Elementary schools,159.Exaggeration and redundancy,120.Existence, way of predicating,23.Eye of a bridge; the arch.Faireen (south), fairin (north); a present either given in a fair or brought from it. Used in another sense—a lasting injury of any kind:—'Poor Joe got a faireen that day, when the stone struck him on the eye, which I'm afraid the eye will never recover.' Used all over Ireland and in Scotland.Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou'lt get thy fairin',In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.(Burns.)Fair-gurthra; 'hungry grass.' There is a legend all through Ireland that small patches of grass grow here and there on mountains; and if a person in walking along happens to tread on one of them he is instantly overpowered with hunger so as tobe quite unable to walk, and if help or food is not at hand he will sink down and perish. That persons are attacked and rendered helpless by sudden hunger on mountains in this manner is certain. Mr. Kinahan gives me an instance where he had to carry his companion, a boy, on his back a good distance to the nearest house: and Maxwell in 'Wild Sports of the West' gives others. But he offers the natural explanation: that a person is liable to sink suddenly with hunger if he undertakes a hard mountain walk with a long interval after food. Irishfeur, grass;gorta, hunger.Fairy breeze. Sometimes on a summer evening you suddenly feel a very warm breeze: that is a band of fairies travelling from one fort to another; and people on such occasions usually utter a short prayer, not knowing whether the 'good people' are bent on doing good or evil. (G. H. Kinahan.) Like the Shee-geeha, which see.Fairy-thimble, the same as 'Lusmore,' which see.Famished; distressed for want of something:—'I am famished for a smoke—for a glass,' &c.Farbreaga; a scarecrow. Irishfear, a man:breugfalsehood: a false or pretended man.Farl; one quarter of a griddle cake. (Ulster.)Faúmera [therhas the slender sound]; a big strolling beggarman or idle fellow. From the IrishFomor. TheFomorsorFomoraor Fomorians were one of the mythical colonies that came to Ireland (see any of my Histories of Ireland, Index): some accounts represent them as giants. In Clare the country people that go to the seaside in summer for the benefit of the 'salt water' arecalledFaumeras. In Tramore they are calledolishes[o long]; because in the morning before breakfast they go down to the strand and take a goodswigof the salt water—an essential part of the cure—and when one meets another he (or she) asks in Irish 'ar ólish,' 'did you drink?' In Kilkee the dogfish is calledFaumera, for the dogfish is among the smaller fishes like what legend represents the Fomorians in Ireland.Faustus, Dr., in Irish dialect,60.Fear is often used among us in the sense ofdanger. Once during a high wind the ship's captain neatly distinguished it when a frightened lady asked him:—'Is there any fear, sir?' 'There's plenty of fear, madam, but no danger.'Feck or fack; a spade. From the very old Irish word,fec, same sound and meaning.Fellestrum, the flagger (marsh plant). Irishfelestrom. (South.)Fetch; what the English call adouble, a preternatural apparition of a living person, seen usually by some relative or friend. If seen in the morning the person whose fetch it is will have a long and prosperous life: if in the evening the person will soon die.Finane or Finaun; the white half-withered long grass found in marshy or wet land. Irishfinnorfionn, white, with the diminutive.Finely and poorly are used to designate the two opposite states of an invalid. 'Well, Mrs. Lahy, how is she?' [Nora the poor sick little girl]. 'Finely, your reverence,' Honor replied (going on well). The old sinner Rody, having accidentallyshot himself, is asked how he is going on:—'Wisha, poorly, poorly' (badly). (G. Griffin.)Finger—to put a finger in one's eye; to overreach and cheat him by cunning:—'He'd be a clever fellow that would put a finger in Tom's eye.'First shot, in distilling pottheen; the weak stuff that comes off at the first distillation: also called singlings.Flahoolagh, plentiful; 'You have a flahoolagh hand, Mrs. Lyons': 'Ah, we got a flahoolagh dinner and no mistake.' Irishflaith[flah], a chief, andamhail[ooal], like, with the adjectival terminationach:flahoolagh, 'chieftain-like.' For the old Irish chiefs kept open houses, with full and plenty—launa-vaula—for all who came. (South.)Flipper; an untidy man. (Limerick.)Flitters; tatters, rags:—'His clothes were all inflitters.'Flog; to beat, to exceed:—'That flogs Europe' ('Collegians'), i.e. it beats Europe: there's nothing in Europe like it.Fluke, something very small or nothing at all. 'What did you get from him?' 'Oh I got flukes' (or 'flukes in a hand-basket')—meaning nothing. Sometimes it seems to mean a small coin, likecrossandkeenoge. 'When I set out on that journey I hadn't a fluke.' (North and South.)Fockle; a big torch made by lighting a sheaf of straw fixed on a long pole: fockles were usually lighted on St. John's Eve. (Limerick.) It is merely the German wordfackel, a torch, brought to Limerick by the Palatine colony. (See p.65.)Fog-meal; a great meal or big feed: a harvest dinner.Fooster; hurry, flurry, fluster, great fuss. Irishfústar, same sound and meaning. (Hayden and Hartog.)'Then Tommy jumped about elate,Tremendous was hisfooster—O;Says he, "I'll send a message straightTo my darling Mr. Brewster—O!"'(Repeal Song of 1843.)Forbye; besides. (Ulster.)For good; finally, for ever: 'he left home for good.'Fornent, fornenst, forenenst; opposite: he and I sat fornenst each other in the carriage.'Yet here you strut in open dayFornenst my house so freely—O.'(Repeal Song of 1843.)An old English word, now obsolete in England, but very common in Ireland.Foshla; a marshy weedy rushy place; commonly applied to the ground left after a cut-away bog. (Roscommon.)Four bones; 'Your own four bones,'127.Fox; (verb) to pretend, to feign, to sham: 'he's not sick at all, he's only foxing.' Also to cut short the ears of a dog.Frainey; a small puny child:—'Here, eat this bit, you littlefrainey.'Fraughans; whortleberries. Irishfraoch, with the diminutive. See Hurt.Freet; a sort of superstition or superstitious rite. (Ulster.)Fresh and Fresh:—'I wish you to send me the butter every morning: I like to have it fresh and fresh.'This is English gone out of fashion: I remember seeing it in Pope's preface to 'The Dunciad.'Frog's jelly; the transparent jelly-like substance found in pools and ditches formed by frogs round their young tadpoles,121.Fum; soft spongy turf. (Ulster.) Calledsoosaunin Munster.Gaatch [aalong as incar], an affected gesture or movement of limbs body or face:gaatches; assuming fantastic ridiculous attitudes. (South.)Gad; a withe: 'as tough as a gad.' (Irishgad,60.)Gadderman; a boy who puts on the airs of a man; a mannikin ormanneen, which see. (Simmons: Armagh.)Gaffer; an old English word, but with a peculiar application in Ireland, where it means a boy, a young chap. 'Come here, gaffer, and help me.'Gag; a conceited foppish young fellow, who tries to figure as a swell.Gah´ela or gaherla; a little girl. (Kane: Ulster.) Same asgirsha.Gaileen; a little bundle of rushes placed under the arms of a beginner learning to swim. (Joyce: Limerick.) When you support the beginner's head keeping it above water with your hands while he is learning the strokes: that we used to designate 'giving a gaileen.'Galbally, Co. Limerick,156.Galoot: a clownish fellow.Galore; plenty, plentiful. Irish adverbgo leór,4.Gankinna; a fairy, a leprachaun. (Morris: South Mon.) Irishgann, small.Gannoge; an undefined small quantity. (Antrim.) Irishgann, small, with diminutiveóg.Garden, in the South, is always applied to a field of growing potatoes. 'In the land courts we never asked "How many acres of potatoes?"; but "How many acres of garden?"' (Healy.) A usual inquiry is 'How are your gardens going on?' meaning 'How are your potato crops doing?'Garlacom; a lingering disease in cows believed to be caused by eating a sort of herb. (P. Moran: Meath.)Garland Sunday; the first Sunday in August (sometimes called Garlick Sunday.)Garron, garraun; an old worn-out horse. (Irishgearrán.)Gash; a flourish of the pen in writing so as to form an ornamental curve, usually at the end. (Limerick.)Gatha; an effeminate fellow who concerns himself in women's business: aSheela. (Joyce: Limerick.)Gatherie; a splinter of bog-deal used as a torch. (Moran: Carlow.) Also a small cake (commonly smeared with treacle) sold in the street on market days. Irishgeataire[gatthera], same meanings.Gaug; a sore crack in the heel of a person who goes barefooted. (Moran: Carlow.) Irishgág[gaug], a cleft, a crack.Gaulsh; to loll. (MacCall: Wexford.)Gaunt or gant; to yawn. (Ulster.)Gaurlagh; a little child, a baby: an unfledged bird. Irishgárlach, same sound and meanings.Gawk; a tall awkward fellow. (South.)Gawm, gawmoge; a soft foolish fellow. (South.) Irishgám, same meaning. See Gommul.Gazebo; a tall building; any tall object; a tall awkward person.Gazen, gazened; applied to a wooden vessel of any kind when the joints open by heat or drought so that it leaks. (Ulster.)Gallagh-gunley; the harvest moon. (Ulster.)Gallaghgives the sound of Irishgealach, the moon, meaning whitish, fromgeal, white.Geck; to mock, to jeer, to laugh at. (Derry.)Geenagh, geenthagh; hungry, greedy, covetous. (Derry.) Irishgionachorgiontach, gluttonous.Geens; wild cherries. (Derry.)Gentle; applied to a place or thing having some connexion with the fairies—haunted by fairies. A thornbush where fairies meet is a 'gentle bush': the hazel and the foxglove (fairy-thimble) are gentle plants.Geócagh; a big strolling idle fellow. (Munster.) Irishgeocach, same sound and meaning.Geosadaun or Yosedaun [din both sounded likethinthey]; the yellow rag-weed: called also boliaun [2-syll.] and booghalaun.Get; a bastard child. (North and South.)Gibbadaun; a frivolous person. (Roscommon.) From the Irishgiob, a scrap, with the diminutive endingdán: ascrappytrifling-minded person.Gibbol [ghard as inget]; a rag: your jacket is all hanging down in gibbols.' (Limerick.) Irishgiobal, same sound and meaning.Giddhom; restlessness. In Limerick it is applied to cows when they gallop through the fields withtails cocked out, driven half mad by heat and flies: 'The cows are galloping with giddhom.' Irishgiodam, same sound and meaning.Gill-gowan, a corn-daisy. (Tyrone.) From Irishgeal, white, andgowan, the Scotch name for a daisy.Girroge [twog's sounded as inget,got]. Girroges are the short little drills where the plough runs into a corner. (Kildare and Limerick.) Irishgearr, short, with the diminutiveóg:girroge, any short little thing.Girsha; a little girl. (North and South.) Irishgeirrseach[girsagh], fromgearr, short or small, with the feminine terminationseach.Gistra [gsounded as inget], a sturdy, active old man. (Ulster.) Irishgiostaire, same sound and meaning.Gladiaathor [aalong as incar]; a gladiator, a fighting quarrelsome fellow: used as a verb also:—'he went about the fairgladiaatherin,' i.e. shouting and challenging people to fight him.Glaum, glam; to grab or grasp with the whole hand; to maul or pull about with the hands. Irishglám[glaum], same meaning.Glebe; in Ireland this word is almost confined to the land or farm attached to a Protestant rector's residence: hence calledglebe-land. See p.143.Gleeag; a small handful of straw used in plaiting straw mats: a sheaf of straw threshed. (Kildare and Monaghan.)Gleeks: to give a fellow the gleeks is to press the forefingers into the butt of the ears so as to cause pain: a rough sort of play. (Limerick.)Glenroe, Co. Limerick,68,146.Gliggeen; a voluble silly talker. (Munster.) Irishgluigín[gliggeen], a little bell, a little tinkler: fromglog, same asclog, a bell.Gliggerum; applied to a very bad old worn-out watch or clock. (Limerick.)Glit; slimy mud; the green vegetable (ducksmeat) that grows on the surface of stagnant water. (Simmons: Armagh.)Gloit; a blockhead of a young fellow. (Knowles.)Glory be to God! Generally a pious exclamation of thankfulness, fear, &c.: but sometimes an ejaculation of astonishment, wonder, admiration, &c. Heard everywhere in Ireland.Glower; to stare or glare at: 'what are you glowerin' at!' (Ulster.)Glugger [usounded as infull]; empty noise; the noise made by shaking an addled egg. Also an addled egg. Applied very often in a secondary sense to a vain empty foolish boaster. (Munster.)Glunter: a stupid person. (Knowles: Ulster.)Goaling: same as Hurling, which see.Gob; the mouth including lips: 'Shut your gob.' Irishgob, same meaning. Scotch, 'greedygab.' (Burns.)Gobshell; a big spittle direct from the mouth. (Limerick.) From Irishgob, the mouth, andseile[shella], a spittle.Gobs or jackstones; five small round stones with which little girls play against each other, by throwing them up and catching them as they fall; 'there are Nelly and Sally playing gobs.'Gods and goddesses of Pagan Ireland,177.Godspeed: see Back of God-speed.God's pocket. Mr. Kinahan writes to me:—'The first time I went to the Mullingar hotel I had a delicate child, and spoke to the landlady as to how he was to be put up [during the father's absence by day on outdoor duty]. "Oh never fear sir," replied the good old lady, "the poor child will bein God's pockethere."' Mr. K. goes on to say:—I afterwards found that in all that part of Leinster they never said 'we will make you comfortable,' but always 'you will be in God's pocket,' or 'as snug as in God's pocket.' I heard it said of a widow and orphans whose people were kind to them, that they were in 'God's pocket.' Whether Seumas MacManus ever came across this term I do not know, but he has something very like it in 'A Lad of the O'Friels,' viz., 'I'll make the little girl as happy as if she wasin Saint Peter's pocket.'Goggalagh, a dotard. (Munster.) Irishgogail, the cackling of a hen or goose; also doting; with the usual terminationach.Going on; making fun, joking, teasing, chaffing, bantering:—'Ah, now I see you are onlygoing onwith me.' 