Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent / Being Short Stories and Rhymes in the Dialects of the West Border Counties

A GLOSSARY
OF
SCOTCH AND CUMBRIAN WORDS

OCCURRING IN THE RHYMES AND TALES CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.

C signifies that the word it follows is Cumbrian. S that it is Scotch. S and C that it is common to both dialects.

Addle, or Eddle, C, earn.

“What, I mun tak’ my flale wimma, antres I git a job er two a threyshin, Ise addle summat be’t.”

Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.

Aiblins, S, perhaps.

“But aiblins neighbour ye have not the heart,

An’ downa eithly wi’ the cunzie part.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

Aneuf, C, enough in quantity.

Anew, C, enough in number.

“We’ve anew o’ sec as thee, an’ aneuf o’ what thou brings wid thee.”—Said to a Hawker.

Aslew, C, amiss, out of course.

“There’s nowte sa far aslew but gud manishment med set it streight.”—Proverb.

Atweel, S, I wot well. Used to strengthen either affirmation or denial.

“Are they a’ Johnie’s?

Eh! atweel na;

Twa o’ them were born

When Johnie was awa.”

Song—We’re a’ Noddin’.

Back-end, C, late autumn.

“T’ back-end’s ola’s t’ bare-end.”—Proverb.

Bain, C, near, convenient. Used in most of the northern counties.

“I swin’d my ways t’ bainest geeat ower t’ fell into Sleddle.”

Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.

Bairn, S, a child; Barne, C.

“Maidens’ bairns are aye weel bred.”—Proverb.

“They hed barnes an’ bits o’ flesh persirv’d i’ bottles as fwok does berries.”—Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter.

Barken’t, S and C, encrusted.

“For God-seak put that barne in t’ dolly-tūb an’ scrūb’t: it’s fairly barken’t ower wid mūck.”—Said of a rarely washed infant.

Barrow-back’t, C, bent by heavy work, such as wheeling loaded barrows.

“He’s gitten bow’t an’ barrow-back’t, an’ wizzent sair o’ t’ feàce.”—Heard at Ullock.

Batt, S and C,

“At ya batt he fell’t me flat,

’Od dye! he’ll be a darter.”

Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.

Baul’, S, bold, fierce.

“The first fuff o’ a fat haggis is aye the baul’est.”—Proverb.

Beàdless, C. This adjective is used to signify intolerable in suffering, and also impatient of pain—thus

“He says t’ pain’s beàdless, but than he’s a beàdless body.”

Said to a Doctor.

Beck, C, a rivulet.

“Change is leetsome, if it’s no’but oot o’ bed intil t’ beck.”

Proverb.

Beel, C, to bellow like a bull.

“Summet tha caw’t roworgins began a beelin’ like a hundred mad bulls, an’ as many lal lads i’ ther sarks began a screamin’ murder, I think, for ivery beel was like thunner.”

Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter.

Begonk, Old S and C, a disappointment, “a sell.”

“Now Cromwell’s gane to Nick; an’ ane ca’d Monk

Has played the Rumple a richt slee begunk.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

Begood, S, began.

“The baronne he begood to bob,

No longer colde he stande.”

Hogg. Lyttil Pynkie.

Beild, S and C, shelter.

“Better a wee buss than nae beild.”—Proverb. Burns’ Motto.

“Weal beealt frae t’ fell wind by some heeh crags.”

Rev. T Clarke. T’ Reysh-bearin’.

Bein, S, snug, comfortable.

“Were your bein rooms as thinly stocked as mine,

Less ye wad lose, and less wad ye repine.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

Belyve, S and C, by and bye.

“Belyve, the elder bairns come drapping in.”

Burns. Cotter’s Saturday Night.

Ben, S, the inner part of a house.

“It’s ill bringing but what’s no ben.”—Proverb.

Bent, S, a coarse hard grass; applied also to the sterile land where bent grows.

“Gin ye’ll consent to scour the bent

Wi’ me, a rantin’ Hielandman.”

Hamilton. Song.

Billie, S, brother.

“Be of gude cheir, now, Archie lad!

Be of gude cheir, now, dear billie.”

Ballad—Archie o’ Ca’field.

Bink, S, a bench for sitting upon.

“For faut o’ wise fouk feuls sit on binks.”—Proverb.

Birl, S, to drink in conviviality; also to spend money in drinking.

“When they were at the supper set

An’ birlin’ at the wine.”

