{398a}
IN the MS. collections of the British Museum there is an interesting volume of dialect words which appears to have escaped the attention of students of the English dialects. The volume (Additional MS, 32,640), which is entitled ‘Glossaries in Lincolnshire Dialect, 1779–1783,’ was purchased at Sotheby’s in March, 1886. It does not, however, appear in the Bibliography to Wright’s ‘English Dialect Dictionary,’ nor can I trace any record of its having been discussed elsewhere.
The volume consists mainly of four manuscript “editions” of a list of words used in Lincolnshire. The editor and collector was Miss Sarah Sophia Banks (1774–1818), the only sister of Sir Joseph Banks, the well-known patron of science, botanist, traveller, and President of the Royal Society. According to the ‘D.N.B.,’ Miss Banks shared her brother’s enthusiasm for making botanical collections, and also amused herself by collecting books and coins. The collection of Lincolnshire words reveals her, too, as one of the earliest amateur philologists. It was not until the latter part of the eighteenth century that the English dialects began to arouse the curiosity of scholars, and Miss Banks’s glossaries form by far the earliest collection which occupies itself solely with Lincolnshire. She was well qualified to make such a collection. She was brought up in the county, her father, William Banks, being a large landowner at Revesby Abbey, near Horncastle. Her lists of words were gathered mainly in the years 1779–1783, but she added to them subsequently, the last entry being dated 1814. She had various assistants in the collection, notably the Rev. Charles L’Osle and Mr. John Chapman, of Marsh Chapel, but she used their contributions with some scrupulousness, and admitted only those words with which she herself was familiar, relegating the others to separate lists.
Upon comparing the rejected words with the ‘English Dialect Dictionary’ and with Cole’s and Peacock’s glossaries of Lincolnshire words,1 I found that most of them {398b} were later recorded in the county. It seems safe to assume, therefore, that all the words in the MS. were used in Lincolnshire in the eighteenth century, and that they were collected mainly in and around Revesby, Marsh Chapel and Brocklesby.
1 The Rev. R. E. G. Cole. ‘A Glossary of Words used in S.W. Lincolnshire,’ E.D.S., 1886. Edward Peacock ‘A Glossary of Words used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham.’ 2nd edition; E.D.S., 1889.
The pronunciation of the dialect does not seem to have changed much between the eighteenth century and the latter part of the nineteenth.
Long a and ai are written ea and had presumably the sound of [ea], the first part of the diphthong being long: drēān (drain), le-an (lane), Keate, leat (late), ealhouse, seake, ceam, feace.
Long ea, derived from Middle English [e:] is written e-a, le-ave, be-ast, le-ast. Wright describes this sound as [ia]. The same diphthong was used in a few words where, in Standard English, the M.E. vowel has been shortened to [e], de-ad, he-ad. This pronunciation is recorded by Peacock in death, bread. Long ee, derived from M.E. [e:] was, according to Peacock, pronounced [ia] occasionally, and this diphthong was also used in the eighteenth century; cf. be-a (be), se-a (see), heal (he’ll), me-a (me), and also ke-a (key).
In a few words, er was sounded ar instead of [a:] as in Standard, sartin (certain), sarment (sermon), sartinly, sharling (shearling). Peacock also records larn (learn), arn (earn), concarn.
Long i appears to have been generally pronounced [oi], point (pint), loie, woife, toimes, swoin, soide, quoiet, etc. This is not now the normal Lincolnshire pronunciation, which Wright analyses as [ai], but the pronunciation used by Miss Banks is also consistently used in Tennyson’s poems in the Lincolnshire dialect. Before gh, long i was pronounced as [i:], in the Northern manner, neet (night), leet (light), and also dee (die). The same pronunciations are noted by Peacock. Miss Banks gives one spelling which varies from this rule, namely noit (night): the spelling may possibly be a mistake induced by woife, toime, etc.
Long o, derived principally from O.E. [a:], is written ōōa, gōōa (go), nōōa (no), or oa, hoam, (home), aloan, sto-an, who-al, bo-ath, po-ast, kno-as (knows), and ouates (oats). Peacock says of this sound, “oa sounds like oo-a quickly pronounced and is {399a} generally written oä.” This description would seem to apply to Miss Banks’s spellings.
