Snake-fern. The hard-fern (Blechnum boreale). See "Adder's-Fern."
Sniggle, To. To snarl. See chap, xvi., p. 186. Sniggle, A. An eel peculiar to the Avon. See chap, xii., pp. 125, 126.
Spell, A. A fit, or start. Pain is said to come and go by "spells," that is, by shocks at recurring intervals.
Spene, A. In its first sense, like the Old-English spana, an udder of a cow. In its second, the rail of a gate or stile.
Spine-oak. The heart of oak. This phrase points to the true derivation of "heart of oak." The common theory Mr. Wedgewood has rightly classed under the head of "False Etymologies." See Transactions of the Philological Society, 1855. No. 6, pp. 62, 63.
Spire-bed, A. A place where the "spires," that is, the reed-canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), grow; exactly equivalent to the Old-English hreodbedd. On the outskirts of the New Forest at Redbridge, formerly Redford—Hreodford, literally, the ford of reeds—the Test is to this day full of the same "spires," from which our forefathers gave the place its name. The river Caundle, in Dorsetshire, still, too, full of spire-beds, tells of a similar derivation, not from the Teutonic, but the Keltic. The phrase "spire-bed," or "spear-bed field," is very common, meaning a particular field, near where the "spires" grow, which are used by plasterers and thatchers in their work.
Spith. (Another form of pith, from the Old-English "piða"). Strength, force.
Sprack. Not only quick, lively, brisk, active, as given in the glossaries, but neat, tidy. Used also in this last sense in Wiltshire.
Spratter. The common guillemot (Uria trone). In Norfolk (see Transactions of the Philological Society, 1855, p. 37) we have "sprat-mowe," for a herring-gull; and in Kent, "sprat-loon," for one of the grebes.
Squab, A. Anything large. Thus "a squab of a piece," is constantly used in this sense. In a different meaning it is confounded with squat. So a thickset, heavy person is called a "squab."
Squoyles. Glances. See chap, xvi., p. 182.
Stabble. Marks, footprints, always used in the plural. This is another of those onomatopoëtic words which Mr. Wedgewood might add to the forms step, stamp, stipple, all derived by a similar process. (See the Introduction to his Dictionary of Etymology, p. x.) In an old rhyme, common in the New Forest, upon a hailstorm, we find the word:—
"Go round the ricks,
And round the ricks,
And make as many stabble
As nine score sheep."
Starky. Used particularly of land which is stiff or unworkable, especially after rain, and opposed to "stoachy," which signifies muddy, as in the common expression, "What a dreadful stoachy piece of ground."
Thrifty. Still used in its old derivative sense of thriving, and so flourishing. Once or twice I have heard it applied to physical health, in the sense of being well, or "pure," as is the more common saying.
Tine, To. To tine a candle, does not now so much mean to light, from the Old-English tendan, to set on fire, as to snuff it.
Tuffet, A. A lump of earth, or hillock. Hence we have "tuffety," in the sense of uneven, or covered with hillocks.
Tuly. Weak, ailing. More common in the north of England. See "Kittering."
Twiddle, To. To whistle. "The robins are twiddling," is a common phrase, and which fact is said to be a sign of rain.
