Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/131

 io» 8. iv. AUG. 5. iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 103 much in the sense of our slang word "awful," as " a parlous time" for " a bad time," or adverbially, as "ar beas parlous tewed "for " I am very tired or annoyed," or " parlous clarty " for a very dirty road. I like our good old word " kitty wankle " for very or doubly uncertain, as "a kittywankle airtim " for a bad hay time, or what we call a " catchy time." " Kittle" we know as fickle or uncer- tain, as "kittle cattle," and "wankle" or "wankling" is a term we apply to an unhealthy calf, or one weak on its legs and unlikely to live. It is curious to trace our corruption of new words derived from the Greek, as " the taties are sadly demicked" would mean that they were affected by the epidemic. A dyke in the North means a ditch, and not, as in the South, a bank, as the well- known Ditch at Newmarket and the Devil's Dyke at the top of the Downs, ever visited by strangers who go to Brighton. A " stobb " or " stobben " means a stump or thorn, and is also used as a verb, as "arve stobbed mar thoom " for " I have pricked my finger or thumb." A very expressive saying like that of the bad penny is "nout's never lost." Children at least believe in the mysterious visitants at windows called "barguests"; indeed, when our school- children first saw the stained-glass windows in our private chapel they howled at the sight of " barguests," as they called them. There are also still many adult believers in wise men and wise women or witches having the power of curing diseases and making up love potions, as well as of detecting thieves and evildoers. To ''call" a person is to abuse him, also described as to "talk Irish," from the language used by the Irish wlio come to do field work; and a summons is frequently applied for for "insult" when assault is intended. A magistrate to act in Yorkshire should have some knowledge of the language; in fact, I have had to intervene to save a man from a heavy sentence for a cowardly use of a knife by explaining that "neif" means only the old Saxon word nief or fist, and that no knife was mentioned at all. To get evidence to define drunkenness, except from the police, is always most difficult, as not only is it looked upon as a very venial offence by the lower classes, but is divided into many stages, as "market fresh," looked upon as almost a normal con- dition, " had a sup," or in extreme cases " had a drop ower mooch." A Yorkshireman is called a " tyke," though I have never heard a dog so called in the county of broad acres; but we speak of a lurcher as a "snap dog," and of a greyhound as a " grew dog." In cricket we still call runs " notches," though we do not keep our scores on a stick as formerly ; to slog or hit hard is to " bat it out," to catch is to " kep," a feeble stroke is- termed a "dirty go" ; and if we are surprised we say that "caps owt," or beats everything. In shooting we always speak of partridges- simply as " birds," and it is funny to hear our yeomanry talk of their rifles as "guns.'' We speak of a breadth of anything as a " breed," and the small, irregular corners of ploughed fields are called " gares " ; a small- wood is a "rush"; the wide,straggling fences so good for game, and now so rare, are called "reins"; a hole from which earth is dug is called a " delphin " (delved), while in digging a drain we must be careful to give it plenty of " batter," or shelving edge, as otherwise it will "sag" or "cave in." "Stattus" is the local name for the old fairs established by statute, and at Martinmas we have our annual hirings, or mops, when a "test," or fastening penny, is given to bind the bargain.. Like the immortal James Pigg, whose proto- type is believed to be North Yorkshire rather than Northumbrian, we still "addle wor arles " when we earn our wages, and money is still spoken of as " brass." In York a "gate" means a street, as- Micklegate, or the little street; while the gate itself is called a "postern," as Skelder- gate Postern ; or a bar, like Monk Bar, which perhaps is derived from bar or barrier, or from the old barbicans, of which the only example is to be found in connexion with Walmgate Bar. The bridge over a ditch in. front of a gate is called a "goatstock," of which perhaps one of your readers can supply a derivation, for I cannot; while a stile is a " stee," and a footpath is called a "rampart" or "trod." A quantity of any- thing is a "seet," or sight. For birds we have innumerable local names, which may be found in Morris and other writers on birds. We find the word "start" for tail in the blackstart and redstart; and the "club start" is the stoat, for "club" means short, as in "club-footed." A rat is a " ratten" or " rotten" ; a polecat is a. "foomart" or "foulmart,"as contrasted with the sweetmart, or pine and beech martens, now almost extinct except in the wildest parts of the Lake District. Though we still sup our "looance," or allowance, of "drinkings," one seldom hears the word " beevor " used for drinks, which seems to be of Norman origin. As in Ireland, we call rooks " crows," the carrion crow being.