'Stop yourgoings on.' (General.)Golder [dsounded likethin further]; a loud sudden or angry shout. (Patterson: Ulster.)Goleen; an armful. See Gwaul.Gombeen man; a usurer who lends money to small farmers and others of like means, at ruinous interest. The word is now used all over Ireland. Irishgoimbín[gombeen], usury.Gommul, gommeril, gommula, all sometimes shortened togom; a simple-minded fellow, a halffool. Irishgamal,gamaille,gamairle,gamarail, all same meaning. (Gamalis also Irish for a camel.) Used all over Ireland.Good deed; said of some transaction that is a well-deserved punishment for some wrong or unjust or very foolish course of action. Bill lends some money to Joe, who never returns it, and a friend says:—''Tis a good deed Bill, why did you trust such a schemer?' Barney is bringing home a heavy load, and is lamenting that he did not bring his ass:—''Tis a good deed: where was I coming without Bobby?' (the ass). ('Knocknagow') 'I'm wet to the skin': reply:—''Tis a good deed: why did you go out without your overcoat?'Good boy: in Limerick and other parts of Munster, a young fellow who is good—strong and active—at all athletic exercises, but most especially if he is brave and tough in fighting, is 'a good boy.' The people are looking anxiously at a sailing boat labouring dangerously in a storm on the Shannon, and one of them remarks:—''Tis a good boy that has the rudder in his hand.' (Gerald Griffin.)Good people; The fairies. The word is used merely assoft sawder, tobutter them up, to curry favour with them—to show them great respect at least from the teeth out—lest they might do some injury to the speaker.Googeen [twog's as ingoodandget]; a simple soft-minded person. (Moran: Carlow.) Irishguag, same meaning, with the diminutive:guaigín.Gopen, gowpen; the full of the two hands used together. (Ulster.) Exactly the same meaning asLyrein Munster, which see.Gor; the coarse turf or peat which forms the surface of the bog. (Healy: for Ulster.)Gorb; a ravenous eater, a glutton. (Ulster.)Gorsoon: a young boy. It is hard to avoid deriving this from Frenchgarçon, all the more as it has no root in Irish. Another form often used isgossoon, which is derived from Irish:—gas, a stem or stalk, a young boy. But the terminationoonorúnis suspicious in both cases, for it is not a genuine Irish suffix at all.Gossip; a sponsor in baptism.Goster; gossipy talk. Irishgastairĕ, a prater, a chatterer. 'Dermot go 'long with your goster.' (Moore—in his youth.)Gouloge; a stick with a little fork of two prongs at the end, for turning up hay, or holding down furze while cutting. (South.) Used in the North often in the form ofgollog. Irishgabhal[gowl], a fork, with the dim.óg.Gounau; housewife [huzzif] thread, strong thread for sewing, pack thread. Irishgabhshnáth(Fr. Dinneen), same sound and meaning: fromsnáth, a thread: but how comes ingabh? In one of the Munster towns I knew a man who kept a draper's shop, and who was always calledGounau, in accordance with the very reprehensible habit of our people to give nicknames.Goureen-roe: a snipe, a jacksnipe. (Munster.) Irishgabhairín-reó, the 'little goat of the frost' (reó, frost): because on calm frosty evenings you hear its quivering sound as it flies in the twilight, very like the sound emitted by a goat.Gra, grah; love, fondness, liking. Irishgrádh[graw]. 'I have great gra for poor Tom.' I asked an Irishman who had returned from America and settled down again here and did well:—'Why did you come back from America?' 'Ah,' he replied, 'I have greatgrafor the old country.'Graanbroo; wheat boiled in new milk and sweetened: a great treat to children, and generally made from their own gleanings orliscauns, gathered in the fields. Sometimes calledbrootheen. (Munster.) The first from Irishgrán, grain, andbrúgh, to break or bruise, to reduce to pulp, or cook, by boiling.Brootheen(also applied to mashed potatoes) is frombrúgh, with the diminutive.Graanoge, graan-yoge [aain both long likeaincar], a hedgehog. Irishgráineóg, same sound.Graanshaghaun [aalong as incar]; wheat (in grain) boiled. (Joyce: Limerick.) In my early days what we calledgraanshaghaunwas wheat in grains, not boiled, but roasted in an iron pot held over the fire, the wheat being kept stirred till done.Graffaun; a small axe with edge across like an adze for grubbing orgraffingland, i.e. rooting out furze and heath in preparation for tillage. Used all through the South. 'This was the word used in Co. Cork law courts.' (Healy.) Irishgrafán, same sound and meaning.Graip or grape; a dung-fork with three or four prongs. Irishgrápa.Grammar and Pronunciation,74.Grammel; to grope or fumble or gather with both hands. (Derry.)Graves, Mr. A. P.,58, &c.Grawls; children. Paddy Corbett, thinking he isruined, says of his wife:—'God comfort poor Jillian and the grawls I left her.' (Edward Walsh.) 'There's Judy and myself and the poor little grawls.' (Crofton Croker: p. 155.)Grawvar; loving, affectionate:—'That's a grawver poor boy.' (Munster.) Irishgrádhmhar, same sound and meaning: fromgrádh, love.Grazier; a young rabbit. (South and West.)Great; intimate, closely acquainted:—'Tom Long and Jack Fogarty are very great.' (All over Ireland.) 'Come gie's your hand and sae we'regreet.' (Burns.)Greedy-gut; a glutton; a person who is selfish about stuffing himself, wishing to give nothing to anyone else. Gorrane Mac Sweeny, when his mistress is in want of provisions, lamenting that the eagles (over Glengarriff) were devouring the game that the lady wanted so badly, says:—'Is it not the greatest pity in life ... that these greedy-guts should be after swallowing the game, and my sweet mistress and her little ones all the time starving.' (Caesar Otway in 'Pen. Journ.')Greenagh; a person that hangs round hoping to get food (Donegal and North-West): a 'Watch-pot.'Greesagh; red hot embers and ashes. 'We roasted our potatoes and eggs in the greesagh.' (All over Ireland.) Irishgríosach, same sound.Greet; to cry. 'Tommy was greetin' after his mother.' (Ulster.)Greth; harness of a horse: a general name for all the articles required when yoking a horse to the cart. (Knowles: Ulster.)Griffin, Gerald, author of 'The Collegians,'5, &c.Grig (greg in Sligo): a boy with sugarstick holds it out to another and says, 'grig, grig,' to triumph over him. Irishgriog, same sound and meaning.Grinder; a bright-coloured silk kerchief worn round the neck. (Edward Walsh: all over Munster.)Gripe; a trench, generally beside a high ditch or fence. 'I got down into the gripe, thinking to [hide myself].' (Crofton Croker.)Griskin or greeskeen; a small bit of meat cut off to be roasted—usually on the coals. Irishgríscín.Grisset; a shallow iron vessel for melting things in, such as grease for dipping rushes, resin for dipping torches (slutsorpaudioges, which see), melting lead for various purposes, white metals for coining, &c. If a man is growing rapidly rich:—'You'd think he had the grisset down.'Groak or groke; to look on silently—like a dog—at people while they are eating, hoping to be asked to eat a bit. (Derry.)Grogue; three or four sods of turf standing on end, supporting each other like a little pyramid on the bog to dry. (Limerick.) Irishgruag, same meaning.Groodles; the broken bits mixed with liquid left at the bottom of a bowl of soup, bread and milk, &c.Group or grup; a little drain or channel in a cow-house to lead off the liquid manure. (Ulster.)Grue or grew; to turn from with disgust:—'He grued at the physic.' (Ulster).Grug; sitting on one's grug means sitting on the heels without touching the ground. (Munster.) Same as Scotchhunkers. 'Sit down on your grug and thank God for a seat.'Grumagh or groomagh; gloomy,ill-humoured:—'I met Bill this morning looking verygrumagh.' (General.) From Irishgruaim[grooim], gloom, ill-humour, with the usual suffix-ach, equivalent to English-yas ingloomy.Grumpy; surly, cross, disagreeable. (General.)Gubbadhaun; a bird that follows the cuckoo. (Joyce.)Gubbaun; a strap tied round the mouth of a calf or foal, with a row of projecting nail points, to prevent it sucking the mother. From Irishgob, the mouth, with the diminutive. (South.)Gubbalagh; a mouthful. (Munster.) Irishgoblach, same sound and meaning. Fromgob, the mouth, with the terminationlach.Gullion; a sink-pool. (Ulster.)Gulpin; a clownish uncouth fellow. (Ulster.)Gulravage, gulravish; noisy boisterous play. (North-east Ulster.)Gunk; a 'take in,' a 'sell'; as a verb, to 'take in,' to cheat. (Ulster.)Gushers; stockings with the soles cut off. (Morris: Monaghan.) From the Irish. Same as triheens.Gurry; abonnive, a young pig. (Morris: Mon.)Gutter; wet mud on a road (guttersin Ulster).Gwaul [lsounded as inWilliam]; the full of the two arms of anything: 'a gwaul of straw.' (Munster.) In Carlow and Wexford, they add the diminutive, and make itgoleen. Irishgabháil.Hain; to hain a field is to let it go to meadow, keeping the cows out of it so as to let the grass grow: possibly fromhayin'. (Waterford: Healy.) In Ulsterhainmeans to save, to economise.Half a one; half a glass of whiskey. One day a poor blind man walked into one of the Dublin branch banks, which happened to be next door to a public-house, and while the clerks were looking on, rather puzzled as to what he wanted, he slapped two pennies down on the counter; and in no very gentle voice:—'Half a one!'Half joke and whole earnest; an expression often heard in Ireland which explains itself. 'Tim told me—half joke and whole earnest—that he didn't much like to lend me his horse.'Hand; to make a hand of a person is to make fun of him; to humbug him: Lowry Looby, thinking that Mr. Daly is making game of him, says:—''Tis making a hand of me your honour is.' (Gerald Griffin.) Other applications ofhandare 'You made a bad hand of that job,' i.e. you did it badly. If a man makes a foolish marriage: 'He made a bad hand of himself, poor fellow.'Hand-and-foot; the meaning of this very general expression is seen in the sentence 'He gave him a hand-and-foot and tumbled him down.'Hand's turn; a very trifling bit of work, an occasion:—'He won't do a hand's turn about the house': 'he scolds me at every hand's turn,' i.e. on every possible occasion.Handy; near, convenient:—'The shop lies handy to me'; an adaptation of the Irishláimh le(meaningnear).Láimh le Corcaig, lit.at hand with Cork—near Cork. This again is often expressedconvenient to Cork, whereconvenientis intended to mean simplynear. So it comes that we in Ireland regardconvenientandnearas exactly synonymous,which they are not. In fact on almost every possible occasion, we—educated and uneducated—useconvenientwhennearwould be the proper word. An odd example occurs in the words of the old Irish folk-song:—'A sailor courted a farmer's daughter,Who livedconvaynientto the Isle of Man.'Hannel; a blow with the spear or spike of a pegging-top (or 'castle-top') down on the wood of another top. Boys often played a game of tops for a certain number of hannels. At the end of the game the victor took his defeated opponent's top, sunk it firmly down into the grassy sod, and then with his own top in his hand struck the other top a number of hannels with the spear of his own to injure it as much as possible. 'Your castle-tops came in for the most hannels.' ('Knocknagow.')Hap; to wrap a person round with any covering, to tuck in the bedclothes round a person. (Ulster.)Hard word (used always withthe); a hint, an inkling, a tip, a bit of secret information:—'They were planning to betray and cheat me, but Ned gave me the hard word, and I was prepared for them, so that I defeated their schemes.'Hare; to make a hare of a person is to put him down in argument or discussion, or in a contest of wit or cunning; to put him in utter confusion. 'While you were speaking to the little boy that made a hare of you.' (Carleton in Ir. Pen. Journ.)'Don't talk of your Provost and Fellows of Trinity,Famous for ever at Greek and Latinity,Faix and the divels and all at Divinity—Father O'Flynn 'd make hares of them all!'(A. P. Graves.)Harvest; always used in Ireland for autumn:—'One fine day in harvest.' (Crofton Croker.)Hauling home; bringing home the bride, soon after the wedding, to her husband's house. Called also a 'dragging-home.' It is always made the occasion of festivity only next in importance to the wedding. For a further account, and for a march played at the Hauling home, see my 'Old Irish Folk Music and Songs,' p. 130.Hausel; the opening in the iron head of an axe, adze, or hammer, for the handle. (Ulster.)Haverel: a rude coarse boor, a rough ignorant fellow. (Moran: Carlow.)Havverick; a rudely built house, or an old ruined house hastily and roughly restored:—'How can people live in that old havverick?' (Limerick.)Hayden, Miss Mary,M.A.,5, &c.Healy, Mr. Maurice,178, &c.Head or harp; a memorial of the old Irish coinage, corresponding with Englishhead or tail. The old Irish penny and halfpenny had the king's head on one side and the Irish harp on the other. 'Come now, head or harp,' says the person about to throw up a halfpenny of any kind.Heard tell; an expression used all throughout Ireland:—'I heard tell of a man who walked to Glendalough in a day.' It is old English.Heart-scald; a great vexation or mortification. (General.) Merely the translation ofscallach-croidhe[scollagh-cree],scaldingof the heart.Hearty; tipsy, exhilarated after a little 'drop.'Hedge schools,149.Higgins, The Rev. Father, p.244, and elsewhere.Hinch; the haunch, the thigh. To hinch a stone is tojerk(orjurkas they say in Munster), to hurl it from under instead of over the shoulder. (Ulster.)Hinten; the last sod of the ridge ploughed. (Ulster.)Ho; equal. Always used with a negative, and also in a bad sense, either seriously or in play. A child spills a jug of milk, and the mother says:—'Oh Jacky, there's nohoto you for mischief' (no equal to you). The old woman says to the mischievous gander:—'There's no ho with you for one gander.' (Gerald Griffin: 'The Coiner.') Thishois an Irish word: it represents the sound of the Irish prefixchoorchomh, equal, as much as, &c. 