91 



on Helvellyn, a cam so steep that it would, I presume, serve to 

 turn a cat. 



Reek, well known in the dialect as meaning smoke, is Norse. 

 We have Beikjavick, or smoke town, the capital of Iceland, 

 reminding us of "Auld Reekie," or Edinburgh, of Burns. 



Silgi, or s/ee, in Norse is a steep ascent, hence we have in 

 Cumberland sfee, a ladder, and also the steep ascent of the Sty 

 Head Pass. 



Addle, in our dialect, means to earn, as in the familiar example 

 of addling brass, and evidently comes from Norse odal, property. 



Bain, near, is from Icelandic beifm, straight ; f bainest way, in 

 Cumberland, exactly represents beintsr vegr in Icelandic. 



Cap in Cumberland means to beat, connected apparently with 

 N. kapp, a contest ; and Anderson, when describing (the natural 

 beauties of Cumberland, uses this word very effectively when he 

 says : — 



Yer buik-lam'd wise gentry, that's seen monie countries, 

 May preach and palavar and brag as they will 

 O' mountains, lakes, valleys, woods, waiters, and meadows, 

 Bit canny aul' Cummerlan' caps them aw still. 



Lee, a scythe, is the same word with the same meaning in 

 Danish. 



Seyme, the straw rope which is used by farmers in making secure 

 the coverings of their stacks, is the Icelandic seimr, a string or 

 rope. 



Reinns, amongst the Cumberland farmers, are strips of land 

 which have been left unploughed, and used sometimes to sever 

 fields, and comes evidently from Icelandic rein, a strip of land. 

 In Icelandic ragna rein is the heavenly strip, or rainbow. 



Humtner, in Lakeland, is the same word as hiiammr in Iceland, 

 and both are applied to a grassy slope or vale. 



Many more instances might be given ; but this paper has been 

 undertaken rather to commence than to exhaust the subject, and 

 to try to show that the dialect, as well as the proper names of the 

 district, bear abundant testimony to the history and to the ancestors 

 of our race. 



