & S.W.
=Knacker=. To snap the fingers. Nacker (H.Wr.)--S.W.
=Knap=, =Knop=. (1) _v._ To chip stone, as formerly in making a
gun-flint.--N.W. (2) _n._ A little hill; a steep ascent in a road
(S.). This is really a Devon use.--S.W. (Dorset bord.)
=Knee-sick=. Of wheat, drooping at the joints, from weakness in the
straw (D.).--N.W.
=Knee-socked=. Corn beaten down by storms is 'knee-socked
down.'--N.W. See ~Knee-sick~.
=Knit=. Of fruit, to set. 'The gooseberries be knitted
a'ready.'--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Knitch=, =Nitch=, =Niche=, &c. Usually spelt incorrectly, without
the _k_. M.E. _knucche_, Germ. _knocke_: used by Wycliffe, also in
_Alton Locke_, ch. xxviii. (1) _Nitch_, a burden of wood, straw, or
hay (A.B.), such a faggot as a hedger or woodman may carry home with
him at night; a short thick heavy chump of wood (_Village Miners_).
Hence a fine baby is spoken of as 'a regular nitch' (_Ibid._). A
bundle of gleaned corn (S.).--N. & S.W. (2) 'He has got a nitch,' is
intoxicated, has had as much liquor as he can carry (A.B.). Compare:--
'He's got his market-nitch.'--_Tess of the D'Urbervilles_, vol.
i. p. 19.
=Knot Couch=. _Avena elatior_, so called from the roots sometimes
looking like a much-knotted cord or a string of beads.--N.W.
=Koomb=. See ~Comb~ (S.).
=Ladies-and-Gentlemen=. _Arum maculatum_, L., Cuckoo-pint. Leades an
Genlmin (S.).--N. & S.W.
*=Ladies'-balls=. _Centaurea nigra_, L., Black Knapweed.--S.W.
(Charlton.)
*=Ladies'-fingers-and-thumbs=. _Lotus corniculatus_, L., Bird's-foot
Trefoil.--N.W. (Enford.)
=Ladies-in-white=. _Saxifraga umbrosa_, L., London Pride.
=Lady-cow=. The Ladybird.--N.W.
=Lady's-cushion=. _Anthyllis vulneraria_, L., Kidney Vetch.--S.W.
(Salisbury.)
=Lady's-finger=. (1) Applied generally to _Lotus corniculatus_
and _Hippocrepis comosa_, and occasionally also to _Lathyrus
pratensis_. 'Leades vingers, the wild Calceolaria' (S.), probably
refers to one of these flowers.--N. & S.W. (2) _Arum maculatum_, L.,
Cuckoo-pint.--S.W. (Barford St. Martin): N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*=Lady's-glove=. 'The Greater Bird's-foot.'--S.W.
=Lady's-nightcap=. The flower of _Convolvulus sepium_, L., Great
Bindweed (A.B.).
=Lady's-petticoat=. _Anemone nemorosa_, L., Wood Anemone.--S.W.
(Mere.)
=Lady's-ruffles=. The double white Narcissus.--N.W.
=Lady's-shoe=. _Fumaria officinalis_, L., Common Fumitory.--S.W.
(Barford St. Martin.)
=Lady's-slipper=. Applied generally to the same plants as
Lady's-finger.
*=Lain=. Of a smith, to dress the wing and point of a share (D.). See
~Lay~ (4).
=Laiter=, =Loiter=. A full laying or clutch of eggs. The whole number
of eggs produced by a hen at one laying, before she gets broody and
ceases to lay.--N.W.
=Lake=. A small stream of running water.--S.W. (Hants bord.)
=Lambkins=. Catkins of hazel.--S.W. (Barford St. Martin.)
=Lamb's-cage=. A crib for foddering sheep in fold (D.).--N.W.
=Lamb's-creep=. A hole in the hurdles to enable the lambs to get out
of the fold.--N.W.
=Lamb's-tails=. Catkins of willow and hazel.--N. & S.W.
=Land=. The 'rudge,' or ground between two water-furrows in a
ploughed field.--N.W.
'The ploughman walks in the furrow his share has made,
and presently stops to measure the "lands" with the
spud.'--_Amateur Poacher_, ch. vii. pp. 130-1.
