♦ KNOAVLEDGE ♦ 



[Auo. 28, 1885. 



is told cif an English wife in America being told that her 

 Uusbind had arrived with " a little baggage " : She went 

 \o look for that little baggage with a potato-masher. 



Baggage-smasher, the name very appropriately given to 

 tlie iLTSuns who move baggage to and from cars, itc. 



Bal.nce, the rest. ""Peter and Andrew, with the 

 bahinee cf tlio twelve, stood around." 



l:. - ;, I'M-.'-iMfe. 



/; I I this expression once only, in New 



Oi-:. Ik. (Fr. banquette.') 



r,i , / '■' .; '^ ' I, is Massachusetts. " Let the grand 

 old B;iy Stiitf proudly," said Lowell, " put the tmmpet 

 to her liis," &c., saying "you go one way we go t'other, 

 guess it wouldn't break our hearts," — an early cry for 

 Secession, — forgotten subsequently by the North. But 

 the South maintain still that the Northern states were 

 the first to secede from the Union, by failing to adhere 

 to the constitution. 



Biyoii. The outlet of a lake. 



Bear State. The State of Arkansas, so named from its 

 niorj charact eristic inhiibitants. 



Be^it. As a verb, to .surpass. " That beats all ever I 

 lieerd." Also to astonish, to overcome. "That beats 

 me," means that is utterly surprising to me. But " I'm 

 liead be:it" means I'm thoroughly tired. 



Beat as a noun also has two meanings. It means some 

 thing or person surpassingly good or effective or sur- 

 prising, as, " I never saw the beat of that." But a 

 ■' beat " is also one who is thoroughly esha\isted, gene- 

 r.illy in pocket. A "dead beat" is for instance a man 

 without a cent, and not willing to earn a cent. 



Bed-spread. A coverlet or counterpane. 



Bee. A gathering of friends and neighbours to get 

 t.hrourrh work for a person or family. 



A splUng-bee is a gathering to test skill in spelling, 

 ;ind ti'ler ibly dreary such g.atherings are. Grede experto, 



B.,-li,ie. A straight line,— where in England we 

 should say "as the crow flies," an American would say 

 •' on a bee-line." 



Being as, an elegant way of saying "since" or 

 '•because." "Being as you're a friend," would mean, 

 since you are a friend, or considering that you are. 



Btliked, for liked: probably as justifiable in reality, 

 thou-k not by English usage, as " beloved " for " loved." 



B' lou'jings, used sometimes for property, but occa- 

 sionally as a euphemism for trousers, a "gentleman's 

 belongings." 



B-ndir. To "go on a bender" is to start on a frolic. 

 An unbender would seem nearer the mark. 



Bed. Used as a verb, meaning to get the better of. 



B tttrounts. Improvements. Btttermosf, for the best. 



Bi Idy. An Irish female servant. 



Big. Used not only for "large," but for fine or excel- 

 lent, as " big whisky " for whisky of first-rate quality. 



Big hugs. Persons of consequence. 



Big meeting. A term applied to camp-meetings, 

 gatherings of people for religious services of the sensa- 

 tional or hysteric kind, a custom invented by the coloured 

 [leople, but known also in the wilder parts of Ireland. 

 Commercial persons in America find it good business, I 

 am told, to attend these religious gatherings, — they get 

 a holiday and credit for being more religious than those 

 who keep away. 



Biling, also Bilin' . A set. " I'd pizen the hull bilin' 

 of yer, if I'd my way," I heard a woman remark to a 

 set of somewhat noisy persons who had annoyed her. 



Biscuit. A biscuit in America means what we would 

 <.'flll a hot roll in England. Some are much smaller than 

 our hot rolls ; but they are the same in character. They 



are indigestible to a degree ; but Americans will assure 

 you (with face dismally contradicting their words) that 

 hot biscuits are good and healthy food. 



Bishop. A "bustle," — article of feminine gear. 



Bit. I must admit great ignorance as to the real 

 meaning of this word. In the South, a " bit " is 

 generally half-a-quarter, i.e. 12|c., equal in value to our 

 English sixpence ; but I have known a quarter and a 

 dime (25c. and 10c. respectively) called a " bit." 1 

 believe, however, a bit usually means 12.^c. 



(To he < 



ued.) 



MYSTERIES AND MORALITIES. 



By Edwaed Ci.opp. 



V. 



IN the York series, the eighth and ninth pageants, in 

 the Towneley and Chester, the third pageant, and 

 in the Coventrv, the fourth pag-canf. dramatise the 

 building of the Ark and the Flood. 



In the PnicessT.f Xoe ciim fiUis,* the play opens with a 

 long prayer by Noah, in which lie recites the history of 

 the world. God replies, repenting that he has made man, 

 and, declaring his intention to drown the world, bids 

 Noah build the ark and " stuf it with vitaylle." Noah 

 tells the Deity, sub rosa, how his wife, like Mrs. Pepys, 

 hath a temper of her own : — 



My wife wUle I frast (ask) what slie'wille say, 

 And I am agast that we get 8om frav 



Betwixt US both ; 

 For she is fnlle tethde (ill-tempered) 

 For litille oft angre, 

 If any thyng wrang be 

 Soyne (soon) is she wroth. 

 When Noah goes home to tell his wife this, she jeers 

 him about his crochets, and says that he ought to be 

 clothed in "Stafford blew," because he is always 

 croaking. 



For I dar be thi borow (surety) 

 From even nnto morow 

 Thou spekes ever of sorow, 



God send the onys (once) thi fille ! 

 ^Ye woraen may wary (curse) alle ille hnsbaudes ; 

 I have oone, bi Mary ! that lowsyd me of my bandes ; 

 If he teyn (grieve) I must tary how so ever its standea, 

 With seymland (dissembling) fnlle sory, wryngand both my hands 

 For drede. 

 Noe. We ! hold thy tong, Kam-skyt, or I shaUe the stille. 

 Uxnr. By my thryft, if thou smyte, I shalle tume the untiUe. 

 Noe. We shalle assay as lyte (quick) ; have at the Gille. 

 Apon the bone shal it byte.f 



A short fight ensues, in which the wife gets the worst 

 of it, and then Noah begins his task •' in nomine Patris, 

 et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen," but none the less 

 grumbling about his stiff back and aching bones. When 

 the ark, which has been finished " in nomine Patris, et 

 Filii, et Spiritus Sancti,"J is ready, the wife refuses to 

 enter. 



Sir, for Jack nor for Gille wille I tnnie my face 

 Tille I have on this hill spon a space 



On my rok (distaff) ; 



Welle were he myght get me. 



Now vrille I doune set me, 



Yit reede I no man let me, 



For drede of a knok. 



• Tou'iieley Mysferiis, pp. 20-34. The term processiu was applied 

 to these plays on account of their exhibition in connection with the 

 Corpui Chriati procession. 



