Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/107

Rh to “falderalde” and later extended to “fallalderalde” by confusion with the common English and Scottish refrain: Fol-de-rol-de-ri-do, or Fal-al-de-ral-de-ri-do. This assumption is supported by a line which occurs in a fragment of the same verse that comes from Sandsting:

komin ower de telda ralda rira”.

That this is a fragment of the cow-call verse is clearly evident from the words: “komin ower de (the white-headed cow)”; and linked with this line are the words “telda ralda rira”, which appear to be meaningless, but can hardly be other than “taldar allar eru”, they are all counted (: the cows). for *, because the past tense and past participle of tell,, a) to count, b) now: to tell, in is “telled” [tɛld and tæld].

A couple of lullaby fragments, sent to me by W$m$ Ratter, also contain lines of the cow-call verse.

Bā wā bȯᶇa (bɔina) di̇̄ manna wakna starna strɛtᶊa li̇̄ra lɔŋspöᶇa (-spɔina) (aa) kɔmin hɛm an ᶊɔlmu.

b) a variant from, , containing a small fragment of the same verse in which only a few names of cows appear.

comin’ doon? and.

in variant (a), and in variant (b), are *Stjarna, a cow with a spot (star) on the forehead. The form has been influenced by starn,, star. , (the) spotted cow. for *, piebald, spotted cow, originally *. See and  in Dictionary.

, a cow with long teats. speni,  spini, , teat.

has certainly the same meaning as ; but in is a different word from. , probably means one who strays far and wide, to be classed with strekkja,, to stray far and wide, of cattle (R.).

, possibly *Hlýra, a cow with a spot on the cheek, from hlýr,, cheek, corresponding to , the name of a cow (see Dictionary), the one with the spotted cheek, kinn,, cheek. Other derivatives are possible, but not probable, such as from lira,, to wriggle, sneak (R.), or lyra, , to walk slowly, drag oneself along (R.), lira,, to move lightly and quickly, but quietly (Ri.). VII*