Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/387

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26 THB DIALECT OF Chnmpheftd, a blockhead. Chnnter (gl, chuont-ur), to' complain, growl, grumble, &c. ' If yo said augnt to him he'd chunier like a bulldog.' Li Deyonshire 'chowter' is used in much the same sensa A man went once seeking work, and on being asked where he was going, said, ' Au'm baan i seekin' wark, but for at Au nray *at Au may find nooan ; but Au want a trifle o* spendin* brass, and yaar Jooeseph keeps chwder^ chunier^ chunier J* Chnrohmaster, t. e, churchwarden. This word is said to occur in certain legal instruments. Churohwamer, no doubt a corruption of churchwarden. These two last words are also used in Cumberland. Cinglet (pronounced cinglit), a waistcoat. Cingle is a horse-girth, and both words, in all likelihood, from ctngtUum, Latin, a girdle. Some persons, however, say the spelling should be Singlet (which see). Cla^, the same as dog, as when dust causes machinery to move with difficulty. Clam, or Clem, vh, (both active and neuter) to starve. Hay says,

  • clam'd, starved, because by famine the bowels are, as it were,

dainmed, or stuck together; sometimes it signifies thirsty, and we know in thirst the mouth is very often dammy.' Found in Ben Jonson's Every Mem out of his Humour, Clap to. To dap ^o is to begin working. Clart, to slap smartly on the face. This is called ' clout ' in some parts of England, and seems, therefore, to suggest dciat rather than dart. Forty years ago it was always daat. Clart seems to one who formerly knew the dialect well a modem corruption. Clart7-&rty, moving briskly about ; frisking ; unsettled. Clarty in some parts of the county means dirty, with a degree of stickiness. Clave, the past tense of deave in both its meanings, to split and to adhere to. Occurs in Buth i. 14 : * Orpah kissed her mother-in-law ; but Buth dave unto her.' Cleam (pronounced as if tleam), to cause to adhere, or stick to. ' The wind was so strong it deam'd me to the wall.* * Cleam me a buttershauve,' i, e. spread me a slice of bread and butter. This mode of pronouncing c before I as t ib indicated frequently in the Tale o/Natterin Nan, ver. 6 :

  • Yee've seen that dolt o' mucky (lay (clay)

O' t' face o' Pudsa Doas, T' owd madlin^B worn it all his lifb An fancied it a noas.' A similar pronunciation of d for g before I is supposed to take place^ for which see the same amusing poem, last verse but one :

  • " Tha'U coom ta t' berrin P " " Yus," says Ah ;
    • Ah sail be varry dlad" '