1828.] 
the fact. The old English authors—Lang- 
land, Brunne, Chaucer, Gower, Spencer, 
Fairfax, Wiclif, Verstegan, Elyot, Latimer, 
Ridley, Hooper, Hall, Bacon, Beaumont, 
Shakspeare, &c.—contain numerous words 
now unintelligible in the south, but well un- 
derstood in the northern counties; and 
many expressions, now obsolete there, are 
still common in Scotland—the lowlands—. 
but evidently imported from England. The 
language travelled north. 
The lowland Scotch is nothing but a 
corruption of that which is now spoken in 
Craven and the northern counties of Eng- 
land. The author is doubtless a little too 
peremptory. If our old English writers be 
better understood by the Scotch lowlands 
than by our northern counties, then must 
the Scotch be the /ess corrupted. He is, 
however, imperative—he is fully convinced, 
if the Scottish dialect were accurately ana- 
lyzed, and all the English words, now in use 
in the northern counties, extracted from it, 
the residuum would be a moderate portion 
of archaisms, and a large quantity of modern 
slang. But what would be those archaisms ? 
Might not some of them be Saxon—the 
words now lost in Craven? No doubt the 
men of the Hills would leave some Gaelic 
behind them ; but our historical conclusion 
—we have no knowledge of the facts—would 
be; there is more Saxon in Scotland than 
in Craven. 
In the execution of his task, the author’s 
principle has been to admit no word which 
he or his friends have not heard used in the 
deanery. With this we quarrel—the prin- 
ciple is evidently wrong—he should have 
confined himself strictly to peculiarities. 
As it is, his work is full of words and 
phrases that are met with in every corner of 
the kingdom—some the language of the un- 
learned, or even the learned—others the slang 
ofthe refined—many perfectly legitimate, and 
admitted as such in every circle—and others 
sheer modern introductions. Much of this 
must arise from misapprehension—from not 
knowing what is actually in colloquial use 
in other parts of the country. He is himself 
a Cravenite ; and, learned as he undoubtedly 
is, his is the learning of books, and books 
only. We must make good our assertion 
in as few words as we can. 
These are mere slips :—autority for au- 
thority—bacco for tobacco—dacity for auda- 
city—consate and dissait for conceit and 
deceit—bailey for bailiff—priminary for 
premunire—souger for soldier—howsomdiv- 
ver for howsoever—admirablest—argufy— 
hainous—mends (for amends)— &c. 
Others are universally received.— Boot, 
something given to effect an exchange” — 
no, a sort of make-weight ;—to badger, “to 
bait, to give trouble ;” borrowed from the 
animal so frequently exposed to barbarous 
treatment’’—no doubt about it at all—consult 
Lord Goderich ; back-stitch, a needle-work 
phrase, understood and used by all who use 
a needle—larring-out, the school-boy’s sa- 
Domestic and Foreign. 
301 
turnalia—castor, a little box, pepper-box— 
cheatry, fraud — churching, thanksgiving 
after childbirth—cockering, indulging —dog- 
ears, the twisted or crumpled corners of 
leaves—rather dog’s-ears—dumpy, short and 
fat—dunderhead, blockhead —/fidgit, rest- 
less, impatient—/innikin, particular in dress, 
trifling—footing, money given by a person. 
to his fellow-labourers, when he enters on a 
new office or employment—/iddle-fuddle— 
Scotch-fiddle—gauky, “ simpleton, staring 
vacantly; TEuT. gauch, stultus; SwE. gack,” 
but obviously it seems to us from the French 
gauche, with an English or ignorant pronun- 
ciation—goose, a silly fellow—greenhorn, 
inexperienced youth—to haggle, to attempt 
to lower a bargain, to higgle—handse/, the 
first use of a thing—harwm-scarum, helter- 
skelter—jog-trot, a gentle, equable pace— 
lickspittle, a toad-eater, a base parasite— 
moonshine, a mere pretence, illusive shadow 
—chatterbox—ragamuffin, covered or muf- 
fied in rags—narrow-souled, parsimonious, 
ungenerous — nest-egg, ‘‘ a fund laid up 
against adversity ;”’ rather the beginning of 
such a fund—to pet, to indulge—pria/, 
three cards of a sort, a corruption of pair- 
royal—smallish, rather small—sess-pool, an 
excavation in the ground for receiving the 
deposition of streamlets—(could not the au- 
thor have said simply, a reservoir for drains ?) 
—and very many more. 
Others are every where equally intelligi- 
ble, though used colloquially only, from one 
end of the kingdom to the other. As— 
It’s all Dicky with him—he’s dished—he’s 
done up—balderdash—gab—Old Nick — 
granny—span-new (i. e. new-spun)—sly 
boots—side-wipe, for indirect censure— 
prim’d, drunk, exhilirated with liquor— 
Sawny, for Scotchman—quandary, from 
French quand-irai-je, or qu’en dirai-je, or 
qwen dirai—fudge, not, according to Mr. 
Todd (whose dicta are seldom worth a rush), 
introduced by Goldsmith, for the author 
finds fage used by John Lidgate, which, 
however may not be the source of fudge— 
squad, a party, or company—banger, large ; - 
she’s a banger—whap, blow—king’s. pic- 
ture, *‘money;”’ rather, formerly, a guinea 
—Adam’s ale, for water—butler-fingered, 
“one not afraid of touching any heated ves. 
sel or instrument ;”’ is it not one who cannot 
holdfast ?—and, finally, aumacks, “ 
sorts,” intelligible to us for the first time. 
Others are merely coarse or vulgar.—F'lea- 
bite, a matter of indifference—greedy-quis— 
thorough-go-nimble — foddum-clean (what 
implications !) sir reverence, i.e. according 
to Mr. Nares, salva reverentid, corrupted 
to saw’ reverence, and thence sir or sur re- 
verence—game-leg, from cam, crooked— 
down? th’ mouth—word o’ mouth—born- 
days—marrow, for equal—muzzy, drunk— 
&e. Xe. 
Others, modern flippancies :— Cirewm- 
bendibus —uncomeatable —undercumstand 
—schism-shop, a dissenting-chapel—scan- 
dal-broth, team&c. 
