38 TRACES OF OLD CORNISH. 



Beaggarty — (used of a child's arms or face recovering a healthy, 

 mottled colour, after sickness). This is rather an interesting 

 word. Mr. Williams (in the Coruu-British Lexicon,) gives 

 the word Brith, as meaning variegated, spotted, &c., 

 which does not, at first sight, seem much like Braggarty. 

 But the word is connected with similar words in the 

 other languages. In Welsh, Brithyll — a trout {i.e. the 

 spotted fish) ; Brithog —a mackerel (the stripy fish). In 

 Irish and Q-aelic, Breac — a trout, for the same reason. 

 Then in Welsh, Brech (noun) — an eruption, and the 

 adjective Brech — brindled, freckled ; in Irish, Boreen 

 breac — a spotted cake {i.e. with currants) ; and the well- 

 known "• Leabhar Breac'''' is the spotted book. Mr. 

 Hawker, in "Foot-prints of former men," speaks of the 

 "braggarty worm" — probably referring to those rings 

 which worms often have, producing a brindled appear- 

 ance. 

 BuoHA — (a scare crow) : the Cornish is Bucca. Welsh, Bwci, or 

 Bwgan. Mr. Davies, in one of the Vols, of the Arch. 

 Camb. Reports, refers to Matthew's Translation of the 

 Bible, Ps. 91. 5 ; — " Thou shalt not be afraid of any Bugs 

 by night : " the Auth. Version reads " Terrors." 

 Clickhanded — (left-handed.) (^Ornish, Cledh — left; Welsh, 



CUdh) Irish, Clith. 

 CooziNG — (stopping to waste time and gossip in work). The 

 usual word in the Cornish Dramas for to talk is CousL In 

 the " Origo Mundi," line 1900, King David is represented 

 as saying : — 



* " Wose cous ha lafurye an vaner a vye da 



Kemeres croust hag eve ha powes wose henna."* 

 Here we have the word cous, from which comes our word 

 " coozing " and also the word croust, which is our local word 

 "crowse," for lunch: no doubt the latter is connected with 

 " crust," Latin " crusta " ; but the usual pronunciation among 

 our people, we observe, is identical with that in the Miracle 

 Plays. 



* Mr. Norris's translation — 



" After talk and work, the custom is good. — 

 To take food and drink and rest after that." 



