NOTWITHSTANDING every effort to make this glossary as complete as possible, there remain not a few words and phrases with which I can do nothing satisfactory. This is the case not only with ballads from recent tradition, but with some that were taken down in writing three hundred years ago or more.

At every stage of oral transmission we must suppose that some accidental variations from what was delivered would be introduced, and occasionally some wilful variations. Memory will fail at times; at times the listener will hear amiss, or will not understand, and a perversion of sense will ensue, or absolute nonsense, nonsense which will be servilely repeated, and which repetition may make more gross. Dr Davidson informs me that one of his female relatives rendered an echo shrill did make' (in Chevy Chace, 10) 'an achish yirl did make,' and that he took 'aching or frightened earl' to be the meaning until he read the piece. Happy are we when we are sure of the nonsense; as when, in The Gypsy Laddie, 'they cast their glamourie owre her' is turned into 'they called their grandmother over.' "The combination of two words into one," says Dr Davidson, "is not rare in Scotch, nor is the reverse process. For example, the word 'hypochondriac' is turned into 'keepach and dreeach,' and the two parts often used separately. 'I'm unco keepach' and 'I'm unco dreeach' are common expressions among old people. Imagine an etymologist, ignorant of the facts, trying to discover the etymology of 'keepach' or of 'dreeach." " Words of one or two syllables are long enough for the simple; a laboring man of my acquaintance calls rheumatism 'the tism': what are the other syllables to such, who understand no one of the three? Learned words do not occur in ballads; still an old native word will be in the same danger of metamorphosis. But, though unfamiliarity naturally ends in corruption, mishearing may have the like effect where the original phrase is in no way in fault; hence, perhaps, 'with a bretther a degs ye'll clear up my nags,' 'a tabean briben kame,' 'I'll have that head of thine, to enter plea att my iollye,' etc.

It must be borne in mind, however, that as to nonsense the burden of proof rests always upon the expositor. His personal inability to dispose of a reading is not conclusive; his convictions may be strong, but patience and caution are his part and self-restraint as to conjectures.

It is with a strong feeling of what a kindly Scot' signifies that I offer my thanks to many gentlemen who

have favored me with comments on lists of words submitted to them. Especial acknowledgment is due to Dr Thomas Davidson, a native of Old Deer, who has made his home in the United States, and to Mr William Walker, of Aberdeen. Besides these, I have to mention with gratitude the Rev. Robert Lippe, Rev. Dr Walter Gregor, the late Dr William Alexander, Principal Sir W. D. Geddes, Dr James Mori, Messrs William Forbes, James Aiken, David Scott, W. Carnie, W. Cadenhead, and William Murison, all of Aberdeenshire; Dr James Burgess, Messrs J. Logie Robertson and William Macmath, of Edinburgh; Professor A. F. Murison, of London, and Dr Robert Wallace, M. P.; Professor James Cappen, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario; Rev. Professor J. Clarke Murray and Principal Dr W. M. Barbour, of Montreal; Rev. Dr Alexander McDonald, St Francis Xavier's College, Antigonish, N. S.; Rev. Dr Waters, of Newark, N. J. For some difficult English words help has been given by Dr W. Hand Browne of Johns Hopkins University, Professor Manly of Brown University, and Professor Kittredge of Harvard College.

It will be observed that ballads in the Skene MS which were derived from the "Old Lady's Collection " are not glossed, but the originals, which should be substituted for Skene's more or less incorrect copies.

[References are usually to volume, page, and stanza.]

a', aa, aw, all.

A

a' every. a' man, I, 68, 27; II, 71, 16; 75, 13; 193, 24; IV, 46, 5, 6; 235, 10; V, 169, 6; 221, 10; 224, 22; 237, 8; 239, 36; 260 b, 5. a' body, V, 273 a. a, abridgment of have, I, 315, 11; III, 215, 10; 440, 13; 441, 26; V, 55, 26; 79, 33; 213, 10; 224, 28; 251, 36. a=he, III, 54, 3, 7.

a=I, in the phrase a wat (a wait, a wite, etc.), II, 159, 11, 16, 19; 160, 10-16, 19; III, 299, 9: I know, verily, assuredly. II, 230, 6: used by a mere trick, with hardly a meaning. a's, V, 266, 9: I's, I shall, will. a=of: III, 91, 2; 93, 36; 298, 59; 307, 10; 308, 12, 24; 309, 40 (a trusti tre ?); 349, 37, 39; 464, 11; IV, 504, 27. a=on. a grefe, III, 69, 268. a blode (ablode), I, 244, 9; V, 288 b, v. 16. a row, III, 117, 24. a=one: I, 126, 4; 326, 7; 327, 24. a=ae, one single: V, 256 b, 2; 257, 6, 15; 278, 26. a warst,

