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Weel done, Miss Cathy! weel done, Miss Cathy! Howsiver, t’ maister sall just tum’le o’er them brooken pots; un’ then we’s hear summut; we’s hear how it’s to be. Gooid-for-naught madling! ye desarve pining fro’ this to Churstmas, flinging t’ precious gifts o’God under fooit i’ yer flaysome rages! But I’m mista’en if ye shew yer sperrit lang. Will Hathecliff bide sich bonny ways, think ye? I nobbut wish he may catch ye i’ that plisky. I nobbut wish he may. – Well done, Miss Cathy! well done, Miss Cathy! Howsoever, the master will just tumble over them broken pots; and then we’ll hear something; we’ll hear how it’s to be. Good-for-nothing madling! you deserve starving from now to Christmas for flinging the precious gifts of God underfoot with your frightening rages! But I’ll be mistaken if you show your spirit long. Will Heathcliff bide (have, tolerate) such nice ways, you think? I just wish he may catch you in that temper. I just wish he may.
kirk-yard – kirk = church
I’d rayther he’d goan hisseln for t’ doctor! I sud ha’ taen tent o’ t’ maister better nor him – and he warn’t deead when I left, naught o’ t’ soart! – I’d rather he’d gone himself for the doctor! I would have taken care of the master better than him – and he wasn’t dead when I left, not of the sort!
He opened the mysteries of the Fairy Cave, and twenty other queer places. – The fairy cave under Penistone Crag is an outcrop cliff about three miles west of Haworth. It has a natural passage through the base, and local folklore has it that couples who crawl through this together will die if they do not marry within a year, or that they will commit suicide and haunt the rock forever if they marry someone else.
Noa! Noa! that means naught. Hathecliff maks noa ’count o’ t’ mother, nor ye norther; but he’ll heu’ his lad; und I mun tak’ him – soa now ye knaw! – No! No! that means nothing. Heathcliff makes no account of the mother, nor you neither; but he’ll have his lad and I must take him – so now you know!
Cannot ate it? But Maister Hareton nivir ate naught else, when he wer a little ’un; and what wer gooid enough for him’s gooid enough for ye, I’s rayther think! – Cannot eat it? But Master Hareton never ate anything else when he was a little one; and what was good enough for him is good enough for you, I rather think.
Wah! yon dainty chap says he cannut ate ’em. But I guess it’s raight! His mother wer just soa – we wer a’most too mucky to sow t’ corn for makking her breead. – What! that dainty chap says he cannot eat them. But I guess it’s right! His mother was just so – we were almost too mucky (dirty) to sow the corn for making her bread.
Michaelmas – a holiday of Archangel Michael, celebrated on the 29th of September
I wer sure he’d sarve ye out! He’s a grand lad! He’s getten t’ raight sperrit in him! He knaws – ay, he knaws, as weel as I do, who sud be t’ maister yonder – He made ye skift properly! – I was sure he’d serve you right! He’s a grand lad! He’s got the right spirit in him! He knows – yes, he knows, as well as I do, who should be the master here – He made you shift properly!
Chevy Chase – a 15th-century ballad describing the battle of Otterburn
I’d rayther, by th’ haulf, hev’ ’em swearing i’ my lugs fro’h morn to neeght, nor hearken ye hahsiver! It’s a blazing shame, that I cannot oppen t’ blessed Book, but yah set up them glories to Sattan, and all t’ flaysome wickednesses that iver were born into th’ warld! Oh! ye’re a raight nowt; and shoo’s another; and that poor lad’ll be lost atween ye. Poor lad! he’s witched: I’m sartin on’t. Oh, Lord, judge ’em, for there’s norther law nor justice among wer rullers! – I’d rather, by half, have them swearing in my ears from morning to night, than hear you! It’s a blazing shame that I cannot open the blessed Book (the Bible) but you set up those glories to Satan, and all the frightening wickedness that ever were born into the world! Oh! you’re a real nothing, and she’s another; and that poor lad will be lost between you. Poor lad! he’s bewitched: I’m certain of it. Oh, Lord, judge them, for there’s neither law nor justice among our rulers!
Tak’ these in to t’ maister, lad, and bide there. I’s gang up to my own rahm. This hoile’s neither mensful nor seemly for us: we mun side out and seearch another. – Take these to the master, lad, and stay there. I’m going up to my own room. This hole is neither proper nor looks like it’s for us: we must move out and search for another.
Ony books that yah leave, I shall tak’ into th’ hahse, and it’ll be mitch if yah find ’em agean; soa, yah may plase yerseln! – Any books that you leave, I shall take into the house, and it’ll be much if you find them again; so, you may please yourself!
