The Quarterclift; or The Life and Adventures of Hudy McGuigan, by Hugh Harkin
published in booklet form 1841;
published in facsimile 1993
by Ballinascreen Historical Society
(144pp, + brief introduction and notes)
available from Ballinascreen Historical Society,
Draperstown, Co Derry
an edited transcript, with notes and a glossary
characters may replace dashes
in the original publication,
eg "Lord Caledon" replaces "Lord C──n"
Glossary
This glossary has been prepared by the transcriber in the course of transcription,
as much for his own benefit as for that of any other reader.
acushla is an anglicised transliteration of
a chuisle Irish
1 my love, my pulse; vocative form of cuisle pulse
addercap Scottish English, from attercop English
1 spider
2 ill-natured person
amadán Irish
1 fool
anam Irish
1 soul; (phrase) d'anam don diabhal your soul to the devil
a rún Irish
1 my confidante, my darling; vocative form of rún secret
at a word Scottish English
1 brief, briefly
atomy, atomie English
1 skeleton (by false analysis of 'anatomy'); emaciated person
avick is an anglicised transliteration of
a mhic Irish
1 my son; vocative form of mac son
bacach Irish
1 lame person, beggar, sponger
bagnit, bagnet, bagonet English
1 bayonet
balyore is an anglicised transliteration of
baileabhair Irish
1 foolishness; fool
bán Irish
1 white, fair, light-coloured; lovely, dear
barm Scottish English
1 brew, ferment
bastún Irish
1 stupid person, lout
beaters English
1 hooves (as makers of hoof-beats)
beetle English
1 wooden handle with a heavy head, for beating, smoothing, ramming etc
beannacht Irish
1 blessing
beannacht leat Irish
1 (God's) blessing on you, (God) bless you
birse Scottish English
1 bristle, beard, whisker
(phrase) cock his birses tweak his whiskers
blaflum Scottish English
1 nonsense, deception
blink Scottish English
1 regard with the evil eye
blinker Scottish English
1 cheat, rogue ("a term of contempt" - Burns's own gloss)
blink the milk Scottish English
1 turn milk sour, prevent milk from turning to butter; make things go wrong
blood and ouns English (dialectal)
1 (oath) by the blood and wounds of Christ on the cross
bocán Irish; bòcan Gaelic
1 hobgoblin; ghost, evil spirit
bocht Irish
1 poor
bodach Irish
1 old man, churl, ugly person
bogle English (dialectal)
1 ghost
boortree Scottish English
1 elder tree
boortree gun Scottish English
1 pop-gun (originally made from hollowed-out elder)
bouk Scottish English
1 body, carcase
bruckle Scottish English
1 brittle, fragile
buachaill Irish
1 boy
cadger English
1 hawker, pedlar, beggar
callant Scottish English
1 boy, young man
capall Irish
1 horse, (commonly) mare
cateran English, from Scots & Irish Gaelic ceathairne
1 Highland soldier, band of Highland soldiers
cauker, cauker Scottish English and English (dialectal)
1 sharpened downward point on horse-shoe (to prevent slipping)
ceatharnach Irish
possibly derived from late Latin quaternio, a body of four soldiers
1 yeomanry soldier, kerne, soldierly man
2 thief, rogue
cestus, caestus Latin
bindings on the hand, wrist and forearm worn by Greek and Roman boxers
chullers Scottish English and English (dialectal)
1 wattles, fleshy cheeks
Chinese orange English
1 orange, any variety, since all are (often hybridised) cultivars of the mandarin
cliobóg Irish
1 shaggy thing; horse, filly
context English (obsolete)
1 woven-together, well-constructed
coom Scottish English
1 coal-dust; flakes of soot
corp Irish
1 body
(phrase) bhur corp is bhur n-anam don diabhal your bodies and your souls to the devil
corpus Latin
1 body
cóta mór Irish
1 greatcoat
croí Irish
1 heart; (vocative) a chroí, (possessive) mo chroí my heart, my love
crois Chríostaí Irish
1 the christian cross, the cross of Christ
cruite is used by Harkin (three times) in Hudy's expression I pray cruite
cruit Irish
1 hump; hunched shape (eg for prayer)
thus cruite stands for a phrase such as tá cruit orm,
and I pray cruite means I pray fervently
2 (from its humped shape) small harp
curtal, courtal English
1 docked, cut-short
curtal friar friar dressed in a short-frocked habit
delf English
1 glazed earthenware from Delft, Holland; (hence) pottery, china
dícheall Irish
1 best endeavour; (phrase) déan do dhícheall do your best
dona, donaí Irish
1 bad, unlucky, wretched
dote, doat English
1 become demented, lose one's wits
down-weight English
1 heavy enough to tip the balance; of full weight
an dtuigeann tú sin Irish
1 do you understand that?; get it?
