heah-deor, a roebuck, is literally a high deer, the A.S. heahfor seems to be for heah fear, lit. a high ox. The latter h in heah might either pass into k or be lost, so that the resulting forms would naturally be either heckfor or heifer; whilst the form heckfor would be corrupted, in course of time, into heckford or heifker easily enough, in accordance with known laws of our language. In this case, then, we are able, not merely to reject Forby's explanation, but to adduce the right one; but we cannot always do so. And this leads us on to a consideration of great importance; for many writers seem to assume that one is bound to acquiesce in the etymology which they suggest unless one is able to adduce a better one. Against this principle we shall do well to protest; for, on account of the extreme difficulty of English etymology, numberless cases constantly occur which we cannot always solve fully or even partially, whilst at the same time we are perfectly justified in rejecting all the various theories proposed as being wholly untenable, unless something like evidence can really be adduced in their favour. The one golden rule in English etymology, in the present juncture, is to suspend our judgment in all cases but those which are reasonably well supported. Whilst we thankfully accept such help as the facts furnished by our various provincial glossaries or pamphlets afford, we are free to reject all the speculations in which the writers of them have but too frequently and too freely indulged.

One other consideration deserves mention in connection with the subject of dialects. Very numerous are the specimens of dialect which various authors, with very various ideas on the subject of spelling, have supplied; and the value of these specimens is of all degrees, from the ill-composed productions of ill-educated twaddlers, to the racy sketches of clever and skilful writers who know how to put the right word in the right place. Now the student of philology has to encounter one peculiar difficulty, viz., that the best writers have written, in general, not from a philological, but from an artistic point of view: and their object has been to illustrate, not word-lore, but character. In consequence of this, the student may not always find what he wants, and may occasionally be misled, especially as to the true locality of a word or as to grammatical details; he may, however, generally expect to find words used in the right sense.

In connection with this aspect of the case, I would call attention to

1 1 See Morris, Historical Outlines of English Accidence, p. 87.

the following letter which was most kindly written to me by the author of 'Middlemarch,' in reply to one in which I ventured to inquire what dialects are more particularly represented in the various works bearing upon the title-page the well-known name of George Eliot. It will, I think, be perused with much interest.

'It must be borne in mind that my inclination to be as close as I could to the rendering of dialect, both in words and spelling, was constantly checked by the artistic duty of being generally intelligible. But for that check, I should have given a stronger colour to the dialogue in "Adam Bede," which is modelled on the talk of N. Staffordshire and the neighbouring part of Derbyshire. The spelling, being determined by my own ear alone, was necessarily a matter of anxiety, for it would be as possible to quarrel about it as about the spelling of Oriental names.

'The district imagined as the scene of "Silas Marner" is in N. Warwickshire. But here, and in all my other presentations of English life, except "Adam Bede," it has been my intention to give the general physiognomy rather than a close portraiture of the provincial speech as I have heard it in the Midland or Mercian region. It is a just demand that art should keep clear of such specialities as would make it a puzzle for the larger part of its public; still, one is not bound to respect the lazy obtuseness or snobbish ignorance of people who do not care to know more of their native tongue than the vocabulary of the drawingroom and the newspaper.'

These just and forcible remarks set the whole matter in a true and clear light; and deserve our best attention.

W. W. S.

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST

OF THE WORKS THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED, OR ARE KNOWN TO EXIST IN MS., ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE VARIOUS DIALECTS OF ENGLISH.

COMPILED BY MEMBERS OF THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY.

THE following List is intended to be as exhaustive as possible, but is probably still incomplete. At the same time it doubtless includes the names of all the books which are likely to be of most service to the Society, as well as the names of very many which may safely be set aside hereafter as not truly representing the provincial speech. Some of the tracts, indeed, would appear to have been written by authors who have adopted a so-called 'provincial' spelling because they were unequal to spelling according to the received method; others again exhibit excellent and racy specimens of true dialect. To discriminate between these is no part of our present purpose, since it would require more time than can now well be spared, and it is of importance that members should have this List in their hands as soon as possible. Still, some critical remarks have been occasionally inserted, as a guide to word-collectors and compilers of word-lists. An asterisk is prefixed to such books of reference as are of admitted utility.

