, I warn thee.

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the value of dialectal
words as helping to explain our English vocabulary began to be
recognised. Particular mention may be made of the _Etymologicon
Lingu{ae} Anglican{ae}_, by Stephen Skinner, London, 1671; and it should
be noted that this is the Dictionary upon which Dr Johnson relied for
the etymology of native English words. At the same time, we must not
forget to note two Dictionaries of a much earlier date, which are of
high value. The former of these is the _Promptorium Parvulorum_,
completed in 1440, published by the Camden Society in 1865; which
contains a rather large proportion of East Anglian words. The second
is the _Catholicon Anglicum_, dated 1483, ed. S.J. Herrtage, E.E.T.S.,
1881, which is distinctly Northern (possibly of Yorkshire origin).

We find in Skinner occasional mention of Lincolnshire words, with
which he was evidently familiar. Examples are: _boggle-boe_,
a spectre; _bratt_, an apron; _buffet-stool_, a hassock; _bulkar_,
explained by Peacock as "a wooden hutch in a workshop or a ship."

The study of modern English Dialects began with the year 1674, when
the celebrated John Ray, Fellow of the Royal Society, botanist,
zoologist, and collector of local words and proverbs, issued his
_Collection of English Words not generally used_; of which a second
edition appeared in 1691. See my reprint of these; E.D.S., 1874. This
was the first general collection, and one of the best; and after this
date (1674) many dialect words appeared in English Dictionaries, such
as those of Elisha Coles (1676, and four subsequent editions); John
Kersey (1708, etc.); Nathaniel Bailey (1721, etc.); N. Bailey's
_Dictionary_, Part II, a distinct work (1727, etc.). The celebrated
_Dictionary_ by Dr Johnson, 2 vols., folio, London, 1755, owed much
to Bailey. Later, we may notice the _Dictionary_ by John Ash, London,
1775; and Todd's edition of Johnson, London, 1818. It is needless to
mention later works; see the Complete List of Dictionaries, by H.B.
Wheatley, reprinted in the E.D.S. Bibliographical List (1877), pp.
3-11; and the long List of Works which more particularly relate to
English Dialects in the same, pp. 11-17. Among the latter may be
mentioned _A Provincial Glossary_, by F. Grose, London, 1787, second
edition 1790; _Supplement to the same_, by the late S. Pegge, F.S.A.,
London, 1814; and _Glossary of Archaic and Provincial_ _Words_, by the
late Rev.