Casalty. See Casulty.
Cass'n. Canst not (A.S.).—N. & S.W.
Cassocks. Couch-grass.—S.W. (Som. bord.).
Casulty. (1) adj. Of weather, unsettled, broken (Green Ferne Farm, ch. i). Casalty (Wilts Arch. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 109).—N. & S.W. (2) Of crops, uncertain, not to be depended on. Plums, for instance, are a 'casalty crop,' some years bearing nothing.—N.W.
*Cat-gut. The ribs of the Plantain leaf; so called by children when drawn out so as to look like fiddle-strings (Great Estate, ch. ii).
Cat-Kidney. A game somewhat resembling cricket, played with a wooden 'cat' instead of a ball.—N.W. (Brinkworth.)
Cat's-ice. White ice, ice from which the water has receded.—N. & S.W. (Steeple Ashton, &c.).
'They stood at the edge, cracking the cat's-ice, where the water had shrunk back from the wheel marks, and left the frozen water white and brittle.'—The Story of Dick, ch. xii. p. 153.
Cats'-love. Garden Valerian, on which cats like to roll.—S.W.
*Cats'-paws. Catkins of willow while still young and downy.—S.W. (Deverill.)
Cats'-tails. (1) Equisetum, Horse-tail (Great Estate, ch. ii).—N.W. (2) The catkin of the willow.—N.W. (Lyneham.) (3) The catkin of the hazel.—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Catch. (1) Of water, to film over, to begin to freeze. Keach, Keatch, Kitch, or Ketch (A.B.C.H.Wr.).—N. & S.W.
'A bright clear moon is credited with causing the water to "catch"—that is, the slender, thread-like spicules form on the surface, and, joining together, finally cover it.'—Wild Life, ch. xx.
Also see Bevis, ch. xl. (2) To grow thick, as melted fat when setting again.—N. & S.W. *(3) 'To catch and rouse,' to collect water, &c.
'In the catch-meadows … it is necessary to make the most of the water by catching and rousing it as often as possible.'—Agric. of Wilts, ch. xi.
*(4) n. The same as Catch-meadow (Ibid. ch. xii).
*Catch-land. The arable portion of a common field, divided into equal parts, whoever ploughed first having the right to first choice of his share (D.).—Obsolete.
*Catch-meadow, Catch-work meadow, or Catch. A meadow on the slope of a hill, irrigated by a stream or spring, which has been turned so as to fall from one level to another through the carriages (Agric. of Wilts, ch. xii).
Catching, Catchy. Of weather, unsettled, showery (Agric. of Wilts, ch. iii. p. 11).—N. & S.W.
Caterpillar. A cockchafer.—N.W.
Cattikeyns. Fruit of the ash.—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Cave. (1) n. The chaff of wheat and oats (D.): in threshing, the broken bits of straw, &c. Cavin, Cavings, or Keavin in N. Wilts.—N. & S.W. (2) v. To separate the short broken straw from the grain.—N. & S.W.
Cavin, Cavings. See Cave (1).
*Caving-rake. The rake used for separating cavings and grain on the threshing-floor.
Caving (or Caffing) rudder, or rudderer. *(1) The winnowing fan and tackle (D.).—S.W. (2) A coarse sieve used by carters to get the straw out of the horses' chaff.—N. & S.W.
Cawk, Cawket. To squawk out, to make a noise like a hen when disturbed on her nest, &c. 'Ther's our John, s'naw [dost know?]—allus a messin' a'ter the wenchin, s'naw—cawin' an' cawkettin' like a young rook, s'naw—'vore a can vly, s'naw—boun' to coom down vlop he war!' Caa-kinn (S.).—N. & S.W. (Clyffe Pypard; Seagry, &c.)
*Centry. Anagallis tenella, L., Bog Pimpernel.—S.W. (Barford.)
Cham. To chew (A.B.C.S.). 'Now cham thee vittles up well.' An older form of Champ.—N. & S.W.
Champ. To scold in a savage snarling fashion. 'Now dwoan't 'ee gwo an' champ zo at I!' Used formerly at Clyffe Pypard.—N.W.
Chan-Chider. See Johnny Chider.—S.W.
Chap. (1) v. Of ground, to crack apart with heat.—N & S.W. (2) n. A crack in the soil, caused by heat.—N. & S.W.
Charm. (1) n. 'All in a charm,' all talking loud together. A.S. cyrm, clamour (A.H.S.), especially used of the singing of birds. See Kingsley's Prose Idylls, i. Also used of hounds in full cry.—N. & S.W.
'Thousands of starlings, the noise of whose calling to each other is indescribable—the country folk call it a "charm," meaning a noise made up of innumerable lesser sounds, each interfering with the other.'—Wild Life, ch. xii.
Cp, Milton,
'Charm of earliest birds.'—P. L., ii. 642.
(2) v. To make a loud confused noise, as a number of birds, &c., together.—N. & S.W. (3) v. 'To charm bees,' to follow a swarm of bees, beating a tea-tray, &c.—N.W. (Marlborough).
Chatter-mag, Chatter-pie. A chattering woman.—N. & S.W.
Chawm, Chawn. A crack in the ground (A.).—N.W.
Cheese-flower. Malva sylvestris, L., Common Mallow.—S.W.
Cheeses. Fruit of Malva sylvestris, L., Common Mallow.—N. & S.W.
*Chemise. Convolvulus sepium, L., Great Bindweed.—S.W. (Little Langford.) This name was given us as Chemise, but would probably be pronounced as Shimmy.
Cherky. Having a peculiar dry taste, as beans (Village Miners).—N. & S.W.
Cherry-pie. Valeriana officinalis, L., All-heal, from its smell.—S.W.
Cheure. See Choor.
Chevil (or Chevril) Goldfinch. A large variety of goldfinch, with a white throat. See Birds of Wilts, p. 203, for a full description of the bird.—N. & S.W.
Chewree. See Choor.
Chib. 'Potato-chibs,' the grown-out shoots in spring. See Chimp.—S.W.
Chiddlens, Chiddlins. Pigs' chitterlings (H.S.Wr.).—N. & S.W.
Children of Israel. *(1) A small garden variety of Campanula, from the profusion of its blossoms (English Plant Names). (2) Malcolmia maritima, Br., Virginian Stock, occasionally.
Chilver, Chilver-lamb. A ewe lamb (A.).—N.W.
Chilver-hog. A ewe under two years old (D.). The word hog is now applied to any animal of a year old, such as a hog bull, a chilver hog sheep. 'Chilver' is a good Anglo-Saxon word, 'cilfer,' and is related to the word 'calf.' A chilver hog sheep simply means in the dialect of the Vale of Warminster, a female lamb a year old. See Wilts Arch. Mag. xvii. 303.—N. & S.W.
Chimney-sweeps. Flowering-heads of some grasses.—N.W. (Lyneham.)
Chimney-sweepers. Luzula campestris, Willd., Field Wood-rush.—N.W.