Grain and Chaff from an English Manor

by Arthur Herbert Savory

DIALECT—LOCAL PHRASEOLOGY IN SHAKESPEARE—NAMES—STUPID PLACES.

"Our echoes roll from soul to soul." —The Princess.

Compulsory education has eliminated many of the old words and phrases formerly in general use in Worcestershire, and is still striving to substitute a more "genteel," but not always more correct, and a much less picturesque, form of speech. When I first went to Aldington I found it difficult to understand the dialect, but I soon got accustomed to it, and used it myself in speaking to the villagers. Farrar used to tell us at school, in one of the resounding phrases of which he was rather fond, that "All phonetic corruption is due to muscular effeminacy," which accounts for some of the words in use, but does not alter the fact that many so-called corrupt words are more correct than the modern accepted form.

It is difficult to convey the peculiar intonation of the Worcestershire villager's voice, and the ipsissima verba I have given in my anecdotes lose a good deal in reading by anyone unacquainted with their method. Each sentence is uttered in a rising scale with a drop on the last few words, forming, as a whole, a not unmusical rhythmical drawl. As instances of "muscular effeminacy," two fields of mine, where flax was formerly grown, went by the name of "Pax grounds"; the words "rivet" and "vine," were rendered "ribet" and "bine." "March," a boundary, became "Marsh," so that Moreton-on-the-March became, most unjustly, "Moreton-in-the-Marsh." "Do out," was "dout"; "pound," was "pun"; "starved," starred. The Saxon plural is still in use: "housen" for houses, "flen" for fleas; and I noticed, with pleasure, that a school inspector did not correct the children for using the ancient form. Gilbert White, who died in 1793, writes in the section of his book devoted to the Antiquities of Selborne, that "Within the author's memory the Saxon plurals, housen and peason," were in common use. So that Selborne more than a hundred years ago had, in that particular at any rate, advanced to a stage of dialect which in Worcestershire is still not fully established. Certain words beginning with "h" seem a difficulty; a "y" is sometimes prefixed, and the "h" omitted. Thus height becomes "yacth," as nearly as I can spell it, and herring is "yerring." "N" is an ill-treated letter sometimes, when it begins a word; nettles are always "ettles," but when not wanted, and two consecutive words run easier, it is added, as in "osier nait" for osier ait.

The word "charm," from the Anglo-Saxon cyrm, is used both in Worcestershire and Hampshire for a continuous noise, such as the cawing of nesting rooks, or the hum of swarming bees. Similarly, a witch's incantation—probably in monotone—is a charm, and then comes to mean the object given by a witch to an applicant. "Charming" and "bewitching" thus both proclaim their origins, but have now acquired a totally different signification.

There are an immense number of curious words and phrases in everyday use, and they were collected by Mr. A. Porson, M.A., who published a very interesting list with explanatory notes in 1875, under the title of Notes of Quaint Words and Sayings in the Dialect of South Worcestershire. I append a list of the local archaic words and phrases which can also be found in Shakespeare's Plays. This list was compiled by me some years ago, and appeared in the "Notes and Queries" column of the Evesham Journal; I think all are still to be heard in Evesham and the villages in that corner of Worcestershire.

SHIP—sheep; cf. Shipton, Shipston, etc.; Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Act I., Scene 1; Comedy of Errors, Act IV., Scene 1.

FALSING—the present participle of the verb "to false"; Comedy of
Errors, Act II., Scene 2; Cymbeline, Act II., Scene 3.

FALL—verb active; Comedy of Errors, Act II., Scene 2; Midsummer
Night's Dream, Act V., Scene 1.

CUSTOMERS—companions; Comedy of Errors, Act IV., Scene 4.

KNOTS—flower beds; Love's Labour's Lost, Act I., Scene 1; Richard
II., Act III., Scene 4.

TALENT—for talon; cf. "tenant" for tenon; Love's Labour's Lost, Act
IV., Scene 2.