duine Irish
1 person
et hoc genus omne Latin
1 and all this class (of person, thing, etc)
fag English
1 tiresome activity; nonsense
fág Irish
1 go away from, leave, quit
(phrase) fág an bealach get out of the way!, clear the road!
(anglicised Faugh a ballagh, motto of Royal Irish Fusiliers, and later of Royal Irish Regiment)
fáilte Irish
1 greetings
(phrase) céad míle fáilte a hundred thousand greetings; welcome
faix Scottish English
1 fecks, faikins, faith (interjection)
figary, fegary English (dialectal & colloquial)
1 frippery, toy; whim, whimsical prank (form of vagary)
forder, forther, further Scottish English
1 furtherance; (phrase) good forder to ... more power to ...
fouter, feuter, fuiter Scottish English
1 bungle, botch
2 hinder, thwart, baffle
fudge English
1 insincerity, nonsense
gad Scottish English
1 (game of shinty) ball or bundle of any substance used instead of regular ball
géarintleachtach Irish
1 sharp-witted, crafty
In the game of Pull divil pull in Chapter IV,
the 1841 booklet has clearly mis-printed whatever Irish words Hugh Harkin intended to write;
so the transcriber has chosen Irish words which seem to match Hugh Harkin's English translation.
gearrán Irish
1 nag, gelding
glaur, glar, glair Scottish English
1 mud, slime, ooze
2 white of egg
gomerel, gomeril Scottish English
1 fool, simpleton
goster English (dialectal)
1 laugh uncontrollably
2 gossip
gotha Irish
1 appearance, posing
gourd Scottish English
1 stiff; (hence) stiffness, pent-up power
grá Irish
1 love
(vocative) a grá = my love, my dear
grip English
1 open drain
hand gallop English
1 horse-riding pace between canter and gallop; fast canter; moderate gallop
hawkie, hawky Scottish English
1 cow with a white face
hainch, hench, hinch Scottish English
1 haunch
2 underarm throw, jerking the lower arm against the haunch
heck Scottish English
1 rack, framework (of wood or iron)
2 the toothed arms which lead the thread onto a spinning-wheel's bobbin,
(hence) spinning-wheel
hire Scottish English
1 titbit, lick, treat (especially for a cow, to induce her to let down milk)
hog English (slang)
1 shilling coin
horse-jockey, jockey Scottish English
1 beggar, gipsy
2 horse-dealer
hummock Scottish English
1 the four fingers and thumb brought together so that the tips touch
(phrase) turn your hummock in the opening of the shoulder blades
(perhaps, referring to the hip joint of a cow) test the looseness of the pelvis
hurdy, hurdie Scottish English
1 (generally in plural) buttocks, hips, haunches
latro Latin
1 thief
leacht Irish
1 cairn, pile of stones on top of a mountain
avourneen and mavourneen are anglicised transliterations of
muirnín Irish
1 darling, sweetheart
(vocative) a mhuirnín, (possessive) mo mhuirnín my darling, my sweetheart
merry-andrew English
1 person who clowns in public
mol an t-áth mar a gheobhair Irish (proverb)
1 praise the ford as you find it; judge things as you find them
more by token English (dialectal)
1 still more, the more so, what is more
Muire Irish
1 Mary, (especially) Mary, mother of Jesus
(vocative) a mhuire (pronounced wirra, wurra)
muise Irish
1 (interjection) indeed (pronounced misha, musha)
murdar Irish
1 murder; (phrase) míle murdar a thousand murders; blue murder
naboclish and nabocklish are anglicised transliterations of
ná bac leis Irish
1 no problem, never mind
nagur Scottish English
1 niggard, stingy person; nasty person
nast English (dialectal)
1 dirt, filth
negus English
1 hot drink of port, sugar, lemon & spice
ould Scottish English
1 old, aged
peri English
1 fairy
petticoattee English
(perhaps) type of hornpipe; "The Old Torn Petticoat" is a widely-known hornpipe.