*=Landshard=. The strip of greensward dividing two pieces of arable
in a common field (D.).
=Land-spring=. A spring which only runs in wet weather (_Gamekeeper
at Home_, ch. v. p. 109).--N.W.
=Lane= (_a_ broad). A strip of grass, generally irregular, bounding
an arable field.--N.W. (Devizes.)
*=Lannock=. A long narrow piece of land (A.H.Wr.).
=Lanshet=. See ~Linch~.
*=Lark's-seed=. _Plantago major_, L., Greater Plantain.--S.W.
(Charlton.)
*=Latter Lammas=. An unpunctual person (S.)--S.W.
'When a person is habitually late and unpunctual, folks
say--"What a Latter Lammas thee beest, ta be sure!"'--_Letter
from Mr. Slow._
=Lattermath=. Aftermath (A.B.). ~Lattermass~ at Cherhill.--N.W.
=Lave=. (1) Of a candle, to gutter down (H.Wr.).--N.W. (2) To splash
up water over yourself, as in a bath. 'Lave it well over ye.'--N.W.
=Law=. In N. Wilts, when speaking of relations-in-law, the _in_
is always omitted, as ~brother-law~, ~father-law~, &c., the only
exception being ~son-in-law~.
=Lay=. (1) _To lay a hedge_, to trim it back, cutting the boughs
half through, and then bending them down and intertwining them so
as to strengthen the fence (A.).--N. & S.W. (2) _To lay rough_, to
sleep about under hedges like a vagabond.--N. & S.W. (3) _To lay up a
field_, to reserve it for mowing.--S.W. (4) _To lay a tool_, to steel
its edge afresh. This appears to be the same as Davis's _lain_, which
is probably a contraction of _lay in_. At Mildenhall you often hear
of _laying_ or _laying in_ a pickaxe, and the word is to be traced
back for a century or more in the parish accounts there.--N. & S.W.
(5) An idle dissipated man is said to _lay about_.--N.W.
=Laylocks=. Usually _Syringa vulgaris_, L., Lilac, but rarely applied
to _Cardamine pratensis_, L., Lady's Smock, in S. Wilts.
*=Lay-over=. A wooden bar, or a rope, used to fasten tackle together.
'Two or three horses go abreast, each drawing a harrow
diagonally, all the harrows being fastened together with a
lay-over or rider.'--_Agric. of Wilts_, ch. v.
=Leach=. A strand of a rope.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Lear=, =Leer=. (1) Empty (A.B.C.G.).--N. & S.W. (2) Hence, craving
for food, hungry (A.C.S.).--N. & S.W. ~Leary~ is the usual form on
the Som. bord.
'I never eat but two meals a day--breakfast and supper ... and
I'm rather lear (hungry) at supper.'--_Gamekeeper at Home_, ch.
i.
'His bill was zharp, his stomack lear,
Zo up a snapped the caddlin pair.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 97.
=Learn=. To teach. 'I'll learn 'ee to do that again, you young
vaggot!' 'Her do want some 'un to learn she, 'stead o' she learnin'
we!' In general use in Wilts.--N. & S.W.
=Lease=, =Leaze=, &c.: sometimes used with a prefix, as ~Cow-leaze~,
~Ox-leaze~. (1) As much pasture as will keep a cow (B.).--N. & S.W.
(2) A large open pasture. ~Legh~, ~Lease~ (Aubrey); ~Leaze~ (_Amateur
Poacher_, ch. iii).--N. & S.W.
=Lease=. To glean (A.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Lease-bread=. Bread made from lease-corn.--N.W.
=Lease-corn=. Wheat collected by gleaning.--N.W.
=Leaser=. A gleaner.--N. & S.W.
=Ledged=. See ~Lodged~.
=Lemfeg=. An Elleme fig (A.H.Wr.).--N. & S.W.
'A cure-peg, a curry-peg,
A lem-feg, a dough-feg.'--_Wilts Nursery Jingle._
*=Length=, =Lent=. A loan (A.B.). *~Lenth~ (S.).
=Let-off=. To abuse.--N.W. (Cherhill.)
'Maester let I off at a vine rate.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol.
xxii. p. 111.
