86 THE DIALECT OF < Bat they are loth to mdl. And loth to hang the bell About the Cattes neck.' MeLdi^ acff. moist ; mild, &c. A mdsh nut is a soft one, not ripe ; and a mehh night is a mild or moderately warm night It occurs in a different form in Hamlet, Act U. sc. ii., in the last two lines of the Flayer^s speech :
- The instant burst of clamour that she made
SFnless things mortal move them not at all,) ould have made milch the btiming eyes of heaven, And passion in the gods.' Melfih Diok, a wood-demon, who is supposed to guard over unripe nuts. ' Mdch Dick '11 catch thee, lad/ was formerly a common threat used to £righten children going a' nutting. Melt, vh. to make malt. ' They don't lank malt 'at were melted V cuckoo taum.' Mexuie, or Mensefol, adj. tidy; clean ; comely, &c. Bay has mense- fuL A.S. menniscy human, manly. Mexuie is also a substantive [and is constantly so used in Lowland Scotch.— W. W. S.]. Menitrotter, eh, a species of swing, formed by a rope thrown over a beam. Mester, sb. Mister ; Mr. Met, sh, a bushel. Mew, pt mowed, the past tense of to mow ; so sew for sowed, and inew for snowed. Mich, adj and adv, much. ' By far and mich,' an old expression. Mich (pronounced mauch), vh. to move quietly, or slily. If one were asleep it would be said, ' Tha mun 7nauch in,' &a Midden, Middin, or Midding, sb. a dunghill, &c. Bay has it. The asa-middin is an ash-heap ; the muck-middin a manure heap, or dung- hill. Occurs in Dimbars Dance of the Seven Deadly SinSy 1. 68 :
- Syne sweimees, at the second bidding,
Came like a sow out of a midding,^ Middlemost, adj, the centre, &c. See £zek. xlii. 5 : ' The galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.' Occurs again ver. 6. Midge, sb, the common word for a gnat. See Aran. Milkhaas,«&. milkhouse, t.e. a kind of dairy, or cellar, on the ground floor.