A broader form of the Standard diphthong ow, [au], was used, as in aour (our), naow (now), haow, aout, gaown. “You” and “your” were sounded yeau, yeaur.
Short u was pronounced with the rounded vowel [u], the Standard pronunciation in “bull,” as: moonth, tooche, moony (money), joost, joonket, cūm, sūpper, hūsband, ūp, etc. “One” was sounded, as in Yorkshire, won, the vowel probably being an unrounded form of short o. Long u was pronounced, apparently, as [ju:] in sûre, ûs’d, sûrely, and the same spelling is used in sûch.
In “half,” “calf,” the old Elizabethan form was retained, hauf, cauf: the same pronunciations are recorded for these and similar words in the ‘E.D.D.’ Short o was apparently sometimes pronounced like Standard short u, hug (hog), dug (dog). “Burn,” “worse,” “first,” are all written with ū, a spelling which apparently represents the Standard vowel in moon, June, etc. “Did” and “will” were sounded with short u, dud, wull: these forms are usually held to be derived from the Southern dialects of Middle English.
A few consonantal pronunciations are of interest. Final r appears to have been vocalised: it is usually written ar, which seems to represent the neutral vowel [a], de-ar, the-ar (there), e-ar (ere), swe-ar, ro-ar, afo-ar, etc. Metathesis of r was fairly common, as in cruds (curds), fromaty, Cattern, brust (burst), rats (warts). Final -dge and -tch were frequently pronounced as stop consonants, [g] and [k], brig (bridge), rig (ridge), flig’d (fledged), pick (pitch), thack (thatch), bink (bench); but s, sh were sometimes used instead of tch, dishe (ditch), scras (scratch). “Gate” was pronounced yeat; the initial consonant was omitted in east (yeast); and “make,” “take,” were sounded ma, ta, maies (makes), tane (taken). In plough, through, gh was pronounced [f], pliff, thruff. All these consonantal pronunciations were still used in Lincolnshire at the end of the nineteenth century.
Most of these features of the dialect, and a number of others of lesser note, are summarised in a dialect song in the MS. entitled “The Scolding Wife, a New Song in the Lincolnshire Dialect. Written by an experienced man, and set to Musick by Mr. Vanniel.” No clue is given to the identity of the “experienced man,” but Mr. Vanniel was among the occasional contributors to {399b} Miss Banks’s collections of words. The music, which is a very poor example of the conventional eighteenth-century jig, written in triplets, is not worth reproduction, but the words, although they have no poetic value, are of some interest as being among the first specimens of the modern English Dialect literature. The verses follow the conventional dialogue between husband and wife:
Husband.
Cūm lets ha aour sūpper I prithe my Keate,
Yeau see I’m cūmd hoam Girl before it be leat,
I left Nibor Swig at the Ealhouse my Dear,
And just as heed axd for a fresh point o’ beer.
Wife.
Im sûre that’s a Loie for yeau Liquorish Sot,
Yeau’d ne-ar for my seake le-ave yeaur she-ar of a pot
De yeau think I’m a Be-ast or a Stock or a Sto-an
To le-ave yeaur poor Wo-if hafe the Noit he-ar aloan.
I’m sûre my fūrst Hūsband while I were his Woife,
Dear man he ne-ar ûs’d me so ill iv his loife.
Bud he were a good man and ne’ar loik a hūg,
Ceame fūddled and Bullocking hoam fra his Mūg.
Husband.
I prithe de-ar Cattern be pe-acefull at ho-am,
Or else to be sûre I mūn fetch out Jūdge thūm,
For all naow yeau mak2 such a fuss and a ro-ar
2 mae in another copy.
I heant been at th’ Ealhouse the who-al week afo-ar.
Wife.
Bud I’m sartinly sûre yeau Eal-sūcking Be-ast,
Yeau were the-ar the last Moonth sevn3 toimes at the le-ast
3 se-aven, another copy
And naow to be sûre yeaur as drūnk as a swoin,
Yeau cudna be wurse had ye guzzled i’ woin
Most sûrely yeau Belking and pot-bellied Dug
Yeau’l ware all I addle a dea i’ wun4 Jug,
4 won, another copy
I wish my fūrst Husband were living just naou,
And then I had never been married to yeau.
