Among the distinctive peculiarities of this dialect, as opposed to the rival idiom, we may mention a broader and more open enunciation of the vowels-the substitution of the dipthongal oi for the i long, in such words as mile, fine, &c., making them moile, foin, &c.; the substitution of ai in the place of the dipthong ea; and the preference shown to the plural are in place of the legitimate am or be—“I are, he are,” are barbarisms constantly heard. On the borders of Leicester and Rutland the long open sound of the a, in such words as day, maid, &c., has a strong tendency to become e. The inflexions of the verbs are often omitted, and words in which a has the short sound of o, as in wash, mash, &c., become waish, maish, &c.

In the neighbourhood of Thrapstone the speech of the country people is characterised by a very general omission of the article and preposition: a peculiarity which by no means improves the beauty of the phraseology.

According to Mastin, the inhabitants of the Highlands about Naseby were noted for the loudness of their utterance. "They speak a kind of provincial dialect, and in general vociferate very loudly, supposed to be owing to their being brought up in so elevated a situation, where the winds, storms, and tempests, particularly in the winter season, prevail so far as to confound their language," History of Naseby. Camb. 1792. Dissimilar as are the methods of pronunciation in

the two districts, the verbal peculiarities are not less so, and are equally suggestive of the diverse origin of the populations. In our progress from North to South, not only do we meet with many striking variations in the verbs and other terms of colloquial intercourse, but the substantives, names of natural objects, birds, plants, &c., undergo a marked and decided change. Many instances of this will be found in the subjoined Glossary. We may point, for instance, to the lady-bird (Cocinella L.), which in the Southern district is termed the "lady-lock;" in the Lingua franca, keow-lady;" and still farther North, the "clock," or "clock-a-clay." The process of collecting corn after the reapers, known in the Southern district as "leasing," is called "picking," or "poikin," in some parts of North Northamptonshire and Leicestershire; while in the central districts no other term is recognised than the orthodox "gleaning." In the Northern and SouthEastern districts, the words, bridge, shock, must, and self, assume the North-Country form of brig, stouk, mun, and sen.*

66

The value and utility of provincial glossaries is now

* These material differences in our provincialisms render it desirable that each word should, as far as possible, be assigned to its correct limit: in the Glossary, therefore, the n. and s., to distinguish our northern and southern provincialisms, take the place generally assigned to the usual, but somewhat unnecessary, abbreviations of the parts of speech. Their absence, for the most part, implies that the term is common to both dialects.

so fully established, and generally acknowledged, that any remarks on that head would be superfluous. It therefore only remains to state the system which has been pursued in the present collection. Considering the diverse nature of the Northamptonshire dialects, it has appeared to the compiler that a complete list of all the provincial words and phrases used within the limits of the county would much increase the size of the volume, without adding an equivalent increase to our stock of philological knowledge. Under this impression he has omitted numerous words occurring in other glossaries, such as stale, law, &c., which, though perhaps provincial, can scarcely be termed dialectal. Had he aimed at a complete glossary, he must have inserted the whole of Batchelor's Bedfordshire Collection, scarcely a word recorded in which but is also current in the neighbouring districts of Northamptonshire. Modern vulgarisms have, in all cases, been omitted; and great care has been taken to prevent the admission of any word not properly indigenous to the county—a precaution which, in our days of change and locomotion, when the lingual peculiarities of our provinces are daily becoming modified by the approach of the schoolmaster and steam-engine, can scarcely be too rigidly exercised.

THE

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GLOSSARY.

A. This pronoun, which has the sound of the inarticulate a, is used for he, she, and sometimes it; similar to the ou described by Marshall, and as having the same force in Gloucestershire. In the northern parts of the county, its signification is generally confined to the first person, masculine. Ancient instances of a similar usage are too common to need quotation here.

2. With. Ex. "

me.

a cam in a me," she came in with

ABEER, s. To bear with, tolerate. "I kaint abeer him." A. S. abæran, tolerare.

ADDLE, n. To earn. A. S ædlean, præmium. Car. Tees. Ev.

ADDLE,
ADLANDS

The head-land of a field. Harts. Ev.

AFEAR, 8. To frighten. "That dwant afear ma." A. s.

S. færan. Hart, fear.

AFEARD. Pret. of the above. To be found in

Chaucer, and most of the early writers.

Bar. Jen. Ev. Hart.

AFIELD. Gone to the fields, out in them.

Ak. Her.

"Wheer's

B

maester?" "Up afield." An extension of the principle on which such words as aboard, ajar, &c. are formed.

AFTER-MATH. The second crop of grass. A. S. æfter post, math messis. Also called Latter-math. Ak. AGEN. Against. A. S. agen. For. Tees. Hart. Bar. AGGLE, s. To cut uneven. A. S. haccan. Sui. G. hagga, cædere. Ak. agg. Car. haggle. AHENT, n. Behind. Jam. Ev.

AHOH, s. All on one side. "The luoad's all ahoh." A. S. awoh torte. Ak. Hart. ayoh.

AISTER-EAL. Easter-ale. An extra allowance of ale given to the labourers at Easter, (pron. Aister,) as on the other great festivals of the Church. AIRN, s. Either of them, e'er a one. "He have airn." Bar. arn.

AKKER, 8. To shake or tremble. A. S. acolian, frigere. Ak.

AKKERD, s. Awkward. The full open sound of the or and aw, is almost unknown in the southern district; thus we have arched for orchard, crass for cross, &c.

AKKERN, s. An acorn.

Tc. akarn.

A. S. akarn. Dan. aggern.

Hart. akkorn.

ALM. An elm. Sw. Alm.

ALMEN. Made of elm.

AMWAST. Almost. Amaist is the northern form.

Vide Hart.

AN, s. Of. Invariably so before a vowel. Ex. “I

ON, n.

yerd nothin an it." Shortened before a

consonant to a. Ex. "A piece a me-at"