METHEGLIN—mead, a drink made from honey; Love's Labour's Lost, Act
V., Scene 2; Merry Wives, Act V., Scene 5.

HANDKERCHER—handkerchief; King John, Act IV., Scene 1; King
Henry V., Act III., Scene 2.

NOR NEVER SHALL—two negatives strengthening each other; King John,
Act IV., Scene 1, and Act V., Scene 7.

CONTRARY—stress on the penultimate syllable; cf. "matrimony," "secretary," "January," etc.; King John, Act IV., Scene 2.

To RESOLVE—to dissolve; King John, Act V., Scene 4; Hamlet, Act
I., Scene 2.

STROND—strand; cf. "hommer"—hammer, "opples"—apples, etc.; 1 King Henry IV., Act I., Scene 1.

APPLE JOHN—John Apple (?); 1 King Henry IV., Act III., Scene 3; 2 King Henry IV., Act II., Scene 4.

GULL—young cuckoo; 1 King Henry IV., Act V., Scene 1.

TO BUCKLE—to bend; 2 King Henry IV., Act I., Scene 1.

NICE—weak; cf. "naish"—weak; 2 King Henry IV., Act I., Scene 1.

OLD—extreme, very good; 2 King Henry IV., Act II., Scene 4.

PEASCOD-TIME—peapicking time; 2 King Henry IV., Act II., Scene 4.

WAS LIKE—had nearly; King Henry V., Act I., Scene 1.

SCAMBLING—scrambling; King Henry V., Act I., Scene 1.

MARCHES—boundaries; cf. Moreton-in-the-Marsh, i.e., March; King
Henry V., Act I., Scene 2.

SWILLED—washed; King Henry V., Act III., Scene 1.

To DRESS—to decorate with evergreens, etc.; Taming of the Shrew,
Act III., Scene 1.

YELLOWS—jaundice; Taming of the Shrew, Act III., Scene 2.

DRINK—ale; "Drink" is still used for ale as distinguished from cider; Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II., Scene 1.

BARM—yeast; Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II., Scene 1.

LOFFE—laugh; Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II., Scene 1.

LEATHERN—(bats); cf. "leatherun bats," as distinguished from "bats"—beetles; Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II., Scene 3.

EANING TIME—lambing time; Merchant of Venice, Act I., Scene 3.

SPET—spit; cf. set—sit, sperit—spirit, etc.; Merchant of Venice,
Act I., Scene 3.

FILL-HORSE—shaft horse; cf. "filler" and "thiller"; Merchant of
Venice, Act II., Scene 2.

PROUD ON—proud of; Much Ado, Act IV., Scene 1

ODDS—difference; cf. "wide odds"; As you Like It, Act I., Scene 2.

COME YOUR WAYS—come on; As You Like It, Act I., Scene 2.

TO SAUCE—to be impertinent; As You Like It, Act III., Scene 5.

THE MOTION—the usual form; Winter's Tale, Act IV., Scene 2.

INCHMEAL—bit by bit; Tempest, Act II., Scene 2.

FILBERDS—filberts; Tempest, Act II., Scene 2.

TO LADE—to bale (liquid); 3 King Henry VI., Act III., Scene 3.

TO LAP—to wrap; King Richard III., Act II., Scene 1; Macbeth, Act
I., Scene 2.

BITTER SWEETING—an apple of poor quality grown from a kernel; cf. "bitter sweet"—the same; Romeo and Juliet, Act II., Scene 4.

VARSAL WORLD—universal world; Romeo and Juliet, Act II., Scene 4.

MAMMET—a puppet; cf. "mommet"—scarecrow; Romeo and Juliet,
Act III., Scene 5.

TO GRUNT—to grumble; Hamlet, Act III., Scene 1.

TO FUST—to become mouldy; Hamlet, Act IV., Scene 5.

DOUT—do out; cf. "don"—do on; Hamlet, Act IV., Scene 7.

