158 Contrihutions towards a Wiltshire Glossary. 



*Plank-stone. n. A flag-stone. " This soyle [Easton Piers] brings very 

 good oakes and witch hazles ; excellent planke stones." — Jackson'' s Auhrey, 

 p. 236. " In 1666, the diggers found the bones of a man [near Lacock] 

 under a quarrie of planke stones." — Aubrey's Nat. Hist of Wilts. 

 Quean. Add -. — " When a man sajs of his wife that ' th' old quean ' did so 

 and so, he means no disrespect to her, any mcire than if he were speaking of 

 his child as ' the little wench.' " — Miss M. SoyerSrown. 



olirc V. To look askance or out of the corners of your eye at anything. 



" ' Why should you suspect him? ' ' Aw, a' be a bad 'ub ; a' can't look 



'ee straight in the face ; a' sort of slyers [looks askance] at 'ee." — Greene 



Feme Farm, eh. 9. N.W. (ClyfEe Pypard, etc.) 



Spade. Add :— Also Spady in N. Wilts. A. S. sped, phkgm. 



Tackle. Add :— Also used of food for cattle. " Thaay [the sheep] be goiu' 



into th' Mash to-morrow .... We be got ehart o' keep .... 



Thur's a main sight o' tackle in the Mash vor vlUi."— Greene Feme Farm, 



ch. 5. 

 *Take. n. The sciatica {Aubrey's Wilts MS.). Obsolete. 



Thunderbolts. Add -. — " The ploughboys search for pyrites, and call them 



thunderbolts. Greene Feme Farm,, ch. 5. See Cjrold. 

 Unked. Add -. — " * what be the matter with thuck dog you? How he do 



howl — it sounds main unkid ! ' " — Ibid, ch. 9. Here unkid^ominons and 



uncanny. 



*Vessel. " To wash up the vessel {sing., not pi.)," is to wash up plates, 



dishes, etc." — Miss E. BoyerBrown. N.W. (Castle Eaton.) 



Vrail. The whip part of the old-fashioned flail. N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.) 



*You. This word is often thrown in at the end of a sentence, sometimes as a 

 kind of query — "Don't you think so?" — but usually to give a strong 

 emphasis to some assertion. " A' be a featish-looking girl, you." — Greene 

 Feme Farm, ch. 1. " Fine growing maming, you."— Ibid, ch. 1. "That 

 be a better job than ourn, you." — Sodge and his Masters, 



NOTE. 



We must here call attention to a most interesting article by Miss 

 E. Boyer-Brown, entitled " On the Upper Thames," which appeared 

 in Leisure Hour for August last. The district which it deals 

 with is that in which Castle Eaton and Marston Meysey lie, 

 and many of the local peculiarities of dialect are ably commented 

 on, and traced to their respective sources. The greater part of these 



