58 Transactions. 
was abundantly fostered, and their pride was flattered by’ the 
subjugation of the Anglo-Saxons. The old English chronicles 
contain bitter complaints, touching the humiliation the natives 
were exposed to. Thus, if an Anglo-Saxon chanced to meet a 
Dane upon a bridge, he was obliged to wait in a posture of 
lowly reverence—nay, even if he were on horseback he was 
obliged to dismount until the Dane had crossed over.” Atkinson 
observes, ‘‘ Verily, the Dane might be looked upon as ‘ particular’ 
or ‘nice’ under such circumstances, and his generic name Dansk 
passed into a word expressive of such characteristics. In the 
idioms and modes of expression there is a remarkably similarity 
—*to sit upon one’s knee, #.e., to kneel.” Chaucer has— 
«¢ And doon anon he sitte him on his knee.” 
“To sit up on end,” in contradistinction to reclining; “Tm 
doubtful itv’ll rain afore night ;” ‘He has been sair handled wi 
the cauld ;” “ T’s jealous he’s after nae guid.” We also find words 
common in our current literature, but used much more in accord- 
ance with their use in olden times—“ Fetch,” in the sense of to 
carry—“ bid him fetch it ;” “Few,” used as a quantity or num- 
ber—- there was a good few at the kirk ;” “ Reach,” to hand a 
thing to another—“ reach me yon spade ;” “ Pit,” to match— 
“thae twa dog’s weel pitted ;” ‘‘ Even,” to compare, to liken— 
“JT wad ill like tae even her wi’ Jean.” The adverb “ out” is 
used as in out-by, not far off, just outside ; owt-gang, the way out, 
an outlet ; ouf-ganging, going out of doors ; owt-gate, a way of 
egress; out-ly, thoroughly, fully ; out o’ fettle, out of repair, 
health, &c. The preposition “by” may be taken as another 
example—By-gang, a by-way ; by-passed, used in reference to 
past time; by the time, past the time—‘ They’re lang by their 
time.” All the above phrases and use of particular words are 
identical in both districts. Words are used ag augmentatives in 
both districts, not commonly used as such elsewhere—“ Fearful,” 
most fearful bonnie; ‘ Desperate,” most desperate kind ; 
“Terrible,” most terrible sweet ; ‘‘ Dungeon,” a dungeon o’ wit. 
The “slang” language of the present day is introducing aug- 
mentatives of this kind. A young lady was heard to say the 
other day, “it was ripping fun ;” and it is somewhat curious to 
notice that the present use of the slang word ‘“ Fit ”—I heard a 
lady say she “felt very fit”—is a reverting back to its old 
Teutonic application, In Yorkshire they would say—“ Weel, 
pore Sree rid Penta eggs 99 
as ee CO 
PRO A BLS PUP ie I; 