Husband.
Adzooks the-ars noa be-aring this Clatter and Riot,
I sūrely mun be-at ye an yeau we-ant be quiet,
Yeaur tunge hangs a loase and it Clatters as well,
As e-ar did the Clapper of aour Parish Bell.
Wife.
As sûre as yeau tooch bud wun soide o’ my Fe-ace,
I’ll goa to the Jūstice and swe-ar to the Pe-ace.
The Squoire kno-as well what Drunkard yeau be-a,
and he’al do me justice and that yeau shall se-a,
{400a}
And for sartin to ma yeau asheam’d o’ yeaur Loif,
And of ûsing so badly so Quoiet a woife.
I’l goa to the Parson and tell him d’ye sea,
To pre-ach iv his Sarment haow wicked ye bea.
Husband.
Adzooks bud I winna be rattled to de-ad,
This Clatter will sartinly split up my he-ad,
I’l ma yeau bo-ath Quoiet and pea-ceable bea,
Or il ge ye no moony to ware i’ yeaur Tea.
And I’l būrn yeaur fine Gaown that so highly yeau prize,
And I’l hang up yeaur Dug that ye luve as yeaur Eyes,
And I’l ma ye up Hūssey and ta aout the Ke-a,
And then yeau may scoald ’tis no matter to me-a.
Wife.
Had e-ar a poor woif sûch a Barbarous Man,
I’m sûre naow I does all the best as I can,
Bud when yeau cūm hoam yeau’re so cross to yeaure woife,
She can’t get a strait word fro yeaure mouth for her loife.
The largest single group of words in the glossaries consists of the names given to geese. A similar list of names for horses appears in Peacock’s glossary. The present list consists mainly of personal names or descriptive names, viz.: Bedside goose, Bellows bag, Blue back Wakefield, Boakey, Bow-wow, Brawler, Chimney goose, Cole-seed Copple-Goose, Dame Bute, Few Cloaths, Goble guts, Granny Grey, Grantee, Grimble check, Grog, Hard Times, Hazel Dork (a gander), Hogmagomery, Huckleback, John of Gaunt, Moll Wallop, Mrs. Fussey, Old Gid, Old Hodge, Old Rodney, Nan Donaby, Poak eater, Queen Goose, Queen of the Cupboard, Robinson Crusoe (a gander), Rye Tail, Scrat Mamee, Shagg, Shan Cap, Skute, Snatcher, Spitfire, Tatler, Tea-pot, The Bride, Topple Dun, Turkey Dun, Wakefield Dun, White-faced Beedy, White Hewet. A few notes are added on some of these names. “Queen of the cupboard” and “Bedside goose” were so called, it is explained, because they hatched their young in those places, and the name “Old Rodney” was given to a gander because he was a great fighter.
The most interesting note, however, relates to “John of Gaunt,” a name which records an old Lincolnshire tradition. The bird was so called because he himself and his company were lost a long time,
alluding to a report that prevails amongst some of our old Men, that John of Gaunt and his servant were lost beyond the Sea, and made a vow that if God would bring him safe to England again he would give the greatest Gift that ever was given by man, and then fell asleep; and when he awaked he found himself {400b} upon All Hill by Bolinbroke: and meeting a man pointed to Hornby and asked the name of that village? on being told it was Hagnaby he answered if that be Hagnaby it shall be tythe free for ever. And the gift he gave was the East and West Fens in the following manner:
“I give the East Wood and the West Wood to the poor inhabitants of the Soke of Bolinbroke, so long as the grass grows upwards and the rain falls downwards.”
