Transactions. 151 



Geek, to befool. — -J. 



Geek, to deride, to toss the head in scorn. 



" And made the most notorious geek and gull 

 That our invention played on. — Twelfth Night . 

 Gre, prize. To bear the gree, to carry off the prize. — J. The 



word is in the Knight's Tale, Canterbury Tales. — Ch. 

 Gate, a way. The word is used in this sense in Spenser. — -J. 

 Gaukie, a foolish person. — J. The word is old English, and, like 



the woi'd Gowk, its original sense is "Cuckoo." — Vide Skeat. 

 Ged, a pike. — J. A N. English word from the Icelandic Goad, 



named from its sharp, thin head, as is also the name Pike. 

 Gled, a kite.—/. In Tynron we have the Gled Brae. " We have 



the word in English, 1690." — Skeat. 

 Grab, to seize with violence. Xoun. A snatch ; a grasp. — J. 



Although the standard English word is Gripe, Grab is found 



as a " low word " in some English dictionaries. 

 Hy7ie or Hind, a farm servant.—^. The d is excrescent. The 



word is in Spenser's " Faerie Queen " with the same meaning. 

 Hutch, a kind of basket in which coals are brought from the mine. 



— J. Shakespeare has bolted hutch, a chest for bolted 



flour. Chaucer uses the word in its sense of box or basket. 



It is of French origin. 

 Keek, to look. 



" Auld Nichulas sat ever gaping upright, as he had kyked at the new 

 moon. — Tht Miller' a Tale. Ch. 

 Kers, a water cress. — -J. This old pronunciation of cress, given 



by Chaucer, explains the meaning of our common expression, 



"1 don't care a curse," i.e., I don't care a cress, equal to I 



don't care a button. 

 Kith, Kythe, to show, to make known. This old Scotch word 



occurs in our metrical version of the Psalms, " Froward than 



Kytht." In Chaucer's " Man of Lawes Tale " we have 

 " For but if Christ on thee miracle Kithe, 

 Withoute gilt thou shalt be slain as swithe. " 

 Loon, a worthless person, male or female, although in the east 



country I understand it always means a boy. — -/. The word 



is spelled loon in " Macbeth" and lown in " Othello." 

 Maund, a basket. In Ayrshire a potato basket. 



" A thousand favours from a maund she drew." 



— Sh. Lover's Complaint. 

 Mirk, dark, obscure. — Spenser's " Faerie Queen." 

 Mali, Mell, a hammer. — Spenser. Its diminutive is mallet. 



