The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire by James Jennings (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📕

Aa’th. s. earth.

Ab’bey. s. The great white poplar: one of the varieties of the populus alba.

Ab’bey-lubber. s. A lazy, idle fellow.

Abought. part. Bought. See VAUGHT.

Abrood’. adv. When a hen is sitting on her eggs she is said to be abrood.

Ad’dle. s. A swelling with matter in it.

Ad’dled. a. Having pus or corruption; hence

Ad’dled-egg. s. An egg in a state of putrefaction.

Affeard’. a. Afraid.

Afo’re, Afo’rn. prep. and adv. Before; afore, Chaucer.

Again. prep. Against.

Agon’, Agoo’. adv. [these words literally mean gone.] Ago; agoo, Chaucer; from the verb to goo, i.e. to go; he is up and agoo; he is up and gone.

Alas-a-dây. interj. A-lack-a-day.

Ale. s. A liquor, brewed with a proportion of malt from about four to six bushels to the hogshead of 63 gallons; if it contain more malt it is called beer; if less, it is usually called small beer.

Al’ler. s. The alder tree.

Allès. adv. Always.

All’once. pron. [all ones] or rather (all o’n’s) All of us; Let’s go allonce; let us go all of us.

All o’s. pron. All of us.

Alost’. part. Lost: ylost, Chaucer.

Amang. prep. Among.

Amawst’, Amoo’äst adv. Almost.

Amper. s. A small red pimple.

Anby’. adv. Some time hence; in the evening.

Anear’, Ane’ast, Aneoust’. prep. Nigh to; aneast en, near him.

Aneen. On end, upright.

An’passy. s. The sign &, corrupted from and per se.

Anty. adj. Empty.

Apast’. part. and prep. Past; apast. Chaucer.

A’pricock. s. An apricot.

Aps. s. The asp tree; populus tremula.

Aps’en. a. Made of the wood of the asp; belonging to the asp.

To Arg. v. n. To argue.

To Ar’gufy. v. n. To hold an argument; to argue.

Ascri’de. adv. Across; astride.

Aslen’. adv. Aslope.

Assu’e. adj. When a cow is let up in order that she may calve, she is said to be assue—having no milk.

Ater. prep. After. Goo ater’n: go after him.

Athin. adv. Within.

Athout. prep. Without.

Auverdro. v. a. Overthrow.

Avaur’, Avaur’en, Avaurn.prep. Before.

Avoordin. part. Affording.

Avraur’. adj. Frozen; stiff with frost.

Awakid. adj. Awake; awakid, Chaucer.

To Ax. v. a. To ask; ax, Chaucer.

Ax’en. s. pl. Ashes.

Axing. s. and part. Asking; axing, Chaucer.

Ay’ir. s. Air.

B.

Back’sid. s. A barton.

Back’y. s. Tobacco.

Bad. adv. Badly.

Bade. s. Bed.

Ba’ginet. s. Bayonet.

Bai’ly. s. A bailiff; a superintendent of an estate.

Ball. adj. Bald.

Bal’let. s. Ballad.

Ball’rib. s. A sparerib.

To Bal’lirag. v. a. To abuse with foul words; to scold.

To Ban. v. a. To shut out; to stop.

To Bane. v. a. To afflict with a mortal disease; applied to sheep. See to COATHE.

To Barenhond’, To Banehond’. v. n. (used chiefly in the third person singular) to signify intention; to intimate.

These words are in very common use in the West of England. It is curious to note their gradation from Chaucer, whose expression is Beren hem on hond, or bare him on hand; implying always, it appears to me, the same meaning as I have given to the words above. There is, I think, no doubt, that these expressions of Chaucer, which he has used several times in his works, are figurative; when Chaucer tells us he beren hem, in hond, the literal meaning is, he carried it in, or on, his hand so that it might be readily seen. “To bear on hand, to affirm, to relate.”—JAMIESON’S Etymological Scots Dictionary. But, whatever be the meaning of these words in Chaucer, and at the present time in Scotland, the above is the meaning of them in the west of England.