It would be of doubtful value to reproduce now the whole of the lists in Miss Banks’s MS. It is a pity that the document was not utilised by the English Dialect Society at the time it was publishing the dialect glossaries, as a reprint of it would have formed an interesting volume. At the present time, the chief interest of the volume is the additional information which it gives about the Lincolnshire dialect. I have compared the words in the MS. with Cole’s and Peacock’s glossaries and with the ‘English Dialect Dictionary.’ About two-thirds of the words which appear in Miss Banks’s collections were still used in Lincolnshire at the end of the nineteenth century. But there remain nearly three hundred words which are not so recorded. Some of them do not appear in the ‘E.D.D.’ at all, some are found in dialects remote from Lincolnshire, and a large number are recorded as characteristic of Yorkshire, Lancashire and the English counties further North. The Lincolnshire speech belongs to the Northern group of dialects, and it is probable that the last group of words had escaped the notice of Brogden, Cole and Peacock, whose glossaries supplied almost the whole of the details of Lincolnshire dialect in the ‘E.D.D.’ Some of them may have fallen out of use by the middle of the nineteenth century, but it seems more probable that they were used in parts of the county not covered by the three published glossaries.
These three hundred words form, therefore, a definite contribution to our krowledge of the dialect, and I have for that reason thought it worth while to assemble them into a small glossary. The definitions are those given in the MS., and the occasional notes which are given in square brackets are my own. I have distinguished words which the ‘E.D.D.’ records in other Northern dialects by prefixing an asterisk. Words which Miss Banks did not admit to her four “editions” are distinguished with a dagger.
| Adling, a goose two years old. | |
| † | Agateways, “to go agateways,” to accompany some part of the way. [Wright records “agatewards” as a Lincolnshire form, with {401a} the same meaning]. |
| † | Allamort, sunk, dejected, undone. |
| Amber, (Marsh Chapel), a sheet or flake of ice. | |
| *† | Anauntrins, if so be. |
| Andrew, a sheet or flake of ice. | |
| † | Antics or Autics, lest. |
| † | Arpent, witty, smart, ingenious or docile. |
| *† | Arr, scar or mark of small pox. |
| † | As Asly, as readily, willingly, perhaps from hastily. [Wright derives the word from “as lief,” but does not record “as asly.”]. |
| Ataining, a basket for catching Eels. | |
| Attramite, a dwarfish person. | |
| Baggs, turf. [Probably connected with “bog.”]. | |
| † | Balderdash Bagrament, importunate stuff, nonsense. [Peacock records “Bagment” meaning rubbish]. |
| † | Bawit, Lanthorn. |
| Bearing Band, a rope to tie up a bottle of Fodder. | |
| † | Bevis, between beef and veal. |
| † | Bilge [v.] drink immoderately. [Connected with “belch” which has the same meaning in Yorkshire]. |
| Bleckens, resembles. | |
| Blee, clear white water. | |
| † | Bleed [v.], of a Man, as he bleeds freely, i.e. he gives or pays liberally; of Corn, when it yields largely. Perhaps this last signifies to blade well. |
| Blether, ex. “all muck and Blether,” dirt. | |
| † | Blush [v.], to resemble another. |
| Bobbs, (East Fen), a kind of Fuel. | |
| Bolts, flags. Generally called cat-tails, of which door-mats and church hassocks are made. | |
| † | Bouhth, size, bulk. |
| † | Brame, bramble, Brier [a form of “bramble”]. |
| Brandery, wood-work of a House. [Wright gives this word as Scottish]. | |
| † | Brashy, brittle. |
| *† | Brazle, [v.], dry crisp, as Hay in a hot Sun. |
