GLOSSARY

Account, a meeting of mine-adventurers.
Bal, a mine.
Bra’ (brave), very, much.
Brandis, an iron tripod which stands amongst the embers of turf or furze for resting a crock or kettle on.
Chucklehead, a booby.
Churchtown (pronounced ch’town), a hamlet or village near a church; used also of a town, and even of a city, as “Lunnon ch’town.”
Cleeves, ledges and clefts in the face of a cliff.
Croust, refreshment of cakes and cider in harvest time; refreshment generally.
Crow, a sty, a hovel.
Custna, couldst thou not?
Daggin’, very numerous, in clusters.
Edna, is it not?
Flambustered, excited, agitated.
Fogau, an inland cave.
Fuggan, a cake or pasty.
Gurgoes, the ruins of ancient fences found on waste land.
Hepping or hipping stock, a stand of three or four steps for more easily mounting a horse.
High by day, high day, broad daylight.
Kingcrowner, the name given to the purple emperor, peacock or admiral butterflies.
Launce, sand-eel.
Leel, little.
Mazed, greatly bewildered.
Mizy-mazy, confused.
Mowhay, rickyard.
Niddick or nuddick, nape of the neck.
Pelchurs, pilchards.
Planchen, a plank, a wood floor.
Pore, state of agitation.
Pulcronack a small gudgeon-like fish.
Quilkan, a frog.
Radgell, a pile of loose rocks.
Riffle, a break in a roof made by a strong wind carrying away slates or thatch.
Spens, a store cupboard frequently under the stairs.
Stennack (stannum, tin), an excavation made by the old miners.
Strub, to rob.
Tedn, ’tis not.
Ticketing days, the days on which the tin-ore is sold by ticket at Redruth.
To be vexed as fire, to be in a great passion.
To think slight of, to have a low opinion of.
To tuck a seine, to remove the fish with a tuck-net.
Tubbal, a farm implement for breaking up ground.
Up-along, may mean up the road or to some part of England outside Cornwall, e.g., “He’s gone up-along, and some do say, to Lunnon ch’town.”
Wheal, a mine.
Whinnard, the redwing.
Wisht, like a person ill-wished; melancholy, dismal, sad.
Wusta, wilt thou?
Zawn, a cavern in a cliff.
Dommage feasance, mischief done.
Male pardus, wretched ones (poor miserable cubs?)
Har and tue (har = halloo), cry and kill.
Gives the fico (figo), does not care a fig.

PRINTED BY OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH

Transcriber’s Notes:

Spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original. Some illustrations have been moved slightly to keep paragraphs intact.

[The end of Wild Life at the Land's End by John Coulson Tregarthen]