Wabster, a weaver. pledge. Wadna, would not. Wae, woe, sorrowful. Wacsucks! or Waes me! alas! O the pity. the Waft, the cross thread that goes from shuttle through the web; woof. Waifu', wailing. Wair, to lay out, to expend. Wame, the belly. Wark-lume, a tool to work with. Warl, or Warld, world. Warly, worldly, eager on amassing wealth. Warran, a warrant; to war rant. Warst, worst. Warstl'd, or Warsl'd, wrestled. Wastrie, prodigality. Wat, wet; I wat, I wot, I know. Water-brose, brose made of meal and water simply, without the addition of milk, butter, &c. Wattle, a twig, a wand. Wauble, to swing, to reel. Waught, draught. Waukit, thickened, as fullers do cloth. Waukrife, not apt to sleep. Waur, worse, to worst. Waur't, worsted. Wean, or Weanie, a child Wad, would; te bet; a bet, a Wearie, or Weary; monie a weary body, many a dif ferent person. Wee things, little ones. Weird, fate. We'se, we shall. Whang, a leathern string, a Whidden, running as a hare or coney. Whigmeleeries, whims, fancies, crotchets. Whingin, crying, complaining, fretting. Whirligigums, useless naments, trifling appendages. Whirrin', whirring; the sound made by the flight of the partridge, &c. Whisht, silence; to hold one's whisht, to be silent. Whisk, to sweep, to lash. Whiskin, large, sweeping. Whiskit, lashed. Whissle, a whistle; to whistle. Wi', with. Wick, to strike & stone in an oblique direction, a term in curling. Wicker, willow (the smaller sort.) Widdiefu', wrathful, angry, raging; one deserving the gallows. Widdle, struggle, bustle, effort. Wiel, a small whirlpool. Wifie, a diminutive or endearing term for wife. Wilfu', willing, full of will. Willyart, bashful, reserved, timid. Wimple, to meander, to run very irregularly. Wimpl't, meandered. Wimplin, waving, meander. ing. Win, to wind, to winnow. Win't, winded as a bottom of yarn. Win', wind. Wintle, a staggering motion; Wiss, to wish, to have a strong desire. Withouten, without. Witless, simple, easily imposed on. Wizen'd, hide-bound, dried, shrunk. Wonner, a wonder, a con- Woo, to court, to make love to. Woddie, a rope, more properly one made of withes or willows, a halter, a gallows. Y. Ye; this pronoun is frequent- Yearns, longs much, desires of Yell, barren, that gives no Wooer-hab, the garter knotted below the knee with a couple of loops. Wordy, worthy. Worset, worsted. Wow, an exclamation pleasure or wonder. Wrack, to tease, to vex. Wraith, a spirit, ghost; an apparition exactly like a living person, whose appearance is said to forbode the person's approaching death. Wrang, wrong; to wrong, to injure. Wreeth, a drifted heap of snow. Writers, attorneys, lawyers. Wud-mad, distracted, wild. Wumble, a whimble, an instrument for boring holes. Wyle, beguile. Wyliecoat, a flannel vest. Wyte, blame; to blame, to ac cuse. milk. Yerk, to lash, to strike, to night before. Yett, a gate, such as is usually at the entrance into a farm-yard or field. Yill, ale. Yird, earth. Yokin, yoking, a bout Yont, beyond. Yoursel', yourself. Yowe, an ewe. Yowie, dimin. of yowe PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THE following trifles are not the production of the poet, who, with all the advantages of learned art, and perhaps amid the elegances and idleness of upper life, looks down for a rural theme, with an eye to Theocritus or Virgil. To the author of this, these and other celebrated names, their countrymen, are, at least in their original language, a fountain shut up, and a book sealed. Unacquainted with the necessary requisites for commencing poet by rule, he sings the sentiments and manners he felt and saw in himself, and his rustic compeers around him, in his and their native language. Though a rhymer from his earliest years, at least from the earliest impulses of the softer passions, it was not till very lately that the applause, perhaps the partiality of friendship, wakened his vanity so far as to make him think any thing of his worth showing; and none of the following works were composed with a view to the press. To amuse himself with the little creations of his own fancy, amid the toil and fatigues of a laborious life; to transcribe the various feelings, the loves, the griefs, the hopes, the fears, in his own breast; to find some kind of counterpoise to the struggles of a world, always an alien scene, a task uncouth to the poetical mind-these were his motives for courting the muses, and in these he found Poetry to be its own reward. |