are current in society, which no lexicographer has arrested, but which are nevertheless useful words. Books are not, in fact, the only sources whence information of this kind should be derived. In compiling this Glossary I have derived very little assistance from books; but have defined the words from their actual usage. If some of the definitions should not appear so correct as could be desired, it will, I hope, be remembered that the path was, in great measure, untrodden, and that a follower in the same walk may find it much more smooth. But, although I have derived little assistance from books, the reader should know that I have carefully consulted Junius, Skinner, Minshew, and some other of our old lexicographers. In these, it is true, I have found several of the words which are in my Glossary; and I find also that many of their definitions are correct, and will correspond with my own; but their conjectural etymologies are, in too many instances, calculated to mislead. For this reason, I have myself avoided conjectural etymology; and have only mentioned the derivation when high probability or absolute certainty was apparent. It is remarkable that few, if any, dictionaries of our language are to be obtained which were published from the invention of the art of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century and during the whole of the sixteenth, a period of about one hundred and fifty years. These dictionaries would, no doubt, throw considerable light on our early literature and provincial words. It is true some scarce copies of such works are to be found, I understand, in the cabinets of the curious, but they are not accessible to the general reader. Yet, after all, it must be admitted that, besides a practical and extensive acquaintance with the viva voce dialect, our OLD WRITERS are our chief resource in this study; and I doubt not that many MSS. now in the various depositaries in this country which were written at different periods of our history, before printing was introduced, would throw the most light on this subject. From an extensive view of the dialects of this country, and particularly of those of the West of England, I think we cannot avoid arriving at the conclusion, that the Anglo-Saxon dialect, of which I conceive the dialect of the West to be a striking portion, has been gradually retiring to make way for our polished idiom, till that original dialect has ceased to be considered any thing but a barbarism; whereas many of the sounds of that dialect will be found in Holland and in Germany a part of the respective living languages of those countries, as well as in other districts of the North of Europe. To a person, therefore, acquainted with this dialect, who has leisure, and who should feel disposed to go through a course of study amongst our old writers, and who has an opportunity of examining our old MSS., an abundant harvest offers, from which an amusing book might be made, illustrative of many of our provincial words and of our ancient manners. But such leisure, whatever may be my disposition, does not fall to my share; the compilation of such a work must be left to some more fortunate individual than myself. I must be contented with having thus far elucidated the language of my native county. I have omitted several words which I supposed provincial, and which are of frequent occurrence in the West; but as I have found them in Todd's Johnson, I thought it useless to repeat them here. A few words will, however, be I found in this Glossary which have a place in Todd's Johnson. These I have given, either because I did not conceive Mr. Todd's definition correct, or in order to make some observations on their etymology, or for some other reason. cannot take my leave of this labour without adding, that although TODD's JOHNSON will still admit of considerable addition and improvement, it contains, in my judgment, the greatest mass of information on the subject of our own language at present extant. In another edition many of Dr. Johnson's definitions should be corrected, they are manifestly erroneous; the accentuation should also be improved: instead of the accent being always placed over the vowel, it should be varied according as the stress is on the vowel or on the consonant. In concluding these observations on the dialects of the West, I would direct the reader's attention to the very general use of the demonstrative pronoun thic for that; as, thic house, that house; thic man, that man, &c. Chaucer uses the word very often, but he spells it thilk. |