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 Pembrokeshire, and a part of Glamorganshire, 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_.