English As We Speak It in Ireland Part 34

Croudy: see Porter-meal.

Crowl or Croil; a dwarf, a very small person: the smallest _bonnive_ of the litter. An Irish word. {243}

Cruiskeen; a little cruise for holding liquor. Used all over Ireland.

'In a shady nook one moonlight night A _leprechaun_ I spied; With scarlet cap and coat of green, A _cruiskeen_ by his side.'

The _Cruiskeen Laun_ is the name of a well-known Irish air--the Scotch call it 'John Anderson my Jo.' Irish _cruiscin_, a pitcher: _lan_ [laun], full: i.e. in this case full of _pottheen_.

Crusheen; a stick with a flat crosspiece fastened at bottom for washing potatoes in a basket. Irish _cros_, a cross, with the diminutive. Also called a _boghaleen_, from Irish _bachal_, a staff, with diminutive.

(Joyce: Limerick.)

Cuck; a tuft: applied to the little tuft of feathers on the head of some birds, such as plovers, some hens and ducks, &c. Irish _coc_: same sound and meaning. (General.)

Cuckles; the spiky seed-pods of the thistle: thistle heads. (Limerick.)

Cuckoo spit; the violet: merely the translation of the Irish name, _sail-chuach_, spittle of cuckoos. Also the name of a small frothy spittle-like substance often found on leaves of plants in summer, with a little greenish insect in the middle of it. (Limerick.)

Cugger-mugger; whispering, gossiping in a low voice: Jack and Bessie had a great _cugger-mugger_. Irish _cogar_, whisper, with a similar duplication meaning nothing, like tip-top, shilly-shally, gibble-gabble, c.l.i.tter-clatter, &c. I think {244} 'hugger-mugger' is a form of this: for _hugger_ can't be derived from anything, whereas _cugger_ (_cogur_) is a plain Irish word.

Cull; when the best of a lot of any kind--sheep, cattle, books, &c.--have been picked out, the bad ones that are left--the refuse--are the _culls_. (Kinahan: general.)

Culla-greefeen; when foot or hand is 'asleep' with the feeling of 'pins and needles.' The name is Irish and means 'Griffin's sleep'; but why so called I cannot tell. (Munster.)

Cup-tossing; reading fortunes from tea-leaves thrown out on the saucer from the tea-cup or teapot. (General.)

Cur; a twist: a _cur_ of a rope. (Joyce: Limerick.)

Curate; a common little iron poker kept in use to spare the grand one: also a grocer's a.s.sistant. (Hayden and Hartog.)

Curcuddiagh; cosy, comfortable. (Maxwell: 'Wild Sports of the West': Irish: Mayo.)

Curifixes; odd _curious_ ornaments or _fixtures_ of any kind.

(General.) Peter Brierly, looking at the knocker:--'I never see such _curifixes_ on a _doore_ afore.' (Edw. Walsh: very general.)

Curragh; a wicker boat covered formerly with hides but now with tarred canva.s.s. (See my 'Smaller Social Hist. of Anc. Ireland.')

Current; in good health: he is not current; his health is not current.

(Father Higgins: Cork.)

Curwhibbles, currifibbles, currywhibbles; any strange, odd, or unusual gestures; or any unusual twisting of words, such as prevarication; wild puzzles and puzzling talk:--'The hors.e.m.e.n are in regular currywhibles about something.' (R. D. Joyce.) {245}

Cush; a sort of small horse, from _Cushendall_ in Antrim.

Cushlamochree; pulse of my heart. Irish _Cuisl[)e]_, vein or pulse; _mo_, my; _croidhe_ [cree], heart.

Cushoge; a stem of a plant; sometimes used the same as _traneen_, which see. (Moran: Carlow; and Morris: Monaghan.)

Cut; a county or barony cess tax; hence Cutman, the collector of it.

(Kinahan: Armagh and Donegal.) 'The three black _cuts_ will be levied.'

(Seumas MacMa.n.u.s: Donegal.)

Daisy-picker; a person who accompanies two lovers in their walk; why so called obvious. Brought to keep off gossip.

Dalk, a thorn. (De Vismes Kane: North and South.) Irish _dealg_ [dallog], a thorn.

Dallag [_d_ sounded like _th_ in _that_]; any kind of covering to blindfold the eyes (Morris: South Monaghan): 'blinding,' from Irish _dall_, blind.

Dallapookeen; blindman's buff. (Kerry.) From Irish _dalladh_ [dalla]

blinding; and _puicin_ [pookeen], a covering over the eyes.

Daltheen [the _d_ sounded like _th_ in _that_], an impudent conceited little fellow: a diminutive of _dalta_, a foster child. The diminutive _dalteen_ was first applied to a horseboy, from which it has drifted to its present meaning.

Dancing customs, 170, 172.

Dannagh; mill-dust and mill-grains for feeding pigs. (Moran: Carlow: also Tip.) Irish _deanach_, same sound and meaning. {246}

Dander [second _d_ sounded like _th_ in _hither_], to walk about leisurely: a leisurely walk.

Dandy; a small tumbler; commonly used for drinking punch.

Darradail or daradeel [the _d_'s sounded like _th_ in _that_] a sort of long black chafer or beetle. It raises its tail when disturbed, and has a strong smell of apples. There is a religious legend that when our Lord was escaping from the Jews, barefoot, the stones were marked all along by traces of blood from the bleeding feet. The daradail followed the traces of blood; and the Jews following, at length overtook and apprehended our Lord. Hence the people regard the daradail with intense hatred, and whenever they come on it, kill it instantly. Irish _darbh-daol_.

Dark; blind: 'a dark man.' (Very general.) Used constantly even in official and legal doc.u.ments, as in workhouse books, especially in Munster. (Healy.)

Darrol; the smallest of the brood of pigs, fowl, &c. (Mayo.) Irish _dearoil_, small, puny, wretched.

Davis, Thomas, vi. 83, &c.

Dead beat or dead _bet_; tired out.

Dear; used as a sort of intensive adjective:--'Tom ran for the dear life' (as fast as he could). (Crofton Croker.) 'He got enough to remember all the dear days of his life.' ('Dub. Pen. Journ.')

Dell; a lathe. Irish _deil_, same sound and meaning. (All over Munster.)

Devil's needle; the dragon-fly. Translation of the Irish name _snathad-a'-diabhail_ [snahad-a-dheel].

Deshort [to rhyme with _port_]; a sudden interruption, a surprise: 'I was taken at a _deshort_.' (Derry.) {247}

Devil, The, and his 'territory,' 56.

d.i.c.konce; one of the disguised names of the devil used in _white_ cursing: 'Why then the d.i.c.konce take you for one gander.' (Gerald Griffin.)

Diddy; a woman's pap or breast: a baby sucks its mother's diddy.

Diminutive of Irish _did_, same.

Dido; a girl who makes herself ridiculous with fantastic finery.