=Lew= (pronounced _Loo_). (1) _adj._ Warm (H.).--N. & S.W. (2) _n._
Shelter (A.B.C.S.). 'Get in the lew,' i.e. into a place sheltered
from the wind. A.S. _hleo_, _hleow_.--N. & S.W.
=Lewis's Cat=. A person suspected of incendiary habits. Many years
ago fires are said to have occurred so frequently on the premises
of a person of this name (whose _cat_ sometimes had the blame of
starting them), that the phrase passed into common use, and a
suspected man soon 'got the name of a Lewis's Cat,' now corrupted
into 'Blue Cat.'--S.W.
=Lewth=. Warmth (A.B.C.). Usually restricted to the sun's warmth, but
in _Cunnington MS._ applied to a thin coat, which 'has no lewth in
it.'--N.W.
=Lew-warm=. Luke-warm.--N. & S.W.
=Libbet=. A fragment (S.). 'All in a libbet,' or 'All in libbets and
jibbets,' torn to rags.--N. & S.W. Also ~Lippet~.
*=Liberty=. _v._ To allow anything to run loose. 'It don't matter
how much it's libertied,' the more freedom you can give it the
better.--N.W. (Cherhill.)
=Licket=. 'All to a licket,' all to pieces.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
*=Lide=. The month of March (A.). A.S. _hlýda_, _hlýdamonath_, the
stormy month, from _hlúd_, boisterous, noisy (so Grein). This has
nothing to do with _lide_ or _lithe_, mild, whence come the A.S.
names for June and July. See _N. & Q._ Feb. 6, 1892.
=Lieton=. See ~Litton~.
=Lill=. To pant as a dog (A.B.H.).--N.W.
=Lily=, or =Lilies=. (1) _Convolvulus sepium_, L., Great
Bindweed.--S.W. (Farley and Charlton.) (2) _Arum maculatum_, L.,
Cuckoo-pint.--S.W. (Barford.)
=Limb=, =Limm=. (1) _n._ A ragged tear (_Village Miners_).--N.W. (2)
_v._ To tear irregularly, to jag out (_Ibid._).--N.W.
=Limbers=. The shafts of a waggon (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Linch=, =Linchet=, =Lynch=, =Lanshet= (N.W.), =Lytchet= (S.W.),
=Linchard=, &c. (S.). A.S. _hlinc_, a bank. For articles on Lynchet,
Linchet, or Linch, see _Wilts Arch. Mag._ xii. 185, and xv. 88. Also
articles and letters in _Marlborough College Natural History Report_
and _Marlborough Times_, 1892, Seebohm's _Village Community_, and
Britten's _Old Country Words_. In an old MS. schedule of land at
Huish, N.W., '_Lanshes and borders_,' i.e. turf boundary banks and
field margins, are enumerated. (1) Certain terraces, a few yards
wide, on the escarpment of the downs, probably the remains of ancient
cultivation, are locally known as ~Lynches~ or ~Lynchets~.--N. &
S.W. (2) The very narrow ledges, running in regular lines along the
steep face of a down, probably made by sheep feeding there, are
also frequently so called.--S.W. (3) A raised turf bank dividing or
bounding a field.--S.W. (4) A strip of greensward dividing two pieces
of arable land in a common field (D.).--N. & S.W. (5) An inland
cliff, cf. 'The Hawk's Lynch' (_Tom Brown at Oxford_); occasionally
applied to a steep slope or escarpment, as at Bowood and Warminster.
*=Linchard= A precipitous strip of land on a hillside, left
unploughed (_Spring-tide_, pp. 79 and 186). See ~Linch~. Cf. A.S.
_hlinc_, a bank; and perhaps _sceard_, a piece or portion (Skeat).
*=Lined=. Of an animal, having a white back (D.).
=Linet=. Tinder (H.Wr.). Tinder was made of linen.--N.W., not long
obsolete.
*=Lipe=. A pleat or fold in cloth.--S.W. (Salisbury.)
=Lipping=. Of weather, showery, wet, and stormy. 'I thenks as we
shall have a ter'ble lipping summer to-year.' Cf. Lipping-time, a wet
season, Glouc., and _Lippen'_, showery, Som.--N. & S.W.