'There's no ho to Jack Lynch' means there's no one for whom you can usecho(equal) in comparing him with Jack Lynch.Hobbler; a small cock of fresh hay about 4 feet high. (Moran: Carlow.)Hobby; a kind of Irish horse, which, three or four centuries ago, was known all over Europe 'and held in great esteem for their easy amble: and from this kind of horse the Irish light-armed bodies of horse were called hobellers.' (Ware. See my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland,' p. 487.) Hence a child's toy, a hobby-horse. Hence a favourite pursuit is called a 'hobby.'Hoil; a mean wretched dwelling: an uncomfortable situation. (Morris: South Monaghan.)Hollow; used as an adverb as follows:—'Jack Cantlon's horse beat the others hollow in the race': i.e. beat them utterly.Holy show: 'You're a holy show in that coat,' i.e. it makes quite a show of you; makes you look ridiculous. (General.)Holy well; a well venerated on account of its association with an Irish saint: in most cases retaining the name of the saint:—'Tober-Bride,' St. Bride's or Brigit's well. In these wells the early saints baptised their converts. They are found all through Ireland, and people often pray beside them and make theirrounds. (See 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland.')Hool or hooley; the same as a Black swop.Hot-foot; at once, immediately:—'Off I went hot-foot.' 'As soon as James heard the news, he wrote a letter hot-foot to his father.'Houghle; to wobble in walking. (Armagh.)Hugger-mugger: see Cugger-mugger.Huggers or hogars, stockings without feet. (Ulster.)Hulk; a rough surly fellow. (Munster.) A bad person. (Simmons: Armagh.) Irisholc, bad.Hungry-grass: see Fair-gurtha.Hunker-slide; to slide on ice sitting on the hunkers (or as they would say in Munster, sitting on one'sgrug) instead of standing up straight: hence to act with duplicity: to shirk work:—'None of your hunker-sliding for me.' (Ulster.)Hurling; the common game of ball and hurley orcommaun. The chief terms (besides those mentioned elsewhere) are:—Puck, the blow of the hurley on the ball: Thegoalsare the two gaps at opposite sides of the field through which the players try to drive the ball. When the ball is thrown high up between two players with theircommauns ready drawn to try which will strike it on its way down: that ishigh-rothery. When two adjacent parishes or districts contended (instead of two small parties at an ordinary match), that wasscoobeenor 'conquering goal' (Irishscuab, a broom:scoobeen,sweepingthe ball away). I have seen at least 500 on each side engaged in one of thesescoobeens; but that was in the time of the eight millions—before 1847. Sometimes there were bad blood and dangerous quarrels at scoobeens. See Borick, Sippy, Commaun, and Cool. (For the ancient terms see my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland,' p. 513.) For examples of these great contests, see Very Rev. Dr. Sheehan's 'Glenanaar,' pp. 4, 231.Hurt: a whortleberry: hurts arefraughans, which see. Fromwhort. (Munster.)Husho or rather huzho; a lullaby, a nurse-song, a cradle-song; especially the chorus, consisting of a sleepycronaunor croon—like 'shoheen-sho Loo-lo-lo,' &c. Irishsuantraighe[soontree]. 'The moaning of a distant stream that kept up a continualcronanelike a nursehushoing.' 'My mother was hushoing my little sister, striving to quieten her.' (Both from Crofton Croker.) 'The murmur of the oceanhuzhoedme to sleep.' (Irish Folk Song:—'M‘Kenna's Dream.')Idioms; influence of the Irish language on,4:—derived from Irish,23.If; often used in the sense ofalthough,while, or some such signification, which will be best understood from the following examples:—A Dublinjarvey who got sixpence for a long drive, said in a rage:—'I'm in luck to-day; butif I am, 'tis blazingbadluck.' 'Bill ran into the house, and if he did, the other man seized him round the waist and threw him on his back.'If that. This is old English, but has quite disappeared from the standard language of the present day, though still not unfrequently heard in Ireland:—'If that you go I'll go with you.''Iffrom SallythatI get free,My dear I love you most tenderlie.'(Irish Folk Song—'Handsome Sally.')'Andif thatyou wish to go furtherSure God He made Peter His own,The keys of His treasures He gave him,To govern the old Church of Rome.'(Old Irish Folk Song.)Inagh´ or in-yah´ [both strongly accented on second syll.]; a satirical expression of dissent or disbelief, like the Englishforsooth, but much stronger. A fellow boasting says:—'I could run ten miles in an hour': and another replies, 'You couldinah': meaning 'Of course I don't believe a word of it.' A man coming back from the other world says to a woman:—'I seen your [dead] husband there too, ma'am;' to which she replies:—'My husbandinah.' (Gerald Griffin: 'Collegians.') Irishan eadh, same sound and meaning.Inch; a long strip of level grassy land along a river. Very general. Irishinis[innish], of the same family as Lat.insula: butinisis older thaninsulawhich is a diminutive and consequently a derived form. 'James, go out and drive the cows down to the inch.'Insense´; to make a person understand;—'I can'tinsense him into his letters.' 'I insensed him into the way the job was to be done.' [Accent on -sense´.]In tow with; in close acquaintance with, courting. John is in tow with Jane Sullivan.Ire, sometimesira; children who go barefoot sometimes getirein the feet; i.e. the skin chapped and very sore. Also an inflamed spot on the skin rendered sore by being rubbed with some coarse seam, &c.Irish language; influence of, on our dialect,1,23.Jackeen; a nickname for a conceited Dublin citizen of the lower class.Jack Lattin,172.Jap or jop; to splash with mud. (Ulster.)Jaw; impudent talk:jawing; scolding, abusing:—'He looked in my face and he gave me some jaw,Saying "what brought you over from Erin-go-braw?"'(Irish Folk Song.)Jingle; one of Bianconi's long cars.Johnny Magorey; a hip or dog-haw; the fruit of the dog-rose. (Central and Eastern counties.)Join; to begin at anything; 'the child joined to cry'; 'my leg joined to pain me'; 'the man joined to plough.' (North.)Jokawn; an oaten stem cut off above the joint, with a tongue cut in it, which sounds a rude kind of music when blown by the mouth. (Limerick.) Irishgeocán, same sound and meaning.Jowlter, fish-jowlter; a person who hawks about fish through the country, to sell. (South.)Just: often used as a final expletive—more inUlster than elsewhere:—'Will you send anyone?' 'Yes, Tommy just.' 'Where are you going now?' 'To the fair just.'Keenagh or keenagh-lee: mildew often seen on cheese, jam, &c. In a damp house everything gets covered withkeenagh-lee. Irishcaonach, moss;caonach-lee, mildew:leeis Irishliagh[lee], grey. (North and North-West of Ireland.)Keeping: a man ison his keepingwhen he is hiding away from the police, who are on his track for some offence. This is from the Irishcoiméad, keeping;air mo choiméad, 'on my keeping.'Keeroge; a beetle or clock. Irishciar[keer], dark, black, with the diminutiveóg:keeroge, 'black little fellow.'Kelters, money, coins: 'He has the kelthers,' said of a rich man.Yellow kelters, gold money: 'She has the kelthers': means she has a large fortune. (Moran: Carlow.)Kemp or camp; to compete: two or more persons kemp against each other in any work to determine which will finish first. (Ulster.) See Carleton's story, 'The Rival Kempers.'Keolaun; a contemptible little creature, boy or man. (South and West.)Keowt; a low contemptible fellow.Kepper; a slice of bread with butter, as distinguished from adundon, which see.Kesh; a rough bridge over a river or morass, made with poles, wickerwork, &c.—overlaid with bushes andscraws(green sods). Understood all through Ireland. A small one over a drain in a bog isoften called in Tipperary and Waterford akishoge, which is merely the diminutive.Kib; to put down or plant potatoes, each seed in a separate hole made with a spade. Irishciob, same sound and meaning.Kickham, Charles, author of 'Knocknagow,'5, &c.Kiddhoge, a wrap of any kind that a woman throws hastily over her shoulders. (Ulster.) Irishcuideóg, same sound and sense here.Kilfinane, Co. Limerick,147.Killeen; a quantity:—'That girl has a good killeen of money. (Ulster.) Irishcillín[killeen].Killeen; an old churchyard disused except for the occasional burial of unbaptised infants. Irishcill, a church, with the diminutiveín.Kimmeen; a sly deceitful trick; kimmeens or kymeens, small crooked ways:—'Sure you're not equal to thekimmeensof such complete deceivers at all at all.' (Sam Lover in Ir. Pen. Mag.) Irishcom, crooked; diminutivecuimín[kimmeen].Kimmel-a-vauleen; uproarious fun. Irishcimel-a'-mháilín, literally 'rub-the-bag.' There is a fine Irish jig with this name. (South.)Kink; a knot or short twist in a cord.Kink; a fit of coughing or laughing: 'they were in kinks of laughing.' Hencechincough, for whooping-cough, i.e.kink-cough. I know a holy well that has the reputation of curing whooping-cough, and hence called the 'Kink-well.'Kinleen or keenleen, or kine-leen; a single straw or corn stem. (South.) Irishcaoinlín, same sound.Kinleen-roe; an icicle: the same word as last with the addition ofreo[roe], frost: 'frost-stem.'Kinnatt´, [1st syll. very short; accent on 2nd syll.: to rhyme withcat]; an impertinent conceited impudent little puppy.Kippen or kippeen; any little bit of stick: often used as a sort of pet name for a formidable cudgel or shillelah for fighting. Irishcip[kip], a stake or stock, with the diminutive.Kish; a large square basket made of wattles and wickerwork used for measuring turf or for holding turf on a cart. Sometimes (South) called akishaun. Irishcisorciseán, same sounds and meanings: also calledkishagh.Kishtha; a treasure: very common in Connaught, where it is often understood to be hidden treasure in a fort under the care of a leprachaun. Irishciste, same sound and meaning.Kitchen; any condiment or relish eaten with the plain food of a meal, such as butter, dripping, &c. A very common saying in Tyrone against any tiresome repetition is:—'Butter to butter is no kitchen.' As a verb; to use sparingly, to economise:—'Now kitchen that bit of bacon for you have no more.'Kitthoge or kitthagh; a left-handed person. Understood through all Ireland. Irishciotóg,ciotach, same sounds and meaning.Kitterdy; a simpleton, a fool. (Ulster.)Knauvshauling [theksounded distinctly]; grumbling, scolding, muttering complaints. (Limerick.) From Irishcnamh[knauv:ksounded], a bone, the jawbone. The underlying idea is the same as when we speak of a person givingjaw. See Jaw.'Knocknagow ': see Kickham.Kybosh; some sort of difficulty or 'fix':—'He put the kybosh on him: he defeated him.' (Moran: Carlow.)Kyraun, keeraun; a small bit broken off from a sod of turf. Irishcaor, or with the diminutive,caorán, same sound and meaning.Laaban; a rotten sterile egg (Morris: for South Monaghan): same asGlugger, which see. Irishláborláib, mire, dirt, with diminutive.Lad; a mischievous tricky fellow:—'There's no standing them lads.' (Gerald Griffin.)Lagheryman or Logheryman. (Ulster.) Same as Leprachaun, which see.Lambaisting; a sound beating. Quite common in Munster.Langel; to tie the fore and the hind leg of a cow or goat with a spancel or fetter to prevent it going over fences. (Ulster.) Irishlangal, same sound and meaning.Lapcock; an armful or roll of grass laid down on the sward to dry for hay. (Ulster.)Lark-heeled; applied to a person having long sharp heels. See Saulavotcheer.Larrup; to wallop, to beat soundly. (Donegal and South.)Lashings, plenty: lashings and leavings, plenty and to spare: specially applied to food at meals. (General.)Lassog, a blaze of light. (Morris: South Monaghan.) From Irishlas, light, with the diminutive.Lauchy; applied to a person in the sense of pleasant, good-natured, lovable. Irishláchaiidhe, same sound and sense. (Banim: general in the South.) 'He's alauchyboy.'Laudy-daw; a pretentious fellow that sets up to be a great swell. (Moran: Carlow; and South.)Launa-vaula; full and plenty:—There was launa-vaula at the dinner. Irishlán-a-mhála(same sound), 'full bags.'Lazy man's load. A lazy man takes too many things in one load to save the trouble of going twice, and thereby often lets them fall and breaks them.Learn is used forteachall over Ireland, but more in Ulster than elsewhere. Don't forget to 'larn the little girl her catechiz.' (Seumas Mac Manus.) An old English usage: but dead and gone in England now.Leather; to beat:—'I gave him a good leathering,' i.e., a beating, a thrashing. This is not derived, as might be supposed, from the English wordleather(tanned skin), but from Irish, in which it is of very old standing:—Letrad(modernleadradh), cutting, hacking, lacerating: also a champion fighter, a warrior, aleatherer. (Corm. Gloss.—9th cent.) Used all through Ireland.Leather-wing; a bat. (South.)Lee, the Very Rev. Patrick, V. F., of Kilfinane,148.Lebbidha; an awkward, blundering, half-fool of a fellow. (South.) Irishleibide, same sound and meaning.Leg bail; a person gives (or takes)leg bailwhen he runs away, absconds. (General.)Lend; loan. Ned came 'for thelendof the ould mare.' ('Knocknagow.') Often used in the following way:—'Come and lend a hand,' i.e., give some help. 