V, 215, 6. V, 239, 36: one and the same. See ae. a=to. abound, II, 109, 20: to go. a dee, 110, 25: to do. So, perhaps, abee.

a be, abe, a bee, abee, a beene (with let), I, 356, D b 4; II, 29, 5; 108, 5; 159, 25; 185, 27; III, 455, 4, 8; V, 229, 35: be.

let abee with, IV, 96 f., D 9, 13.

let abee of, IV, 97, E 4, 5; 98, 15; 99, 14, 15. abeen, abeene, aboon, abone, etc., I, 315, 8; II, 468, 7; IV, 326, 16, 19: above. his hose abeen his sheen, V, 17, 35; 18, 14: his stockings ungartered, falling above, over his shoes.

abide, abyde, III, 67, 219; 73, 345 ; V, 82, 24, 40: stop, wait. III, 97, 8; 279, 13: withstand.

pret. abode, III, 63, 143: waited.

p. p. abiden, abyden, III, 57 f., 25, 30: awaited. able, II, 51, 4: suitable.

ablins, aiblins, III, 467, b 2: perhaps.

aboard, V, 134, 16: alongside; and so 8, 20, 22, or, laid us aboard may be boarded us.

abode, III, 335 a: waiting, delay. abode, III, 430, 1, burden: endured. aboone, aboun, abown. See abune.

abound.

ill a bound, II, 109, 20: ill (prepared) to go. about, been, V, 52, 77: been engaged. abowthe, III, 112, 52: about.

abune, aboone, aboon, abon, abone, abown, aboun, abeen, II, 20, 8; 22, 16; 23, D 7, E 8; 24, F 10; 25,

G 13; 27, 21; 28, 25; 29, 19; 30, 12; 145, 20: above (above them).

=

See aukeward.

478, 1; II, 77, 29;

ae one, single: I, 310, 6; 467, 33; IV, 257, 10; 260, 10; 261, 9; 262, 24; 445, 1; 476, 3. ae best, I, 465, 13, 17; IV, 479, 13. ae first, I, 426, 7, 8; 494, 22. ae warst (a warst), V, 214 f., 1, 6. the the ither, III, 500 b, 7: the one . . . the other. ae mere, sole. ae licht o the moon, IV, 469, 4; 470, 35. ae=aye, always: I, 245, 7; II, 185, 40; 208, 12; IV, 247, B 11; 265, 13.

ae...

agast of him, III, 99, 49: alarmed about him (the consequences to him).

agaste, V, 71, note †: terrified.

agayn(e), ageyn, III, 98, 29; 297, 46: against. a-geyn euyn, III, 13, 3: towards.

agoe, V, 83, 44: gone.

agree, IV, 147, 32: bring to agreement.

a-zon, comyn a-3on, III, 13, 4: came upon, encountered. ahind, ahint, ahin, I, 299, 14; II, 105, 11; 315, 5; III, 480, 14; 481, 30; IV, 246, 6: behind. V, 17, 32: over and above.

aiblins, ablins, I, 439, 4: perhaps. aileth at. See at.

air, in a drowsy air, IV, 20, 11: air seems to mean atmosphere simply; possibly disposition, condition. air, aire, ayre, by air, by ayre, II, 106, 1; 270, 30; III, 162, 58; 164, b 58; V, 270, 7: early, betimes. airn, ern, I, 342, 33; 348, 13, 19; 355, 42; III, 474, 39; 481, 35; 505, 21: iron.

airt, art, II, 23, E 5: quarter of the heavens, point of the compass. west-airt lands, II, 73, 30: western. rade the airt o, IV, 27, 31: in the direction of. a' airts o wind, II, 341, Q. been at that art, III, 163, 87. airted, V, 99, C 4: laid their course.

aith, oath.

a' kin, a' kin kind, II, 114, 2: all kind, every.

