At Court-hill, in this parish, tempted to hedge in the cuckoo. Gothamites. simpleton. A cockney.-London. Ray says, an A very ancient nick-name for a citizen of London. interpretation of it is, a young person coaxed, or cockered, delicately brought up, so as to be unable to bear the least hardship. Another, a person ignorant of the terms of rural economy; such as a young citizen, who, having been ridiculed for calling the neighing of a horse, laughing, and told that was called neighing, next morning, to show instruction was not thrown away upon him, exclaimed, how that cock neighs! whence the citizens of London have ever since been called cock-neighs, or cockneys. Archdeacon Nares, in his "Glossary," derives the term from cookery. Le pais de cocagne, in French, means a country of good cheer; in old French, coquaine. Cocagna, in Italian, has the same meaning. Both might be derived from Coquina; the famous country described by Balthazar Bonifacius, "where the hills were made of sugar candy!" The cockney mentioned by Shakspeare, appears to have been a cook, as she was making a pie. "Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels, when she put them into the paste alive."-LEAR II. 4. Yet it appears to denote simplicity, since the fool adds, ""Twas her brother, that in pure kindness to his horse, buttered his hay." Whatever may be the origin of this term, we at least learn from the following verse, attributed to Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk, that it was in use in the time of King Henry II. "Was I in my castle at Bungay, Fast by the river Waveney, I would not care for the king of Cockney:" i. e. the king of London. The King of the Cocknies occurs among the regulations for the sports and shows formerly held in the Middle Temple, on Childermas day, when he had his officers, a marshall, constable, &c. A man of Kent. All the inhabitants of Kent, east of the river Medway, are called "Men of Kent," from the story of their having retained their ancient privileges, particularly those of gavel-kind, by meeting William the Conqueror, at Swanscomb-bottom; each man, besides his arms, carrying a green bough in his hand: by this means concealing their numbers, under the appearance of a moving wood. The rest of the inhabitants of the county are stiled" Kentish-men." A Yorkshire way-bit. It should be a wee-bit; wee, in the Yorkshire and northern dialects, signifies little. It means an over-plus, not accounted in the reckoning, which sometimes proves as much as all the rest. Ask a countryman in Yorkshire the distance to a particular place, his answer will generally be-so many miles and a wee-bit; which wee-bit is often larger than the miles reckoned. "He hath but a little wee face, with a little yellow beard." Merry Wives of Windsor. 1. 4. As fine as Kerton or Crediton spinning.-Devonshire. As a proof of the fineness of Crediton spinning, it is related that one hundred and forty threads of woollen yarn, spun in that town, were drawn together through the eye of a tailor's needle; which needle and threads were to be seen for many years in Watlingstreet, London, in the shop of one Dunscombe, at the sign of the Golden Bottle. The discoveries, however, of Watt and Arkwright, have enabled the manufacturers of the present day far to excel ancient Crediton in the fineness of spinning. All goeth down Gutter Lane.-London. The right spelling is Guthurn-lane; a place formerly inhabited by goldbeaters, and leading out of Cheapside, east of Foster-lane. The proverb is applied to those who spend all in drunkenness and gluttony, mere "belly gods:" Guttur being Latin for the throat. A Welch bait.-Welch. A short stop, but no refreshment. Such baits are frequently given by the natives of the principality to their keffels, or horses, particularly after climbing a hill. A Scarborough warning.—Yorkshire. That is none at all, but a sudden surprise. Alluding to an event in 1557; when Thomas Stafford seized on Scarborough Castle, before the townsmen had the least notice of his approach. A mode of distress formerly practised on the poor inhabitants of Kent-street; on non-payment, the rent-collectors took away the doors of the defaulters. As lame as St. Giles, Cripplegate.-London. St. Giles was by birth an Athenian, of noble extraction and great estate: becoming lame, he, for his greater mortification, refused to be cured. He is deemed the patron of cripples, and his churches are mostly in the suburbs. Cripplegate was so called before the Conquest, from cripples begging there, for which they plead custom, from the time the lame man begged alms of Peter and John, at the gate of the Temple. A Scottish-man, and a Newcastle grindstone, travel all the world over.-Northumberland. All Ilchester is gaol.