Ballad—Young Huntin.

“She took me in, she set me doon,

An’ hecht to keep me lawin’ free;

But, cunning carlin’ that she was,

She gar’t me birl my bawbee.”

Song—Andro’ wi’ his cutty gun.

In the Lake Country the attendants who serve the drink round at sheep-shearings, etc., are called burlers.

Birkie, S, a brisk forward fellow.

“See yon birkie ca’d a lord.”

Burns. For a’ that.

Black-kites, C, bramble berries; in some parts called brummel-kites, in others black-bums.

“I wantit grog—she brong mé black-kite wine.”

Heard at Harrington.

Blate, S and C, bashful.

“A blate cat maks a proud mouse.”—Proverb.

“I’ve wonder’t oft o’ leàte

What made thee leùk sea skar an’ seem sea bleàte.”

Graham. Gwordie and Will.

Bleeze, S and C, flame.

“In winter when he toils through wind and rain,

A bleezin’ ingle and a clean hearth-stane.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

Blether, S and C, noisy silly talk, loquacity.

“A lawyer neist, wi’ bletherin’ gab,

Wha speeches wove like onie wab.”

Old Song—Jenny’s Bawbee.

“Chaps like these, like butterflees,

Win owte wi’ pride an’ blether.”

Anderson. Laird Johnie.

Blink, S, glance.

“The evening sun was ne’er sae sweet

As was the blink o’ Phemie’s e’e.”

Burns. Blythe was she.

Blurt, C; Blirt, S, sudden burst of weeping, etc.

“The lassie lost her silken snood,

Whilk cost her monie a blirt an’ bleer e’e.”

Song.

Blythe, S, cheerful, happy.

“A blythe heart mak’s a blooming look.”—Proverb.

Bood, S, behoved to.

“Weel leese me o’ you, Souter Jock,

For tricks ye bood be tryin’.”

Ferguson. The Election.

Boune, Old S, to journey or go.

“Win up! win up, now, Hynde Etin,

Win up, an’ boune wi’ me.”

Ballad—Hynde Etin.

Bowk, S and C, to retch.

“For aye ye sup the brose at e’en

Ye bowk at in the morn, lassie.”

Song—Ye ha’e lain wrang, lassie.

Brae, S, bank of a stream, brow.

“’Neath the brae the burnie jooks.”

Tannahill. Gloomy Winter.

Brackin’, C; Breckan, S, the common fern (Pteris Aquilina).

A lady near Hawkshead having bought a small fern plant at a flower show, a neighbour exclaimed, “Three and sixpence for a lile brackin! I’d ha’ browte her a leeàd o’ them for’t!”

“Round the sylvan fairy nooks

Feathery breckans fringe the rocks.”

Tannahill. Gloomy Winter.

Brant, C, steep.

“Old Man! Old Man! your sides are brant.”

The Old Man.

Brat, S and C, apron; (used frequently for clothing in general.)

“To get them brats, then, ye maun toil an’ spin.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

“To see her whol’d stockings, her brat, an’ her gown.”

Anderson. Our Sukey.

Braw, S, fine, handsomely attired.

“Upon the banks o’ flowing Clyde

The lasses busk them braw.”

Burns. Of a’ the Airts.

Break, C, a joke, a bit of fun.

“Joe Tyson teem’t a pint o’ yall doon Danny Towson’ back. Wasn’t that a break?”—Heard at Dean.

Buirdly, S, stout, strongly made.

“They say ill ale has been the deid

O’ monie a buirdly loon.”

Ferguson. Leith Races.

Burn, S, a brook.

“Beside that brig, out owre that burn,

Where water bickereth bright and sheen.”

Ballad—Thomas the Rhymer.

Burnewin, S, a blacksmith (burn the wind).

“An’ burnewin comes on like death

At every chaup.”

Burns. Scotch Drink.

But, S, the outer apartment of a house.

“The auld wife cried but the house, ‘Jenny, come ben!’”

Song—The Yellow Hair’d Laddie.

But, S, without (probably from be out).

“Beauty but bounty’s but bauch.”—Proverb.

But and, Old S, also, likewise.

“Adieu madame, my mother dear,

But and my sisters three.”

Ballad—Lord Maxwell’s Good Night.

Byspel, C, a mischievous person.

“It’s a fair byspel ’at is’t. It breaks o’ ’at cūms iv it geàt.”