'al, that 'al, IV, 17, 3: 'ull, wull, will.

al, al so mote I the, III, 68, 243: absolutely. al, will.

alaffe, III, 34, 11: aloof.

alane, I, 347, 2. mine alane, I, 332, E 1, F 1. See lane. alang, along.

albergs, II, 340 b: houses, dwells.

alean, alone.

alee, IV, 516 b, 3: on the lea, a-field, but for the purpose of keeping guard; cf. III, 487, A 15; 492, D 5; 495, B b 4.

aleene, I, 346, 4: alone.

alelladay, I, 220, A 1: exclamation of grief. algate, IV, 93, note *: anyway.

aliment, IV, 91, a: provision for maintenance; here, apparently, alimony.

alive, I loved ye best ye were born alive, IV, 521, 19: corrupted; the sense appears in IV, 26, A 16, I love best that's born alive, best of all living things. all. all and, I, 56, 6, 7; III, 432, 16, 17; all as she stood, I, 117, 16; all in my hand, III, 186, 20; all by the roode, III, 188, 2; all by his side, V, 212 b, 8; all on, IV, 393, 5; 394, B 2, 5; 395 f., B b 2, 3, 5; V, 233 f., 2, 3, 5; all at her head, feet, V, 158, 9; all down, V, 293 b, 5; all oer, 302 b, 2.

allacing, IV, 18, 21: repeating of alace (alas). allther, III, 57, 9; 70, 283, 284, representing the ancient genitive plural of all, allther moste, allther best: best of all, etc.

along of, III, 279, 8: owing to.

alongst, V, 267 a, 7, 8: along.

alow, III, 4, 1: below.

alow, aloe, George Aloe, V, 133.

als, alsua, I, 327, 27; IV, 366 D 5: also. also, I, 328, 46: all so, just as. althocht, III, 370, 19: although. amain (e), III, 345, 48; 350, 51: with vigor, strength, force. blew, sound, cald, amain, III, 181, 27; 341, 46; 343, 17; 344, 36: with strength, loudly. II, 385, 24; IV, 13, 2: in force, in numbers. I, 398, 4; III, 176 f., 11, 16; 209, 9: at once, quickly.

amain, V, 134, 7, 16: (Fr. amener) lower, strike. a-married, IV, 236, 4: married.

a-marvel, II, 386, 12: marvel (Fr. émerveiller). amense, III, 465, 23: amends. (Should be printed as one word, not a mense as in the MS.) American leather, I, 494, 14; III, 3, 13; 5, C 2: has been explained as morocco made from American horsehides, for which a patent was obtained c. 1799. See The Scots Magazine, 1799, LXI, 286. But the date of the text at III, 3, is 1780.

amo, V, 306 b, 14: among.

among, II, 451, 89: between.

amoued, II, 442, 9: excited, agitated. an, II, 75, 20; V, 214 b, 4: one.

-an, -ane, -and, -en, etc., annexed to the definite form of the superlative of the adjective (preceded by the, her, etc.) or to numerals, or following separately, seems to be an one. (The history of this usage has not been made out.) The firstan, nextan, firsten, nexten, passim (the seconden only at I, 507, 3); the firstand, I, 135, O 18; the nextand, II, 94, 6; her firsten, thirden, etc., II, 161, 9-12; her nexten, II, 164, 19; the firstin, the nextin, II, 380, 22; the first an, the niest an, I, 351, 45; the warst in, the best in, II, 98, 43, 44; the third ane, the fourth ane, etc., II, 71, 5, 6; 78, 8-11; the third one, fourth one, etc., II, 72, 5-7; the first ae, IV, 490, 20; the first y, III, 3, 15; the firsten ane, II, 370, 16. So, that samen, II, 475, 17. an, I, 295, 30; 468, 6, 9; 480, 6, 7; II, 21, B 11: and, if. ance, anse, I, 341, 9; 342, 23; 344, 21, 22; V, 9, 2, 4: once. anchor, did on anchor rise so high, III, 344, 34 (C, g, have ride): the ship is in full sail; no apparent sense. ancient, ancyent, III, 286, 40; 340, 37; 341, 46; 406, 30, 31, 39; 420, 20; 422, 65, 66: ensign.

and, superfluous (as in "when that I was and a tiny little boy," and two other songs in Shakspere), see II, 57 b; II, 58, 7, 8; 59, 22, 27; 60, 39; 87, 31; III, 145, 6; 277, 16; 419, 8; IV, 448 a, 1, 2. The same usage in German, Swedish, and especially Dutch bal

lads.

and, if.

anent, I, 222, 8; II, 166, 21; 191, 24; 391, 20: over against, in the face of.

anew, I, 305, 1; III, 495, B b 3–5; IV, 249, 10; 271, B 4: enough, enow.

