VILLAGE MINEHS. ]57 



" douts " a match thrown down. But the exact 

 definition of " dout " is to smother, or extinguish by 

 beating. In the days when wood fires were universal, 

 as the wood burned, quantities of a fine white powder 

 or ash collected, which at intervals, when the servant 

 cleaned the hearth, was swept up into a corner. At 

 night, if any embers remained glowing, a few shovel- 

 fuls of this heap of white ash were thrown over them 

 before retiring, and so the fire was "douted." To 

 smother with such ashes precisely conveys the mean- 

 ing of " dout." Incipient fires in grass, straw, or other 

 material, are often beaten out as with bushes; this 

 too is "douting." Stick your heels in the ground, 

 arch your spine, and drag with all your might at a 

 rope, and then you would be said to " scant." Horses 

 going uphill, or straining to draw a heavily laden 

 waggon through a mud hole, " scant " and tug. At 

 football there is a good deal of " scanting." The 

 axle of a wheelbarrow revolving without grease, and 

 causing an ear-piercing sound, is said to be giving 

 forth a "scrupeting" noise. What can be more 

 explicit, and at the same time so aggravating, as to 

 be told that you are a " mix-muddle " ? A person w^ho 

 mixes up his commissions may feel a little abashed. 

 A person who muddles his affairs may not be alto- 

 gether proud of his achievements. But to be a mix- 

 muddle, to both mix and muddle, to morally fumble 

 without tact, and display a totally imbecile wander- 

 ing ; I shall get mixed myself if I try to describe 

 such a state. Mixed in this sense is American too. 

 Take a duster, dexterously swing it, and remove a 

 fleck of dust from a table or books, and you will 