Cabbish-skrunt, C; Kail-runt, S, the stalk of a cabbage.

“Cabbish-skrunt pultess is grand for biles.”

Said by a rustic Doctor.

Canny, C, (Connie in Furness, etc.) nice, attractive, pleasant.

“God speed ye weel! a cannier pair

Ne’er kneel’d afore a priest.”

Miss Blamire. The Sailor Lad.

Canny, S, gentle, careful.

“Be cannie wi’ the cream.“—A common legend on tea-ware.

Canty, S, happy, cheerful.

”Canty war we ower yere kail,

Toddy jugs an’ draps o’ ale.”

Hogg. The Laird o’ Lamington.

Carle, S, a vulgar man.

“Auld gudeman ye’re a drucken carle, a drucken carle.”

Sir A. Boswell. Song.

Carlin, S, a coarse old woman; feminine of Carle.

On being told that the wives of the Scottish Judges claimed the title of “My Lady,” their husbands being “My Lord,” King James exclaimed: “I made the carles lords, but wha the deil made the carlins leddies?”

Chafts, S and C, the jaws.

“On Seaton crafts they buff’t their chafts,

An’ garrt them rin like daft, man.”

Skirvin. Tranent Muir.

“At time when nowte but teeth was gawn,

An’ aw by th’ chafts was tether’t.”

Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.

Chap, S, rap, strike or stroke.

“An’ quhan he cam’ to Barnard’s Ha’

Would neither chap nor ca’.”

Ballad—Gilmorice.

Chiel’, S, a man; generally applied to young men.

“Weel we lo’e the chiel’ we think

Can get us tick or gi’e us drink.”

Ferguson. My Aul’ Breeks.

Clash, C and S, scandal, gossip.

“The king, the laws, the reets o’ man,

The parish clash, the empire’s ban.”

Stagg. New Year’s Epistle.

Clatter, S and C, superfluous, rapid or noisy talk.

“He that talks till himsel’ clatters till a feul.”—Proverb.

Clink, C, a sounding blow.

“An’ brong Fisher Jemmy a clink i’ the lug.”

Anderson. Burgh Reaces.

Clippin’, C, sheep-shearing. A great festival on the larger dale farms. For a description see “The Old Man,” first edition.

Clemm’d, C, starved with hunger. A Lancashire and Cheshire word.

Nixon, the Cheshire prophet, said he was “going to London to be clemm’d,” and was accidentally shut up in a closet without food, and there found dead—so fulfilling his prophecy.

Clot-heed, C, blockhead.

“I is gà’n to be a clot-heed—I’s leavin’ nin for mysel’!”

Anthony Gasgarth, carving a goose at a hunt dinner.

Clowk, C, clutch or grasp greedily.

“He meàd a clowk at my neckcloth and missed it.”

Said after a fight.

Cobbles, C, stones rounded by water-wear.

“Smith Lytle fell oot wi’ the cobbles,

An’ peel’d o’ the bark off his shins.

Anderson. The Codbeck Wedding.

Coddle, C, Cuddle, S, embrace.

“I trimlin’ steud an’ dursn’t speak,

But fain wad coddled Peggy Penn.”

Anderson. Peggy Penn.

“I’ve seen the day ye butter’t my brose,

An’ cuddlet me late an’ early.”

Old Song—The Deuk’s dang owre wi’ my Daidie.

Corbie, S, the carrion crow.

“It’s kittle shootin’ at corbies or clergy.”—Proverb.

Crack, S and C, converse; also boast.

“They crack’t away like bourtree guns.”

Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.

“Keep out o’ his company that cracks o’ his cheatrie.”

Proverb.

Croodle, or Cruddle, S and C, crouch or shrink.

“My bonnie wee croodlin’ doo.”

Old Song.

“We sat doon an’ grat under a hedge or a wo’, o’ cruddlea togidder.”—Betty Yewdale. T’ terrible Knitters i’ Dent.

Crouse, S, brisk, bold, “bumptious.”

“A cock’s aye crouse on its ain midden-heed.”—Proverb.

Cushion dance, C, the finishing dance at a rural ball or merry-night.