MAGOT PIES—Magpies; Macbeth, Act III., Scene 4.

SET DOWN—write down; Macbeth, Act V., Scene 1.

TO PUN—to pound; Troilus and Cressida, Act II., Scene 1.

NATIVE—place of origin; cf. "natif"; Coriolanus, Act III., Scene 1.

SLEEK—bald; cf. "slick"; Julius Cæsar, Act I., Scene 2.

WARN—summon; cf. "backwarn"—tell a person not to come; Julius
Cæsar, Act V., Scene 1.

BREESE—gadfly; Antony and Cleopatra, Act III., Scene 8.

WOO'T—wilt thou; Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV., Scene 13.

URCHIN—hedgehog; Titus Andronicus, Act II., Scene 3.

MESHED—mashed (a term used in brewing); Titus Andronicus, Act III.,
Scene 2.

All the above words and phrases the writer has frequently heard used in the neighbourhood in the senses indicated, but to make the list more complete the following are added on the authority of Mr. A. Porson, in the pamphlet referred to:

COLLIED—black; Midsummer Nights Dream, Act I., Scene 1.

LIMMEL—limb from limb; cf. "inchmeal"—bit by bit; Cymbeline, Act
II., Scene 4.

TO MAMMOCK—to tear to pieces; Coriolanus, Act I., Scene 3.

TO MOIL—to dirty; Taming of the Shrew, Act IV., Scene 1.

SALLET—salad; 2 King Henry VI., Act IV., Scene 10.

UTIS—great noise; 2 King Henry IV., Act II., Scene 4.

Place-names everywhere are a most interesting study; as a rule, people do not recognize that every place-name has a meaning or reference to some outstanding peculiarity or characteristic of the place, and that much history can be gathered from interpretation. In cycling, it is one of the many interests to unravel these derivations; merely as an instance, I may mention that in Dorset and Wilts the name of Winterbourne, with a prefix or suffix, often occurs; of course, "bourne" means a stream, but until one knows that a "winterbourne" is a stream that appears in winter only, and does not exist in summer, the name carries no special signification.

One hears some curious personal names in the Worcestershire villages; scriptural names are quite common, and seem very suitable for the older labourers engaged upon their honourable employment on the land. We had a maid named Vashti, and she was quite shy about mentioning it at her first interview with my wife. In all country neighbourhoods there is a special place with the unenviable reputation of stupidity; such was "Yabberton" (Ebrington, on the Cotswolds), and Vashti was somewhat reluctant to admit that it was her "natif," as a birthplace is called in the district. Among the traditions of Yabberton it is related that the farmers, being anxious to prolong the summer, erected hurdles to wall in the cuckoo, and that they manured the church tower, expecting it to sprout into an imposing steeple! There is a place in Surrey, Send, with a similar reputation, where the inhabitants had to visit a pond before they could tell that rain was falling!

But perhaps the best story of the kind is told in the New Forest, where the Isle of Wight is regarded as the acme of stupidity. When the Isle of Wight people first began to walk erect, instead of on all fours, they are said to have waggled their arms and hands helplessly before them, saying, "And what be we to do with these-um?"

Classical names are very uncommon among villagers, but in my old Surrey parish there was one which was the cause of much speculation. The name was Hercules; it originated in a disagreement between the parents, before the child was christened. The mother wanted his name to be John, but the father insisted, that as an older son was Noah, the only possible name for the new baby was "Hark" (Ark). They had a lengthy argument, and there was no definite understanding before reaching the church. The mother, when asked to "name this child," being flustered, hesitated, but finally stammered out, "Hark, please." The vicar was puzzled, and repeated the question with the same result; a third attempt was equally unsuccessful, and the vicar, in despair, falling back upon his classical knowledge, christened the child Hercules. A few days later the vicar called at the cottage, and the mother explained the matter, relating how indignant she was with her husband, and how on the way home, "Hark, I says to him, ain't the name of a Christian, it's the name of a barge!"