[From Manx Dialect, 1934]

H

Haddy. " Dayes of haddy or dark Mist," in an Order in Tynwald, 1661, is the only instance of this form of the word that I have met with. It is not now heard in the dialect speech, if it ever was. The E.D.D. has only " Hadder : drizzle, heavy mist." Sullivan's Cumberland and Westmorland, page 81, gives " Hadder . . . to drizzle. ' It's a haddery day ' ; 'it keeps haddering and raining.' It has been observed by a correspondent of the Kendal Mercury that this word is in common use about Orton and Shap, but not at all in the South of Westmorland. It is also used in the North of Cumberland." Manx dialect has an adjective ' hazzy ' for murky or hazy weather (VA.D.). Is this a link between ' haddy' and 'hazy' ? The etymology of 'hazy' is (appropriately enough) not clear, according to the English dictionaries, but it was known earlier than ' haze.'

Haggish was an old Manx dish, much the same as the Scottish dainty in structure and contents. It consisted of a ' prinjeig ' (a sheep's or cow's paunch) stuffed with plucks, chopped liver, chopped onions, groats and potatoes, the whole highly seasoned with pepper and salt (Roeder). " When seated all, each on a three-legg'd stool, The hopeful lads and lasses, pair and pair, Waiting the haggis in the dish to cool, Would make appointments for next Ramsey Fair " (Kennish, Mona's Isle). A haggis is a meat pudding in England also.

Hand-out in Manx boys' games is equivalent to ' out ' in cricket and rounders. " But if it's caught, ' ban' out, me bhoy ! han' out ! ' Then in goes t'other side for turn about " ; and " My han's not out-I navar hed the ball ! " (Quarrie, " Old Times at Kirk Bride ").

Handy, quickly, smartly ; usually prefixed with ' middling.' " Take the door, an' middlin' handy too " (V.A.D., " Door get out ! " You be off out of this, or I'll be helpin' you middlin' handy " (Cushag, Mylechayaine, page ii).

Hank, a difficulty, quandary. " How are we goin' to get out of this hank, I'd like to know ! " Also used thus in the North of England and in Scotland.

Harassing, commotion, uproar. " Up Spaldrick one night there was a sudden noise in the road, and like rattling of chains, and such harassing and tearing away " (Roeder, Lioar Manninagh, iii, 16o).

Harrow. " On a long lonesome road a man heard the cracking of whips, and all in full chase and ' harrow.' He just got home and banged the door, when harrow, and body, and dogs, and all, went clean over the house " (Roeder, Antiquary, xxxi, 176). Neither the word nor the phenomena are commented on, but the sounds were evidently those of the Wild Hunt with a dead man as the quarry-the only Manx specimen of this form of the legend on record, I believe.

' Harrow' is in quotation marks. Possibly it was Roeder's own expression, but as a rule he reproduced his information almost verbatim. Though I have not met with the noun 'harrow ' in the dialect apart from its usual meaning, it occurs obscurely in the Manx ' Arrane ny Mummeryn,' the Mummers' Song (Mann Ballads, page 62).

Hate. " We took every mortal hate out of it " -the cupboard (Blanche Nelson's MSS.) ; every little thing.

Head-corks are the discs of cork used by fishermen as floats for the ' length ' or upper edge of the net. See " Pack."

Heartless, listless, spiritless, lacking in energy. " I do feel sorry for him-an' the house gone all through other. Widow - men is so heartless ! " (Cushag, Mylechayaine, page 5).

Heave. Many things are heaved-more often 'hove ' or ' hoove '--in the Isle of Man which are cast or thrown in less sea-dominated lands. An object heaves a shadow, a person heaves the blame on some other person. " Only a handful of gravel I hove in the window " (Brown 529). " I took and heaved a sod of turf into the dub " (Cushag, Mylechayaine, page 22).

Hide. A 'hide ' is the placing of the ball or the ' cat ' in one of the holes, in the boys' game of ' kit cat.' " One of the words in the game was a 'hide ' " (V.A.D., " Kit-cat ").

Home-ruler. A growth of unusual size, such as a potato or turnip, is apt to be admiringly called a Home-ruler by the Manxman, who has probably borrowed the expression from his Irish neighbours.

Hoopie has been given to me as a Lonan name for the skylark -- Manx ushag-happagh, ' tufted bird.' The bullfinch is called ' the hoop ' in the Southern and Western counties of England.

Hooch, " a shout used by rural dancers " (Ouarrie). " And look now ! mark that happy pair! See Billy bouncin' in the air, And look at Betsy's streamin' hair, And hear their hoochs ! " (" The i\-lelliah "). Scotch dancers relieve their feelings by uttering the same note.

Hopstag, a shackle for horse or cow. " Tryin' to put a hopstag on a bullock he's got " (Kneen, A Lil Smook). Manx hol5sag.

Huckster-shop, a small general dealer's, the typical village shop. " Them huckster-shops hevn' nawthin' worth atin' " (Kneen, A Lil Smook).

Hullibaloo, a disturbance, uproar. " Man, dear, tha was a hullibaloo ! " (Roeder, " Manx Folk-lore," in Manx Tales, page 38). Of doubtful origin and known only from 18th century (N.E.D.).

Hurns. I have heard this word applied contemptuously to a corner of useless waste land on a farm. It is also the dialect pronunciation of ' horns,' and possibly the allusion was to that part of an animal which is of least use and profit. " We must take the horns with the hide."-Manx proverb.