Your birthday gift...

...is journeying anywhere from 3 miles to 3,000 miles to come and spend the weekend with us. Please, please don't bring anything more than a change of underwear, stout legs and a dollop of goose grease. You are the birthday present.

The Timetable

Friday:
1600-1900: cake decorating by early arrivers
1900 until late: welcome cocktails, supper, crossword & games

Saturday:
0800: light breakfast
0930-1215: surf lesson
1300-1430: lunch
1500-1800: Gower walk
1900 until late: party

Sunday:
0900-1300: recover, brunch, croquet, welcome late arrivals
1330-1615: surf lesson
1730-1800: departures
1900: the pub

Notes on the local dialect by Prof Royal

I am reading the Gower book.

The dialect section of the book is really fun -- we could use these in our dictionary game... Here are what is listed in the
Glossary:

Bett...............prepared turf used for hedging (what does this MEAN??! Hedging your betts?)
Blonkers..........sparks
Bubback..........scarecrow, or a dull person
Bumbagus........a bittern
Carthen...........a winnowing sheet
Charnel............a box-like space formed by raising the ceiling above the fireplace for hanging bacon
"Crows"............natives of Porteynon Parish
Cust................could
Cussening.........coaxing
Dree................three
Drangway.........a narrow lane or alleyway
Drow...............throw.
Dobbin.............a large mug
dumbledarey.....cockchafer(???)
Frawst.............a dainty meal
Froist...............also --a dainty meal
Frightened........astonished
Glaster.............buttermilk - in the churn
Herring-gutted...lean
Inklemaker.........a busy person
Ite...................yet
Jorum................a large quantity/helping of tea or beer
Keek.................to peep
Kernine..............ripening, also to turn sour
Leery................empty
Makth...............makes
Melted..............broken up, disintegrated
Mucka..............a rickyard (?)
Nestletrip...........the smallest pig in a litter
Nice..................fastidious
Nipparty............perky
Noppit...............perky (two types?)
Oakwib..............cockchafer (???!)
"Oxen"...............natives of Llangennith
Rining................mooching or scrounging
Rying.................fishing
Scrabble.............to gather up hastily objects on the ground
Starved..............perished with cold
Tite....................to overturn
Uddent...............wouldn't
V'rall..................for all
Zz'snow..............do you know

Anyway, I (a noppit inklemaker) will try not to be a bubback but I will certainly come and frighten you Oxen and spend some time rining from you. Don't worry, I'm not nice ite, so any accommodation with a froist and a dobbin of jorum will suit me fine. And maybe later a frawst too. If I surf, I hope I don't become starved or tite the board. I probably won't bring my oakwib or dumbledarey as I'm not sure what or where they are, zz'snow?

Love V'rall!

Barbara