*=Litten=, =Litton=. A churchyard. Lieton (H.Wr.) ~Chirche-litoun~
(_Chron. Vilod._). Still used in Hants, but probably now obsolete in
Wilts (_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. xxv. p. 129).
'His next bed will be in the Litten, if he be laying on the
ground on such a night as this.'--_Wilts Tales_, p. 161.
*=Liver-sand=. See quotation.
'Sand-veins ... which are deep and tough, and are of the nature
called in Wilts "liver-sand."'--_Agric. of Wilts_, ch. xii.
=Lob=. Of leaves, to droop limply, as cabbages do before rain.--N. &
S.W.
=Lock=. 'A lock of hay,' a small quantity of hay (A.B.).--N.W.
=Locks-and-Keys=. _Dielytra spectabilis_, D.C. The usual cottagers'
name for it in Somerset.--S.W. (Som. bord.).
=Locky=. Of hay which has not been properly shaken about, stuck
together in locks as it was cut.--N.W.
=Lodged=. Of wheat, laid or beaten down by wind or rain (D.).--N. &
S.W. Also ~Ledged~ (_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. xxii. p. 112).
=Log=. See ~Lug~ (1).
=Loggered=. A boy who is at plough all day often gets so _loggered_,
or weighed down with _loggers_, all the time, that he comes home at
night quite exhausted.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Loggers=. Lumps of dirt on a ploughboy's feet.--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.) In Glouc. a 'logger' is a small log attached to a horse's
foot, to prevent straying.
=Loggerums=. (1) _Centaurea nigra_, L., Black Knapweed.--N.W. *(2)
'Scabious' (_Village Miners_).
=Loiter=. See ~Laiter~.
=Lolloper=. A lazy lout (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Lollup=. (1) To loll out. 'Look at _he_, wi' he's tongue a lolluping
out o' he's mouth, vor aal the world like a dog!'--N.W. (2) To loll
about, to idle about. 'What be a-lollupin' about like that vor?'--N.
& S.W.
*=Long Eliza=. A kind of long blue earthen jar, formerly often seen
in cottages.--N.W. (Berks bord.)
'The high black chimney-shelf was covered with crockery of
a low type of beauty; pink and yellow china dogs shared
their elevated station with "long Elizas" and squat female
figures.'--_Dark_, ch. i.
=Longful=. Tedious (A.B.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Long purples=. _Lythrum Salicaria_, L., Purple Loosestrife. Rarely
used. Tennyson's 'long purples of the dale' have been identified by
himself as _Vicia Cracca_; Shakespeare's are either _Orchis mascula_,
or _Arum maculatum_, while Clare applies the name to _Lythrum_.
=Long-winded=. 'A long-winded man' always means one who is very slow
to pay his debts.--N.W.
=Long wood=. The long branches which are bent down and used to weave
in and bind a hedge when it is being laid.--N.W.
=Lope along=. To run as a hare does.--S.W.
=Loppet=. (1) _v._ The same as ~Lope~. (2) _v._ To idle about, to
slouch about. 'A girt veller, allus a loppetin' about.'--N.W. Cf.
~Sloppet~.
=Loppetty=. Weak, out of sorts.--N.W.
=Lords-and-Ladies=. _Arum maculatum_, L., Cuckoo-pint (A.B.).--N. &
S.W.
=Lot=. To reckon, expect, think. 'I do lot her's a bad 'un.'--N.W.
=Lot-meads=. (1) Common meadows divided into equal-sized pieces, for
the hay of which lots were cast each year (D.).--N.W., obsolete.
'"Lot Mead" is not an uncommon name of fields in Wiltshire
parishes. It is perhaps a vestige of the original partition
of lands when cleared, which the chronicler Simeon of Durham
says were distributed by lot. See Kemble's _Anglo-Saxons_, i.
91.'--JACKSON'S _Aubrey_, note, p. 198.
(2) A kind of festival in connexion with this division.
'Here [at Wanborough] is a Lott-mead celebrated yearly with
great ceremony. The Lord weareth a garland of flowers: the
mowers at one house have always a pound of beefe and a head of
garlic every man.'--JACKSON'S _Aubrey_, p. 198.
Nothing more appears to be known about this festival.--N.W.