I mun hev’ my wage, and I mun goa! I hed aimed to dee wheare I’d sarved fur sixty year; and I thowt I’d lug my books up into t’ garret, and all my bits o’ stuff, and they sud hev’ t’ kitchen to theirseln; for t’ sake o’ quietness. It wur hard to gie up my awn hearthstun, but I thowt I could do that! But nah, shoo’s taan my garden fro’ me, and by th’ heart, maister, I cannot stand it! Yah may bend to th’ yoak an ye will – I noan used to ’t, and an old man doesn’t sooin get used to new barthens. I’d rayther arn my bite an’ my sup wi’ a hammer in th’ road! – I must have my wages and I must go! I had aimed to die where I’d served for sixty years; and I thought I’d store my books up into the garret, and all my bits of stuff, and they should have the kitchen to themselves for the sake of quietness. It was hard to give up my own hearthstone (fireside seat), but I thought I could do that! But no, she’s taken my garden from me, and by the heart, master, I cannot stand it! You may bend to the yoke (oppressive power) and you will – I’m not used to it, and an old man doesn’t soon get used to new burdens. I’d rather earn my bite and my sup with a hammer (by hard work) in the road!
It’s noan Nelly! I sudn’t shift for Nelly – nasty ill nowt as shoo is. Thank God! Shoo cannot stale t’ sowl o’ nob’dy! Shoo wer niver soa handsome, but what a body mud look at her ’bout winking. It’s yon flaysome, graceless quean, that’s witched our lad, wi’ her bold een and her forrard ways – till – Nay! it fair brusts my heart! He’s forgotten all I’ve done for him, and made on him, and goan and riven up a whole row o’ t’ grandest currant-trees i’ t’ garden! – It’s not Nelly! I shouldn’t shift for Nelly – nasty ill nothing as she is. Thank God! She cannot steal the soul of nobody! She was never so handsome, but what a body (person) must look at her without winking. It’s that frightening, graceless queen that’s bewitched our lad, with her bold eyes and her forward ways – till – No! it almost bursts my heart! He’s forgotten all I’ve done for him, and made of him, and gone and riven (pulled, tore) out a whole row of the grandest currant-trees in the garden!
Th’ divil’s harried off his soul, and he may hev’ his carcass into t’ bargin, for aught I care! Ech! what a wicked ’un he looks, girning at death! – The Devils’s carried off his soul, and he may have his carcass into the bargain for what I care! what a wicked one he looks, grinning at death!
to be on pins and needles – to wait nervously for what is going to happen
peccadilloes – little sins (Spanish)
hung beef – slightly salted and hung up to dry; dried beef
Berlin wools – light wool used for making clothing, especially gloves
the rolling of the meadow-land – the process during which a horse is dragging a special roller to compact the soil
eve – evening
sotto voce – quietly (Italian)
homely – plain, not beautiful
“Marmion” – Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem devoted to the Battle of Flodden (1513)
chewing the cud – usually about the cattle; here – repeating over and over to himself
skirts – apparently, not the kind that women wear! Here: the edge of his clothes, tail or flap.
God-speed – to say it means wishing someone success
ignis fatuus – wandering lights (on the moor), meaning hopes in vain (Latin)
Hebe – goddess of blooming youth, a daughter of Zeus and Hera
entailed – an entail was a condition of a will meaning that if a couple had no son, property had to be passed on to the next male in line in the family.
incumbrances – encumbrance was a mortgage or a hypothec
“what fellowship hath light with darkness; or he that believeth with an infidel?” – a quotation from the Bible (2 Corinthians 6:15); infidel = pagan or atheist.
rules the roast – to rule the roast means to be at the head of all affairs
had sown his wild oats – to sow one’s wild oats means to do wild things before getting married (often to have a lot of sexual relationships)
to set her cap at him – setting one’s cap at a man = trying to attract a man
blacklegs – a blackleg is a cheat or a swindler
boobies and bedlamites – fools and madmen
felo-de-se – a suicide
from “Hymns and Spiritual Songs” by John Newton (1816)
laudanum – tincture of opium
media-via – a compromise or a middle way (Latin)
ni-jamais-ni-toujours – neither never nor always (French)
d—d – cursed, devil’s
habit – here: clothes, dress
hunter – a horse trained specially for hunting
ennui – boredom (French)
physic – to give medicine, to cure
‘sweet regent of the sky’ – quotation from William Julius Mickle (1735–1788), a Scottish poet
‘black blue vault of heaven’ – from William Wordsworth’s poem “A Night Piece” (1798)
However we do praise ourselves… – William Shakespeare, “Twelfth Night,” Act II, Scene 2.
curtain lecture – a reproof or a scolding that a wife gives to her husband when they are alone
cared a stiver – used in negative, archaic meaning of no value as a stiver was a coin (one twentieth of a Netherlands’ guilder)
from “The Country Lass” (Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics).
the fowls of heaven and the lilies of the fields – from Gospel, Scripture: Matthew. Here Hattersley can’t keep from blasphemy
The light of the body is the eye. If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. – one more quotation from Gospel by Matthew.
white-livered – a coward, synonym to chicken-heart
ante-room – a small room that one passed to reach a larger one
par parenthèse – incidentally (French)
Ye twain shall be one flesh – from the Bible (Mark 10:8), said during the wedding ceremony
tartar-emetic – tartaric acid used for medical care to produce nausea
half-seas-over – tipsy, getting drunk
air – here: a song
cant – hypocritical
to obtain a situation – to get a place
fiddle = fiddlesticks – rubbish
bairns – children (Scottish)
