The English Language Part 110

Danish elements decreasing. Perhaps at the _minimum_.

-- 708. The exceptions suggested in ---- 703, 704, lie not only against the particular group called West-Saxon, but (as may have been antic.i.p.ated) against all cla.s.sifications which a.s.sume either--

1. A coincidence between the philological divisions of the Anglo-Saxon language, and the political division of the Anglo-Saxon territory.

2. Any broad difference between the Angles and the Saxons.

3. The existence of a Jute population.

-- 709. _English dialects not in continuity with the mother-tongue._--Of these the most remarkable are those of--

1. _Little England beyond Wales._--In Pembrokes.h.i.+re, and a part of Glamorgans.h.i.+re, the language is English rather than Welsh. The following extracts from Higden have effected the belief that this is the result of a Flemish colony. "_Sed {562} et Flandrenses, tempore Regis Henrici Primi in magna copia juxta Mailros ad orientalem Angliae plagam habitationem pro tempore accipientes, septimam in insula gentem fecerunt: jubente tamen eodem rege, ad occidentalem Walliae partem, apud Haverford, sunt translati.

Sicque Britannia ... his ... nationibus habitatur in praesenti ...

Flandrensibus in West Wallia_."

A little below, however, we learn that these Flemings are distinguished by their origin only, and not by their language:--"_Flandrenses vero qui in Occidua Walliae incolunt, dimissa jam barbarie, Saxonice satis loquuntur_."--Higden, edit. Gale, p. 210.

On the other hand, Mr. Guest has thrown a reasonable doubt upon this inference; suggesting the probability of its having been simply English.

The following vocabulary collected by the Rev. J. Collins,[84] in the little peninsula of Gower, confirms this view. It contains no exclusively Flemish elements.

Angletouch, n. s. _worm_.

b.u.mbagus, n. s. _bittern_.

Brandis, n. s. _iron stand for a pot or kettle_.

Caffle, adj. _entangled_.

Cammet, adj. _crooked_.

Cloam, n. s. _earthenware_.

Charnel, n. s. _a place raised in the roof for hanging bacon_.

c.l.i.t, v. _to stick together_.

Deal, n. s. _litter, of pigs_.

Dotted, adj. _giddy, of a sheep_.

Dome, adj. _damp_.

Dreshel, n. s. _a flail_.

Eddish, n. s. _wheat-stubble_.

Evil, n. s. a _three-p.r.o.nged fork for dung, &c._

Firmy, v. _to clean out, of a stable, &c._ Fleet, adj. _exposed in situation_, _bleak_.

Flott, n. s. _aftergra.s.s_.

Flamiring, s. _an eruption of the nature of erysipelas_.

Fraith, adj. _free-spoken_, _talkative_.

Frithing, adj. _a fence made of thorns wattled_.

Foust, v. act. _to tumble_.

Flathin, n. s. _a dish made of curds, eggs, and milk_.

Gloy, n. s. _refuse straw after the "reed" has been taken out_.

Gloice, n. s., _a sharp pang of pain_.

Heavgar, adj. _heavier_ (so also _near-ger_, _far-ger_).

Hamrach, n. s. _harness collar made of straw_.

Hay, n. s. _a small plot of ground attached to a dwelling_.

Kittybags, n. s. _gaiters_.

Lipe, n. s. _matted basket of peculiar shape_.

{563} Letto, n. s. _a lout_, _a foolish fellow_.

Main, adj. _strong_, _fine_ (_of growing crops_),

Nesseltrip, n. s. _the small pig in a litter_.

Nommet, n. s. _a luncheon of bread, cheese, &c._--_not a regular meal_.

Noppet, Nipperty, adj. _lively_--_convalescent_.

Ovice, n. s. _eaves of a building_.

Plym, v. _to fill_, _to plump up_.

Plym, adj. _full_.

Planche, v. _to make a boarded floor_.

Peert, adj. _lively_, _brisk_.

Purty, v. n. _to turn sulky_.

Quat, v. act. _to press down_, _flatten_.

Quapp, v. n. _to throb_.

Rathe, adj. _early, of crops_.

Reremouse, n. s. _bat_.

Ryle, v. _to angle in the sea_.

Riff, n. s. _an instrument for sharpening scythes_.

Seggy, v. act. _to tease_, _to provoke_.

Semmatt, n. s. _sieve made of skin for winnowing_.

Shoat, n. s. _small wheaten loaf_.

Showy, v. n. _to clear_ (_of weather_); (show, _with termination_ y, _common_).

Soul, n. s. _cheese, b.u.t.ter, &c_. (_as eaten with bread_).

Snead, n. s. _handle of a scythe_.

Songalls, n. s. _gleanings_: "to gather _songall_" _is_ to glean.

Sull, _or_ Zull, n. s. _a wooden plough_.

Stiping, n. s. _a mode of fastening a sheep's foreleg to its head by a band of straw, or withy_.

Susan, n. s. _a brown earthenware pitcher_.

Sump, n. s. _any bulk that is carried_.

Suant, part. _regular in order_.

Slade, n. s. _ground sloping towards the sea_.

t.i.te, v. _to tumble over_.

Toit, n. s. _a small seat or stool made of straw_.