'Our shooting party comes off to-morrow: will youlendyour gun': an invitation to join the party. (Kinahan.)Leprachaun; a sort of fairy, called by several names in different parts of Ireland:—luricaun, cluricaun, lurragadaun, loghryman, luprachaun. This last is the nearest to the Gaelic original, all the preceding anglicised forms being derived from it. Luprachaun itself is derived by a metathesis from Irishluchorpán, fromlu, little, andcorpán, the dim. ofcorp, a body:—'weeny little body.' The reader will understand all about this merry little chap from the following short note and song written by me and extracted from my 'Ancient Irish Music' (in which the air also will be found). The leprachaun is a very tricky little fellow, usually dressed in a green coat, red cap, and knee-breeches, and silver shoe-buckles, whom you may sometimes see in the shades of evening, or by moonlight, under a bush; and he is generally making or mending a shoe: moreover, like almost all fairies, he would give the world forpottheen. If you catch him and hold him, he will, after a little threatening, show you where treasure is hid, or give you a purse in which you will always find money. But if you once take your eyes off him, he is gone in an instant; and he is very ingenious in devising tricks to induce you to look round. It is very hard to catch a leprachaun, and still harder to hold him. I never heard of any man who succeeded in getting treasure from him, except one, a lucky young fellow named MacCarthy, who, according to the peasantry, built the castle of Carrigadrohid near Macroom in Cork with the money. Every Irishman understands well the termscruiskeenandmountain dew, some indeed a little too well; butfor the benefit of the rest of the world, I think it better to state that acruískeenis a small jar, and thatmountain dewispottheenor illicit whiskey.In a shady nook one moonlight night,A leprachaun I spied;With scarlet cap and coat of green;A cruiskeen by his side.'Twas tick tack tick, his hammer went,Upon a weeny shoe;And I laughed to think of a purse of gold;But the fairy was laughing too.With tip-toe step and beating heart,Quite softly I drew nigh:There was mischief in his merry face;—A twinkle in his eye.He hammered and sang with tiny voice,And drank his mountain dew:And I laughed to think he was caught at last:—But the fairy was laughing too.As quick as thought I seized the elf;'Your fairy purse!' I cried;'The purse!' he said—''tis in her hand—'That lady at your side!'I turned to look: the elf was off!Then what was I to do?O, I laughed to think what a fool I'd been;And the fairy was laughing too.Let out; a spree, an entertainment. (General.) 'Mrs. Williams gave a great let out.'Libber; this has much the same meaning asflipper, which see: an untidy person careless about his dress and appearance—an easy-goingould sthreelof a man. I have heard an old fellow say, regarding those that went before him—father,grandfather, &c.—that they were 'ouldaancientlibbers,' which is the Irish peasant's way of expressing Gray's 'rude forefathers of the hamlet.'Lief; willing: 'I had as lief be working as not.' 'I had liefer': I had rather. (General.) This is an old English word, now fallen out of use in England, but common here.Lifter; a beast that is so weak from starvation (chiefly in March when grass is withered up) that it can hardly stand and has to be lifted home from the hill-pasture to the stable. (Kinahan: Connemara.)Light; a little touched in the head, a little crazed:—'Begor sir if you say I know nothing about sticks your head must be getting light in earnest.' (Robert Dwyer Joyce.)Likely; well-looking: 'a likely girl'; 'aclanelikely boy.'Likes; 'the likes of you': persons ora personlike you or in your condition. Very common in Ireland. 'I'll not have any dealings with the likes of him.' Colonel Lake, Inspector General of Constabulary in last century, one afternoon met one of his recruits on the North Circular Road, Dublin, showing signs of liquor, and stopped him. 'Well, my good fellow, what is your name please?' The recruit replied:—'Who are you, and what right have you to ask my name?' 'I am Colonel Lake, your inspector general.' The recruit eyed him closely:—'Oh begor your honour, if that's the case it's not right for the likes of me to be talking to the likes of you': on which he turned round and took leg bail on the spot like a deer, leavingthe inspector general standing on the pathway. The Colonel often afterwards told that story with great relish.Linnaun-shee or more correctLannaun-shee; a familiar spirit or fairy that attaches itself to a mortal and follows him. From Irishleannán, a lover, andsídh[shee], a fairy:lannaun-shee, 'fairy-lover.'Linnie; a long shed—a sort of barn—attached to a a farm house for holding farm-yard goods and articles of various kinds—carts, spades, turnips, corn, &c. (Munster.) Irishlann-iotha, lit. 'corn-house.'Lint; in Ulster, a name for flax.Linthern or lenthern; a small drain or sewer covered with flags for the passage of water, often under a road from side to side. (Munster.) Irishlintreán,linntreach[lintran, lintragh].Liscauns; gleanings of corn from the field after reaping: 'There's Mary gatheringliscauns.' (South.) Irish.Loanen; a lane, abohereen. (Ulster.)Lob; a quantity, especially of money or of any valuable commodity:—''Tis reported that Jack got a great lob of money with his wife.' A person is trying to make himself out very useful or of much consequence, and another says satirically—generally in play:—'Oh what alobyou are!'Lock; a quantity or batch of anything—generally small:—a lock of straw; a lock of sheep. (General.)Logey; heavy or fat as applied to a person. (Moran: Carlow.) Also the fireplace in a flax-kiln.Lone; unmarried:—'A lone man'; 'a lone woman.'Long family; a common expression for a large family.Lood, loodh, lude; ashamed: 'he was lude of himself when he was found out.' (South.)Loody; a loose heavy frieze coat. (Munster.)Loof; the open hand, the palm of the hand. (Ulster.) Irishlámh[lauv], the hand.Loo-oge or lu-oge; the eel-fry a couple of inches long that come up the southern Blackwater periodically in myriads, and are caught and sold as food. (Waterford: Healy.) Irishluadhóg, same sound and meaning.Loose leg; when a person is free from any engagement or impediment that bound him down—'he has a loose leg'—free to act as he likes. 'I have retired from the service with a pension, so that now I have a loose leg.' The same is often said of a prisoner discharged from jail.Lord; applied as a nickname to a hunchback. The hunchback Danny Mann in 'The Collegians' is often called 'Danny the lord.'Losset; a kneading tray for making cakes.Lossagh; a sudden blaze from a turf fire. Irishlas[loss], a blaze, with the usual terminationach.Lossoge; a handful or little bundle of sticks for firing. (Mayo.) Irishlas[loss], fire, a blaze, with the diminutive termination.Low-backed car; a sort of car common in the southern half of Ireland down to the middle of the last century, used to bring the country people and their farm produce to markets. Resting on the shafts was a long flat platform placed lengthwiseand sloping slightly downwards towards the back, on which were passengers and goods. Called trottle-car in Derry.Loy; a spade. Used in the middle of Ireland all across from shore to shore. Irishláighe, same sound and meaning.Luck-penny; a coin given by the seller to the buyer after a bargain has been concluded: given to make sure that the buyer will have luck with the animal or article he buys.Ludeen or loodeen [dsounded likethinthen]; the little finger. Irishlúidín, same sound and meaning. Fromlu, little, with the diminutive termination.Lu-oge: see Loo-oge.Luscan; a spot on the hillside from which the furze and heath have been burned off. (Wicklow and round about.) From Irishloscto burn:luscan, 'burned little spot.'Lusmore; fairy-thimble, fairy-finger, foxglove,Digitalis purpurea; an herb of mighty power in fairy lore. Irishlus, herb;mór, great; 'mighty herb.'Lybe; a lazy fellow. (MacCall: Wex.) See Libber.Lyre; the full of the two hands used together: a beggar usually got alyreof potatoes. (Munster: same asgopenin Ulster.) Irishladhar, same sound and meaning.MacManus, Seumas,5, &c.Mad; angry. There are certain Irish words, such asbuileamhail, which might denote eithermador veryangry: hence in English you very often hear:—'Oh the master is very mad with you,'i.e. angry. 'Excessively angry' is often expressed this way in dialect language:—'The master is blazing mad about that accident to the mare.' But even this expression is classical Irish; for we read in the Irish Bible that Moses went away from Pharaoh,air lasadh le feírg, 'blazing with anger.' 'Like mad' is often used to denote very quickly or energetically: Crofton Croker speaks of people who were 'dancing like mad.' This expression is constantly heard in Munster.Maddha-brishtha; an improvised tongs, such as would be used with a fire in the fields, made from a strong twig bent sharp. (Derry.) Irishmaide[maddha], a stick;briste, broken:—'broken stick.'Maddhiaghs or muddiaghs; same as last, meaning simply 'sticks': the two ends giving the idea of plurality. (Armagh.)Maddhoge or middhoge; a dagger. (North and South.) Irishmeadógormiodóg.Made; fortunate:—'I'm a made man' (or 'amedman'), meaning 'my fortune is made.' (Crofton Croker—but used very generally.)Mag; a swoon:—'Light of grace,' she exclaimed, dropping in amagon the floor. (Edward Walsh: used all over Munster.)Maisled; speckled; a lazy young fellow's shins get maisled from sitting before the fire. (Knowles: Ulster.)Make; used in the South in the following way:—'This will make a fine day': 'That cloth will make a fine coat': 'If that fellow was shaved he'd make a handsome young man' (Irish folk-song): 'That Joe of yours is a clever fellow: no doubt he'llmake a splendid doctor.' The nounmakingsis applied similarly:—'That young fellow is the makings of a great scholar.'Man above. In Irish God is often designatedan Fear suasoran t-É suas('the Man above,' 'the Person above'): thus in Hardiman's 'Irish Minstrelsy' (I. 228):—Comarc an t-É tá shuas ort: 'the protection of the Person who is above be on thee':an Fear suasoccurs in the Ossianic Poems. Hence they use this term all through the South:—'As cunning as he is he can't hide his knavery fromthe Man above.'Man in the gap,182.Mankeeper; used North and South as the English name of the little lizard called in Irish 'Art-loochra,' which see.Mannam; my soul: Irishm'anam, same sound and meaning:—'Mannam on ye,' used as an affectionate exclamation to a child. (Scott: Derry.)Many; 'too many' is often used in the following way, when two persons were in rivalry of any kind, whether of wit, of learning, or of strength:—'James was too many for Dick,' meaning he was an overmatch for him.Maol, Mail, Maileen, Moileen, Moilie (these two last forms common in Ulster; the others elsewhere); a hornless cow. IrishMaol[mwail], same meaning. Quite a familiar word all through Ireland.
Elementary schools,159.
Exaggeration and redundancy,120.
Existence, way of predicating,23.
Eye of a bridge; the arch.
Faireen (south), fairin (north); a present either given in a fair or brought from it. Used in another sense—a lasting injury of any kind:—'Poor Joe got a faireen that day, when the stone struck him on the eye, which I'm afraid the eye will never recover.' Used all over Ireland and in Scotland.
Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou'lt get thy fairin',In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.(Burns.)
Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou'lt get thy fairin',In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.
Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou'lt get thy fairin',
In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.
(Burns.)
(Burns.)
Fair-gurthra; 'hungry grass.' There is a legend all through Ireland that small patches of grass grow here and there on mountains; and if a person in walking along happens to tread on one of them he is instantly overpowered with hunger so as tobe quite unable to walk, and if help or food is not at hand he will sink down and perish. That persons are attacked and rendered helpless by sudden hunger on mountains in this manner is certain. Mr. Kinahan gives me an instance where he had to carry his companion, a boy, on his back a good distance to the nearest house: and Maxwell in 'Wild Sports of the West' gives others. But he offers the natural explanation: that a person is liable to sink suddenly with hunger if he undertakes a hard mountain walk with a long interval after food. Irishfeur, grass;gorta, hunger.
Fairy breeze. Sometimes on a summer evening you suddenly feel a very warm breeze: that is a band of fairies travelling from one fort to another; and people on such occasions usually utter a short prayer, not knowing whether the 'good people' are bent on doing good or evil. (G. H. Kinahan.) Like the Shee-geeha, which see.
Fairy-thimble, the same as 'Lusmore,' which see.
Famished; distressed for want of something:—'I am famished for a smoke—for a glass,' &c.
Farbreaga; a scarecrow. Irishfear, a man:breugfalsehood: a false or pretended man.
Farl; one quarter of a griddle cake. (Ulster.)
Faúmera [therhas the slender sound]; a big strolling beggarman or idle fellow. From the IrishFomor. TheFomorsorFomoraor Fomorians were one of the mythical colonies that came to Ireland (see any of my Histories of Ireland, Index): some accounts represent them as giants. In Clare the country people that go to the seaside in summer for the benefit of the 'salt water' arecalledFaumeras. In Tramore they are calledolishes[o long]; because in the morning before breakfast they go down to the strand and take a goodswigof the salt water—an essential part of the cure—and when one meets another he (or she) asks in Irish 'ar ólish,' 'did you drink?' In Kilkee the dogfish is calledFaumera, for the dogfish is among the smaller fishes like what legend represents the Fomorians in Ireland.
Faustus, Dr., in Irish dialect,60.
Fear is often used among us in the sense ofdanger. Once during a high wind the ship's captain neatly distinguished it when a frightened lady asked him:—'Is there any fear, sir?' 'There's plenty of fear, madam, but no danger.'
Feck or fack; a spade. From the very old Irish word,fec, same sound and meaning.
