Page:Studies in Lowland Scots - Colville - 1909.djvu/47

Rh peasant, perhaps the gudge or homely Buchan ploughman in "Johnny Gibb." The boundary of the commune is marko, the Mark, and Sc. march, found in ga-marko, a neighbour marching with one. The essence of free government, the right of popular discussion, is mathl, the market-place, analogous to the agora and the forum, when we remember that faura-mathleis is a chief speaker, and mathljan, to speak, is the Old Eng. mele, talk. Akin to this is the duty of public giving, implied in mota, toll or custom (cf. O.Eng. mote or village council), mota-staths, the receipt of customs, and a motareis, a publican. The same word is in our meed and Ger. ver-miethen, to let, be hired. Public defence is, of course, but little represented, though we have terms for army (harjis, Ger. Heer, Eng. herr-ing), sword and war (from weigan, to fight, whence Eng. vie). Ga-drauhts, a soldier, is from a verb, dringan, to serve, be pressed into service, still preserved in the old phrase, to dree one's wyrd or fate.

It is possible to construct a Gothic landscape out of the words of that far away time, words perfectly intelligible still. Overhead stretches the heavens (himins, Ger. Himmel), above the clear air (liftus, Sc. lyft), now swept by the wind (winds), now thick with the rains (rign) or the snow (snaiws) when the frost (frius) of winter (wintrus) breathes over the land (land). The sun (sunna) lights the day (dags), the moon (mena, Sc. mune) the night (nahts). All round lies the open heath (haithi) and the woodland (timrjan, to build), with thorns (thaurnus) and wild flowers (blowans haithjos = lilies of the field) by the wayside (wigs), deep in mire (fani, fen = mud) or rough with stones (stains). In moist hollows one sees the fields (hugs, Sc. haugh land), where the peasant (gauja) ears (arjan, Lat. arare) his gawi with his hoe (hoha)—the plough came later—among his roots (wort, aurtja, a husbandman), driving (dreiband) his oxen (auhsa, Sc. owsen) at the goad (gazd) point, sowing (saiand) his wheat (hwaits), oats (at-isk, Sc. aits) or barizeins (Sc. bere), or cutting (snethand, Sc. sneddin) his grass (gras) and hay (hawi) with the sickle (giltha, geld, geld-ing = the castrated one) when harvest (asans) comes round, and the corn (kaurn) is to be winnowed (winthi-skauro, a