June 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



147 



A " biggen " is a dainty little cap worn upon the head 

 of a small infant, to keep it from taking cold. In olden 

 times the Warwickshire mothers took an especial pride in 

 making these little " biggens," and some of them (one I 

 have seen dating from the early years of the present cen- 

 tury), with their frills, tucks, cords, and edgings, were 

 perfect gems of the needlework art. In the Second Part 

 of "King Henry the Fourth" (Act IV., Scene 4), Shake- 

 speare alludes to them in the words : 



" Whose brow with homelv big^en boi'nd," 



clearly indicating the fact that the " biggen " was a home- 

 made article of head-dress provided for the " reckling " of 

 the family, or a " nesh " child. 



" In siich bravery, too," is the pretty sentence you may 

 often hear fall from the lips of a Warwickshire peasant 

 woman standing beneath the honeysuckle of her own 

 door. It refers to a girl's finery — her feathers, flowers, 

 ribbons, and laces — and when, as is usually the case, its 

 utterance is accompanied by a smile, it conveys the sweetest 

 touch of encouragement with the faintest sound of reproach. 

 This word, as applied to the small fineries of the toilet, 

 was evidently in popular use in Shakespeare's days, for 

 he uses it in " The Taming of the Shrew " (Act IV., 

 Scene 3). 



The " reckling," spoken of by the Harbury carrier, is, 

 generally speaking, the youngest of the children ; it is also 

 Hpplied to the weakest child, or the one longest ingrowing. 

 Tills word — with the "g" always dropped, which is 

 characteristic of Warwickshire rural dialect in all words 

 ending with "ing" — is somewhat extensively used in 

 sequestered villages. It is also spelt " wreckling," though 

 the "w" is more frequently deleted, indicating probably 

 that the child being small and puny is the " reck " or 

 ' wreck " of the family in a physical sense. In some 

 villages nearer the towns a variant of this word is con- 

 stantly heard. "Dilling" is used instead of " reckling," 

 and has precisely the same significance. 



" Dilling " is also applied indiscriminately to all small, 

 long-growing, dwindling things. You cannot go into a 

 farmyard or under the thatch of a cottage in Warwickshire 

 without hearing this word. It is in the mouths of farmer, 

 housewife, poultry maid, and child. PJvery small thing is 

 a ''dillin'." The smallest chicken in the brood is a dilling, 

 so is the smallest duckling and gosling ; and the dilling of 

 the pig's litter is always the object of the housewife's 

 especinl care. There is luck in the pig's dilling. It is 

 reared up with the bottle, kept in a stuff-lined basket near 

 the kitchen fire, and as much attention paid to it as if it 

 were the " dilling " of the human family. 



A "nesh" child has a meaning almost identical with 

 "reckling" and "dilling," though there is much more 

 pathos in it. Anything, of whatever age, condiuon, or 

 calling, that is weak, feeble, or ailing is a " nesh " thing. 

 It is quite an usual thing to hear : " My poorgell's too nesh 

 to goo slumraockin' an' trapesin' over fields as if her war 

 as frem as frem." 



Now, in the Warwickshire rustic's mouth there is a word 

 which, in direct opposition to " nesh," is often spoken 

 with it. I have not noticed it in Shakespeare, but it is 

 firmly rooted in the vocabulary of the peasant in all the 

 little villages in Shakespeare's land ; indeed, it was and is 

 the joy of every Warwickshire village mother's heart to be 

 able to call her oifspring a "frem" child or "frem" 

 children. To be "frem" is to be bonnie, lively, hfaith- 

 ful, plump, and thriving ; and as the bulk of village 

 children are of this order, the word " frem ' is in constant 

 use. 



" Frem " is also used with reference to the natural 

 growths of the earth. Thus, luxuriant grass is "frem 



well-growing crops are " fine an' frem." The 

 waggoner will call his horse a " frem horse," the shep- 

 herd's calves and lambs are the " fremmest as he's ever 

 ad," and the young collie is as " frem a dog as you'd 

 find anywhere." In short, " frem " is the word for any- 

 thing and everything that is strong, lusty, plump, thriving, 

 and throbbing with health. 



As a term of endearment, perhaps there is no word of 

 dialect so old and yet so extensively used in the whole of 

 Warwickshire as the word " wench," when applied to a 

 young maid. Since Shakespeare used it in an affectionate 

 sense in " The Taming of the Shrew " (Act V., Scene 2), 

 and in the fifth act of " Othello," and again in " Eomeo 

 and Juliet" (Act II., Scene 4) — where Mercutio says, "Alas, 

 poor Romeo ! he is already dead ! stabbed with a white 

 wench's black eye " — the word " wench " has become as 

 familiar in the pastoral mouth as the speaker's own tongue ; 

 and not only in the pastoral mouth either, for in the mouth 

 of the urban dweller in Warwickshire " my dear wench " is 

 a term constantly heard. 



The wc-:d " wench " is also employed extensively in an 

 endearing sense by those who have charge of cattle. A 

 favourite cow, mare, ewe, or bitch is always a wench ; a 

 pat on the back, and " Eh ! she be a good old wench," are 

 sounds of the greatest familiarity in Warwickshire. 



Then, as is often the case with dialect words, " wench " 

 has a bad side to its chai'aoter ; it is sometimes used as a 

 term of reproach. This is not very often, but when it is 

 applied to a girl in this sense it seems to have an over- 

 whelming weight of shame attached to it. I have seen a 

 rustic maid cry bitterly at being called " a wench '' in that 

 peculiar tone of voice which implies a lightness and loose- 

 ness of conduct quite inconsistent with the behaviour 

 which should characterize a demure, decorous, and modest 

 girl ; while, on the other hand, I have seen the same girl 

 smile radiantly when called " a wench " by her sweetheart 

 or mother. It is, I suppose, all a matter of method ; it 

 is the way 'n which the word is uttered which seems to 

 convey so much to those to whom it is applied. 



In its reproachful sense the word "wench" means a 

 bad, loose, vulgar, lewd, riotous woman or girl, who stands 

 upon no ceremony, and has no respect for herself or for 

 what her neighbours may think of her. It is thus allied to 

 such peculiarly Warwiclsshire dialect words of opprobrium 

 as " faggot,'' " doxy," " hussy," " slummock," and " salt." 

 All these words are of venerable age, and are in constant 

 use to-day in all tlie villages of the shire. " Doxy " has, 

 perhaps, the worst signification. Shakespeare uses the 

 word in " A Winter's Tale " (Act IV., Scene 2). 



A " faggot " has not precisely the same meaning among 

 Warwickshire rustics as "doxy," though it is somewhat 

 akin in signification. It is a term which does not imply 

 quite so much as "doxy," and yet sufficient to make the 

 ears of a maid tingle who has any respect left for herself. 

 A " faggot " literally means a careless, good-for-nothing, 

 untidy person ; and as the majority of Warwickshire 

 girls and women are noted for their neat, thrifty, and 

 careful manners and appearance, it may well be imagined 

 how heartily they resent such a term of reproach as 

 "faggot." 



Any loosely attired, slatternly person — man, woman, or 

 child — is a " slummock." You may not uncommonly hear 

 a man say, " Donna thee look at me, mister ; I be such a 

 slummock. I hanna 'ad time to goo an' tidy mesen yet, like." 

 A ragged colt is a " slummockin' '' creature, so is a moulting 

 fowl. Anything, in fine, which has not an air of trimness 

 and neatness about it is a " slummock." It is a word 

 which expresses much, and is very closely allied to that 

 other reproachful word " moikin, " which hterally means a 



