Letter L - 1892 Mid-Antrim Glossary

Author: ‘F.L.’ (William James Knowles)

Date: 1892

Source: Nine lists of local (mid-Antrim) words and sayings, with notes, published in the Ballymena Observer between April and August 1892. See 1892 Ballymena Observer (Mid-Antrim) Word Lists for original articles (USLS/TB/Hist/1800-1899/012).

Comments: This serialised ‘glossary’ was compiled in response to a letter published in the Ballymena Observer, 19 February, 1892, from P W Joyce, whose book, English as we Speak it in Ireland, was in preparation. Dr. Joyce was appealing throughout Ireland for help in amassing a record of Irish Dialect, including words of Scotch origin. The first response from the readers of the Ballymena Observer was a significant glossary of local words by ‘F.L.’ on April 8. This word list began with an appeal for other readers to “add to it and throw light on meanings which they will see are rather obscure to me”. Further word lists introduced by ‘F.L.’ then appeared on April 22; April 29; May 6; May 27; June 17; July 1; and August 18. The identity of F.L. as William James Knowles, MRIA (1832–1927), a distinguished antiquarian from Cullybackey, was confirmed by Joyce when English as we Speak it in Ireland was published in 1910. Numerous entries sourced from this ‘Ballymena Observer’ glossary were also published in the English Dialect Dictionary (1898) and the Scottish National Dictionary (1929–1946). A complete A–Z ‘merged’ glossary has been created from these entries, and appears as the ‘1892 Mid-Antrim Glossary’ in this website.

Doc. ref. no.: USLS/TB/Hist/1800-1899/013-l

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Lab – a large sum; as, He has got a lab o’ money.

Lagin – the rim of a churn above the place where the lid rests.

Lagther – A brood of young chickens. See clatchin’.

Lamiter – A person who has met with an injury and who is laid up from it.

Lappered – clotted; as, the blood’s lappered.

Lashes – Abundance; as, The coo gies lashes o’ milk.

Leefu – As, My leefu lane; A wus in the hoos my leefu lane.

Leelang – As, The leelang day.

Leenge – a blow with a whip, or something of the nature of a whip.

Leeve – As soon; as, A’d as leeve no’, that is would as soon not.

Lint – flax.

Lint-Dam – the shough-like place that flax is steeped in.

Lippen – To depend; trust; as, A could lippen my life tae him.

Lirk – a fold in the skin.

Lith – one of the divisions of an orange, or the bud-like divisions of an onion.

Lithin – flour or meal put in soup to thicken it.

Loanin – A cart road from a country road to a farmer’s house.

Lock – a quantity of anything; as, Did you get much? A did; A got a guid lock.

Locksplit – a triangular furrow cut by the spade, often made in the ground not previously cultivated to divide into two ridges.

Loof – The palm of the hand.

Loon – a worthless fellow.

Loth – Sorry, as being loth to part with something.

Low (ow as in now) – Ablaze. (See Alow). As, The tow on the rock was a’ in a low; or if one’s hair accidently caught fire, there would be a sudden exclamation of Your hair’s in a low.

Lowned – calmed; as, The wuns lowned a weethin’.

Luckmoney – money given back out of the price of an animal; as, say 2s 6d in a cow’s price for luck to the buyer.

Lughter – the quantity of grain a reaper can retain in his hand till he is obliged to put it in the sheaf is called a lughter.

Luney – a lunatic.

Lusty – large, fat and healthy looking; as, Dear me hoo Bab’s failed; A hae known him a fine big lusty man.

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