Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

by Elizabeth Mary Wright

The smell of the common buttercup was formerly supposed to induce madness, hence the name Crazy (Midl. w. and sw.Cy.). In the same way poppies are called Headaches (Irel. Midl. e.An.), because it is believed that the smell of them will cause headache. Pick-pocket (Midl. Nrf. Sus. Wil. Dev.), the shepherd’s purse, Capsella Bursa-pastoris, is so named because it impoverishes the farmer’s land. Children gather it and repeat: Pick-pocket, penny nail, Put the rogue in the jail. The same plant is also called Pick your mother’s heart out (War.), or simply Mother’s Heart (Sc. n.Cy. Midl.). Children play a kind of game with the heart-shaped seed-pods. They get one another to pick one of these off, which done, there follows the accusing cry: You’ve picked your mother’s heart out. In parts of Yorkshire the derisive cry is: Pick packet to London, You’ll never go to London. In Dorsetshire Break your mother’s heart is the hemlock, Conium maculatum; and Pick your mother’s eyes out is the field speedwell, Veronica agrestis. In the Lake District certain curative properties are attributed to the Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum officinale, whence it is called the Vagabond’s Friend. It is said to be a remedy for black eyes, bruises, and broken noses. Courtship and Matrimony (Cum.) is the meadow-sweet, Spiraea Ulmaria, so called from the scent of the flower before and after bruising, which is thought to be typical of the two states in life.

Popular Names for Flowers

For the rest, the following miscellaneous list may serve as a fairly representative sample: Babes in the Cradle (Wil.), the water figwort, Scrophularia aquatica; Lords and Ladies (in gen. dial. use), the wild arum, Arum maculatum; Milkmaids, or Milkmaidens (Yks. Midl. Ess. Wil. Dev.), the cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis; Painted Lady (I.Ma. Wil.), the sweet pea; Mournful Widow, or Poor Widow (Dev.), the sweet scabious, Scabiosa atropurpurea; Ranting Widow (Chs.), the willow-herb, Epilobium angustifolium; Pretty Maids (Brks.), the white meadow saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata. Babies’ Shoes (Wil.), the common bugle, Ajuga reptans; Bird-een (Cum. Wm.), Primula farinosa, e.g. The lockety gowan [globe-flower] an’ bonny bird-een, Are the fairest flowers that ever were seen; Bleeding Heart (Wm. Wor. Glo. Som. Dev.), Dielytra spectabilis; Ear-drops (Sus. Som. Dev.), the flowers of the garden fuchsia; Geslins, or Goslins (common), the blossoms of the willow; Golden Knobs (Brks.), the marsh-marigold, Caltha palustris, much used for May-morning garlands; Grandmother’s Bonnets (Som.), or Grandmother’s Night-cap (Yks. Chs. Nrf. Ken.), the monkshood, Aconitum Napellus; Grandmother’s Slippers (Hmp.), the bird’s-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus; Money in both pockets (Lakel. Ken. Wil. sw.Cy.), the common honesty, Lunaria biennis; Mother Shimble’s Snick-needles (Wil.), the greater stitchwort, Stellaria Holostea; Puppy-dog’s Mouth (Wil.), the yellow toadflax, Linaria vulgaris; Tailor’s Garters (Sc.), the ribbon-grass, Phalaris arundinacea variegata; Two faces under a hat (Sus.), the common columbine. Peace and plenty (Wil.), the London pride, Saxifraga umbrosa; Pretty and little (Dev.), the Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima; Wink-a-peep, or Wink and peep (Lan. Chs. Stf. Shr.), the scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis. Aunt Hannah (e.An.), the white arabis, Arabis alpina; Bloody Warrior (common), the dark-coloured wallflower; Bobbin Joan (Nhp.), the wild arum; Bouncing Bess (Dev.), the red valerian, Centranthus ruber; Delicate Bess (Dev.), the white valerian, Valeriana celtica; Bridget in her bravery (Lin.), the rose-campion, Lychnis chalcedonica; Gill run by the ground (Lin. Bck. Som.), the ground-ivy; Grim the collier (War. Shr. Glo. Som. Sus.), the orange hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum; Jack in green doublet (Stf.), a variety of Primula vulgaris in which the calyx is transformed into leaves; John go to bed at noon (Chs. Nhp.), the scarlet pimpernel; Sweet Nancy (Lan. Chs. Nrf. Hmp.), the pheasant-eyed narcissus; Pink-eyed John (Midl.), the pansy; Robin Hood (w.Cy. Dor. Som. Dev.), the red campion, Lychnis diurna; Trembling Jock (Yks.), or -jockies, the quaking-grass, Briza media, dried in bunches, and kept on the mantel-piece, because it is supposed to be obnoxious to mice: A trimmling-jock in t’house, An’ you weeant hev a mouse.