| Braunge, haughty. [Wright has this word as a verb but not as an adjective]. | |
| Braunging, prancing in a Horse. [Wright has not this application: he records it in the sense “strutting” as applied to men]. | |
| *† | Breade [v.], spread. |
| Breams, brambles [A shortening of “bremble,” “bramble”]. | |
| Brewitt, a good Eel | |
| † | Brog [v.], to dig. |
| Brogg [v.], to butt. | |
| Bullfront, a low tuft of coarse grass. | |
| Burton [v.], to out off the branches of a fallen tree. | |
| *† | Cadge [v.], to carry. |
| † | Cadger, a carrier. |
| † | Cantouzle [v.], to derange, confound. |
| † | Charked, [of liquor] turning sour. |
| † | Clamping Bricks, piling them for burning. |
| † | Clifty, generous. |
| † | Clitch, a brood of young chickens. [A variant upon “cletch” recorded by Cole]. |
| Cloot, a Post-and-Rail Fence across a Bank. | |
| {401b} | |
| Clute Staff, a leaping pole. [Wright records “clout,” a pole]. | |
| *† | Cobby, brisk, lively. |
| † | Coldrick, [of one] that cannot bear cold. |
| † | Collyfogle, wheedle, cheat. [Wright records “collifobble” used in West Yorkshire]. |
| Come An End, come faster. | |
| Coshy, squashy. | |
| † | Cowsuckle, PaizleMisreading of paigle? or Cowslip. |
| *† | Crab, Crob, [v.], to crow over one. |
| Cradging Banks, heightening banks. [Wright records “cradge,” a bank to keep a river from overflowing]. | |
| *† | Crake, a crow. |
| *† | Crakefoot, crowfoot. |
| † | Creele, a pewter Case. |
| Creels, water aloe. | |
| *† | Creem, [v.], to convey away slyly. [Wright records this word in Lancs, and Cheshire, in the sense “steal”]. |
| Crinkle [v.], to submit. | |
| * | Crock, a little old sheep. |
| Crouncy, frisky in a horse. [Wright cites the verb “crounch,” to prance, but none of his Lincolnshire correspondents knew the word]. | |
| † | Crouney, mettlesome [a variant of “crouncy”]. |
| † | Cruzzled, crusted over, with ice. |
| † | Cusinet, pincushion. |
| *† | Daffe [v.], to daunt. |
| † | Daffe, dough if underbaked, dough. [Cole records “daffy,” doughy]. |
| † | Dag [v.], to hack or break the edge of a knife. |
| Dagbite, Meat between Meals. | |
| Dassiity, quickness of parts. [Probably a corruption of “audacity”]. | |
| Daul Duck, dabchick. | |
| † | Deedy, industrious or notable. |
| *† | Dessably, constantly. |
| † | Diddon or Dither [v.], shake with cold. [The latter variant is recorded by Wright]. |
| Dinger, a hard knock. | |
| † | Discumfumfrigated, discomposed.+}Dittering, daubing up. |
| Dowly Weather, muggy weather. | |
| Drape Yows, Ewes that are selected to be sold. [Wright records “drape” only in the sense, barren]. | |
| Drape Geese, Geese that are selected to be sold. | |
| † | Dree Pudding, firm pudding |
| Dumping (East Fen), Fishing with Flues (sic – “flies?”). | |
| Dyling, remains of an old Ditch. [Wright records this as a Lincs. word, but gives the meaning “a small excavation of drainage”]. | |
| * | Easkins, House Eyes. [Wright does not record this form, but gives a common Northern and Midland form “easin(g),” although not for Lincs]. |
| Endways, forwards. [Peacock has the variant “endards”]. | |
| † | Fadge [v.], to tire. [Peacock gives “fagged”]. |
| Fairly, gently. | |
| † | Famble [v.], hesitate. [Wright records the word in the sense “stutter”]. |
| {402a} | |
| Famble [v.] to eat slowly, to make nothing out. [Wright gives first meaning, “to eat with no appetite”]. | |
| *† | Farrantly, handsome. |
| † | Feft, well provided for. |
| † | Ferns, triangle to load a pair of Cutts. |
| † | Festing, a fastening penny, Earnest. [Wright records “festing penny”]. |
| Fewter [v.], to grumble. | |
| Fire Fang Tail, Red-Start. | |
| Fire Prod, poker. | |