Fellestrum, the flagger (marsh plant). Irishfelestrom. (South.)
Fetch; what the English call adouble, a preternatural apparition of a living person, seen usually by some relative or friend. If seen in the morning the person whose fetch it is will have a long and prosperous life: if in the evening the person will soon die.
Finane or Finaun; the white half-withered long grass found in marshy or wet land. Irishfinnorfionn, white, with the diminutive.
Finely and poorly are used to designate the two opposite states of an invalid. 'Well, Mrs. Lahy, how is she?' [Nora the poor sick little girl]. 'Finely, your reverence,' Honor replied (going on well). The old sinner Rody, having accidentallyshot himself, is asked how he is going on:—'Wisha, poorly, poorly' (badly). (G. Griffin.)
Finger—to put a finger in one's eye; to overreach and cheat him by cunning:—'He'd be a clever fellow that would put a finger in Tom's eye.'
First shot, in distilling pottheen; the weak stuff that comes off at the first distillation: also called singlings.
Flahoolagh, plentiful; 'You have a flahoolagh hand, Mrs. Lyons': 'Ah, we got a flahoolagh dinner and no mistake.' Irishflaith[flah], a chief, andamhail[ooal], like, with the adjectival terminationach:flahoolagh, 'chieftain-like.' For the old Irish chiefs kept open houses, with full and plenty—launa-vaula—for all who came. (South.)
Flipper; an untidy man. (Limerick.)
Flitters; tatters, rags:—'His clothes were all inflitters.'
Flog; to beat, to exceed:—'That flogs Europe' ('Collegians'), i.e. it beats Europe: there's nothing in Europe like it.
Fluke, something very small or nothing at all. 'What did you get from him?' 'Oh I got flukes' (or 'flukes in a hand-basket')—meaning nothing. Sometimes it seems to mean a small coin, likecrossandkeenoge. 'When I set out on that journey I hadn't a fluke.' (North and South.)
Fockle; a big torch made by lighting a sheaf of straw fixed on a long pole: fockles were usually lighted on St. John's Eve. (Limerick.) It is merely the German wordfackel, a torch, brought to Limerick by the Palatine colony. (See p.65.)
Fog-meal; a great meal or big feed: a harvest dinner.
Fooster; hurry, flurry, fluster, great fuss. Irishfústar, same sound and meaning. (Hayden and Hartog.)
'Then Tommy jumped about elate,Tremendous was hisfooster—O;Says he, "I'll send a message straightTo my darling Mr. Brewster—O!"'(Repeal Song of 1843.)
'Then Tommy jumped about elate,Tremendous was hisfooster—O;Says he, "I'll send a message straightTo my darling Mr. Brewster—O!"'
'Then Tommy jumped about elate,
Tremendous was hisfooster—O;
Says he, "I'll send a message straight
To my darling Mr. Brewster—O!"'
(Repeal Song of 1843.)
(Repeal Song of 1843.)
Forbye; besides. (Ulster.)
For good; finally, for ever: 'he left home for good.'
Fornent, fornenst, forenenst; opposite: he and I sat fornenst each other in the carriage.
'Yet here you strut in open dayFornenst my house so freely—O.'(Repeal Song of 1843.)
'Yet here you strut in open dayFornenst my house so freely—O.'
'Yet here you strut in open day
Fornenst my house so freely—O.'
(Repeal Song of 1843.)
(Repeal Song of 1843.)
An old English word, now obsolete in England, but very common in Ireland.
Foshla; a marshy weedy rushy place; commonly applied to the ground left after a cut-away bog. (Roscommon.)
Four bones; 'Your own four bones,'127.
Fox; (verb) to pretend, to feign, to sham: 'he's not sick at all, he's only foxing.' Also to cut short the ears of a dog.
Frainey; a small puny child:—'Here, eat this bit, you littlefrainey.'
Fraughans; whortleberries. Irishfraoch, with the diminutive. See Hurt.
Freet; a sort of superstition or superstitious rite. (Ulster.)
Fresh and Fresh:—'I wish you to send me the butter every morning: I like to have it fresh and fresh.'This is English gone out of fashion: I remember seeing it in Pope's preface to 'The Dunciad.'
Frog's jelly; the transparent jelly-like substance found in pools and ditches formed by frogs round their young tadpoles,121.
Fum; soft spongy turf. (Ulster.) Calledsoosaunin Munster.
Gaatch [aalong as incar], an affected gesture or movement of limbs body or face:gaatches; assuming fantastic ridiculous attitudes. (South.)
Gad; a withe: 'as tough as a gad.' (Irishgad,60.)
Gadderman; a boy who puts on the airs of a man; a mannikin ormanneen, which see. (Simmons: Armagh.)
Gaffer; an old English word, but with a peculiar application in Ireland, where it means a boy, a young chap. 'Come here, gaffer, and help me.'
Gag; a conceited foppish young fellow, who tries to figure as a swell.
Gah´ela or gaherla; a little girl. (Kane: Ulster.) Same asgirsha.
Gaileen; a little bundle of rushes placed under the arms of a beginner learning to swim. (Joyce: Limerick.) When you support the beginner's head keeping it above water with your hands while he is learning the strokes: that we used to designate 'giving a gaileen.'
Galbally, Co. Limerick,156.
Galoot: a clownish fellow.
Galore; plenty, plentiful. Irish adverbgo leór,4.
Gankinna; a fairy, a leprachaun. (Morris: South Mon.) Irishgann, small.
Gannoge; an undefined small quantity. (Antrim.) Irishgann, small, with diminutiveóg.
Garden, in the South, is always applied to a field of growing potatoes. 'In the land courts we never asked "How many acres of potatoes?"; but "How many acres of garden?"' (Healy.) A usual inquiry is 'How are your gardens going on?' meaning 'How are your potato crops doing?'
Garlacom; a lingering disease in cows believed to be caused by eating a sort of herb. (P. Moran: Meath.)
Garland Sunday; the first Sunday in August (sometimes called Garlick Sunday.)
Garron, garraun; an old worn-out horse. (Irishgearrán.)
Gash; a flourish of the pen in writing so as to form an ornamental curve, usually at the end. (Limerick.)
Gatha; an effeminate fellow who concerns himself in women's business: aSheela. (Joyce: Limerick.)
Gatherie; a splinter of bog-deal used as a torch. (Moran: Carlow.) Also a small cake (commonly smeared with treacle) sold in the street on market days. Irishgeataire[gatthera], same meanings.
Gaug; a sore crack in the heel of a person who goes barefooted. (Moran: Carlow.) Irishgág[gaug], a cleft, a crack.
Gaulsh; to loll. (MacCall: Wexford.)
Gaunt or gant; to yawn. (Ulster.)
Gaurlagh; a little child, a baby: an unfledged bird. Irishgárlach, same sound and meanings.
Gawk; a tall awkward fellow. (South.)
Gawm, gawmoge; a soft foolish fellow. (South.) Irishgám, same meaning. See Gommul.
Gazebo; a tall building; any tall object; a tall awkward person.
Gazen, gazened; applied to a wooden vessel of any kind when the joints open by heat or drought so that it leaks. (Ulster.)
Gallagh-gunley; the harvest moon. (Ulster.)Gallaghgives the sound of Irishgealach, the moon, meaning whitish, fromgeal, white.
Geck; to mock, to jeer, to laugh at. (Derry.)
Geenagh, geenthagh; hungry, greedy, covetous. (Derry.) Irishgionachorgiontach, gluttonous.
Geens; wild cherries. (Derry.)
Gentle; applied to a place or thing having some connexion with the fairies—haunted by fairies. A thornbush where fairies meet is a 'gentle bush': the hazel and the foxglove (fairy-thimble) are gentle plants.
Geócagh; a big strolling idle fellow. (Munster.) Irishgeocach, same sound and meaning.
Geosadaun or Yosedaun [din both sounded likethinthey]; the yellow rag-weed: called also boliaun [2-syll.] and booghalaun.
Get; a bastard child. (North and South.)
Gibbadaun; a frivolous person. (Roscommon.) From the Irishgiob, a scrap, with the diminutive endingdán: ascrappytrifling-minded person.
Gibbol [ghard as inget]; a rag: your jacket is all hanging down in gibbols.' (Limerick.) Irishgiobal, same sound and meaning.
Giddhom; restlessness. In Limerick it is applied to cows when they gallop through the fields withtails cocked out, driven half mad by heat and flies: 'The cows are galloping with giddhom.' Irishgiodam, same sound and meaning.
Gill-gowan, a corn-daisy. (Tyrone.) From Irishgeal, white, andgowan, the Scotch name for a daisy.
Girroge [twog's sounded as inget,got]. Girroges are the short little drills where the plough runs into a corner. (Kildare and Limerick.) Irishgearr, short, with the diminutiveóg:girroge, any short little thing.
Girsha; a little girl. (North and South.) Irishgeirrseach[girsagh], fromgearr, short or small, with the feminine terminationseach.
Gistra [gsounded as inget], a sturdy, active old man. (Ulster.) Irishgiostaire, same sound and meaning.
Gladiaathor [aalong as incar]; a gladiator, a fighting quarrelsome fellow: used as a verb also:—'he went about the fairgladiaatherin,' i.e. shouting and challenging people to fight him.
Glaum, glam; to grab or grasp with the whole hand; to maul or pull about with the hands. Irishglám[glaum], same meaning.
Glebe; in Ireland this word is almost confined to the land or farm attached to a Protestant rector's residence: hence calledglebe-land. See p.143.
Gleeag; a small handful of straw used in plaiting straw mats: a sheaf of straw threshed. (Kildare and Monaghan.)
Gleeks: to give a fellow the gleeks is to press the forefingers into the butt of the ears so as to cause pain: a rough sort of play. (Limerick.)
Glenroe, Co. Limerick,68,146.
Gliggeen; a voluble silly talker. (Munster.) Irishgluigín[gliggeen], a little bell, a little tinkler: fromglog, same asclog, a bell.
Gliggerum; applied to a very bad old worn-out watch or clock. (Limerick.)
Glit; slimy mud; the green vegetable (ducksmeat) that grows on the surface of stagnant water. (Simmons: Armagh.)
Gloit; a blockhead of a young fellow. (Knowles.)
Glory be to God! Generally a pious exclamation of thankfulness, fear, &c.: but sometimes an ejaculation of astonishment, wonder, admiration, &c. Heard everywhere in Ireland.
Glower; to stare or glare at: 'what are you glowerin' at!' (Ulster.)
Glugger [usounded as infull]; empty noise; the noise made by shaking an addled egg. Also an addled egg. Applied very often in a secondary sense to a vain empty foolish boaster. (Munster.)
Glunter: a stupid person. (Knowles: Ulster.)
Goaling: same as Hurling, which see.
Gob; the mouth including lips: 'Shut your gob.' Irishgob, same meaning. Scotch, 'greedygab.' (Burns.)
Gobshell; a big spittle direct from the mouth. (Limerick.) From Irishgob, the mouth, andseile[shella], a spittle.
Gobs or jackstones; five small round stones with which little girls play against each other, by throwing them up and catching them as they fall; 'there are Nelly and Sally playing gobs.'
Gods and goddesses of Pagan Ireland,177.
Godspeed: see Back of God-speed.
God's pocket. Mr. Kinahan writes to me:—'The first time I went to the Mullingar hotel I had a delicate child, and spoke to the landlady as to how he was to be put up [during the father's absence by day on outdoor duty]. "Oh never fear sir," replied the good old lady, "the poor child will bein God's pockethere."' Mr. K. goes on to say:—I afterwards found that in all that part of Leinster they never said 'we will make you comfortable,' but always 'you will be in God's pocket,' or 'as snug as in God's pocket.' I heard it said of a widow and orphans whose people were kind to them, that they were in 'God's pocket.' Whether Seumas MacManus ever came across this term I do not know, but he has something very like it in 'A Lad of the O'Friels,' viz., 'I'll make the little girl as happy as if she wasin Saint Peter's pocket.'
Goggalagh, a dotard. (Munster.) Irishgogail, the cackling of a hen or goose; also doting; with the usual terminationach.
Going on; making fun, joking, teasing, chaffing, bantering:—'Ah, now I see you are onlygoing onwith me.' 'Stop yourgoings on.' (General.)
Golder [dsounded likethin further]; a loud sudden or angry shout. (Patterson: Ulster.)
Goleen; an armful. See Gwaul.
Gombeen man; a usurer who lends money to small farmers and others of like means, at ruinous interest. The word is now used all over Ireland. Irishgoimbín[gombeen], usury.
Gommul, gommeril, gommula, all sometimes shortened togom; a simple-minded fellow, a halffool. Irishgamal,gamaille,gamairle,gamarail, all same meaning. (Gamalis also Irish for a camel.) Used all over Ireland.
Good deed; said of some transaction that is a well-deserved punishment for some wrong or unjust or very foolish course of action. Bill lends some money to Joe, who never returns it, and a friend says:—''Tis a good deed Bill, why did you trust such a schemer?' Barney is bringing home a heavy load, and is lamenting that he did not bring his ass:—''Tis a good deed: where was I coming without Bobby?' (the ass). ('Knocknagow') 'I'm wet to the skin': reply:—''Tis a good deed: why did you go out without your overcoat?'
Good boy: in Limerick and other parts of Munster, a young fellow who is good—strong and active—at all athletic exercises, but most especially if he is brave and tough in fighting, is 'a good boy.' The people are looking anxiously at a sailing boat labouring dangerously in a storm on the Shannon, and one of them remarks:—''Tis a good boy that has the rudder in his hand.' (Gerald Griffin.)
Good people; The fairies. The word is used merely assoft sawder, tobutter them up, to curry favour with them—to show them great respect at least from the teeth out—lest they might do some injury to the speaker.