Banes. s. pl. The banns of matrimony.

Ban’nin. s. That which is used for shutting out or stopping.

Ban’nut. s. A walnut. [Only used in northern parts of county.]

Barrow-pig. s. A gelt pig.

Baw’ker, Baw’ker-stone. s. A stone used for whetting scythes; a kind of sand-stone.

To Becall’. v. a. To censure; to reprove; to chide.

Bee’äs, Bease. s. pl. [Beasts] Cattle. Applied only to Oxen not Sheep.

Bee-but, Bee-lippen. s. A bee-hive

Bee’dy. s. A chick.

Beedy’s-eyes. s.pl. Pansy, love-in-idleness.

Beer. s. See ALE.

Befor’n. prep. Before.

To Begird’ge, To Begrud’ge. v. a. To grudge; to envy.

LORD BYRON has used the verb begrudge in his notes to the 2nd canto of Childe Harold.

Begor’z, Begum’mers. interj.

These words are, most probably, oaths of asseveration. The last appears to be a corruption of by godmothers. Both are thrown into discourse very frequently: Begummers, I ont tell; I cant do it begorz.

Begrumpled. part. Soured; offended.

To Belg. v. n. To cry aloud; to bellow.

Bell-flower. s. A daffodil.

To Belsh. v. a. To cut off dung, &c., from the tails of sheep.

Beneäpt. part. Left aground by the recess of the spring tides.

To Benge. v. n. To remain long in drinking; to drink to excess.

Ben’net. v. Long coarse grass.

Ben’nety. adj. Abounding in bennets.

Ber’rin. s. [burying] A funeral procession.

To Beskum’mer. v. a. To foul with a dirty liquid; to besmear.

To Bethink’ v. a. To grudge.

Bettermost. adj. The best of the better; not quite amounting to the best.

Betwat’tled. part. In a distressing and confused state of mind.

To Betwit’. v. a. To upbraid; to repeat a past circumstance aggravatingly.

To Bib’ble. v. n. To drink often; to tope.

Bib’bler. s. One who drinks often; a toper.

Bil’lid. adj. Distracted; mad.

Billy. s. A bundle of wheat straw.

Bi’meby. adv. By-and-by; some time hence.

Bin. conj. Because; probably corrupted from, being.

Bin’nick. s. A small fish; minnow; Cyprinus phloxinus.

Bird-battin. s. The catching of birds with a net and lights by night. FIELDING uses the expression.

Bird-battin-net. s. The net used in bird-battin.

Birch’en. adj. Made of birch; relating to birch.

Bis’gee. s. (g hard), A rooting axe.

Bisky. s. Biscuit. The pronunciation of this word approximates nearer to the sound of the French cuit [“twice baked”] the t being omitted in this dialect.

To Bi’ver. v. n. To quiver; to shake.

Black-pot, s. Black-pudding.

Black’ymoor. s. A negro.

Blackymoor’s-beauty. s. Sweet scabious; the musk-flower.

Blanker. s. A spark of fire.

Blans’cue. s. Misfortune; unexpected accident.

Blather. s. Bladder. To blather, v. n. To talk fast, and nonsensically [_to talk so fast that bladders form at the mouth_]

Bleâchy. adj. Brackish; saltish: applied to water.

Blindbuck-and-Davy. s. Blind-man’s buff. Blindbuck and have ye, is no doubt the origin of this appellation for a well-known amusement.

Blis’som. ad. Blithesome.

Blood-sucker. s. A leech.

Bloody-warrior. s. The wall-flower.

Boar. s. The peculiar head or first flowing of water from one to two feet high at spring tides, in the river Parret a few miles below and at Bridgewater, and in some other rivers.