—Somersetshire. Intimating that the people of the town are as hard-hearted as their gaoler; an imputation falsified by some recent transactions. A 'squire of Alsatia.-London. A spendthrift, or sharper, inhabiting places formerly privileged from arrests. Such were White-Friars, and the Mint, in Southwark; the former called Upper, the latter, Lower Alsatia. Sir Walter Scott has perpetuated the memory of these once noted places, in his "Fortunes of Nigel." A Drury-lane vestal.- London. A London Jury; hang half, and save half.--London. This was intended to reflect on the tender mercies of a London Jury, as aiming at more despatch than justice, and acquitting half and hanging half. Such a mode of administering justice, however, has greatly changed, as any one may satisfy himself by an hour's attendance at the Old Bailey. A knight of Cales, a gentleman of Wales, and a laird of the North Countree; A yeoman of Kent, with his yearly rent, will buy them out all three.-Kent. The knights of Cales were made by Robert Earl of Essex, A.D. 1596, to the number of sixty; many of whom were of slender fortunes, though of great birth. The Northern lairds, and the numerousness and penury of Welch gentlemen, need no illustration. Yeomen were independent farmers, occupying their own land, killing their own mutton, and wearing the fleeces of their own sheep, spun in their houses. Those of Kent were famous for their riches. B. Bristol-milk.-Somersetshire. That is-sherry, a Spanish white wine. The true name of this wine is sherris, which it derives from Xeres, a town in the province of Andalusia, where it is made. N Banbury veal, cheese, and cakes.-Oxfordshire. The cheese of this place was remarkable for its richness and fineness, so long back as the time of Shakspeare, who makes one of his characters in Henry IV. call Falstaff, a "Banbury cheese." Banbury cakes are also excellent, as well as veal. C. Canterbury is the higher rack, but Winchester is the better manger. Hampshire. Edington, Bishop of Winchester, was the author of this saying, rendering it the reason of his refusal to be removed to Canterbury, though preferred thereto. For though Canterbury be graced with a higher honour, Winchester is the wealthier see. Cantabridgia petit æquales, or æqualia. That is, as Fuller expounds it, either in respect of their commons, all of the same mess having equal share; or in respect of extraordinaries, they all club alike; or in respect of degree, all of the same degree being "fellows well met." Congleton bears.—Cheshire. Some years ago, the clerk of Congleton having taken the old church Bible, or had it given to him, as his perquisite, sold it to buy a bear, in order to bait him. From this, as the story tells, proceeds the name of Congleton bears; which will presently set the town about his ears, if a stranger happen to mention it. Deal, Dover, and Harwich, D. The Devil gave with his daughter in marriage; And, by a codicil to his will, He added Helvoet and the Brill.-Kent. A satirical squib thrown at the innkeepers of these places, in return for the many impositions practised on travellers, as well natives as strangers.-Applicable to most sea-ports. Dover-court, all speakers and no hearers.-Essex. Dover-court is a village about three miles west of Harwich, to which its church is the mother church. Here a court is annually held, which, as it consists chiefly of seamen, the irregularity described in the proverb is likely to prevail. E. Elden hole wants filling.-Derbyshire. Said of a great liar who boasts of his wonderful exploits. Essex lions. Calves, great numbers of which are brought alive in carts to the London market. F. First hang and draw, Then hear the cause by Lidford law.-Devonshire. Lidford is a little and poor, but ancient corporation, in Devonshire, with large privileges, where a court of Stannaries was formerly kept. The proverb is supposed to allude to some absurd determination made by the Mayor and Corporation, who were formerly but mean and illiterate persons. "I oft have heard of Lydford law, How in the morning they hange and draw, And sit in judgment after; At first I wondered at it much, But since I fynd the reason such As yt deserves no laughter." Vide Westcot's History of Devonshire. G. Grantham gruel! nine grits and a gallon of water.-Lincolnshire. Poor gruel, indeed! bearing very hard on the liberality of the good people of Grantham. Go to Rumford, to have your backsides new bottomed.Essex. Formerly, Rumford was famous for breeches making; and a man going to Rumford, was thus jocosely advised to provide himself with a pair of new breeches. Go to Battersea, to be cut for the simples.-London. The origin of this saying, which is applied to people not overstocked with wit, appears to be this. Formerly, the London |