Googeen [twog's as ingoodandget]; a simple soft-minded person. (Moran: Carlow.) Irishguag, same meaning, with the diminutive:guaigín.
Gopen, gowpen; the full of the two hands used together. (Ulster.) Exactly the same meaning asLyrein Munster, which see.
Gor; the coarse turf or peat which forms the surface of the bog. (Healy: for Ulster.)
Gorb; a ravenous eater, a glutton. (Ulster.)
Gorsoon: a young boy. It is hard to avoid deriving this from Frenchgarçon, all the more as it has no root in Irish. Another form often used isgossoon, which is derived from Irish:—gas, a stem or stalk, a young boy. But the terminationoonorúnis suspicious in both cases, for it is not a genuine Irish suffix at all.
Gossip; a sponsor in baptism.
Goster; gossipy talk. Irishgastairĕ, a prater, a chatterer. 'Dermot go 'long with your goster.' (Moore—in his youth.)
Gouloge; a stick with a little fork of two prongs at the end, for turning up hay, or holding down furze while cutting. (South.) Used in the North often in the form ofgollog. Irishgabhal[gowl], a fork, with the dim.óg.
Gounau; housewife [huzzif] thread, strong thread for sewing, pack thread. Irishgabhshnáth(Fr. Dinneen), same sound and meaning: fromsnáth, a thread: but how comes ingabh? In one of the Munster towns I knew a man who kept a draper's shop, and who was always calledGounau, in accordance with the very reprehensible habit of our people to give nicknames.
Goureen-roe: a snipe, a jacksnipe. (Munster.) Irishgabhairín-reó, the 'little goat of the frost' (reó, frost): because on calm frosty evenings you hear its quivering sound as it flies in the twilight, very like the sound emitted by a goat.
Gra, grah; love, fondness, liking. Irishgrádh[graw]. 'I have great gra for poor Tom.' I asked an Irishman who had returned from America and settled down again here and did well:—'Why did you come back from America?' 'Ah,' he replied, 'I have greatgrafor the old country.'
Graanbroo; wheat boiled in new milk and sweetened: a great treat to children, and generally made from their own gleanings orliscauns, gathered in the fields. Sometimes calledbrootheen. (Munster.) The first from Irishgrán, grain, andbrúgh, to break or bruise, to reduce to pulp, or cook, by boiling.Brootheen(also applied to mashed potatoes) is frombrúgh, with the diminutive.
Graanoge, graan-yoge [aain both long likeaincar], a hedgehog. Irishgráineóg, same sound.
Graanshaghaun [aalong as incar]; wheat (in grain) boiled. (Joyce: Limerick.) In my early days what we calledgraanshaghaunwas wheat in grains, not boiled, but roasted in an iron pot held over the fire, the wheat being kept stirred till done.
Graffaun; a small axe with edge across like an adze for grubbing orgraffingland, i.e. rooting out furze and heath in preparation for tillage. Used all through the South. 'This was the word used in Co. Cork law courts.' (Healy.) Irishgrafán, same sound and meaning.
Graip or grape; a dung-fork with three or four prongs. Irishgrápa.
Grammar and Pronunciation,74.
Grammel; to grope or fumble or gather with both hands. (Derry.)
Graves, Mr. A. P.,58, &c.
Grawls; children. Paddy Corbett, thinking he isruined, says of his wife:—'God comfort poor Jillian and the grawls I left her.' (Edward Walsh.) 'There's Judy and myself and the poor little grawls.' (Crofton Croker: p. 155.)
Grawvar; loving, affectionate:—'That's a grawver poor boy.' (Munster.) Irishgrádhmhar, same sound and meaning: fromgrádh, love.
Grazier; a young rabbit. (South and West.)
Great; intimate, closely acquainted:—'Tom Long and Jack Fogarty are very great.' (All over Ireland.) 'Come gie's your hand and sae we'regreet.' (Burns.)
Greedy-gut; a glutton; a person who is selfish about stuffing himself, wishing to give nothing to anyone else. Gorrane Mac Sweeny, when his mistress is in want of provisions, lamenting that the eagles (over Glengarriff) were devouring the game that the lady wanted so badly, says:—'Is it not the greatest pity in life ... that these greedy-guts should be after swallowing the game, and my sweet mistress and her little ones all the time starving.' (Caesar Otway in 'Pen. Journ.')
Greenagh; a person that hangs round hoping to get food (Donegal and North-West): a 'Watch-pot.'
Greesagh; red hot embers and ashes. 'We roasted our potatoes and eggs in the greesagh.' (All over Ireland.) Irishgríosach, same sound.
Greet; to cry. 'Tommy was greetin' after his mother.' (Ulster.)
Greth; harness of a horse: a general name for all the articles required when yoking a horse to the cart. (Knowles: Ulster.)
Griffin, Gerald, author of 'The Collegians,'5, &c.
Grig (greg in Sligo): a boy with sugarstick holds it out to another and says, 'grig, grig,' to triumph over him. Irishgriog, same sound and meaning.
Grinder; a bright-coloured silk kerchief worn round the neck. (Edward Walsh: all over Munster.)
Gripe; a trench, generally beside a high ditch or fence. 'I got down into the gripe, thinking to [hide myself].' (Crofton Croker.)
Griskin or greeskeen; a small bit of meat cut off to be roasted—usually on the coals. Irishgríscín.
Grisset; a shallow iron vessel for melting things in, such as grease for dipping rushes, resin for dipping torches (slutsorpaudioges, which see), melting lead for various purposes, white metals for coining, &c. If a man is growing rapidly rich:—'You'd think he had the grisset down.'
Groak or groke; to look on silently—like a dog—at people while they are eating, hoping to be asked to eat a bit. (Derry.)
Grogue; three or four sods of turf standing on end, supporting each other like a little pyramid on the bog to dry. (Limerick.) Irishgruag, same meaning.
Groodles; the broken bits mixed with liquid left at the bottom of a bowl of soup, bread and milk, &c.
Group or grup; a little drain or channel in a cow-house to lead off the liquid manure. (Ulster.)
Grue or grew; to turn from with disgust:—'He grued at the physic.' (Ulster).
Grug; sitting on one's grug means sitting on the heels without touching the ground. (Munster.) Same as Scotchhunkers. 'Sit down on your grug and thank God for a seat.'
Grumagh or groomagh; gloomy,ill-humoured:—'I met Bill this morning looking verygrumagh.' (General.) From Irishgruaim[grooim], gloom, ill-humour, with the usual suffix-ach, equivalent to English-yas ingloomy.
Grumpy; surly, cross, disagreeable. (General.)
Gubbadhaun; a bird that follows the cuckoo. (Joyce.)
Gubbaun; a strap tied round the mouth of a calf or foal, with a row of projecting nail points, to prevent it sucking the mother. From Irishgob, the mouth, with the diminutive. (South.)
Gubbalagh; a mouthful. (Munster.) Irishgoblach, same sound and meaning. Fromgob, the mouth, with the terminationlach.
Gullion; a sink-pool. (Ulster.)
Gulpin; a clownish uncouth fellow. (Ulster.)
Gulravage, gulravish; noisy boisterous play. (North-east Ulster.)
Gunk; a 'take in,' a 'sell'; as a verb, to 'take in,' to cheat. (Ulster.)
Gushers; stockings with the soles cut off. (Morris: Monaghan.) From the Irish. Same as triheens.
Gurry; abonnive, a young pig. (Morris: Mon.)
Gutter; wet mud on a road (guttersin Ulster).
Gwaul [lsounded as inWilliam]; the full of the two arms of anything: 'a gwaul of straw.' (Munster.) In Carlow and Wexford, they add the diminutive, and make itgoleen. Irishgabháil.
Hain; to hain a field is to let it go to meadow, keeping the cows out of it so as to let the grass grow: possibly fromhayin'. (Waterford: Healy.) In Ulsterhainmeans to save, to economise.
Half a one; half a glass of whiskey. One day a poor blind man walked into one of the Dublin branch banks, which happened to be next door to a public-house, and while the clerks were looking on, rather puzzled as to what he wanted, he slapped two pennies down on the counter; and in no very gentle voice:—'Half a one!'
Half joke and whole earnest; an expression often heard in Ireland which explains itself. 'Tim told me—half joke and whole earnest—that he didn't much like to lend me his horse.'
Hand; to make a hand of a person is to make fun of him; to humbug him: Lowry Looby, thinking that Mr. Daly is making game of him, says:—''Tis making a hand of me your honour is.' (Gerald Griffin.) Other applications ofhandare 'You made a bad hand of that job,' i.e. you did it badly. If a man makes a foolish marriage: 'He made a bad hand of himself, poor fellow.'
Hand-and-foot; the meaning of this very general expression is seen in the sentence 'He gave him a hand-and-foot and tumbled him down.'
Hand's turn; a very trifling bit of work, an occasion:—'He won't do a hand's turn about the house': 'he scolds me at every hand's turn,' i.e. on every possible occasion.
Handy; near, convenient:—'The shop lies handy to me'; an adaptation of the Irishláimh le(meaningnear).Láimh le Corcaig, lit.at hand with Cork—near Cork. This again is often expressedconvenient to Cork, whereconvenientis intended to mean simplynear. So it comes that we in Ireland regardconvenientandnearas exactly synonymous,which they are not. In fact on almost every possible occasion, we—educated and uneducated—useconvenientwhennearwould be the proper word. An odd example occurs in the words of the old Irish folk-song:—
'A sailor courted a farmer's daughter,Who livedconvaynientto the Isle of Man.'
'A sailor courted a farmer's daughter,Who livedconvaynientto the Isle of Man.'
'A sailor courted a farmer's daughter,
Who livedconvaynientto the Isle of Man.'
Hannel; a blow with the spear or spike of a pegging-top (or 'castle-top') down on the wood of another top. Boys often played a game of tops for a certain number of hannels. At the end of the game the victor took his defeated opponent's top, sunk it firmly down into the grassy sod, and then with his own top in his hand struck the other top a number of hannels with the spear of his own to injure it as much as possible. 'Your castle-tops came in for the most hannels.' ('Knocknagow.')
Hap; to wrap a person round with any covering, to tuck in the bedclothes round a person. (Ulster.)
Hard word (used always withthe); a hint, an inkling, a tip, a bit of secret information:—'They were planning to betray and cheat me, but Ned gave me the hard word, and I was prepared for them, so that I defeated their schemes.'
Hare; to make a hare of a person is to put him down in argument or discussion, or in a contest of wit or cunning; to put him in utter confusion. 'While you were speaking to the little boy that made a hare of you.' (Carleton in Ir. Pen. Journ.)
'Don't talk of your Provost and Fellows of Trinity,Famous for ever at Greek and Latinity,Faix and the divels and all at Divinity—Father O'Flynn 'd make hares of them all!'(A. P. Graves.)
'Don't talk of your Provost and Fellows of Trinity,Famous for ever at Greek and Latinity,Faix and the divels and all at Divinity—Father O'Flynn 'd make hares of them all!'
'Don't talk of your Provost and Fellows of Trinity,
Famous for ever at Greek and Latinity,
Faix and the divels and all at Divinity—
Father O'Flynn 'd make hares of them all!'
(A. P. Graves.)
(A. P. Graves.)
Harvest; always used in Ireland for autumn:—'One fine day in harvest.' (Crofton Croker.)
Hauling home; bringing home the bride, soon after the wedding, to her husband's house. Called also a 'dragging-home.' It is always made the occasion of festivity only next in importance to the wedding. For a further account, and for a march played at the Hauling home, see my 'Old Irish Folk Music and Songs,' p. 130.
Hausel; the opening in the iron head of an axe, adze, or hammer, for the handle. (Ulster.)
Haverel: a rude coarse boor, a rough ignorant fellow. (Moran: Carlow.)
Havverick; a rudely built house, or an old ruined house hastily and roughly restored:—'How can people live in that old havverick?' (Limerick.)
Hayden, Miss Mary,M.A.,5, &c.
Healy, Mr. Maurice,178, &c.
Head or harp; a memorial of the old Irish coinage, corresponding with Englishhead or tail. The old Irish penny and halfpenny had the king's head on one side and the Irish harp on the other. 'Come now, head or harp,' says the person about to throw up a halfpenny of any kind.
Heard tell; an expression used all throughout Ireland:—'I heard tell of a man who walked to Glendalough in a day.' It is old English.
Heart-scald; a great vexation or mortification. (General.) Merely the translation ofscallach-croidhe[scollagh-cree],scaldingof the heart.
Hearty; tipsy, exhilarated after a little 'drop.'
Hedge schools,149.
Higgins, The Rev. Father, p.244, and elsewhere.
Hinch; the haunch, the thigh. To hinch a stone is tojerk(orjurkas they say in Munster), to hurl it from under instead of over the shoulder. (Ulster.)
Hinten; the last sod of the ridge ploughed. (Ulster.)
Ho; equal. Always used with a negative, and also in a bad sense, either seriously or in play. A child spills a jug of milk, and the mother says:—'Oh Jacky, there's nohoto you for mischief' (no equal to you). The old woman says to the mischievous gander:—'There's no ho with you for one gander.' (Gerald Griffin: 'The Coiner.') Thishois an Irish word: it represents the sound of the Irish prefixchoorchomh, equal, as much as, &c. 'There's no ho to Jack Lynch' means there's no one for whom you can usecho(equal) in comparing him with Jack Lynch.
Hobbler; a small cock of fresh hay about 4 feet high. (Moran: Carlow.)
