The following pages must not be considered as comprising an exhaustive Glossary of our Wiltshire Folk-speech. The field is a wide one, and though much has been accomplished much more still remains to be done. None but those who have themselves attempted such a task know how difficult it is to get together anything remotely approaching a complete list of the dialect words used in a single small parish, to say nothing of a large county, such as ours. Even when the words themselves have been collected, the work is little more than begun. Their range in time and place, their history and etymology, the side-lights thrown on them by allusions in local or general literature, their relation to other English dialects, and a hundred such matters, more or less interesting, have still to be dealt with. However, in spite of many difficulties and hindrances, the results of our five years or more of labour have proved very satisfactory, and we feel fully justified in claiming for this Glossary that it contains the most complete list of Wiltshire words and phrases which has as yet been compiled. More than one-half of the words here noted have never before appeared in any Wiltshire Vocabulary, many of them being now recorded for the first time for any county, while in the case of the remainder much additional information will be found given, as well as numerous examples of actual folk-talk.

The greater part of these words were originally collected by us as rough material for the use of the compilers of the projected English Dialect Dictionary, and have been appearing in instalments during the last two years in the Wilts ArchÆological Magazine (vol. xxvi, pp. 84-169, and 293-314; vol. xxvii, pp. 124-159), as Contributions towards a Wiltshire Glossary. The whole list has now been carefully revised and much enlarged, many emendations being made, and a very considerable number of new words inserted, either in the body of the work, or as Addenda. A few short stories, illustrating the dialect as actually spoken now and in Akerman's time, with a brief Introduction dealing with Pronunciation, &c., and Appendices on various matters of interest, have also been added; so that the size of the work has been greatly increased.

As regards the nature of the dialect itself, the subject has been fully dealt with by abler pens than ours, and we need only mention here that it belongs to what is now known as the South-Western group, which also comprises most of Dorset, Hants, Gloucester, and parts of Berks and Somerset. The use of dialect would appear gradually to be dying out now in the county, thanks, perhaps, to the spread of education, which too often renders the rustic half-ashamed of his native tongue. Good old English as at base it is,—for many a word or phrase used daily and hourly by the Wiltshire labourer has come down almost unchanged, even as regards pronunciation, from his Anglo-Saxon forefathers,—it is not good enough for him now. One here, and another there, will have been up to town, only to come back with a stock of slang phrases and misplaced aspirates, and a large and liberal contempt for the old speech and the old ways. The natural result is that here, as elsewhere, every year is likely to add considerably to the labour of collecting, until in another generation or so what is now difficult may become an almost hopeless task. No time should be lost, therefore, in noting down for permanent record every word and phrase, custom or superstition, still current among us, that may chance to come under observation.

The words here gathered together will be found to fall mainly under three heads;—(1) Dialect, as Caddle, (2) Ordinary English with some local shade of meaning, as Unbelieving, and (3) Agricultural, as Hyle, many of the latter being also entitled to rank as Dialect. There may also be noted a small number of old words, such as toll and charm, that have long died out of standard English, but still hold their own among our country people. We have not thought it advisable, as a general rule, to follow the example set us by our predecessors in including such words as archet and deaw, which merely represent the local pronunciation of orchard and dew; nor have we admitted cantankerous, tramp, and certain others that must now rank with ordinary English, whatever claim they may once have had to be considered as provincial. More leniency, however, has been exercised with regard to the agricultural terms, many that are undoubtedly of somewhat general use being retained side by side with those of more local limitation.

The chief existing sources of information are as follows:—(1) the Glossary of Agricultural Terms in Davis's General View of the Agriculture of Wilts, 1809; reprinted in the ArchÆological Review, March, 1888, with many valuable notes by Prof. Skeat; (2) The Word-list in vol. iii. of Britton's Beauties of Wilts, 1825; collated with Akerman, and reprinted in 1879 for the English Dialect Society, with additions and annotations, by Prof. Skeat; (3) Akerman's North Wilts Glossary, 1842, based upon Britton's earlier work; (4) Halliwell's Dictionary, 1847, where may be found most (but not all) of the Wiltshire words occurring in our older literature, as the anonymous fifteenth-century Chronicon Vilodunense, the works of John Aubrey, Bishop Kennett's Parochial Antiquities, and the collections by the same author, which form part of the Lansdowne MSS.; (5) Wright's Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, 1859, which is mainly a condensation of Halliwell's work, but contains a few additional Wiltshire words; (6) a Word-list in Mr. E. Slow's Wiltshire Poems, which he has recently enlarged and published separately; and (7) the curious old MS. Vocabulary belonging to Mr. W. Cunnington, a verbatim reprint of which will be found in the Appendix.