| Flother Glass, float grass. | |
| Forked Robin, earwig. [Wright records the variant, “forkin-robin”]. | |
| Four, furrow. | |
| Frem Person, stranger. [Wright records the Lincolnshire variant, “frim folks”]. | |
| † | Fransy, rash. |
| † | Frim, loose, spungy. |
| † | Fruggard, sad or melancholy. |
| Fultament, fodder. | |
| Fulture, manure. | |
| † | Fuzzen, Foisen, natural moisture of anything. |
| Gad (a fishing), rod. | |
| Gatarum (South Marsh), a green lane. | |
| † | Gateway, path. |
| † | Gatussing, “to go a gatussing,” to return a part of the way home with friends. [This is a variant of “agateways,” q.v.] |
| † | Gauby, same as ting-tang. |
| Gaw-Goosely, simple. | |
| Gerry Gaunt, a material of which Walls of Houses are made about Revesby. | |
| † | Gibby Gobby, [of] two women riding on one Horse. |
| † | Glau, Gly, or Glu [v.], to stare at. |
| Goil, a slough. | |
| Gold Finch, a yellowhammer. | |
| *† | Grath, sure. |
| Grimbled, grizzled. | |
| Grow’d, burnt too [sic]. | |
| † | Grouse [v.] to eat. |
| † | Gruffed, soiled with sand, as Hay is after a flood. |
| Gunning Snout, a Fen Boat. [Wright gives “gunning boat”]. | |
| Hag, part of the wood where the timble has lately been felled. | |
| * | Hagger, a Feller of Timber. |
| Haking, a Punishment used by the Bankers when one of their comrades is idle; which is to bury him up to the Chin in the earth, and draw him out by the ears. [Cole records “Hake” v., in the sense “to idle about”]. | |
| Haumd, slatternly. | |
| Hawming, stupid. | |
| † | HayeMisreading of haze? Water [v.], to raise it with a scoop. |
| Hig [n.], in a hurry. | |
| † | Hillers, elder-trees. [A pronunciation variant]. |
| Hingle, a snare to catch a duck in. [Wright records this as an East Anglian word meaning “a wire snare”]. | |
| † | Hippings, children’s petticoats. |
| *† | Hippinghold, a plan of gossiping or meeting of servants. |
| Hollakin, romping. | |
| Hoven, swelled. | |
| {402b} | |
| Hunchy Day, [a day when there is] a cold dry wind. [Wright gives “hunch,” as in “a cold hunch March”]. | |
| *† | Hurkling, shrinking with cold. [Wright gives the meaning of this word as “cower, huddle,” etc.]. |
| † | Hustle, a large quantity of People, a whole hustle. [From “household”?]. |
| I’m Sorely Ont, I am not well. | |
| Jade, a horse. | |
| Joonket of Toime (Brocklesby), nick of time. | |
| Jum, an earthernware saucepan. | |
| † | Keb [v.], to surprise with difficulty. |
| † | Kebing and Lawing, a Phrase. [Wright records the Lincs. phrase “He keb’d and cawed,” in which “keb’d” means “panted” or “sobbed.” The present example may be a corruption of this phrase, or “kebing” may mean “fighting,” the phrase then having the meaning “fighting and going to law”]. |
| Keil, a surfeit. | |
| † | Kell Carrion, a term of vulgar reproach. |
| Kemp, a bad eel. | |
| Kenspecy, to know Stock by sight. [Wright gives the meaning as “to mark or brand so as to know by sight”]. | |
| † | Kickle, ticklish, shy. [A pronunciation variant of “tickle”]. |
| Kidger, a Higler who sells Fish. [Wright records this word as used in the Midlands for “huckster”]. | |
| † | Kilp, the staples of a Pot, by which the Bow is fastened. [Cole gives “kalp,” but defines it as meaning the handle itself]. |
| † | Kink, [v.], to cough. [Cole records “kink-cough,” whooping-cough, and “kink,” breath with difficulty]. |
| Knacker, collar maker. | |
| † | Lake [v.], to play, wanton. [The former meaning is recorded by Wright, but not the latter]. |
| Lammock, a Lamb Hog, a sheep between half and a year old. | |
| Langled, beat. | |
| Langled Side, when a Sheep or a Horse has a fore-foot and a hind one tied together with a band. | |
