Collected below are dialect and other obscure words as used in the ballads and poems with their modern equivalents. Peter Bond has kindly supplied a few legal definitions which I had left blank. An occasional word is translated only as "?" - all suggestions gratefully received !
[a][b][c][d][e][f][g][h][i][j][k][l][m][n][o][p][q][r][s][t][v][w][y]
a' - all
A. - acre; 0.4047 hectare
ablins - maybe
aboon - above
aboot - about
advowson - the right to receive a church benefice
ae, a - one
ahint - behind
agistment - the fee for grazing cattle on anothers land
ain - own
alang - along
amense, amends - compensation
an' - and
assart - the right to clear forest for agriculture
'at - that
attainder - loss of rights on conviction for treason
auld - old
badger - one who trades in
grain
baith - both
banes - bones
barrow - ancient burial mound
batts - beating
bearin' - bearing
beath - both
bees' cap - beehive
bent - a course grass
bide - stay
billie - companion in arms, friend
bing - mining term, about 400 Kgs of lead ore
blan - ?
bodder - bother
bovate - see oxgang
brang - brought
bray - beat up
breek - britches
breist - breast
brig - bridge
brokken - broken
ca' - call
ca'd - called (named)
cam - came
capite - Tenants in capite were those who held land immediately from the Sovereign either
in right of his Crown or of some honour or manor.
Carel - Carlisle
carnage - ? (as mentioned in the Addingham Parish entry, probably a typo for cornage)
chist - chest
clabber - mud
coddled - cuddled
co'erlet - coverlet, bedcover
Codogeate - Caldewgate; Carlisle suburb just west of the River Caldew, outside the old
city walls
com - come
cornage - a rent or payment made according to the number of cattle held
cud - could
cuddent - couldn't
cum - come
d. - penny, obsolete coin, 12 to the shilling, 240 to the
pound sterling (£)
demesne - generally,
land, but also manor house plus its land
de'il - devil
deodand - the property of a person (e.g. a bull) causing the accidental death of another
would be taken by the Crown and put to some pious use.
doon - down
dought - doughty, brave, strong
du - party, social gathering, do
doot - doubt
drie - endure
duin' - doing
durst - dared
'ee - eye
ere a yen - everyone
escheat - property confiscated by the crown following conviction for treason
estrays - a strayed farm animal found on another lord's land, and which could be kept by
the landowner
fain - eager, keen to
falla - fellow
fardin - farthing, obsolete coin, four to the penny
feid - feud
feight - fight
feld - felled
felo-de-se - a suicide
fluir - floor
forby - besides
fra', frae - from
fu' - full
fwoks - folks, people
gaed - went
gammerstang -
gangling, awkward person
gane - gone
gar - to make, force
gard - made
gat - got
'gean - against
gin - if
girt - great
gitten - got
glebe - land attached to a church, used for cultivation by the vicar
glowert - glowered
gollerin' - shouting
goud - gold
grees - agrees
Grinsdel - Grinsdale, a small village west of Carlisle
gud, gude - good
hae - have
hagg - peaty, boggy
ground
hame - home
hammer'd - beat up
hawf - half
hed - had
heid - head
heriot - a payment to a manor lord on the death of a tenant
hev - have
hevvent - haven't
hough - part of cows lower leg
i' - in
'im - him
infangthief - the right to fine a thief held within ones own jurisdiction
I's - I'm
ither - other
jack - jacket, often leather reinforced with steel plates
jacobus - gold coin,
worth about £1
jerkin - jacket
jinkit - to dodge agilely
jura uxoris - in right of his wife
keav'd - many thanks to Linda Robinson for
advising that when a child was accused of "keaving around" it meant that they
were running riot "like a bull in a china shop". Failure to heed the warning
would often result in a brayin' (q.v.).
kenned - knew
know - knoll
ky - cattle
laal - little
laigh - low
lang - long
lap - leaped
leace - beat up in a fight
leal - loyal, true, faithful
leat - late
leein' - lying
leel - loyal, true, faithful
lee-lang - live-long
leet - the area of a local court's jurisdiction
leeve - live
lidder - ?
lig - lie
limmer - thief
lonnin' - lane
loodly - loudly
loup - leap
loupt, loupen - leaped
lug - ear
luiks - looks
lurry - fight, wrestle
lyke - like
lytle - little
maist feck o' - the bulk of, most of
maks - makes
maun - must
maut - malt (whisky)
meade - made
meikle - great
messuage - a house with surrounding grounds
modus - a payment in lieu of tithes
moe - more
mony - many
moss - peaty, boggy ground
Munkel - Monkhill, a small village west of Carlisle
Mworton - Morton, at one time a small village, now a western suburb of Carlisle
na - not
nae - no
naig - nag, horse
nane - none
ne' - no, any
ne'er - never
neet - night
neist - next
nin - none
nit - not
nobbut - only
noo - now
noutegeld - probably the same as neatgeld, meaning some sort of payment based on cattle,
and perhaps similar to cornage (q.v.)
nowt - nothing
nuncio - a Papal ambassador
o' - of
od - God
o'ertane - overtaken
ony - any
oot - out
ower - over
oxgang - an eighth of a carucate; about 13 acres of land
pannage - the right to allow swine to graze in woodland
parlish - perilous
P. or p. - pole,
obsolete measure of land area
'plain - complain
pleace - place
plumet - small feather
poddish - porridge
pruived - proved
purp(r)esture - the wrongful enclosing of another man's property, or of the property of
the public.
puture - the right of a forester to food for himself, his horse and dogs within the forest
quarterage - money paid 4 times a year, frequently the
payment for education
quickset - hedge
quit rent - money paid
in lieu of service
R. or r. - rood, obsolete measure of land area
rade - rode
rang - wrong
reet - right
rickle - heap
rwoarin' - roaring
s. - shilling, an obsolete coin, 20 to the pound sterling
(£)
sac - the right of a
lord of a manor to hold a court
sae - so
sax - six
seisin - possession
sic - such
sham - shame
shieling - summer pasture, or a shelter connected with the same
shooted - shouted
shou'd - should
slae - slay
soc - the right to hold a local court
sooth - truth
sma' - small
soke - the area falling under sac (q.v.)
soom - swim
souple - cudgel
speed - end, finish
St. Mary's knot (to tie with) - to hamstring a horse
Stanwick Brow - Stanwix Bank; the north bank of the River Eden in Carlisle
stawn - stolen
steelin' - stealing
stint - the right to pasture a certain number of animals on allotments of the common
lands, for neighbouring townships (personal communication, Philip Bingham)
strang - strong
struik - struck
stuid - stood
stur - stir
stwory - story
suin, sune - soon
syne - then, next; also ago, since
t' - the, to
takens - tokens
tall'd - told
teable - table
tell - count
tel'd - counted
thae - those
theam - ?
thee, thoo - you
the'r - their
theer - there
thir - those
tho' - though
thol - tolerate
thowt - thought
tumulus - an ancient burial mound
twa, twea - two
tweasome - twosome
varra - very
wa' - wall
wad - would
waddent - wouldn't
wae - woe
waife - found goods, as though lost by a thief during his escape
warren - the right to keep or hunt rabbits
wasna sweer - wasn't loth
wat - to know
weel, weil - well
wer' - were
wha - who
whang'd - threw
whelt - blow, to hit
whully ba-lurry - hullabaloo
wi', wid - with
Worton - Orton, a small village west of Carlisle
ye - you
yell - whole
yen - one
Yerl - Earl
ygh - eye
21 May 2006
© Steve Bulman