Hobby; a kind of Irish horse, which, three or four centuries ago, was known all over Europe 'and held in great esteem for their easy amble: and from this kind of horse the Irish light-armed bodies of horse were called hobellers.' (Ware. See my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland,' p. 487.) Hence a child's toy, a hobby-horse. Hence a favourite pursuit is called a 'hobby.'
Hoil; a mean wretched dwelling: an uncomfortable situation. (Morris: South Monaghan.)
Hollow; used as an adverb as follows:—'Jack Cantlon's horse beat the others hollow in the race': i.e. beat them utterly.
Holy show: 'You're a holy show in that coat,' i.e. it makes quite a show of you; makes you look ridiculous. (General.)
Holy well; a well venerated on account of its association with an Irish saint: in most cases retaining the name of the saint:—'Tober-Bride,' St. Bride's or Brigit's well. In these wells the early saints baptised their converts. They are found all through Ireland, and people often pray beside them and make theirrounds. (See 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland.')
Hool or hooley; the same as a Black swop.
Hot-foot; at once, immediately:—'Off I went hot-foot.' 'As soon as James heard the news, he wrote a letter hot-foot to his father.'
Houghle; to wobble in walking. (Armagh.)
Hugger-mugger: see Cugger-mugger.
Huggers or hogars, stockings without feet. (Ulster.)
Hulk; a rough surly fellow. (Munster.) A bad person. (Simmons: Armagh.) Irisholc, bad.
Hungry-grass: see Fair-gurtha.
Hunker-slide; to slide on ice sitting on the hunkers (or as they would say in Munster, sitting on one'sgrug) instead of standing up straight: hence to act with duplicity: to shirk work:—'None of your hunker-sliding for me.' (Ulster.)
Hurling; the common game of ball and hurley orcommaun. The chief terms (besides those mentioned elsewhere) are:—Puck, the blow of the hurley on the ball: Thegoalsare the two gaps at opposite sides of the field through which the players try to drive the ball. When the ball is thrown high up between two players with theircommauns ready drawn to try which will strike it on its way down: that ishigh-rothery. When two adjacent parishes or districts contended (instead of two small parties at an ordinary match), that wasscoobeenor 'conquering goal' (Irishscuab, a broom:scoobeen,sweepingthe ball away). I have seen at least 500 on each side engaged in one of thesescoobeens; but that was in the time of the eight millions—before 1847. Sometimes there were bad blood and dangerous quarrels at scoobeens. See Borick, Sippy, Commaun, and Cool. (For the ancient terms see my 'Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland,' p. 513.) For examples of these great contests, see Very Rev. Dr. Sheehan's 'Glenanaar,' pp. 4, 231.
Hurt: a whortleberry: hurts arefraughans, which see. Fromwhort. (Munster.)
Husho or rather huzho; a lullaby, a nurse-song, a cradle-song; especially the chorus, consisting of a sleepycronaunor croon—like 'shoheen-sho Loo-lo-lo,' &c. Irishsuantraighe[soontree]. 'The moaning of a distant stream that kept up a continualcronanelike a nursehushoing.' 'My mother was hushoing my little sister, striving to quieten her.' (Both from Crofton Croker.) 'The murmur of the oceanhuzhoedme to sleep.' (Irish Folk Song:—'M‘Kenna's Dream.')
Idioms; influence of the Irish language on,4:—derived from Irish,23.
If; often used in the sense ofalthough,while, or some such signification, which will be best understood from the following examples:—A Dublinjarvey who got sixpence for a long drive, said in a rage:—'I'm in luck to-day; butif I am, 'tis blazingbadluck.' 'Bill ran into the house, and if he did, the other man seized him round the waist and threw him on his back.'
If that. This is old English, but has quite disappeared from the standard language of the present day, though still not unfrequently heard in Ireland:—'If that you go I'll go with you.'
'Iffrom SallythatI get free,My dear I love you most tenderlie.'(Irish Folk Song—'Handsome Sally.')
'Iffrom SallythatI get free,My dear I love you most tenderlie.'
'Iffrom SallythatI get free,
My dear I love you most tenderlie.'
(Irish Folk Song—'Handsome Sally.')
(Irish Folk Song—'Handsome Sally.')
'Andif thatyou wish to go furtherSure God He made Peter His own,The keys of His treasures He gave him,To govern the old Church of Rome.'(Old Irish Folk Song.)
'Andif thatyou wish to go furtherSure God He made Peter His own,The keys of His treasures He gave him,To govern the old Church of Rome.'
'Andif thatyou wish to go further
Sure God He made Peter His own,
The keys of His treasures He gave him,
To govern the old Church of Rome.'
(Old Irish Folk Song.)
(Old Irish Folk Song.)
Inagh´ or in-yah´ [both strongly accented on second syll.]; a satirical expression of dissent or disbelief, like the Englishforsooth, but much stronger. A fellow boasting says:—'I could run ten miles in an hour': and another replies, 'You couldinah': meaning 'Of course I don't believe a word of it.' A man coming back from the other world says to a woman:—'I seen your [dead] husband there too, ma'am;' to which she replies:—'My husbandinah.' (Gerald Griffin: 'Collegians.') Irishan eadh, same sound and meaning.
Inch; a long strip of level grassy land along a river. Very general. Irishinis[innish], of the same family as Lat.insula: butinisis older thaninsulawhich is a diminutive and consequently a derived form. 'James, go out and drive the cows down to the inch.'
Insense´; to make a person understand;—'I can'tinsense him into his letters.' 'I insensed him into the way the job was to be done.' [Accent on -sense´.]
In tow with; in close acquaintance with, courting. John is in tow with Jane Sullivan.
Ire, sometimesira; children who go barefoot sometimes getirein the feet; i.e. the skin chapped and very sore. Also an inflamed spot on the skin rendered sore by being rubbed with some coarse seam, &c.
Irish language; influence of, on our dialect,1,23.
Jackeen; a nickname for a conceited Dublin citizen of the lower class.
Jack Lattin,172.
Jap or jop; to splash with mud. (Ulster.)
Jaw; impudent talk:jawing; scolding, abusing:—
'He looked in my face and he gave me some jaw,Saying "what brought you over from Erin-go-braw?"'(Irish Folk Song.)
'He looked in my face and he gave me some jaw,Saying "what brought you over from Erin-go-braw?"'
'He looked in my face and he gave me some jaw,
Saying "what brought you over from Erin-go-braw?"'
(Irish Folk Song.)
(Irish Folk Song.)
Jingle; one of Bianconi's long cars.
Johnny Magorey; a hip or dog-haw; the fruit of the dog-rose. (Central and Eastern counties.)
Join; to begin at anything; 'the child joined to cry'; 'my leg joined to pain me'; 'the man joined to plough.' (North.)
Jokawn; an oaten stem cut off above the joint, with a tongue cut in it, which sounds a rude kind of music when blown by the mouth. (Limerick.) Irishgeocán, same sound and meaning.
Jowlter, fish-jowlter; a person who hawks about fish through the country, to sell. (South.)
Just: often used as a final expletive—more inUlster than elsewhere:—'Will you send anyone?' 'Yes, Tommy just.' 'Where are you going now?' 'To the fair just.'
Keenagh or keenagh-lee: mildew often seen on cheese, jam, &c. In a damp house everything gets covered withkeenagh-lee. Irishcaonach, moss;caonach-lee, mildew:leeis Irishliagh[lee], grey. (North and North-West of Ireland.)
Keeping: a man ison his keepingwhen he is hiding away from the police, who are on his track for some offence. This is from the Irishcoiméad, keeping;air mo choiméad, 'on my keeping.'
Keeroge; a beetle or clock. Irishciar[keer], dark, black, with the diminutiveóg:keeroge, 'black little fellow.'
Kelters, money, coins: 'He has the kelthers,' said of a rich man.Yellow kelters, gold money: 'She has the kelthers': means she has a large fortune. (Moran: Carlow.)
Kemp or camp; to compete: two or more persons kemp against each other in any work to determine which will finish first. (Ulster.) See Carleton's story, 'The Rival Kempers.'
Keolaun; a contemptible little creature, boy or man. (South and West.)
Keowt; a low contemptible fellow.
Kepper; a slice of bread with butter, as distinguished from adundon, which see.
Kesh; a rough bridge over a river or morass, made with poles, wickerwork, &c.—overlaid with bushes andscraws(green sods). Understood all through Ireland. A small one over a drain in a bog isoften called in Tipperary and Waterford akishoge, which is merely the diminutive.
Kib; to put down or plant potatoes, each seed in a separate hole made with a spade. Irishciob, same sound and meaning.
Kickham, Charles, author of 'Knocknagow,'5, &c.
Kiddhoge, a wrap of any kind that a woman throws hastily over her shoulders. (Ulster.) Irishcuideóg, same sound and sense here.
Kilfinane, Co. Limerick,147.
Killeen; a quantity:—'That girl has a good killeen of money. (Ulster.) Irishcillín[killeen].
Killeen; an old churchyard disused except for the occasional burial of unbaptised infants. Irishcill, a church, with the diminutiveín.
Kimmeen; a sly deceitful trick; kimmeens or kymeens, small crooked ways:—'Sure you're not equal to thekimmeensof such complete deceivers at all at all.' (Sam Lover in Ir. Pen. Mag.) Irishcom, crooked; diminutivecuimín[kimmeen].
Kimmel-a-vauleen; uproarious fun. Irishcimel-a'-mháilín, literally 'rub-the-bag.' There is a fine Irish jig with this name. (South.)
Kink; a knot or short twist in a cord.
Kink; a fit of coughing or laughing: 'they were in kinks of laughing.' Hencechincough, for whooping-cough, i.e.kink-cough. I know a holy well that has the reputation of curing whooping-cough, and hence called the 'Kink-well.'
Kinleen or keenleen, or kine-leen; a single straw or corn stem. (South.) Irishcaoinlín, same sound.
Kinleen-roe; an icicle: the same word as last with the addition ofreo[roe], frost: 'frost-stem.'
Kinnatt´, [1st syll. very short; accent on 2nd syll.: to rhyme withcat]; an impertinent conceited impudent little puppy.
Kippen or kippeen; any little bit of stick: often used as a sort of pet name for a formidable cudgel or shillelah for fighting. Irishcip[kip], a stake or stock, with the diminutive.
Kish; a large square basket made of wattles and wickerwork used for measuring turf or for holding turf on a cart. Sometimes (South) called akishaun. Irishcisorciseán, same sounds and meanings: also calledkishagh.
Kishtha; a treasure: very common in Connaught, where it is often understood to be hidden treasure in a fort under the care of a leprachaun. Irishciste, same sound and meaning.
Kitchen; any condiment or relish eaten with the plain food of a meal, such as butter, dripping, &c. A very common saying in Tyrone against any tiresome repetition is:—'Butter to butter is no kitchen.' As a verb; to use sparingly, to economise:—'Now kitchen that bit of bacon for you have no more.'
Kitthoge or kitthagh; a left-handed person. Understood through all Ireland. Irishciotóg,ciotach, same sounds and meaning.
Kitterdy; a simpleton, a fool. (Ulster.)
Knauvshauling [theksounded distinctly]; grumbling, scolding, muttering complaints. (Limerick.) From Irishcnamh[knauv:ksounded], a bone, the jawbone. The underlying idea is the same as when we speak of a person givingjaw. See Jaw.
'Knocknagow ': see Kickham.
Kybosh; some sort of difficulty or 'fix':—'He put the kybosh on him: he defeated him.' (Moran: Carlow.)
Kyraun, keeraun; a small bit broken off from a sod of turf. Irishcaor, or with the diminutive,caorán, same sound and meaning.
Laaban; a rotten sterile egg (Morris: for South Monaghan): same asGlugger, which see. Irishláborláib, mire, dirt, with diminutive.
Lad; a mischievous tricky fellow:—'There's no standing them lads.' (Gerald Griffin.)
Lagheryman or Logheryman. (Ulster.) Same as Leprachaun, which see.
Lambaisting; a sound beating. Quite common in Munster.
Langel; to tie the fore and the hind leg of a cow or goat with a spancel or fetter to prevent it going over fences. (Ulster.) Irishlangal, same sound and meaning.
Lapcock; an armful or roll of grass laid down on the sward to dry for hay. (Ulster.)
Lark-heeled; applied to a person having long sharp heels. See Saulavotcheer.
Larrup; to wallop, to beat soundly. (Donegal and South.)
Lashings, plenty: lashings and leavings, plenty and to spare: specially applied to food at meals. (General.)
Lassog, a blaze of light. (Morris: South Monaghan.) From Irishlas, light, with the diminutive.
Lauchy; applied to a person in the sense of pleasant, good-natured, lovable. Irishláchaiidhe, same sound and sense. (Banim: general in the South.) 'He's alauchyboy.'
Laudy-daw; a pretentious fellow that sets up to be a great swell. (Moran: Carlow; and South.)
Launa-vaula; full and plenty:—There was launa-vaula at the dinner. Irishlán-a-mhála(same sound), 'full bags.'
Lazy man's load. A lazy man takes too many things in one load to save the trouble of going twice, and thereby often lets them fall and breaks them.
Learn is used forteachall over Ireland, but more in Ulster than elsewhere. Don't forget to 'larn the little girl her catechiz.' (Seumas Mac Manus.) An old English usage: but dead and gone in England now.
Leather; to beat:—'I gave him a good leathering,' i.e., a beating, a thrashing. This is not derived, as might be supposed, from the English wordleather(tanned skin), but from Irish, in which it is of very old standing:—Letrad(modernleadradh), cutting, hacking, lacerating: also a champion fighter, a warrior, aleatherer. (Corm. Gloss.—9th cent.) Used all through Ireland.
Leather-wing; a bat. (South.)
Lee, the Very Rev. Patrick, V. F., of Kilfinane,148.
