WOKDS PECULIAR TO OUR INSULAR DIALECT 

 NOT FOUND IN ANY GLOSSARY. 



BY REV. R. H. TOURTEL, M.A., B D., F.S.A. (Normandy). 



OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, RECTOR. OF TORTEVAL. 



Membre de la Societe des Antiquaires de Normandie. 

 Menibre de la Societe dArcheologie, d'Avranches. 



We are fortunate enough to possess an excellent, though by 

 no means complete, dictionary of words peculiar to our insular 

 dialect, by our poet and scholar, the late Georges Metivier, 

 Esq. Mr. E. D. Alarquand, A.L.S., has traced the names of 

 several plants, animals, insects, &c, vide "Transactions" 1905 

 and 1908, and Mr. Hocart has furnished us with many pro- 

 verbs concerning the weather, "Trans." 1906. 



As the English language is rapidly replacing our patois, 

 many words and expressions will be lost for ever, and we 

 ought to save what we can before it is too late. The follow- 

 ing words, names and phrases, which, by-the-bye, must again, 

 by no means, be considered to be an exhaustive list, have, as 

 far as I know, never been recorded. A few years ago, with 

 the help of several friends, many of whom, alas ! are no more, 

 I collected the names of the rocks, bays, &c, encircling the 

 islands of this bailiwick ("Trans." 1898, 1902 and 1903). In 

 the latter case I was able to trace the meaning and origin of 

 many of them, and to show their affinity with many other 

 languages, ancient and modern ; but in the present instance 

 the difficulty is much greater, and the origin of many words 

 seems to be wrapped up in complete obscurity. In some 

 cases, however, it is easily traced, and it is hardly necessary 

 to add any note or comment. 



I have also collected a few old christian names and sur- 

 names, some of which are to be found in old documents, and 

 others have been handed down from our ancestors. 



ABBREVIATIONS. 



A. sax. . . Anglo saxon. | Heb Hebrew. 



Adj Adjective. I Fr French. 



Ar Arabic. 



Br Breton. 



Ch Chaldee. 



Com Compare. 



Conj — Conjugation. 

 Dan Danish. 



O. fr Old French. 



N. fr — Norman French. 



Eng English. 



Fig Figuratively. 



Ger German. 



Gk Greek. 



Inf Infinitive. 



It Italian. 



Lit Literally. 



Pr Pronounced. 



Syr Syriac. 



Sp Spanish. 



W Welsh. 



