George Edward Dartnell

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The same remarks will also apply to the short notes on Pronunciation, &c., where our utter inexperience as regards the modern [ix] scientific systems of Phonetics must be pleaded as our excuse for having been compelled to adopt methods that are as vague as they are unscientific.
To the English Dialect Society and its officers we are deeply indebted for their kindness and generosity in undertaking to adopt this Glossary, and to publish it in their valuable series of County Glossaries, as well as for the courtesy shown us in all matters connected with the work. ”

“ If rightly thrown it was a deadly missile, and would fly almost as true as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could thus be knocked over; and it was peculiarly adapted for fetching a squirrel out of a tree, because, being so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on the boughs, as an ordinary stick would, but overbalanced and came down.'—Amateur Poacher, ch. iii.
'The "squaler" came into use very early in the school's history, and was for years almost as much a part of the ordinary equipment of a Marlborough boy as a cricket-bat would now be. ”

“ Toll. To entice or decoy. Tawl (S.) . 'Hev' a bit o' cheese, to toll the bread down wi', will 'ee?' Still in common use. A cow given to wandering, when she breaks out of bounds, generally 'tolls' the rest of the herd after her.—N. & S.W.
Toll-bird. (1) n. A trained decoy-bird; also a stuffed bird used as a decoy.—N. & S.W. (2) 'To give anything just as a toll-bird,' to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel. Tradesmen will sell some one article far below cost-price, as a toll-bird to attract custom.—S.W.
Tom-bird. The male of any bird is generally so called in N. Wilts. ”

“ Carriage. A water-course, a meadow-drain (A. B. G. H. Wr.) . In S. Wilts the carriages bring the water into and through the meadow, while the drawn takes it back to the river after its work is done.—N. & S.W.
Carrier, Water-carrier. A large water-course (Wild Life, ch. xx) .—N. & S.W.
Carry along. To prove the death of, to bring to the grave. 'I be afeard whe'er that 'ere spittin' o' blood won't car'n along.'—N.W.
Cart. 'At cart,' carrying or hauling, as 'We be at wheat cart [coal-cart, dung-cart, &c.] ”

“ Fall about. v. Of a woman: to be confined. 'His wife bin an' fell about laas' night.'—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Fall down. Of arable land: to be allowed to relapse of itself into poor rough pasture.—N.W.
'Some of the land is getting "turnip-sick," the roots come stringy and small and useless, so that many let it "vall down."'—Great Estate, ch. i. p. 6.
Falling. n. A downfall of snow. 'I thenks we shall have some vallen soon.' Only used of snow.—N. & S.W.
Falling-post. The front upright timber of a gate. Occasionally heard at Huish ”

“ 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. ”

“ Thur's our Bill, 'snaw—I had a main job to get he to gwoa. He bin a walkin' wi' thuck ginger-headed wench o' Smith's—a wur terrible took up wi' she a bit back, an' her bin a 'suading he to putt up the banns. A never zed nothen to I about ut, nit I never zed nothen to he not afore laas' Vriday wick, an' then there wur a word or two, and I zes to un, 'What's thee want wi' a wife? Thee's got no more 'casion wi' a wife than a twoad has wi' a zide-pawket'—I zes—'an' ef thee'se be a-gwain to hae she thee can plase theeself, but thee shasn't never hannel narra penny piece o' mine ef thee does! ”

“ To cause to make no growth. 'Grass was stunned in its growth this season' (1892) .—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard, Potterne, &c.)
Sture. See Stewer.
Suant. See Sewent.
Succour. (1) n. Shelter; a sheltered place. A tender plant is set 'in the succour of the wall'; and cattle on a cold wet day get 'in the succour of the hedge.' ''Tes gwain' to rain, for the wind's down in the succours,' i.e. hollows and sheltered places generally. On bleak parts of the Downs the cottages are mostly to be found in the succours.—N.W. (Huish, Clyffe Pypard, &c.) ”

“ 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. ”

“ Thus, the more a smuggler called on his horse to stop, when he was challenged by an Excise officer, the faster it would gallop off, the owner all the while apparently endeavouring to check it but really urging it on. ”

“ A few short stories, illustrating the dialect as actually spoken now and in Akerman's time, with a brief Introduction dealing with Pronunciation, &c., and Appendices on various matters of interest, have also been added; so that the size of the work has been greatly increased.
As regards the nature of the dialect itself, the subject has been fully dealt with by abler pens than ours, and we need only mention here that it belongs to what is now known as the South-Western group, which also comprises most of Dorset, Hants, Gloucester, and parts of Berks and Somerset. ”

“ 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.) ”

“ 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.) . ”

