264 ANGLO-SAXONS AND DANES. 



Moss A peaty surface on a mountain. 



Edge Abrupt margin of a hill. 



Cleugh A narrow rocky glen. 



Water A lake. 



Gill A narrow valley. 



Scar A precipitous rock. 



The word 'ask/ signifying dryness, I have only heard in 

 Craven. 



Investigations of this kind must not be limited to Yorkshire, 

 for even our dialectic peculiarities spread southward into Derby- 

 shire, westward into Cumberland, and northward to the foot of 

 the Grampians. Though several dialects, or varieties of dialects, 

 exist in Yorkshire, they appear not so different from each other 

 when heard, as when looked at in the disguise of arbitrary 

 spelling. 



To enter fully on this subject is not within the scope of this 

 work ; nor would it be respectful to do so in the presence of the 

 eminent scholars who have already undertaken it. To the works 

 of Dr. Latham, in particular, the reader may be safely referred 

 as to a treasure of curious thought and research obtained from 

 the yet unexhausted mine of the English language*. 



Here then I pause ; not without hope that many will follow 

 my steps, or strike out new paths among the works of ancient 

 man and the monuments of primaeval nature, and gather, as I 

 have done, a thousand pleasant memories from the Rivers, 

 Mountains, and Sea Coast of Yorkshire. 



* ' The English Language, &c. ' The Germauia of Tacitus,' a recent 

 work of this author, may be read with advantage in connexion with Anglo- 

 Saxon history. 



