I.l 



Glossary of Provincialisms. 



281 



Dorsetshire Dialect, appended to his 

 Poems of liural Life. 



Bunch, A. A blow, or the effects of 

 a blow ; and then a blotch, burn, scald, 

 pimple, in which latter senses" bladder" 

 is also often used. The verb " to bunch," 

 to strike,*is sometimes heard. See Wedg- 

 wood (vol i. p. 269, and vol. ii. p. 263) 

 on its allied forms. Used by Pope, Iliad, 

 bii. ii. 328. 



Cajimock, The. (From the Old- 

 English cammec, cammoc, cammuc.) The 

 various species of St. John's-wort, so 

 plentiful in the neighbourhood of the 

 New Forest ; then, any yellow flower, 

 as the fleabane {Pulica ilysenterica) 

 and ragwort {Senecio Jacobcea). In 

 Dorsetshire, according to Mr. Barnes, 

 it only means the rest-harrow {Ononis 

 arvensis). 



Cass, A. A spar used in thatching, 

 called in the Midland and North- Western 

 Counties a " buckler." Before it is made 

 into a cass, it is called a " spargad." 



Cattan, a. a sort of noose or 

 hinge, which unites the " hand-stick " 

 to the flail. It is made in two parts. 

 The joint which joins the " hand-stick " 

 is formed of ash or elm, whilst that 

 which fits the flail is made of leather, 

 as it is required to be more flexible 

 near the part which strikes the floor. 

 Mr. Wright and Mr. Halliwell give as 

 a North-country word the verb "catton," 

 to beat, with which there is evidently 

 some connection. 



Childag, a. a chilblain. Often 

 called simply a " dag," and " chil- 

 biadder." 



Cleet, a. More generally used in 

 the plural, as "elects." Iron tips on a 

 shoe. Hence we have the expression, 

 " to cleet oxen," that i?, to shoe them 

 when they work. 



Close. Hard, sharp. " It hits close," 

 means it hits hard. 



CoTiiE. (From the Old -English 

 " co<5a, coSe.") A " cothe sheep," means 

 a sheep diseased in its liver. The 

 springs in tiie New Forest are said " to 



O 



cothe " the sheep — that is, to disease 

 tiicir livers. Hence we have such 

 places as " Cothy Mead," and " Cothy 

 Copse." Mr. Barnes (as before) gives 

 the form " acothed," as used in Dorset- 

 shire. 



Crink-craxk. "Crink-crank words' 

 are long words — verba sesquipedulia — 

 not properly understood. (See Proceed- 

 inys of Philological Society, vol. v. 

 pp. 14.3-148.) 



Crow-peck, The. The Shepherd's 

 needle {Scandix-pecten Veneris) ; called 

 also "old woman's needle." There is a 

 common saying in tiie New Forest, that 

 " Two crow-pecks ai'e as good as an oat 

 for a horse ; " to which the reply is, 

 " That a crow-peck and a barley-corn 

 may be." 



Ckutch, A. (From the Friesic kroek, 

 connected with the Old-English crocca, 

 our crock). A dish, or earthenware 

 pipkin. We daily in the New Forest 

 and the neighbourhood hear of lard 

 and butter crutches. The Avord 

 *' shard," too, by the way, is still 

 used in the Forest ibr a cup, and 

 housewives still speak of a " siiard of 

 tea." 



CuTTRAN, A. A wren; more com- 

 monly called a " cutty ; " which last 

 word Mv. Banies gives in his Glossary 

 of the Dorsetshire Dialect, p. 331, but 

 which is common throughout the West 

 of England. As Mr. Barnes, p. 354, 

 observes, the word is nothing more than 

 cutty wren: — the little wren. (See 

 " Kittywitch," Transactions of Philo- 

 logical Society, 1855, p. 33.) 



Decker, or Dicker, To. One of 

 the old forms of to fleck ; literally, to 

 cover; from the Old-English " jjeccan ;" 

 in German, decken. It now, however, 

 only signifies to ornament or spangle. 

 A lady's fingers are said to be deckered 

 with rings, or the sky with stars. 



Deer's-Milk. Wood-spurge {Eu- 

 phorbia amyijdaloides). So called from 

 tlic wliitc viscous juice which exudes 

 from its stalks when gathered. 

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