226 OLD WEST SURREY 



' Store ' is used as a verb in the sense of ' to value,' or, as 

 in old days, ' to set store by.' An old friend, pointing to a 

 little pink-banded basin on her dresser shelf, said, ' That 

 basin was my mother's ; I stores that, same as I does 

 everything as was her'n.' 



Sure-ly, as an exclamation of surprise, has a strong 

 accent on the second syllable. 



The word ' corn ' is turned into two distinct syllables, 

 thus, ' coh-wern.' 



' Milk ' is also made a dissyllable — ' may-ulk ; ' this is almost 

 identical with the Swedish mjolk. 



' Fast,' in the sense of steady, firm, steadfast, is retained 

 in the old carter's cry in the hay-field, ' Stand fast,' when 

 he is about to move the horses on. It is a warning to the 

 men on the top of the load. 



To gobble is to ' gollop.' ' Don't gollop your food ' was 

 said to a child who was eating too fast. 



The convenient ' any when,' a useful companion to ' any- 

 where and anyhow,' is still in common use among the older 

 people. I have even heard of ' anywhen-abouts.' ' Some- 

 when ' and ' oft-times ' are also in use. 



' Do I dare do so ' meant 'may I do it,' or ' have I leave 

 to do it ' — as, ' Please, mother, do I dare go to bed ? ' 



Among the local names of ordinary tools, a pick is 

 always ' peck ' ; a deep, narrow-bladed spade, used in 

 cutting trenches in stiff soil for laying drain-pipes, is a 

 ' graft ' ; a digging fork is an ' eevle ' — I have never seen 

 the word written, but this is how it sounds. 



A stump of a tree that has been cut down is a 

 ' stam.' ' Ship ' is the plural of sheep. 



A middle-aged or old man of the labouring class is 