pocán Irish
1 billygoat
poitín Irish
1 (literally) little pot, heating-pot for distillation
2 distilled alcohol product, made from an initial mash of barley (or other carbohydrate)
worm spiral copper tube passed through a barrel of water to condense the boiled-off alcohol
singling first distillation (boiling a mash), and its product
doubling second distillation (boiling a singling), and its product
priest's run third distillation (boiling a doubling) - optional, for extra-smooth product
posse comitatus Latin
1 power of the county
prime Scottish English
1 very well, excellently
rantle(-tree), randle(-tree), rantree Scottish English
1 bar or beam across a chimney-opening, suspending a chain and cooking-pot
2 beam along the ridge of a roof
3 thin and pole-like thing or person
redshank English
1 (nickname, from the colour of legs or leggings) Highland soldier
sagart Irish
1 priest
sally Scottish English
1 willow
(phrase) like sally rods as thick and firm as willow wands
Sawney, Sandy English (obsolete)
1 (nickname, from the name Alexander) Scotsman
scran Scottish English
1 food, scraps, gleanings
sheltie, shelty, shiltie, shilty Scottish English
1 Shetland pony; (also) any shaggy pony
shinny Scottish English
1 shinty (a game similar to hockey, hurling or camogie)
2 stick or club used for the game shinty
3 ball used for the game shinty
shoulder-stone English
1 heavy stone to be lifted to the shoulder, eg like an iron shot for shot-putting
(distinct from a lifting-stone, which is usually lifted to the waist)
shooler is an anglicised transliteration of
siúlóir Irish
1 walker; tramp
sink English
1 drain-pit, open drain
sleekit Scottish English
1 smooth, slippery
sonsy Scottish English
1 lucky, friendly, honest
spailpín Irish
1 rascal; migrant labourer
speel Scottish English
1 climb
splore Scottish English
1 revel, spree
2 controversy, argument
3 escapade
sputter English
1 bustling confusion, excitement
stramash Scottish English
1 uproar, disturbance, row
2 fury
3 accident, disaster
stócach Irish
1 young man, fullgrown youth
stock English
1 block of wood, log, tree-stump
súgán Irish
1 rope, especially one made of straw or grass
taisce Irish
1 store; treasure
(vocative) a thaisce (pronounced haska, haski)
taobh Irish
1 side, mountain-side
tapsalteerie Scottish English
1 topsy-turvy, upside down, higgledy piggledy
tears and aches English (dialectal)
1 (oath) by the tears and aches of Christ on the cross
ten-toes English
1 (presumably) man on foot (ie not on horseback)
tester, teston English
1 coin, with the head (testa, tête) of the monarch on it
thraw Scottish English
1 throw (in all its meanings)
thrawing-stone stone for throwing
fash one's thumb Scottish English
1 (phrase) give oneself trouble
tiarna Irish
1 lord
Tiarna Dia Irish
1 Lord God
bi do hocht is Harkin's unusual rendering of the phrase below:
tost Irish
1 silence; (phrase) bí i do thost! be quiet!
thraneen is an anglicised transliteration of
tráithnín Irish
1 blade of grass, sliver
trig English (dialectal)
1 the line from which a player starts
twin Scottish English
1 deprive (someone of something, eg of one's presence or services)
wheesht, whisht Scottish English
1 silence; (phrase) hold your wheesht be quiet
2 tiny whisper
windlestraw Scottish English
1 tall thin withered stalk of grass
wraprascal English
1 greatcoat
wud, wuid Scottish English
1 wild, insane
This page was last updated 15 Sep 2023