(Wanborough), obsolete.
*=Lottle=. _v._ To sound as water trickling in a small stream. Cf.
~Glox~.--N.W.
=Love-an'-idols=, or =Loving Idols=. _Viola tricolor_, L.,
Love-in-idleness, usually the wild form, but occasionally applied to
the garden pansy also. ~Nuffin-idols~ at Clyffe Pypard. ~Lovenidolds~
(S.).--N. & S.W.
*=Loving-andrews=. _Geranium pratense_, L., Meadow Cranesbill
(_Village Miners_).
*=Lowl-eared=. Long-eared (A.B.H.Wr.).
=Luce=. (1) Luke-warm.--S.W. *(2) A sore in sheep.--S.W.
=Lug=. (1) In land measure, a pole or perch (A.B.G.H.S.). ~Log~ (_MS.
Gough_: K.Wr.)--N. & S.W.
'A lug ... is of three lengths in this county: 15, 18, and
16½ feet. The first of these measures is getting out of
use, but is still retained in some places, particularly in
increasing mason's work. The second is the ancient forest
measure, and is still used in many parts of the county for
measuring wood-land. But the last, which is the statute perch,
is by much the more general.'--_Agric. of Wilts_, p. 268.
(2) Any rod or pole (D.H.), as a perch for fowls, a clothes pole
(A.B.). See ~Oven-lug~.
'Olde Freeman doe weare ruggs [coarse cloth],
And Thomas Lord doe goe to the woods to steal poles and luggs.'
Seventeenth century doggrell rhymes from Wroughton,
quoted in _Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. xxii. p. 216.
=Lug-wood=. Lops and tops of trees.--S.W.
=Lummakin=. Heavy, ungainly, clumsy (A.B.).--N.W.
=Lumper=. To move heavily, to stumble along. Of a pony, to stumble.
To kick against anything (S.).--N. & S.W. (Malmesbury, Pewsey, &c.)
=Lumpus=. (1) Noise, row. 'Don't 'ee make such a lumpus.'--N.W. (2)
All in a lump, heavily, as applied to a fall. 'Th'oss didn't vall
down, but a come down wi' a kind of a lumpus.'--N.W.
=Lump work=. Piece work.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
=Lumpy=. Stout and strong. To say to any one, 'Why, ye be growed main
lumpy!' is to pay him a high compliment.--N.W.
=Lurry=. Of cows, suffering from looseness.--N.W.
=Lynchet=, =Lytchet=. See ~Linch~.
'Another British coin, found on the "lytchets" at East Dean,
has passed into the cabinet of Dr. Blackmore.'--_Wilts Arch.
Mag._ vol. xxii. p. 242.
=Maakin=. See ~Malkin~.
=Mace=. See Note to quotation.
'This is a style still used by the lower classes in North
Wiltshire to tradesmen and sons of farmers. Thus at Ogbourne
St. George, a brickmaker whose name is Davis, is called "Mace
Davis," and sons of farmers are called "Mace John," or "Mace
Thomas," the surname being sometimes added and sometimes
not.'--_Wilts Arch. Mag._ vol. i. p. 338.
This seems a misapprehension. The word used is simply _Mais'_
(before a consonant), a shortened form of 'Maister.' 'Mais' John'
is short for Maister John. Before a vowel it would be _Mais'r_ or
_Maistr'_--as 'Maistr' Etherd' [Edward].--N.W.
'_Mas_ was formerly a common contraction for _master_, e.g.
"Mas John," and is used by Ben Jonson and other Elizabethan
writers. See Nares, s.v. _Mas_.'--SMYTHE-PALMER.
*=Mad=. Of land, spoilt, damaged, as by sudden heat after much rain
(Lisle's _Husbandry_).--Obsolete.
=Madde=. *(1) _Asperula odorata_, L., Sweet Woodruff.--N.W.
(Lyneham.) (2) _Anthemis Cotula_, L., Stinking Camomile.--N. & S.W.