| Langled Cross, when the right fore-foot is tied with a band to the left hind-foot. | |
| Leck, leisure. | |
| Leese, grain of wood. | |
| † | Leese [v.], to pick up one kind of Corn from another. |
| Lighting On Ye, waiting for you. | |
| Lilly Low (Marsh Chapel), hot with weather or exercise. | |
| *† | Lith, nimble, brisk, |
| Lithe Weather, calm weather. | |
| *† | Lobbing, moving heavily. |
| * | Locken’d (hair), entangled, disordered. |
| * | Louvre, the Cupola of a Pidgeon House, to let in the Birds. |
| *† | Lowk [v.], to lick, beat or bang. |
| Luccums or Luccum Windows, Garret windows. | |
| *† | Lything, thickening for the Pot. [Wright records “lithening” in Yorkshire). |
| Mac, not shy. | |
| * | Make Up a Dog [v.], tie up. |
| {403a} | |
| † | Mallcrag’d, much troubled. |
| Marcy [v.], to amerce. | |
| Marfrey, a piece of grass between two plough Lands in a common field. [Wright defines the word as “the extreme boundary edge of a ditch outside the hedge”]. | |
| * | Marrah, fellow. [The word in the sense “one of a pair” is common in the North, but is not recorded by Wright for Lincs.]. |
| Masker’d, disfigured by a fall or a blow. | |
| *† | Mawky, maggotty, whimsical. |
| Mawm Land, mellow land. [Wright records “mawmy,” warm, damp, of weather and soil]. | |
| † | Miskittil Job, difficult job. |
| † | Miskotell, mysterious. |
| Moilment [in a], overcome with heat. | |
| Mortation, a great many. | |
| Mot, a diseased Hide. | |
| Mottles, a disease in the hoof of a beast. Original note: “A superstitious mode of attempting the cure of this Disease prevails here: a Turf on which the Beast’s lame foot has trod, is taken up and turned, and as the grass on it decays, the Disease is supposed to Decrease.” | |
| Musling, puzzling. | |
| † | Musling, slow and pottering. |
| † | Muslins, fen fuel. |
| † | Natter [v.], to gnash. |
| † | Natter Jack, a kind of toad that runs very fast. |
| † | Nean, posterior. |
| Neap, the pole of a wain. | |
| Nitertng, striving. | |
| Nor Spel, Trap ball. | |
| Nough, ex. “the Potatoes nuff very fast”; enough (when they were in the oven and some baked enough, other nearly). | |
| Nunty, a little tidy woman. | |
| Old Farrand, more sensible than appearance or age promises. | |
| † | Outrane [v.], to overcharge. |
| † | Ozn, hard Gravel. |
| Padging, tricks. | |
| * | Partlins, almost. |
| † | Pettily, Pettish, Pittis. [Cole records “petty”]. |
| * | Pinet, a magpie. |
| Pot-Noddles, tad-poles. | |
| Poy, a pole to push a boat on with. | |
| * | Proggle, to poke. |
| Pulead, a Kite. | |
| Purdy, captious. | |
| Puttock, a buzzard. | |
| Quailing, sickening. Original note: “The flesh of an animal killed at the last extremity called quailed meat.” [Wright gives “quail mutton,” the mutton of a sheep which died from natural causes, drowning, etc. But he does not note its use in Lincs.]. | |
| † | Quiney, upon the fret, sour. |
| Quiry, a quibble. | |
| Rampart, a road rounded up. | |
| † | Rame to ramble. [A shortened form: cf. brame]. |
| † | Rizom [v.], to rise in Pease or other Pulse; to form them into long Heaps, a substitute for cooking. |
| Roil, mud. | |
| {403b} | |
| Ruck [v.], to cluck. | |
| † | Rue [as] garden in Rue; in disorder. |
| † | Scaddle, ticklish. |
| Scelp [v.], to let down, as a cart. | |
| Scrafflements, refuse. | |
| Screddle, a Fish. | |
| † | Scrudge [v.], to rub. [Possibly a variant of “scroudge” meaning to squeeze, crowd, etc.]. |
| † | Scrudle [v.], to hustle, huddle together. |
| † | Shade, a quill. |
| *† | Shale, an awkward gait. |
| † | Sheal [v.], to separate, a curds from the whey. |
| Sheriffs, a kind of Aurora Borealis. [Wright gives the word as meaning a red or yellow colour in the sky portending rain]. | |
