Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/74

This page needs to be proofread.

WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. f3 Sneivy, adj, low; mean; cunning. " He's a sneivy fellow." Snippety a small piece. F.W. P., J.,M.R Snite, a snipe. Snof^ "to be snuff,** t.e. to "be affronted. Polwhele. Soaoe, Boas, friend ; companion ; love. Ess, «o(M.'* "Houdyour tongae, aoaa" Come along, Soak, V. to bake thoroughly.

  • < This bread is not soaked,"

Society, phr, a member of society (a Wesleyan). Bogf a sl^ep. " She is in a sweet aog" Sogh, Polwhele. Sog, V. to sleep. Bogging, part, sleeping. Soile, a seal. "And coming nearer home, here was a sentence spoken last year by a person living at Crowan dhurchtown, which to very many even in Cornwall, woiild be as unintel- ligible as a foreign tongue : * Ef a soile es en a zawn he do troach about the paace that a man ken jaale.' This was spoken of seals at Hell's Mouth in Gwithian Cliff. 'Soile* was *seaV as ' moile ' was * mule,' and ' zawn ' was a sandy cove in a cliff. Pedlars were called troachers, and hence the verb, to troach — to go along as if with a load on one's ba<;k; and to 'jaale' was to walk at a fast pace, which one could keep up for some time. With this explanation, it would be seen that the sentence very well expressed the manner and speed of a seal's movements. — ic. BoUar, a temporary floor at the bottom of a mine level, through which the air passes for ventila- -tion. Sooni, amulets ; charms. Mystic words given by " white- witches " to their customers. See White- witch. Bound, a swoon. " She fell down in a sound:' Bonnd-sIeeper, a red and black moth, sometimes called ** a seven sleeper." Bonr-iops, sour-dock, or common sorrel Boursabs, F. C. Bouse, adj, heavily; clumsily. •*He sat down souse,*' Down souse, down right Souse is sometimes used as a verb. ' * She soused down in her chair." Bowdling, adj. burly ; ungainly. BowB, Orammar-sows, Old bows, woodlice; millipedes. Bpadiards, the labourers or mine workers in the Stannaries of Cornwall are so called from their spades. Kenuet, M. G. Halli- well. Polwhele calls them spalliers, Bpal, V, to break stones. "He was set to spal stones." " I seed un spalling stoanes on the road." Bpale, a fine, v, to mulct or fine ; to make anything last a long time. To spare, J. W. Span, V. to tether. Spasjar, Span, a tether. Bpanldng, adj. large; big; a spanking woman. Bpanyer, Bpangar, a Spaniard. The Spaniards were formerly dis- liked for having landed in W. Cornwall and burnt a church. Sparables, small hobnails. Spare-work, Sparey-work, work that, takes a long time doing.

    • Fine sewing is sparey-work,"

Spar - stone, quartz ; Cornish diamonds.

  • ' A man of penetration he,

For through a spar-stone he could see."