=Madell= (_a_ broad), =Medal=, &c. The game of 'Merrills' or 'Nine
Men's Morris.' Also known as ~Puzzle-Pound~. Several varieties of
~Madell~ are played in Wilts, known respectively as ~Eleven-penny~
(strictly ~The Merrills~), ~Nine-penny~, ~Six-penny~, and
~Three-penny~, according to the number of pieces used. 'Eleven-penny'
is played with eleven pieces each side, instead of nine, the
game being in other respects identical with 'Nine Men's Morris'
as described in Strutt's _Sports and Pastimes_. The players move
alternately, and the general principle is to get three pieces
together in a line anywhere on the dots or holes, while at the same
time preventing your adversary from making a line. 'Nine-penny,'
'Six-penny,' and 'Three-penny' differ only in the number of men
each side and the form of the board (_see diagrams_). The 'board' is
scratched or chalked out on paving-stones, drawn on the slate, cut
deep into the turf on the downs, or the top of the corn-bin (with
holes instead of dots), in short, made anywhere and anyhow. The 'men'
or 'pieces' may be anything available, sticks being played against
stones, beans against oats, &c.--N.W. (Devizes, &c.)
[Illustration: Nine Men's Morris, or Eleven-penny Madell.]
[Illustration: Nine-penny Madell, or The Merrills.]
[Illustration: Six-penny Madell.]
[Illustration: Three-penny Madell.]
=Maggots=. _n._ Tricks, nonsense. 'Her's at her maggots again.'--N.W.
*=Maggotting=. Meddling (S.).--S.W.
=Maggotty=. _adj._ Frisky, playful (A.S.).--N. & S.W.
=Maggotty-pie=. _Picus caudatus_, the Magpie (_MS. Lansd._ 1033, f.
2), still in use.--N.W.
*=Maiden's Honesty=. _Clematis Vitalba_, L., Traveller's Joy. See
~Honesty~.--N.W., obsolete.
'All the hedges about Thickwood (in the parish Colerne) are ...
hung with maydens honesty.'--AUBREY'S _Wilts_, Royal Soc. MS.
p. 120.
=Main=. (1) _adv._ Very, as 'main good,' excellent (A.B.).--N.& S.W.
(2) _adj._ 'A main sight o' frawk,' a great number (S.).--N. & S.W.
=Mais'=. See ~Mace~.
=Make=. 'That makes me out,' puzzles me (H.).--N.W.
=Malkin=. See ~Mawkin~.
*=Mammered=. Perplexed (A.).
*=Mammock=. _v._ To pull to pieces (_Leisure Hour_, August,
1893).--N.W. (Castle Eaton, &c.)
'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_). (1) 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 vawk_,' 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 supposed 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 _ferow_ or _ferry cow_, a cow not in calf, and _mart_,
an ox; also A.S. _fear_, a bullock (_Folk-Etymology_).
=Masked=. See ~A-masked~.
=Mathern=, =Mauthern=. *(1) _Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_, L., Ox-eye
Daisy (A.D.H.Wr.).--N.W. (2) Wild Camomile (_Great Estate_, ch.
viii).--N.W.
*=Maudlin=. The Ox-eye Daisy (D.).--N.W.
=Mawk= (pronounced _Maak_). To clean out the oven with the 'maakin,'
before putting in the batch of bread.--N.W.
=Mawkin=, =Malkin=, =Maak=, or =Maakin=, (1) 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.B.).
*=May-blobs=, =May-blubs=, or =May-bubbles=, Flowers and buds of
_Caltha palustris_, L., Marsh Marigold.
=Mazzard=, *(1) 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 _mazzarded_, 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 marnin'.'--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=. (1) 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.
=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.'--_Hilmarton
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=. (1) 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)
_pl._ The small detached clouds that precede a storm (_Greene Ferne
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=. (1) 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).
*=Midstay=. The barn-floor between the mows.--N.W. (Aldbourne.)
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=. (1) 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.
=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*'ern=, =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 _Rubus fruticosus_, L., Blackberry (S.). Cf.
~Berry-moucher~ (2).--S.W.
=Moon-daisy=. _Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_, 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=. (1) 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=. (1) 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'; '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?' 'Most-in-deal at 'Vize [Devizes], but zometimes at Ziszeter
[Cirencester].' ~Most-in-general~ is more commonly used now.--N.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=. (1) _Saxifraga sarmentosa_, L.--S.W. (2)
_Linaria Cymbalaria_, Mill., Ivy-leaved Toadflax.--S.W. (Salisbury.)