| Sheriffs, services. | |
| Shiltrist, most sheltered. | |
| *† | Sile Dish, a dish with the bottom supplied with a gauze or linen to strain milk through. |
| Sines, long grass growing on the sea-bank. | |
| † | Slack a Trapes, an Idle girl. (Boston). |
| † | Slam [v.], to spoil, wear at. |
| * | Slare [v.], to slip or slide. |
| † | Slauky, slimy. [Wright records this as Scottish]. |
| Slidder [v.], to humbug. | |
| † | Slithy, Sleady, blacksmith’s anvil. |
| Sloy [v.], to dirty. | |
| *† | Smirk [v.], to smile, look pleasant. |
| * | Smoot, a passage or entry. |
| † | Smull [v.], to beat or get the better. [Wright defines as “beat severely”]. |
| Snick Snarl, a, curling up (particularly burnt leather). [Wright defines as “a tangle in thread etc.”]. | |
| Sole A Pig [v.], to take it by the ears (said of a dog). | |
| † | Sowze [v.], to worry, applied to pigs. [Cole gives the meaning as “to pull by the ears”]. |
| * | Spain A Lamb [v.], to wean a lamb. |
| Spank-Whew, tossing up a toad. | |
| *† | Spar [v.], [to spar a door], fasten. |
| *† | Spawny, well grown. |
| * | Spelder [v.], to spell. |
| Spifflocated, ashamed of being in love. | |
| Spletchtng, the cracking of an egg by a chicken as it hatches. | |
| † | Springwell, stripling. [A variant of “springald”]. |
| † | Spud, a short knife. |
| † | Squash [v.], to break or mash. |
| Starken, straightened in circumstances. | |
| † | Stetchell, a mean insignificant fellow, rascal. [Wright gives the word as obsolete, and defines it as “troublesome child”]. |
| † | Stine [v.], to walk fast. [Peacock gives the word “strine” meaning a stride]. |
| Stound Of A Tree, the stool of a tree. | |
| † | Stripe, an avenue. |
| Stunt, steep. | |
| Stuntage, a baulk. | |
| Sturks, curly potatoes. | |
| † | Swang [v.], to shut a Door violently, with a noise. |
| † | Swang [v.], to swing, as a gate. |
| * | Sweb [v.], to swoon. |
| {404a} | |
| † | Territ, a fright. |
| † | Thake, of a horse touched in the wind: ex. He trots fast but he thakes sorely. |
| Thete, Thite, Thickset, as Grass. | |
| *† | Throdden, thriven, grown fat. |
| † | Tick Tack, in a tick tack: in Disorder. |
| * | Tossecated, troubled |
| † | Troys, weights in general. |
| Trunket, East (Yeast) tub. | |
| * | Turbot, halibut. |
| * | Twinge, (Brocklesby), Earwing. |
| † | Twip, weights, either Troy or avoirdupois. |
| *† | Twitch Bell, Earwig. |
| † | Twuggy, lazy. |
| Under Beck, the tub that the liquor runs into from the Mash-Tub. [Wright records this as East Anglian, in the form under-back”]. | |
| Unshovell’d, dirty. [Wright records this in Yorkshire in the form “unshooled”]. | |
| *† | Wanty, broad girt [h.], used by Carriers to their pack saddles. |
| Warbuckle, a Grub in a Cow’s back. [Wright records this as East Anglian, in the form “warbeetle”]. | |
| *† | Whart [v.], to cross, contradict. |
| *† | Whisket, a small basket. |
| * | Whittering, peevish. [Wright has the Northern use of this adjective, but records only the verb “whitter” for Lincs]. |
| Whizzle, Whee’el Away [v.], convey slily. | |
| † | Whutle [v.], to whine, cry. [Cole records “whittle” to vex; the word is a variant of “whitter”, q.v.] |
| † | Wimble, Wamble, Ou’r, [v.], to overlay children. [cf. Cole’s “whenble,” turn upside down]. |
| † | Windle [v.], to windle corn with a whaps, to dress with a van. |
| Wittrix, a large weazle. [A form of “Whitrack” which Wright records in Lincs.]. | |
| † | Wunty, very, woundy |
| † | Yaups, and Gosters, awkward country ladies. [cf. Cole “yaup,” shout]. |
| Yether, a hedge bind. | |
| † | Yoon, Yune, oven. |
| Youls, a kind of grass. | |
William Matthews, ph.d.
Birkbeck College.