The List is divided into several parts. First in order comes a list of English Dictionaries, and of such books as illustrate the whole subject generally. Next, of such books as generally illustrate the dialects of the North of England. After that, the counties of England are considered separately, in their alphabetical order. Lastly are considered the various English dialects spoken in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and other districts and countries lying outside

England itself. A list of the principal books which explain or illustrate slang and cant words has been added for the sake of completeness, because help is sometimes to be had from them, and it is not always possible to decide whether some words ought to be considered as truly 'provincial' or as 'slang' words only.

We are much indebted to Mr John Russell Smith for his 'Bibliographical List of the works that have been published, towards illustrating the Provincial Dialects of England,' published in 1839, the articles in which are now included, by permission, in the present list, together with the critical remarks upon them, several of which were written or suggested by Sir Frederic Madden, and agree with the MS. notes found in some of his books.

The compilation has been the work of several hands. Mr H. B. Wheatley contributed largely by comparing the list, when in a very imperfect state, with the valuable collection of books in the possession of H. H. Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, whose kindness in readily offering to do what he could to further the interests of the Society deserves our warmest acknowledgment. A considerable number of articles was also obtained from Mr Aldis Wright, who allowed Mr Skeat to make a list of his books. Many others were contributed by Mr Skeat from other sources. The Devonshire list is by Mr Shelly; the Lancashire list by Mr Axon; the Yorkshire list by Mr C. C. Robinson. Miscellaneous articles were contributed by the Rev. W. Barnes, Mr E. R. Morris, Mr J. P. Morris, Mr R. White, and the Rev. C. Wordsworth. Mr J. B. Briscoe also sent in several titles, as well as a copy of his 'Literature of Tim Bobbin.' Some other members have also helped in various ways. The list of books in the various dialects of Scotland is being compiled by Mr J. A. H. Murray.

The whole of the articles (excepting those on Devon, Lancashire, and Yorkshire) were sorted into order and compiled (from the papers sent in by contributors) by the Rev. W. W. Skeat, who is further responsible for these few prefatory remarks.

SECTION I.-GENERAL

(A.) DICTIONARIES.

A VALUABLE list, with critical remarks, was published for the Philological Society in 1865, entitled 'Chronological Notices of the Dictionaries of the English Language. By Henry B. Wheatley, Esq. From this publication most of the following titles have been taken, but in an abridged form. Mr Wheatley gives the titles in full, and adds several useful remarks upon the scope and history of each book, Some additions have been made to Mr Wheatley's list, so as to include such works as Cotgrave's French Dictionary. The reason for giving the titles of these books is that many of them include provincial words; and those of early date, such as Palsgrave's French Dictionary and the like, include words concerning which other information cannot easily be obtained.

Promptorium Parvulorum. Latin-English. MS. Harl. 221, British Museum. About A.D. 1440. On this text is founded Mr Way's edition. See Norfolk.

Dictionarium Anglo-Latinum. MS. Addit. 15562.

About A.D.

1450. Sir F. Madden supposed this to be a copy of the Catholicon; see below.

Catholicon Anglicum. MS. belonging to Lord Monson. Dated A.D. 1483. Used by Mr Way in illustration of the Promptorium Parvulorum. See Norfolk.

Catholicon of Jacobus Januensis; MS. O. 5. 4, Trinity College, Cambridge.

Mr Aldis Wright has transcribed such words from this Latin dictionary as have English explanations; and the list will be printed in a new edition of Mr Thomas Wright's Vocabularies.

Ortus Vocabulorum, alphabetico ordine, &c. (Latin-English Dictionary.) Folio. London (pr. by Wynkyn de Worde), 1500.

later editions, 1508, 1509, 1511, 1514, 1516, 1518; pr. by R. Pynson, 1539. See Prompt. Parv. ed. Way, p. xxi.