Other authorities that must here be accorded a special mention are a paper On some un-noted Wiltshire Phrases, by the Rev. W. C. Plenderleath, in the Wilts ArchÆological Magazine; Britten and Holland's invaluable Dictionary of English Plant-names, which, however, is unfortunately very weak as regards Wilts names; the Rev. A. C. Smith's Birds of Wiltshire; Akerman's Wiltshire Tales; the Flower-class Reports in the Sarum Diocesan Gazette; the very scarce Song of Solomon in North Wilts Dialect, by Edward Kite, a work of the highest value as regards the preservation of local pronunciation and modes of expression, but containing very few words that are not in themselves ordinary English; the works of Richard Jefferies; Canon Jackson's valuable edition of Aubrey's Wiltshire Collections; and Britton's condensation of the Natural History of Wilts. In Old Country and Farming Words, by Mr. Britten, 1880, much information as to our agricultural terms may be found, gathered together from the Surveys and similar sources. Lastly, the various Glossaries of the neighbouring counties, by Cope, Barnes, Jennings, and other writers, should be carefully collated with our Wiltshire Glossaries, as they often throw light on doubtful points. Fuller particulars as to these and other works bearing on the subject will be found in the Appendix on Wiltshire Bibliography.

We regret that it has been found impossible to carry out Professor Skeat's suggestion that the true pronunciation should in all doubtful cases be clearly indicated by its Glossic equivalent. To make such indications of any practical value they should spring from a more intimate knowledge of that system than either of us can be said to possess. The same remarks will also apply to the short notes on Pronunciation, &c., where our utter inexperience as regards the modern scientific systems of Phonetics must be pleaded as our excuse for having been compelled to adopt methods that are as vague as they are unscientific.

To the English Dialect Society and its officers we are deeply indebted for their kindness and generosity in undertaking to adopt this Glossary, and to publish it in their valuable series of County Glossaries, as well as for the courtesy shown us in all matters connected with the work. We have also to thank the Wilts ArchÆological Society for the space afforded us from time to time in their Magazine, and the permission granted us to reprint the Word-lists therefrom.

In our Prefaces to these Word-lists we mentioned that we should be very glad to receive any additions or suggestions from those interested in the subject. The result of these appeals has been very gratifying, not only with regard to the actual amount of new material so obtained, but also as showing the widespread interest felt in a branch of Wiltshire ArchÆology which has hitherto been somewhat neglected, and we gladly avail ourselves of this opportunity of repeating our expression of thanks to all those who have so kindly responded. To Dr. Jennings we owe an extremely lengthy list of Malmesbury words, from which we have made numerous extracts. We have found it of special value, as showing the influence of Somersetshire on the vocabulary and pronunciation of that part of the county. To Sir C. Hobhouse we are indebted for some interesting words, amongst which the survival of the A.S. attercop is well worth noting. We have to thank Mr. W. Cunnington for assistance in many ways, and for the loan of MSS. and books, which we have found of great service. To Mr. J. U. Powell and Miss Kate Smith we owe the greater part of the words marked as occurring in the Deverill district. Mr. E. J. Tatum has given us much help as regards local Plant-names: Miss E. Boyer-Brown, Mr. F. M. Willis, Mr. E. Slow, Mr. James Rawlence, Mr. F. A. Rawlence, Mr. C. E. Ponting, Mr. R. Coward, the Rev. W. C. Plenderleath, Mr. Septimus Goddard, Mrs. Dartnell, the Rev. C. Soames, and the Rev. G. Hill must also be specially mentioned. We are indebted to Mr. W. Gale, gardener at Clyffe Pypard Vicarage, for valuable assistance rendered us in verifying words and reporting new ones.

We take this opportunity of acknowledging gratefully the assistance which we have throughout the compilation of this Glossary received from H. N. Goddard, Esq., of the Manor, Clyffe Pypard, to whose wide knowledge and long experience of Wiltshire words and ways we owe many valuable suggestions; from the Rev. A. Smythe-Palmer, D.D., who has taken much interest in the work, and to whose pen we owe many notes; from Professor Skeat, who kindly gave us permission to make use of his reprints; and last, but by no means least, from the Rev. A. L. Mayhew, who most kindly went through the whole MS., correcting minutely the etymologies suggested, and adding new matter in many places.

In conclusion, we would say that we hope from time to time to publish further lists of Addenda in the Wilts ArchÆological Magazine or elsewhere, and that any additions and suggestions will always be very welcome, however brief they may be. The longest contributions are not always those of most value, and it has more than once happened that words and phrases of the greatest interest have occurred in a list whose brevity was its only fault.

George Edward Dartnell,
Abbottsfield, Stratford Road, Salisbury.

Edward Hungerford Goddard,
The Vicarage, Clyffe Pypard, Wootton Bassett.

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