1.1 



Glossary of Provincialisms. 



28i 



Dorsetshire Dialect, appended to his 

 Poems ofHural Life. 



Bunch, A. A blow, or the effects of 

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

 pnnple, in which latter senses " bladder" 

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

 to strikc.^is sometimes heard. See Wedg- 

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

 on its allied forms. Used by Pope, Iliad, 

 bk. ii. 32S. 



Cajimuciv, The. (From the Old- 

 English cammec. vammoc, cammuc.) The 

 various si)eeies of St. John's-wort, so 

 plentiful in the neighbourhood of the 

 New Forest ; then, any yellow flower, 

 as the fleabane {Ptilica di/seittcrica) 

 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 nuidc in two parts. 

 The joint which joins the " hand-stick " 

 is formed of ash or elm, whilst tliat 

 which fits the flail is made of leather, 

 as it is required to be more flexible 

 near the i)art which strikes the floor. 

 Mr. Wright and Mr. Ilalliwcll 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 elect oxen," that is, to shoe them 

 when they work. 



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

 means it hits hard. 



CoTiiE. (From the Old -English 

 " co«a, co55e.") A '• cothe sheep," means 

 a sliecp di.sea.sed in its liver. The 

 springs in the New Forest arc said " to 



O 



cothe " the sheep — that is, to disease 

 their livers. Hence we have such 

 places as " Cothy Mead," and " Cotliy 

 Copse." Mr. Barnes (as before) gives 

 the form " acothed," as used in Dorset- 

 shire. 



CuiNiv-cuANK. "Crink-crank word>" 

 arc long words — verba sesquipedatia — 

 not pro]ierly understood. (See Proceed- 

 inys of Phtloloyicul Sucieti/, vol. v. 

 pp. 143-148.) 



Ckow-peciv, The. The Shepherd's 

 needle {Scundix-pecten Veneris) ; called 

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

 common saying in the New Forest, that 

 " Two crow-pecks are as good as au oat 

 for a horse ; " to which the rei)ly is, 

 " That a crow-peck and a barley-coni 

 may be." 



CiiUTCH, A. (From the Friesic kroek, 

 connected with the Old-English croccu, 

 our crock). A dish, or earthenware 

 pipkin. AVe daily in the New Forest 

 and the neighbourhood hear of laid 

 and butter crutches. The word 

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

 used in the Forest for a cuj), and 

 housewives still speak of a " shard of 

 tea." 



CuTTRAN, A. A wren; more com- 

 monly called a " cutty ; " \\\m-\\ last 

 word Air. Barnes gives in his Glussart/ 

 of the Dorsetshire Dialect, p. 331, but 

 which is common throughout the West 

 of England. As Mr. Barnes, p. 3.'54, 

 observes, the word is nothing more than 

 cutty wren — the little wren. {See 

 " Kittywitch," Transactions of Philo- 

 loyical Sdcieti/, 185.0, ]). 3;5.) 



Decker, or Dickek, To. One of 

 the old forms of to deck ; literally, io 

 cover; lioni tiie Old-English "jjcdaii ;" 

 111 German, decken. It now, however, 

 only signifies to oriianicut or spangle. 

 A lady's fingers are said to l>e dcckcicd 

 with rings, or the sky with stars. 



I)i:i:k's-Milk. Wood-spurtrc (A'«- 

 phorbia amijijdaloides). So calleil IVoin 

 the white viscous juice whicli exudes 

 ironi its stalks when gathered. 

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