“ Scroop.—N.W. (Wroughton.)
Scuff about or along. To drag one's feet awkwardly, as in too large slippers; to 'scuff up' the dust, as children do for amusement, by dragging a foot along the road.—N. & S.W.
Scuffle. An oven-swab.—S.W.
Scythe. The various parts of the scythe are as follows in N. Wilts:—Snead, or Snaith, the pole; Nibs, the two handles; Pole-ring, the ring which secures the blade; Quinnets (1) the wedges which hold the rings of the nibs tight, * (2) the rings themselves (A.) ; Crew, the tang of the blade, secured by the pole-ring to the snead. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Tackle. Stuff, any material, as food, solid or liquid (A.) . 'This here yale be oncommon good tackle'; or dress material, 'Haven't 'ee got any gingham tackle?' (Great Estate, ch. iv) . Also used of food for cattle.—N.W.
'Thaay [the sheep] be goin' into th' Mash to-morrow.... We be got shart o' keep.... Thur's a main sight o' tackle in the Mash vor um.'—Green Ferne Farm, ch. v.
Taffety. Dainty in eating (S.) .—S.W.
Tag. (1) When a lawn-mower or barrow is too heavy for one man to manage alone, a rope is attached for a boy to draw by, who is said to 'pull tag.'—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) (2) n. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Dowse, of Wallop, is said to have been possessed of 'another thing called the Broyl [Bruellii = woods] of Collingbourne.' See 'Wiltshire Compounders,' Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxiv. p. 58. In the New Forest a 'rough' is a kind of enclosure.
'Philips promised to feed the horse in a "rough" or enclosure ... which was well fenced in, but the bank foundered and the animal got out.'—Salisbury Journal, Aug. 5, 1893.
Rowney. See Rawney.
Rubble. (1) In Wilts usually applied to the hard chalk used in making roadways through fields (Wild Life, ch. ii) ,—N. & S.W. (2) Rubbish (A.B.C.S.) .—N. & S.W.
Rubbly. ”

“ Quite as commonly it takes the au or aw sound, as hawp, hope, aupen, open, cawls, coals, hawle, hole, smawk, smoke.
In such words as cold and four, the sound is ow rather than aw, thus giving us cowld and vower.
Moss in S. Wilts sometimes takes the long e, becoming mēsh, while in N. Wilts it would merely be mawss.
Know becomes either knaw or kneow.
O is often sounded oo, as goold, gold, cwoort, court, mwoor'n or moor'n, more than, poorch, porch.
Oo is sometimes shortened into ŭ, as shut, shoot, sut, soot, tuk, took.
Very commonly the sound given to ō is wo or woä. ”

“ This very characteristic N. Wilts verb is used in many ways. Stable-litter is ucked about with a fork in cleaning out; weeds are ucked out of a gravel path with an old knife; a cow ucks another with the thrust of her horn; or a bit of cinder is ucked out of the eye with a bennet. See Great Estate, ch. iv, where it is said that anything stirred with a pointed instrument is 'ucked'; also Gamekeeper at Home, ch. ii. 'It is apparently not a perversion of hook, and should be compared with huck, to push, lift, gore, Hants ”

“ 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. ”

“ F. (1) F for th. Examples :.—Fust, thirst; afust, athirst. An old characteristic of the Western and South-Western groups of dialect. (2) F, at the beginning of a word, is frequently sounded as v, as fall, vall; flick, vlick; font, vant.
Fadge. See Fodge.
Fag. See Vag.
Faggot, Fakket. (1) A woman of bad character is 'a nasty stinking faggot (or vaggot) .' Often used in a milder sense, as 'You young vaggot! [you bad girl] what be slapping the baby vor?'—N. & S.W.
'Damn you vor a gay wench, vor that's what you be, an' no mistake about it ”

“ Bunce. (1) n. A blow. 'Gie un a good bunce in the ribs.'—N.W. (2) v. To punch or strike.—N.W.
Bunch. Of beans, to plant in bunches instead of rows (D.) .—N. & S.W.
Bunny. A brick arch, or wooden bridge, covered with earth, across a 'drawn' or 'carriage' in a water-meadow, just wide enough to allow a hay-waggon to pass over.—N.W.
Bunt. (1) v. To push with the head as a calf does its dam's udder (A.) ; to butt; to push or shove up.— (Bevis, ch. x.) N.W. (2) n. A push or shove.—N.W. (3) n. A short thick needle, as a 'tailor's bunt.' (4) n. ”

“ Usually defined as above, but perhaps more correctly written as cow-wite and calf-wite, i.e. the mulct or payment for a cow or calf.
'Tythes of Wool and Lambs and Calves, and three half pence which is due and payable at Lammas being Composition Money for the Tythe White of every Cow.'—Wilcot Parish Terrier, 1704. ”

“ Shot, or Shut of, to be. To rid one's self of a thing. 'Her can't get shut o' thuck there vool of a bwoy.'-N. & S.W.
Shoulder, to put out the. At Clyffe Pypard and Hilmarton it is customary to ask a man whose banns have been published once, 'How his shoulder is?'—because you have heard that it has been 'put out o' one side,' owing to his having 'vallen plump out o' the pulput laas' Zunday.' Next Sunday will 'put'n straight agean.' This implies that the banns were formerly published from the pulpit.—N.W.
Showl. A shovel (A.B.D.) ”