Lebbidha; an awkward, blundering, half-fool of a fellow. (South.) Irishleibide, same sound and meaning.
Leg bail; a person gives (or takes)leg bailwhen he runs away, absconds. (General.)
Lend; loan. Ned came 'for thelendof the ould mare.' ('Knocknagow.') Often used in the following way:—'Come and lend a hand,' i.e., give some help. 'Our shooting party comes off to-morrow: will youlendyour gun': an invitation to join the party. (Kinahan.)
Leprachaun; a sort of fairy, called by several names in different parts of Ireland:—luricaun, cluricaun, lurragadaun, loghryman, luprachaun. This last is the nearest to the Gaelic original, all the preceding anglicised forms being derived from it. Luprachaun itself is derived by a metathesis from Irishluchorpán, fromlu, little, andcorpán, the dim. ofcorp, a body:—'weeny little body.' The reader will understand all about this merry little chap from the following short note and song written by me and extracted from my 'Ancient Irish Music' (in which the air also will be found). The leprachaun is a very tricky little fellow, usually dressed in a green coat, red cap, and knee-breeches, and silver shoe-buckles, whom you may sometimes see in the shades of evening, or by moonlight, under a bush; and he is generally making or mending a shoe: moreover, like almost all fairies, he would give the world forpottheen. If you catch him and hold him, he will, after a little threatening, show you where treasure is hid, or give you a purse in which you will always find money. But if you once take your eyes off him, he is gone in an instant; and he is very ingenious in devising tricks to induce you to look round. It is very hard to catch a leprachaun, and still harder to hold him. I never heard of any man who succeeded in getting treasure from him, except one, a lucky young fellow named MacCarthy, who, according to the peasantry, built the castle of Carrigadrohid near Macroom in Cork with the money. Every Irishman understands well the termscruiskeenandmountain dew, some indeed a little too well; butfor the benefit of the rest of the world, I think it better to state that acruískeenis a small jar, and thatmountain dewispottheenor illicit whiskey.
In a shady nook one moonlight night,A leprachaun I spied;With scarlet cap and coat of green;A cruiskeen by his side.'Twas tick tack tick, his hammer went,Upon a weeny shoe;And I laughed to think of a purse of gold;But the fairy was laughing too.With tip-toe step and beating heart,Quite softly I drew nigh:There was mischief in his merry face;—A twinkle in his eye.He hammered and sang with tiny voice,And drank his mountain dew:And I laughed to think he was caught at last:—But the fairy was laughing too.As quick as thought I seized the elf;'Your fairy purse!' I cried;'The purse!' he said—''tis in her hand—'That lady at your side!'I turned to look: the elf was off!Then what was I to do?O, I laughed to think what a fool I'd been;And the fairy was laughing too.
In a shady nook one moonlight night,A leprachaun I spied;With scarlet cap and coat of green;A cruiskeen by his side.'Twas tick tack tick, his hammer went,Upon a weeny shoe;And I laughed to think of a purse of gold;But the fairy was laughing too.
In a shady nook one moonlight night,
A leprachaun I spied;
With scarlet cap and coat of green;
A cruiskeen by his side.
'Twas tick tack tick, his hammer went,
Upon a weeny shoe;
And I laughed to think of a purse of gold;
But the fairy was laughing too.
With tip-toe step and beating heart,Quite softly I drew nigh:There was mischief in his merry face;—A twinkle in his eye.He hammered and sang with tiny voice,And drank his mountain dew:And I laughed to think he was caught at last:—But the fairy was laughing too.
With tip-toe step and beating heart,
Quite softly I drew nigh:
There was mischief in his merry face;—
A twinkle in his eye.
He hammered and sang with tiny voice,
And drank his mountain dew:
And I laughed to think he was caught at last:—
But the fairy was laughing too.
As quick as thought I seized the elf;'Your fairy purse!' I cried;'The purse!' he said—''tis in her hand—'That lady at your side!'I turned to look: the elf was off!Then what was I to do?O, I laughed to think what a fool I'd been;And the fairy was laughing too.
As quick as thought I seized the elf;
'Your fairy purse!' I cried;
'The purse!' he said—''tis in her hand—
'That lady at your side!'
I turned to look: the elf was off!
Then what was I to do?
O, I laughed to think what a fool I'd been;
And the fairy was laughing too.
Let out; a spree, an entertainment. (General.) 'Mrs. Williams gave a great let out.'
Libber; this has much the same meaning asflipper, which see: an untidy person careless about his dress and appearance—an easy-goingould sthreelof a man. I have heard an old fellow say, regarding those that went before him—father,grandfather, &c.—that they were 'ouldaancientlibbers,' which is the Irish peasant's way of expressing Gray's 'rude forefathers of the hamlet.'
Lief; willing: 'I had as lief be working as not.' 'I had liefer': I had rather. (General.) This is an old English word, now fallen out of use in England, but common here.
Lifter; a beast that is so weak from starvation (chiefly in March when grass is withered up) that it can hardly stand and has to be lifted home from the hill-pasture to the stable. (Kinahan: Connemara.)
Light; a little touched in the head, a little crazed:—'Begor sir if you say I know nothing about sticks your head must be getting light in earnest.' (Robert Dwyer Joyce.)
Likely; well-looking: 'a likely girl'; 'aclanelikely boy.'
Likes; 'the likes of you': persons ora personlike you or in your condition. Very common in Ireland. 'I'll not have any dealings with the likes of him.' Colonel Lake, Inspector General of Constabulary in last century, one afternoon met one of his recruits on the North Circular Road, Dublin, showing signs of liquor, and stopped him. 'Well, my good fellow, what is your name please?' The recruit replied:—'Who are you, and what right have you to ask my name?' 'I am Colonel Lake, your inspector general.' The recruit eyed him closely:—'Oh begor your honour, if that's the case it's not right for the likes of me to be talking to the likes of you': on which he turned round and took leg bail on the spot like a deer, leavingthe inspector general standing on the pathway. The Colonel often afterwards told that story with great relish.
Linnaun-shee or more correctLannaun-shee; a familiar spirit or fairy that attaches itself to a mortal and follows him. From Irishleannán, a lover, andsídh[shee], a fairy:lannaun-shee, 'fairy-lover.'
Linnie; a long shed—a sort of barn—attached to a a farm house for holding farm-yard goods and articles of various kinds—carts, spades, turnips, corn, &c. (Munster.) Irishlann-iotha, lit. 'corn-house.'
Lint; in Ulster, a name for flax.
Linthern or lenthern; a small drain or sewer covered with flags for the passage of water, often under a road from side to side. (Munster.) Irishlintreán,linntreach[lintran, lintragh].
Liscauns; gleanings of corn from the field after reaping: 'There's Mary gatheringliscauns.' (South.) Irish.
Loanen; a lane, abohereen. (Ulster.)
Lob; a quantity, especially of money or of any valuable commodity:—''Tis reported that Jack got a great lob of money with his wife.' A person is trying to make himself out very useful or of much consequence, and another says satirically—generally in play:—'Oh what alobyou are!'
Lock; a quantity or batch of anything—generally small:—a lock of straw; a lock of sheep. (General.)
Logey; heavy or fat as applied to a person. (Moran: Carlow.) Also the fireplace in a flax-kiln.
Lone; unmarried:—'A lone man'; 'a lone woman.'
Long family; a common expression for a large family.
Lood, loodh, lude; ashamed: 'he was lude of himself when he was found out.' (South.)
Loody; a loose heavy frieze coat. (Munster.)
Loof; the open hand, the palm of the hand. (Ulster.) Irishlámh[lauv], the hand.
Loo-oge or lu-oge; the eel-fry a couple of inches long that come up the southern Blackwater periodically in myriads, and are caught and sold as food. (Waterford: Healy.) Irishluadhóg, same sound and meaning.
Loose leg; when a person is free from any engagement or impediment that bound him down—'he has a loose leg'—free to act as he likes. 'I have retired from the service with a pension, so that now I have a loose leg.' The same is often said of a prisoner discharged from jail.
Lord; applied as a nickname to a hunchback. The hunchback Danny Mann in 'The Collegians' is often called 'Danny the lord.'
Losset; a kneading tray for making cakes.
Lossagh; a sudden blaze from a turf fire. Irishlas[loss], a blaze, with the usual terminationach.
Lossoge; a handful or little bundle of sticks for firing. (Mayo.) Irishlas[loss], fire, a blaze, with the diminutive termination.
Low-backed car; a sort of car common in the southern half of Ireland down to the middle of the last century, used to bring the country people and their farm produce to markets. Resting on the shafts was a long flat platform placed lengthwiseand sloping slightly downwards towards the back, on which were passengers and goods. Called trottle-car in Derry.
Loy; a spade. Used in the middle of Ireland all across from shore to shore. Irishláighe, same sound and meaning.
Luck-penny; a coin given by the seller to the buyer after a bargain has been concluded: given to make sure that the buyer will have luck with the animal or article he buys.
Ludeen or loodeen [dsounded likethinthen]; the little finger. Irishlúidín, same sound and meaning. Fromlu, little, with the diminutive termination.
Lu-oge: see Loo-oge.
Luscan; a spot on the hillside from which the furze and heath have been burned off. (Wicklow and round about.) From Irishloscto burn:luscan, 'burned little spot.'
Lusmore; fairy-thimble, fairy-finger, foxglove,Digitalis purpurea; an herb of mighty power in fairy lore. Irishlus, herb;mór, great; 'mighty herb.'
Lybe; a lazy fellow. (MacCall: Wex.) See Libber.
Lyre; the full of the two hands used together: a beggar usually got alyreof potatoes. (Munster: same asgopenin Ulster.) Irishladhar, same sound and meaning.
MacManus, Seumas,5, &c.
Mad; angry. There are certain Irish words, such asbuileamhail, which might denote eithermador veryangry: hence in English you very often hear:—'Oh the master is very mad with you,'i.e. angry. 'Excessively angry' is often expressed this way in dialect language:—'The master is blazing mad about that accident to the mare.' But even this expression is classical Irish; for we read in the Irish Bible that Moses went away from Pharaoh,air lasadh le feírg, 'blazing with anger.' 'Like mad' is often used to denote very quickly or energetically: Crofton Croker speaks of people who were 'dancing like mad.' This expression is constantly heard in Munster.
Maddha-brishtha; an improvised tongs, such as would be used with a fire in the fields, made from a strong twig bent sharp. (Derry.) Irishmaide[maddha], a stick;briste, broken:—'broken stick.'
Maddhiaghs or muddiaghs; same as last, meaning simply 'sticks': the two ends giving the idea of plurality. (Armagh.)
Maddhoge or middhoge; a dagger. (North and South.) Irishmeadógormiodóg.
Made; fortunate:—'I'm a made man' (or 'amedman'), meaning 'my fortune is made.' (Crofton Croker—but used very generally.)
Mag; a swoon:—'Light of grace,' she exclaimed, dropping in amagon the floor. (Edward Walsh: used all over Munster.)
Maisled; speckled; a lazy young fellow's shins get maisled from sitting before the fire. (Knowles: Ulster.)
Make; used in the South in the following way:—'This will make a fine day': 'That cloth will make a fine coat': 'If that fellow was shaved he'd make a handsome young man' (Irish folk-song): 'That Joe of yours is a clever fellow: no doubt he'llmake a splendid doctor.' The nounmakingsis applied similarly:—'That young fellow is the makings of a great scholar.'
Man above. In Irish God is often designatedan Fear suasoran t-É suas('the Man above,' 'the Person above'): thus in Hardiman's 'Irish Minstrelsy' (I. 228):—Comarc an t-É tá shuas ort: 'the protection of the Person who is above be on thee':an Fear suasoccurs in the Ossianic Poems. Hence they use this term all through the South:—'As cunning as he is he can't hide his knavery fromthe Man above.'
Man in the gap,182.
Mankeeper; used North and South as the English name of the little lizard called in Irish 'Art-loochra,' which see.
Mannam; my soul: Irishm'anam, same sound and meaning:—'Mannam on ye,' used as an affectionate exclamation to a child. (Scott: Derry.)
Many; 'too many' is often used in the following way, when two persons were in rivalry of any kind, whether of wit, of learning, or of strength:—'James was too many for Dick,' meaning he was an overmatch for him.
Maol, Mail, Maileen, Moileen, Moilie (these two last forms common in Ulster; the others elsewhere); a hornless cow. IrishMaol[mwail], same meaning. Quite a familiar word all through Ireland.
One night Jacky was sent out, much against his will, for an armful of turf, as the fire was getting low; and in a moment afterwards, the startled family heard frantic yells. Just as they jumped up Jacky rushed in still yelling with his whole throat.'What's the matter—what's wrong!''Oh I saw the divel!''No you didn't, you fool, 'twas something else you saw.''No it wasn't, 'twas the divel I saw—didn't I know him well!''How did you know him—did you see his horns?''I didn't: he had no horns—he was amwaildivel—sure that's how I knew him!'They ran out of course; but themwaildivel was gone, leaving behind him, standing up against the turf-rick, the black littleMaolKerry cow.
One night Jacky was sent out, much against his will, for an armful of turf, as the fire was getting low; and in a moment afterwards, the startled family heard frantic yells. Just as they jumped up Jacky rushed in still yelling with his whole throat.
'What's the matter—what's wrong!'
'Oh I saw the divel!'
'No you didn't, you fool, 'twas something else you saw.'
'No it wasn't, 'twas the divel I saw—didn't I know him well!'
'How did you know him—did you see his horns?'
'I didn't: he had no horns—he was amwaildivel—sure that's how I knew him!'
They ran out of course; but themwaildivel was gone, leaving behind him, standing up against the turf-rick, the black littleMaolKerry cow.