A young man, carrying a cushion, paces round the room in time to the appropriate tune, selects a girl, lays the cushion at her feet, and both kneel upon it and kiss, the fiddler making an extraordinary squeal during the operation. The girl then takes the cushion to another young man, who kisses her as before, and eaves her free to “link” with the first, and march round the room. This is repeated till the whole party is brought in, when they all form a circle, and “kiss out” in the same manner, sometimes varying it by the kissers sitting on two chairs, back to back, in the middle of the ring, and kissing over their shoulders—a trying process to bashful youth of either sex.

Cuttie, S, any thing short—as a spoon, pipe, etc.

“Better sup wi’ a cuttie nor want a speun.”

Proverb.

“Aul’ Simon sat luntin’ his cuttie,

An’ lowsin’ his buttons for bed.”

Andrew Scott. Simon and Janet.

Dadder, C, (Dodder in Furness, etc.) tremble, shiver.

I once heard a Cumberland youth, at a supper table, say, indicating a “shape” of jelly, “I’ll tak sūm o’ that dadderin’ stuff.”

Dadge, C, to plod along heavily.

“Then dadged we to the bog owre meedows dree,

To plet a sword and seevy cap for thee.”

Relph. Cursty and Peggy.

Daft, S and C, foolish, silly.

“Glower’t at me as he’d been daft.”

Song—The carle cam ower the craft.

“Ses I, ‘A was niver larnt sec daftness.’”

Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.

Daized, C, stupified, benumbed.

“Theer war we stannin’, dodderin’ an’ daiz’t wi’ cauld, as neer deead as macks nea matter.”

Betty Yewdale. T’ terrible Knitters i’ Dent.

Dark, C, to lurk, keep unseen.

“On her leànly bed she toss’d her,

Darkin’ till the tempest ceas’d.”

Stagg. The Return.

Darrak, C, day’s-work.

“An’ as for a darrak in barn or in meedow,

Whee match’d me when just i’ my prime.”

Anderson. Twee auld Men.

Dicht, S, wipe, or cleanse.

“An’ aye she dichtit her father’s bluidy wounds,

When the blude ran reid as wine.”

Ballad—The Douglas Tragedy.

Doff, C, (do off, Old English) undress, strip.

“The bridesmaids o’ wi’ fusslin care

The bride, hauf-yieldin’, doff’t.”

Stagg. The Bridewain.

Don, C, (do on, old English) to dress.

“And up he rose, and he donn’d on his clothes,

And he d’upp’d the chamber door.”

Hamlet.

“He’s nicer in his war-day duds

Nor udders don’t i’ aw their best.”

Anderson. Geordie Gill.

Donk, C, damp.

“It donks an’ dazzles an’ does, but niver cūms iv any girt pell.”

A Boatman, on the Ullswater weather.

Dool, S, sadness.

“Lang may I weep in dool an’ sorrow.”

Hamilton. The Braes o’ Yarrow.

Douce, S and C, respectable, well-behaved.

“An’ now I’m grown sae cursed douce,

I pray and ponder but the house.”

Burns.

“The douce dapper lanleady criet ‘Eat, an’ be welcome.’”

Anderson. The Bleckell Murry-Neet.

Doucht, S, could; Dowe in the past tense.

“They held the nose an’ crook’t the mou’,

An’ doucht na bide the smell.”

Hogg. The Witch o’ Fife.

Dour, S, hard, stern.

“I’ll set her up on yon crab-tree,

It’s sour an’ dour, an’ so is she.”

Old Rhyme.

Dow, S, can, is able.

“Gin we canna do as we wad, we maun do as we dowe.”

Proverb.

Dowly, C, melancholy, dismal.

“When we turn’t round Windermere Watter heead, t’ waves blash’t seea dowly ’at we war fairly heart-brossen.”

Betty Yewdale. T’ terrible Knitters i’ Dent.

Dree, S, suffer; C, slow, lingering, also to move slowly.

“Dree out the inch when ye’ve tholed the span.”—Proverb.

“Six dree year hed Susan languish’d

Sen her Walter went away.”

Stagg. The Return.

Drook, S, drench.

“An’ aye she took the tither sook

To drook the stoury tow.”

Song—The weary pun’ o’ tow.

Drouthy, S, thirsty.

“The well o’ life is dribbling dry,

An’ drouthy, drouthy’s kimmer an’ I.”

Song—My Kimmer and I.

Eerie, S, fearful, or calculated to cause superstitious fear or awe.

“Gloomy, gloomy was the nicht,

An’ eerie was the way.”

Old Ballad—Young Tamlane.

Egg, or Egg on, C, incite, urge.

