The touser is a large apron or wrapper to come quite round and keep the under garments clean. By a courant with the boys, they mean a game of running romps. It is not at all uncommon in other parts of the country to hear the people say, “It was a fine courant,” “We’ve had a good courant,” when they intend to express the enjoyment of some pleasure party. These are, however, probably more nearly allied to Norman-French.
There are some proverbial expressions peculiar to the west:—
“Sow barley in dree, and wheat in pul.”[69]
“To make an old nail good, right it on wood.”
“Fill the sack, then it can stand.”
The last meaning that neither man nor beast can work on an empty stomach.
The following are a few of less common expressions, preserving remarkable words:—
’Tis not bezibd—It is not allotted me.
He will never scrip it—He will never escape it.
He is nothing pridy—He is not handsome.