angel(1), II, 444, 55; 449, 61; 453, 32; III, 156, 4; V, 101, 4: a gold coin, of value varying from 6s. 8d. to 10s.

angerly, III, 286, 55; 361, b 21: angrily.

ankir, III, 66, 198: recluse, hermit.

another, III, 138, 8, 12, 13: corrupt, or verbiage. anse, IV, 518, 3: once.

answere your quarrel, I, 411, 18: be responsible for, take on me to settle, your difference. answery, v., V, 283, 12: answer.

ant, I, 244; V, 288 b: and.

antine (Fr. antienne), IV, 439 b, 6: anthem. anunder, I, 302, A 9: under.

aout, V, 304 b, 7: out.

apayd, euelle apayd, III, 322 a: ill satisfied, displeased. ape, lead an ape in hell, penance for old maids: I, 232, 14.

apparent, III, 451, note *: heir apparent. (parand, II, 447, 2, 4.)

applyed, p. p., V, 51, 67: plied. appone, I, 327, 14, 28: upon. apurn, V, 304 b, 3: apron.

ar, I, 244, 18; III, 110, 18: or, before. arblast, I, 311 a: cross-bow.

archborde, III, 340, 23, 29 (in 29, MS. charke-bord):

may be a misspelling of hachebord, st. 36 (hatch-bord, p. 342, 70). Barton grappled the ship to his archborde, from which we should infer that the word meant the side of the ship, as hatch-bord would naturally signify at p. 342, 70. But archborde might of itself mean the stern of the ship, a timber at the stern being still so called, and German hack-bord meaning the upper part of the stern of a ship. (It is singular that none of the difficult words archborde, hachebord, hall (III, 340, 29) occur in the York copy, IV, 503, which, however, has difficulties of its own.)

archery, III, 309, 41: collected archers.
arches, II, 307, 29: aims, shoots.
are, I, 327, 23: before.

armorie, I, 285, 34, seems to be employed in the sense
of armament, men at arms.
armorye, III, 286, 56: armor.
arselins, V, 124, 12: backwards.

art, airt, quarter of the heavens. been at that art, III, 163, 87: in that quarter, at that place. See airt. as, pron., I, 477, 6, 7, 13, 15; II, 4, D 4; 452, 14; V, 206 a, 1; b, 6: that, who.

as, conj., I, 477, 5, 18, 19; II, 453, 28: that.

as, V, 218 b, D 1: was.

as ever, III, 281, 10: as long as.

asay, p. p., III, 112, 48: tried. [Read asayed?] asembled, III, 164, b 15: met (encountered).

ask, I, 353, H 11; 355, 41; II, 504, 32: newt, lizard. (A. S. áõexe.) Cf. ass.

askd, my father he askd me an acre o land, I, 17, D 9: askd seems to be an erroneous repetition from 8; aucht, owned, would be expected; or left, gave, as in K, L.

asking, asken, askend, askent, II, 91, D 27, 28; 92, 22-25; 192, 7, 14; 194, 23; 359, 7-10; V, 221 f., 27, 29, 30, 32; 223, 5, 7; 418, 8: boon, request. askryede, I, 326, 4: described. ass, I, 349, 11, 15: ask, newt. assoyled, absolved.

aste, I, 217, 1: east.

astoned, astonied, V, 76, 24; 82, 35: astonished, amazed. asurd, I, 334, 5: of azure; should probably be asur. at. reade must rise at, II, 53, 34, 35; take councell at, III, 405, 17, 23; take leaue att, III, 357, 42: from. ask at, beg at, spear at, I, 497, L 5-8, M 2-5; III, 161, 32; 330, 15; IV, 331, 10: of, from. ails ye at, aileth thee at, II, 72, 3; 78, 7; 80, 3; IV, 95, 12; 96, 4; 99, H 7: with (what ail comes to you from me?). see at me, IV, 345, 8: in. come atte, IV, 507, 81: to, to the presence of. I was at thee, IV, 436, 1: (apud) with. at, IV, 331 b, 8: out (?).

at, jobbing at, I, 104, A b 10: jogging off, away (?). at, with ellipsis of the door, rappit at, clappit at, I, 105 a, 29; IV, 444, 16, 35; V, 173, 1; 306 b, 1.

at, att, pron. and conj., II, 472, 24; III, 488, 19; IV, 348, 1; 446, 6; 469 b, 10, 12; V, 79, 31; 118, B 12; 220 b, 5; 224, 28; 236, 114; 256, 8: that. (it, V, 236, 112, may be for this at.)