*=Mother Shimbles' Snick-needles=. _Stellaria Holostea_, L., Greater
Stitchwort (_Sarum Dioc. Gazette_).--S.W. (Zeals.)
=Mothery=. Thick, muddy, as spoilt beer or vinegar (A.B.C.S.).--N. &
S.W.
=Mouch=, =Mooch=. (1) _v._ 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 his
Masters_, ch. xxiii).--N. & S.W.
'Probably connected with O.F. _mucer_, _muchier_, Fr. _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=. (1) A truant (A.B.). See ~Berry-moucher~.--N.
& S.W. (2) A man who lives by mouching (_Gamekeeper at Home_, ch.
vii).--N. & S.W.
=Moulter=. Of birds, to moult.--N.W.
=Mound=. (1) _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, _Hilmarton 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_, (1) a little mouse, (2) a
muscle.' (_Folk-Etymology_, p. 615, sub Calf.)--SMYTHE-PALMER.
*=Mousetails=. A kind of grass, perhaps Cats'-tail, but not
_Myosorus_.--N.W.
*=Moutch=. 'On the moutch,' shuffling (H.). Some meaning of ~Mouch~
has probably here been misunderstood.
=Mouthy=. _adj._ Abusive, cheeky, impudent.--S.W.
=Mow=. In a barn, the unboarded space at each end of the
threshing-floor, where the corn used to be heaped up for
threshing.--N.W.
*=Mowing-machine Bird=. _Salicaria locustella_, Grasshopper Warbler,
from its peculiar note (_Birds of Wilts_, p. 154).--S.W. (Mere.)
=Much=. (1) '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.
'I 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=. (1) _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=. (1) 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=. (1) _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.
=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-swaddled 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=. _Bellis perennis_, L., Daisy.--S.W. (Mere.)
=Naked Boys=. _Colchicum 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=. _Colchicum 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=. (1) A meddlesome prying
person.--S.W. (2) _Troglodytes vulgaris_, the Wren.--N.W. (Clyffe
Pypard.)
=Narration=. Fuss, commotion. 'He do allus make such a narration
about anythin'.'--N. & S.W.
=Nash=, =Naish=, =Nesh=. (1) 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 following
three birds:--(1) _Curruca cinerea_, Common Whitethroat, (2) _C.
sylvatica_, Lesser Whitethroat, 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~.
*=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. '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=. (1) _Convolvulus sepium_, L., Great Bindweed.--N. & S.W.
(2) _Aquilegia vulgaris_, L., the garden Columbine.--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.)
*=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 illicitum vocatum_ nyne holes.'--SCROPE'S
_History of Castle Combe_.
=Nineter=. (1) '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. _anoienté_, _anéanti_, 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.
=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_. 'I 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' (_Great Estate_, ch.
iv).
=Nor, Nur=. Than; as 'better nur that' (B.).--N. & S.W.
=Not-cow=. A cow without horns (A.). A.S. _hnot_, 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, Nunchin=. 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 ~Rinnick~.--N.W.
=Nurly=. Of soil: lying in lumps.--S.W. (Bratton.)
=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=. (1) 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, l. 465),=O. H. Germ, _opasa_ (_Vocab. of S.
Gall_).'--SMYTHE-PALMER.
=Odds=. (1) _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=. (1) 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=. (1) _Artemisia Abrotanum_, L., Southernwood.--N. & S.W.
(2) _Anagallis arvensis_, L., Scarlet Pimpernel.--S.W.
=Old man's beard=. (1) _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 Gossip_, Nov. 1868).--N. & S.W., rarely.
*=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=. (1) =_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 _onpossible_ (A.B.).--N. & S.W. (4) =_un_, prefix, as
_ongainly_ (B.). _Onlight_, to alight.--N. & S.W. (5) =_of_, as 'I
never did thenk much on 'en.'--N. & S.W. (6) =_by_, as 'He come on a
mistake.'--N. & S.W.
=Once=. (1) 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_.
*=Organy=. (1) _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.
=Owl about=. To moon about out of doors in the dark.--N.W.
=Owling=. The same as ~Griggling~, q.v.--N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)