[In Johnson’s Dictionary this is spelt bore; I prefer the above spelling. I believe the word is derived from the animal Boar, from the noise, rushing, and impetuosity of the water, Todd gives it “a tide swelling above another tide.” Writers vary in their opinions on the causes of this phenomenon. St. Pierre. Ouvres, tom vi., p. 234, Ed. Hamburgh, 1797, describes it not exactly the same in the Seine as in the Parret:—“Cette montagne d’eau est produite par les marèes qui entrent, de la mer dans la Seine, et la font refluer contre son cours. On l’appelle la Barre, parce-qu’elle barre le cours de la Seine. Cette barre est suivée d’une seconde barre plus elevèe, qui la suit a cent toises de distance. Elles courent beaucoup plus vîte qu’un cheval au galop.” He says it is called Bar, because it bars the current. In the Encyclop. Metropol., art. Bore, the editor did not seem more fortunate in his derivation.]

Bobbish. adj. In health, and spirits. [_Pirty bobbish_, pretty well.] Bonk. s. Bank.

Booät. s. Boat.

Booäth. pron. Both. “Boo’äth o’ ye; both of you.

Bor’rid. adj. A sow is said to be borrid when she wants the male.

Bote. part. Bought.

Bow. s. A small arched bridge.

Boy’s-love. s. Southernwood; a species of mugwort; artemisia abrotonum.

Brave. adj. Well; recovering.

Bran. s. A brand; a stump of a tree, or other irregular and large piece of wood, fit only for burning.

Bran-viër. s. A fire made with brands.

Bran’dis. s. A semicircular implement of iron, made to be suspended over the fire, on which various things may be prepared; it is much used for warming milk.

Brash. s. Any sudden development; a crash.

Brick’le, Brick’ly. adj. Brittle; easily broken.

Brim’mle. s. A bramble.

To Bring gwain. v. a. [_To bring going._] To spend; to accompany some distance on a journey.

To Brit. v. a. To indent; to make an impression: applied to solid bodies.

Brock. s. An irregular piece of peat dried for fuel; a piece of turf. See TURF.

Bruck’le, Bruck’ly. adj. Not coherent; easily separable: applied to solid bodies. “My things are but in a bruckle state.” Waverley, v. 2, p. 328, edit. 1821. See BRICKLE.

Bruck’leness. s. The state of being bruckle.

To Buck. v. n. To swell out.

To Bud’dle. v. To suffocate in mud.

To Bulge. v. a. To indent; to make an irregular impression on a solid body; to bruise. It is also used in a neuter sense.

Bulge. s. An indentation; an irregular impression made on some solid body; a swelling outwards or depression inwards.

Bul’len. adj. Wanting the bull.

Bul’lins. s. pl. Large black sloes; a variety of the wild plum.

Bun’gee. s. (g hard), Any thing thick and squat.

Bunt, Bunting, s. Bolting cloth.

Bunt. s. A bolting-mill.

To Bunt. v. a. To separate flour from the bran.

Bur’cot. s. A load.

Buss. s. A half grown calf.

But. s. A conical and peculiar kind of basket or trap used in large numbers for catching salmon in the river Parret. The term but, would seem to be a generic one, the actual meaning of which I do not know; it implies, however, some containing vessel or utensil. See BEE-BUT. But, applied to beef, always means buttock.

Butter-and-eggs. s. A variety of the daffodil.

Bwile. v. Boil.

Bwye. interj. Bye! adieu. This, as well as good-bye and good-bwye, is evidently corrupted from God be with you; God-be-wi’ ye, equivalent to the French à Dieu, to God. Bwye, and good-bwye, are, therefore, how vulgar soever they may seem, more analogous than bye and good-bye.

C.

Callyvan’. s. A pyramidal trap for catching birds.

Car’riter. s. Character.

Câs. Because.

Cass’n, Cass’n’t. Canst not: as, Thee cass’n do it, thou canst not do it.

Catch corner. A game commonly called elsewhere puss in the corner.

Cat’terpillar. s. The cockchafer; Scarabeus melolontha.

West of the Parret this