a ta, III, 464, 1: at all.

atweel, I, 22, 2, 3: I wot well, assuredly.

atween, I, 466, 11; II, 315, 6; V, 156, 11, 13: between. atween hands, II, 139, 6: meanwhile.

atwyn, V, 80, 57: from one another.

aucht, aught. wha's aucht?= who is it owned (owns)? whose is (are)? I, 22, 4; 472, 1; II, 114, 11; 164, 8, 11; IV, 32, C 6; 194, 8; 199, 21; 202, 9; 203, 17. aught a bairn, II, 494, 4: had. where is the knight aught me for wedding, IV, 182, F 6: who was (is) under obligation to marry me? (This is my ransome I ought to him to pay, I, 294, 12.) It is not unlikely that aucht in the phrase wha's aucht is present in sense. Indeed we have aughts, II, 336, Q 5. Cf. who owes? whose is? IV, 205, 27.

aught, v., suld hae come and aught a bairn to me, II, 494, 4: had (a child by).

aukeward, awkwarde stroke, II, 59, 23; III, 93, 40: backhanded. See acward.

auld son, without regard to absolute age: I, 79, 58; 184, 8, 9; IV, 94, A 4; 97, F 4. So old sister for elder sister, eldest of three: I, 175, 8; auld dochter, II, 462, 33. auld son, of child just born and the only one, II, 105, 7; 107, 3–6, 17; IV, 206, 15. So at II, 95, 11,

called young son immediately after. Of babe in the cradle, II, 325, 10. See old.

aull, auld, old. I, 359, 6, 9, in four nights auld: at the age of four days. II, 80, 9, in twall years auld. aussy pan, I, 301, 6: ash pan.

See osterne.

austerne, I, 134, N 3: austere, harsh. ava, II, 189, 33; 323, 25; III, 7, 13, 14; IV, 257, 12; 300, 3: of all. II, 360, 10; V, 112, B b 7: at all. avayle, II, 436, 70: put down, doff.

avow, IV, 240, 7: seems to be used as consent rather than own, confess; but cf. IV, 56, A 8; V, 252 a. avowe, n., III, 65, 180, 187, 190; 68, 240; 73, 346; 297, 44; 307, 1: vow.

avowë, avower, III, 67, 232; 520 a, No 161: patron, protector.

avoyd, V, 53, 102: begone.

aw, all.

await, lie at await, III, 409, note *: in wait.

awaite, awayte, III, 72, 330; 84, 330; 88, 331: lie in wait for. awayte me scathe, III, 66, 202: lie in wait to do me harm.

awende, I, 244, 9: weened, imagined.

awet, III, 112, 64: know. Perhaps, await, descry. awkwarde stroke, III, 93, 40: a backhanded stroke. See aukeward.

awsom, V, 193, 49: awful.

ay, I, 333, 1, 2, 3: a.

ayenst, III, 76, 420: against, towards, about.

ayon, ayone, ayont, I, 301, 1; 302, 1; 428, 20; II, 133, D 4, 6; IV, 412, 6: beyond. IV, 330 a, appendix, 1: and oddly of the man, as farther from the wall. III, 392, 20, 21: beyond, across. I, 220, A 2; IV, 8, over against, in the face of.

ayre, eare, ere: heir.

ba, IV, 354, 1: a lullaby. baas, balls.

baba, II, 339, 19: baby.

B

46:

bace, V, 104 a= =bash (Swed. basa): beat; pret. baist, III, 164, b 26(?). See baist.

bacheeleere, II, 58, 13: young knight devoted to the service of a lady.

back-spald, V, 106, E 4: hinder part of the shoulder. bad, bade, V, 18, 9; 27, 41; 243, 11: ordered, offered. (A. S. beódan.)

bad, bade, baed, III, 267, 15: abode, stopped, waited for. II, 115, 22; III, 312, 28; V, 236, 17: remained, staid. (A. S. bídan.)

badgers, III, 477, 8: pedlars.

baed, II, 115, 22: abode, stopped. See bad. baffled, II, 479: thwarted (perhaps, made a fool of). IV, 146 f., 11, 31: affronted, insulted, or disgraced. bail, life in, III, 10, 19: in power, at disposal. bailie, III, 385, 12: municipal officer, alderman. IV, 326, 12: bailiff, steward, manager of an estate. See baylye.

bairn, barn, bern, III, 437, 28, 36; 453, 17; IV, 309, 5; 310, 12: child.