The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire Part 4

Blood-sucker. _s._ A leech.

b.l.o.o.d.y-warrior. _s._ The wall-flower.

Boar. _s._ The peculiar head or first flowing of water from one to two feet high at spring tides, in the river Parret a few miles below and at Bridgewater, and in some other rivers.

[In Johnson's Dictionary this is spelt _bore_; I prefer the above spelling. I believe the word is derived from the animal _Boar_, from the noise, rus.h.i.+ng, and impetuosity of the water, Todd gives it "a tide swelling above another tide." Writers vary in their opinions on the causes of this phenomenon. St.

Pierre. Ouvres, tom vi., p. 234, Ed. Hamburgh, 1797, describes it not exactly the same in the Seine as in the Parret:--"Cette montagne d'eau est produite par les marees qui entrent, de la mer dans la Seine, et la font refluer contre son cours. On l'appelle la _Barre_, parce-qu'elle _barre_ le cours de la Seine.

Cette barre est suivee d'une seconde barre plus elevee, qui la suit a cent toises de distance. Elles courent beaucoup plus vite qu'un cheval au galop." He says it is called _Bar_, because it _bars_ the current. In the Encyclop. Metropol., art.

_Bore_, the editor did not seem more fortunate in his derivation.]

Bobbish. _adj._ In health, and spirits. [_Pirty bobbish_, pretty well.] Bonk. _s._ Bank.

Booat. _s._ Boat.

Booath. _p.r.o.n._ Both. "_Boo'ath o' ye_; both of you.

Bor'rid. _adj._ A sow is said to be borrid when she wants the male.

Bote. _part._ Bought.

Bow. _s._ A small arched bridge.

Boy's-love. _s._ Southernwood; a species of mugwort; _artemisia abrotonum_.

Brave. _adj._ Well; recovering.

Bran. _s._ A brand; a stump of a tree, or other irregular and large piece of wood, fit only for burning.

Bran-vier. _s._ A fire made with brands.

Bran'dis. _s._ A semicircular implement of iron, made to be suspended over the fire, on which various things may be prepared; it is much used for warming milk.

Brash. _s._ Any sudden development; a crash.

Brick'le, Brick'ly. _adj._ Brittle; easily broken.

Brim'mle. _s._ A bramble.

To Bring gwain. _v. a._ [_To bring going._] To spend; to accompany some distance on a journey.

To Brit. _v. a._ To indent; to make an impression: applied to solid bodies.

Brock. _s._ An irregular piece of peat dried for fuel; a piece of turf. _See_ TURF.

Bruck'le, Bruck'ly. _adj._ Not coherent; easily separable: applied to solid bodies. "My things are but in a bruckle state."

Waverley, v. 2, p. 328, edit. 1821. _See_ BRICKLE.

Bruck'leness. _s._ The state of being bruckle.

To Buck. _v. n._ To swell out.

To Bud'dle. _v._ To suffocate in mud.

To Bulge. _v. a._ To indent; to make an irregular impression on a solid body; to bruise. It is also used in a neuter sense.

Bulge. _s._ An indentation; an irregular impression made on some solid body; a swelling outwards or depression inwards.

Bul'len. _adj._ Wanting the bull.

Bul'lins. _s. pl._ Large black sloes; a variety of the wild plum.

Bun'gee. _s._ (g hard), Any thing thick and squat.

Bunt, Bunting, _s._ Bolting cloth.

Bunt. _s._ A bolting-mill.

To Bunt. _v. a._ To separate flour from the bran.

Bur'cot. _s._ A load.

Buss. _s._ A half grown calf.

But. _s._ A conical and peculiar kind of basket or trap used in large numbers for catching salmon in the river Parret. The term _but_, would seem to be a generic one, the actual meaning of which I do not know; it implies, however, some containing vessel or utensil. _See_ BEE-BUT. _But_, applied to beef, always means _b.u.t.tock._

b.u.t.ter-and-eggs. _s._ A variety of the daffodil.

Bwile. _v._ Boil.

Bwye. _interj._ Bye! adieu. This, as well as _good-bye_ and _good-bwye_, is evidently corrupted from _G.o.d be with you_; G.o.d-be-wi' ye, equivalent to the French _a Dieu_, to G.o.d. Bwye, and good-bwye, are, therefore, how vulgar soever they may seem, more a.n.a.logous than _bye_ and _good-bye_.

C.

Callyvan'. _s._ A pyramidal trap for catching birds.

Car'riter. _s._ Character.

Cas. Because.

Ca.s.s'n, Ca.s.s'n't. Canst not: as, _Thee ca.s.s'n do it_, thou canst not do it.

Catch corner. A game commonly called elsewhere puss in the corner.

Cat'terpillar. _s._ The c.o.c.kchafer; _Scarabeus melolontha_.