Dorsetshire Dialect, appended to his Poems of Rural Life.
Bunch, A. A blow, or the effects of a blow; and then a blotch, burn, scald, pimple, in which latter senses "bladder" is also often used. The verb "to bunch," to strike, is sometimes heard. See Mr. Wedgewood (as before, p. 269) on its allied forms.
Cammock, The. (From the Old-English cammec, cammoc, cammuc.) The various species of St. John's-wort, so plentiful in the neighbourhood of the New Forest; then, any yellow flower, as the fleabane (Pulica dysenterica) and ragwort (Senecio Jacobæa). In Dorsetshire, according to Mr. Barnes, it only means the rest-harrow (Ononis arvensis).
Cass, A. A spar used in thatching, called in the Midland and North-Western Counties a "buckler." Before it is made into a cass, it is called a "spargad."
Cattan, A. A sort of noose or hinge, which unites the "hand-stick" to the flail. It is made in two parts. The joint which joins the "hand-stick" is formed of ash or elm, whilst that which fits the flail is made of leather, as it is required to be more flexible near the part which strikes the floor. Mr. Wright and Mr. Halliwell give as a North-country word the verb "catton." to beat, with which there is evidently some connection.
Childag, A. A chilblain. Often called simply a "dag," and "chilbladder."
Cleet, A. More generally used in the plural, as "cleets." Iron tips on a shoe. Hence we have the expression, "to cleet oxen," that is, to shoe them when they work.
Close. Hard, sharp. "It hits close," means it hits hard.
Cothe. (From the Old-English "coða, coðe.") A "cothe sheep," means a sheep diseased in its liver. The springs in the New Forest are said "to cothe" the sheep—that is, to disease their livers. Hence we have such places as "Cothy Mead," and "Cothy Copse." Mr. Barnes (as before) gives the form "acothed," as used in Dorsetshire.
Crink-crank. "Crink-crank words" are long words—verba sesquipedalia—not properly understood. (See Proceedings of Philological Society, vol. v. pp. 143-148.)
Crow-peck, The. The Shepherd's needle (Scandix-pecten Veneris); called also "old woman's needle." There is a common saying in the New Forest, that "Two crow-pecks are as good as an oat for a horse;" to which the reply is, "That a crow-peck and a barley-corn may be."
Crutch, A. (From the Friesic krock, connected with the Old-English crocca, our crock). A dish, or earthenware pipkin. We daily in the New Forest and the neighbourhood hear of lard and butter crutches. The word "shard," too, by the way, is still used in the Forest for a cup, and housewives still speak of a "shard of tea."
Cuttran, A. A wren; more commonly called a "cutty;" which last word Mr. Barnes gives in his Glossary of the Dorsetshire Dialect, p. 331, but which is common throughout the West of England. As Mr. Barnes, p. 354, observes, the word is nothing more than cutty wren—the little wren. (See "Kittywitch," Transactions of Philological Society, 1855, p. 33.)
Decker, or Dicker, To. One of the old forms of to deck; literally, to cover; from the Old-English "þeccan;" in German, decken. It now, however, only signifies to ornament or spangle. A lady's fingers are said to be deckered with rings, or the sky with stars.
Deer's-milk. Wood-spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides). So called from the white viscous juice which exudes from its stalks when gathered.
