2"^ S. No 86., Aug. 22. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



145 



Havering'ttt-Bower. — There are no nightingales 

 at Havering- at-Bower, says the legend ; because 

 St. Edward the Confessor, being interrupted there 

 in his meditations, praj'ed that their intrusive song 

 might never be heard again. 



Mackenzie Waicott, M.A. 



Domestic Incantations. — A gentleman whose 

 name is well known to the public, and who has 

 gained a deservedly high reputation in the pho- 

 tographic and artistic world, told me, that when 

 in Finland he called with some friends at a road- 

 side cottage, and desired to be accommodated with 

 some boiled eggs, a portion of which were to be 

 boiled hard. The damsel who superintended the 

 boiling chanted a sing-song charm during the 

 culinary process. This she repeated twice, and 

 turned herself round six times ; the soft boiled 

 eggs were then considered to be sufficiently done. 

 She then repeated her verse for a third time, and 

 turned herself round thrice ; when the hard 

 boiled eggs were deemed to be ready for eating. 

 They had no clock, dial, clepsydra, hour-glass, 

 burning of tapers, or any other method of mea- 

 suring the time necessary for the egg boiling, than 

 this chanting of the song ; and a like kind of for- 

 mula was repeated for similar domestic purposes, 

 these " household words " being supposed to de- 

 pend for their efficacy upon the full belief in the 

 charm they were presumed to cause. The appli- 

 cation of this to the incantations of witches over 

 the concoction of some "hell-broth" is sufficiently 

 obvious. CuTHBEBT Bede, B.A. 



^S"^. Leonardos Well. — Of St. Leonard's well at 

 Winchelsea the good folks say that he who drinks 

 will never rest till he returns to slake his thirst at 

 its waters. Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



Swallowing live Frogs. — More than forty years 

 ago I recollect seeing one of my father's reapers, 

 Mary Inglis by name, swallow several live frogs. 

 It was done to cure herself of some stomach com- 

 plaint (Pyrosis, or water-brush, 1 believe) under 

 which she was suffering. When asked what she 

 swallowed them for, she replied, that " there was 

 naething better than a paddy for reddin' ane's 

 puddins." When she administered her remedy- 

 she held the reptile by the two hinder feet, and 

 bolted it over without any seeming repugnance ! 

 Mary is still alive, nearly fourscore years of age, 

 in the village of Auchencrow. Can any one say 

 whether the swallowing of frogs was, to any 

 extent, used as a remedy in former times ? The 

 late eminent naturalist, Dr. George Johnston of 

 Berwick, once told me that he knew individuals 

 who had used this remedy. And an aged ac- 

 quaintance has just told me that, when a girl, em- 

 ployed in gleaning, she once saw a Highlandman 

 swallow a young living frog. Meni-anthes. 



- Ghimside. 



SCOTTISH provincialisms. 



The following is a list of words in common use 



in the South of Scotland, which are not found in 



the octavo abridgment of Jamieson's Etymological 



Dictionary, published in 1818, which is understood 



to contain all the words of the four quarto vols. : 



A-lunt, in a blaze, on Are. 



JBais'd, abashed, confounded. 



Blush, water collected by making a dam of clay, or other 

 material, in a kennel or small stream. When an open- 

 ing is made in the dam the water gushes out, at first 

 plentifully: hence, perhaps, "at the first blush." 



Book, to steep foul linen, &c. in lye. Buck, — Shakspeare. 



Bilde, behoved, impelled by feeling or principle. Exam- 

 ple : " I biide to do it." 



Buist, a hospitable retreat ; also a box, a meal chest. Ex. 

 " He's in a gude buist ;" " He is well off in the world." 



Cleit, or Clyte, a fall, by slipping or stumbling. 



Codgbill, an earwig. 



Coomceiled, having a concave ceiling ; also any plastered 

 ceiling, — formerly a remarkable distinction in cottage 

 architecture. Too many cottages have still no ceiling 

 under the thatched roof. 



Cork, a master ; a term used by apprentices and work- 

 men. 



Corp-house,& house in which a dead body is laid out for 

 burial. 



Crame, a stall on which goods are exposed for sale. Kram, 

 German, kramer, a shopkeeper. 



Dais' d, injured by dampness, begun to rot. 



Brack, to moisten flour, in order to make dough. 



Dung, depressed, sad, grieved. Ex. " He is sair dung," 

 having lost his wife or child. 



Fed, soft and smooth, as fur, sleek. Unfeel, rough, rude, 

 indecent. 



iPfecA,^tcA, very light or small; also a_^ea. 



Fuffle, to handle carelessly ; to crease or disarrange linen 

 or paper, &c. 



Gome, to heed, look upon, recognise. Ex. " He was so ill 

 from sickness that he never gomed me." A.-S. gyman ; 

 Semi-Saxon semen. 



Grai, chastisement, reproof. Ex. "He has gotten his 

 grai." He has been punished. 



Heather cow, a twig or stalk of heath. 



Hool, or Hille, a capsule, case, or husk. Ex. « To hUle 

 peas." To shell, &c. " My heart out o' its hool was 

 like to loup." — Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd. 



Kaif, domesticated, tame. 



Kent, a pole, used at the stern of a boat to impel it for- 

 ward, having an iron bolt or spike inserted in its lower 

 end. " A long staff used by shepherds for leaping over 

 ditches or brooks." — Jamieson. 



Kythe, to be seen. Ex. " He now kythes in his own co- 

 lour." He now appears what he is in reality. A.-S. 

 cythan. 



Kurr, to purr. Ex. « The cat purrs." Germ, kirren. 



Lainsh, to lounge, to go about idly. A beggar lainshes for 

 food to be given. 



Lether, to beat. A.-S. li-geran. 



Lightlify, to depreciate, to speak disparagingly. 



Lozen, a pane or square of window-glass. 



Maunder, to talk tediously, digressively, incoherently. 



Pant, or Pant-well, a pump or well, common to a town or 

 village. 



Pirnie, a worsted cap, usually red or striped, worn by 

 mechanic workmen. 



Pnok, to pluck at. 



Pyffer, whyffer, to whine, whimper. 



Ritsky, a straw bonnet worn by women, commonly by poor 

 old women. 