Names for the common pansy are: Jump up and kiss me (Sus. Hmp.); Meet her in the entry kiss her in the buttery (Lin.); Kiss me behind the garden gate (Wor. Nrf. Suf.), or Kiss me at the garden gate (Nhp. e.An.); Kiss me John at the garden gate (Suf.); Meet me Love behind the garden door. Kiss behind the garden gate (Brks. Glo. Wil.), and Meet me Love (Dev.) are names also given to the London pride. Kiss me quick and go (Dev.) is a name for lad’s love, Artemisia Abrotanum; Lift up your head and I’ll kiss you (Wor.) is the Dielytra spectabilis; Kitty come down the lane jump up and kiss me (Ken.) is the cuckoo-pint, Arum maculatum; Granny jump out of bed (Wil.) is another name for the monkshood; Welcome home husband tho’ never so drunk (Suf.) is the yellow stonecrop, Sedum acre.

The hail-fellow-well-met spirit of the rustic towards the world of Nature and all that is therein, which shows itself in plant-names like Saucy Betty, is still more noticeable in his use of personal names for living animals—toads, and even insects included. According to Dr. Smythe Palmer in his book on The Folk and their Word-lore, some of these names are due to popular etymology, as for instance, Isaac, the hedge-sparrow, from hay-suck, O.E. hege-sugge, i.e. the hedge-sucker. In the same way Sweet Alice is said to be a corruption of sweet allison, Alyssum maritimum. But even if a few of the names admit of this prosaic derivation, it does but enhance their interest, by making them proofs of the common tendency towards individual names.

Personal Names for Birds

Amongst the names for the common sparrow is Philip (Chs. Nhp.), a name of very old standing. Skelton wrote an elegy entitled A litle boke of Philip Sparrow, being the lament of a nun for the untimely death of her pet sparrow, slain by a cat. The hedge-sparrow is Betty (War.), and Juggy (Not.), the latter name being given also to the wren (Lei. Sus.). It is a derivative of Jug, formerly a favourite female name, cp. ‘Jug, Johannicula’, Coles, 1679, and Shakespeare’s ‘Whoop, Jug! I love thee’, K. Lear, I. iv. 245. The missel-thrush is called Charlie-cock (e.Yks.); the starling, Jacob (Nhp.); and Joey (Oxf.), a name shared by the green linnet (War.), and the toad (Ken.); the redwing is Jan Shewall (Cor.); the goldfinch is Jack-a-nickas, or Jack Nicol (Chs. Wal.). A curious little instance of the way in which Dr. Johnson’s knowledge and love of his native dialect crops up in his Dictionary occurs under the heading ‘Goldfinch’, cp. ‘Goldfinch.... A singing bird, so named from his golden colour. This is called in Staffordshire a proud taylor.’ In most of the Midland counties, including Staffordshire, and in others to the north and south-west, the goldfinch still bears the name of Proud Tailor. The redstart is Katie bran’-tail (Shr.); the owl is Josey (Wor. Dev.); Madge-howlet (Wor. Nrf.), a name found in Jonson’s Every Man, 1598; and Billy-wix (e.An.). Maggie-monyfeet (Sc.) is a centipede. The very common name of Maggot, or Magotty-pie, for the magpie is the same word as Magot, a pet form, now obsolete, of the name Margaret, cp. Fr. Margot, ‘diminutif très familier de Marguerite, nom vulgaire de la pie,’ Littré. The heron is Moll-hern, or Molly-heron (Midl. Wil.), pronounced in Oxford Mollern, with the accent on the first syllable; Joan-na-ma-crank (Cum.); and Frank (Sc. e.An.), from its harsh cry which sounds like Frank! Frank! The whitecap is Peggy-whitethroat (Nhp.); the raven is Ralph (Chs. Nhp.): the cock bird in the poultry yard is Richard (Som.); the pied wagtail is Polly-dishwasher (Wil.), or Polly-wash-dishes (e.An. Dor. Som.). It is interesting to note in connexion with the geographical distribution of this name in modern times, that Dr. Johnson includes ‘Dish-washer’ in his Dictionary as: ‘The name of a bird,’ without being able to specify the kind of bird to which it belonged. No doubt he had heard the name casually, but neither he nor his Scottish assistants were familiar with its use.

Names for Birds and the Hare

The name Wat (Nrf. Cor.) for the hare occurs in Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, cp.:

By this, poor Wat, far off upon a hill,