“He was a rare egg-battle.”—Dickinson. Lamplugh Club.

Eldritch, S, unearthly.

“Quhan words he found, their eldritch sound

Was like the norlan’ blast.”

Dr. Jamieson. The Water Kelpie.

Fash, S and C, trouble, annoy, bother (noun and verb).

“Ye’re sair fashed haudin’ naething together.”—Proverb.

“Oald clish ma clash, thou’s nowt but fash—

Ga heam to bed, ’Od dye thee!”

Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.

Feal, S, comfortable.

“Frae tap to tae that cleeds me weel,

An’ haps me feal an’ warm at e’en.”

Burns. My Spinning Wheel.

Feck, S, a considerable quantity or number, most part.

“Wae sucks for him that has nae feck o’ ’t.”

Ferguson. Gude Braid Claith.

Feckless, S and C, feeble, useless.

“Feckless fowk are aye fain.”—Proverb.

“A thowte A sud no’but meeak a varra feckless fend, if A was witch’d seck a parlish lang way fray heeam.”

Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.

Fells, C, hills.

“If there were nea fells there wad be nea deals.”—Proverb.

Few, C. This word is hardly translatable, but means to set about a task in a manner likely to accomplish it.

“I’t’ chimla neùk some gay gud han’s,

An’ gaily ill to slocken,

Set tea wi’ porringers an’ pans,

An’ few’t weel to get drucken.”

Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.

Fewsome, C, capable-looking, workman-like.

“She warm’d him up some keàl,

An’ Ralph dud mak a varra fewsome meàl.”

Graham. Gwordie and Will.

Flaitch, C, Fleech, S, coax. Sometimes used as a noun, thus—

“He’s a fair flaitch when he wants owte.”—Said of me.

“She fleech’t him fairly to his bed

By ca’in’ him her burdie.”

Christ’s Kirk on the Green.

Flaucht, S, flash.

“Ae fire-flaucht darted through the rain,

Where a’ was dark afore.”

Kirkpatrick Sharp. Murder of Carlaverock.

Flay, C, Fley, S, to frighten.

“Fleying a bird’s no the gate to grip it.”—Proverb.

This word has its substantive form in flayan—

A blue-devilled fellow at Coniston said he could not stay in his house because there was flayan in it. “Ey,” said his mother, “If there isn’t there will be—there ’ill be empty cupboards, ther needn’t be wār flayan nor that!”

Fletherin, S, Flattering.

“Fletherin fowk’s maistly fause fowk.“—Proverb.

Flipe, C, a hat rim.

A retired sea-captain at Whitehaven used to be called ”Flipy Fisher,” on account of his broad brim.

Flyte, S and C, scold.

“An’ gin she tak’ the thing amiss,

E’en let her flyte her fill, Jo.”

Song—Steer her up.

Font, C, fond, foolishly attached, “spooney.”

“Whey, Gworge, thou’s owder feul or font,

To think o’ sec a frow.”

Anderson. Betty Brown.

Foorsett, C, to get in front of and face, to intercept.

A ghost used to haunt the “Crossgates” in Lamplugh, of which it was said, “Whativer way folk turns it foorsetts them.”

Footh and Foothy, S and C, abundance, well provided, plentifully stocked.

“He’s brought footh o’ foreign trash,

An’ dibbled it in our yairdie.”

Song—The wee wee German Lairdie.

“It’s a foothy hoose is Betty Turnbull’s.”

Said by old Cuddy Wilson at Workington.

Foregather, S, meet.

“To bear the milk-bowie nae pain was to me,

When I at the buchtin’ foregathered wi’ thee.”

Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.

Forfouchten, S, over fatigued, exhausted.

“I’m but like a forfouchten hound

Has been fechtin’ in a dirty syke.”

Ballad.—Hobbie Noble.

Fratch, C, quarrel.

“He’s just a fratchin’, feightin’ feul.”

Anderson. Dick Watters.

Fusionless, S, pithless, insipid.

“God! the aul’ doited body’s as fusionless as a docken!”

Michael Scott. Tom Cringle’s Log.

Ga, C; Gang, S and C, go.

Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent / Being Short Stories and Rhymes in the Dialects of the West Border Counties

About This Book

A GLOSSARY OF SCOTCH AND CUMBRIAN WORDS

A GLOSSARY
OF
SCOTCH AND CUMBRIAN WORDS