Ash

ASH, sb.1 In var. dial. uses in Sc. Irel. Eng. Also
written ass, ess; see below. [as, es, æʃ.]

1. Collective sing., usually written ass or ess: fine ashes,
   usually from coal. See Axen.
   Sc. What wad ye collect out of the sute and the ass? Scott
   B. of Lam. (1819) xi; While I sit hurklen in the ase, Ramsay Tea-Table
   Misc. (1724) I. 110, ed. 1871. Fif. It'll no dae to sit crootlin'
   i' the ace a' yer days, Robertson Provost (1894) 72. Ayr. In
   loving bleeze they sweetly join, Till white in ase they're sobbin,
   Burns Halloween (1785) st. 10. N.I.1 Aas. N.Cy.1, Nhb.1, Dur.1
   Cum. Grose (1790) Gl. (1851); Meeting a boy with a good-looking
   ass drawing a cart laden with coal, he called out, ‘Stop,
   you boy. Whose ass is that?’ ─ ‘It's nut ass at o', it's smo' cwol,’
   Dickinson Cumbr. (1876) 298. Wm.1 n.Yks.1 Clamed wiv ass,
   smeared over with ashes; n.Yks.2 ne.Yks.1 Put a bit o' ass
   uppo t'trod, it's sae slaap. e.Yks. Marshall Rur. Econ. (1788)
   e.Yks.1 w.Yks. Swept all t'ass of t'crust, Preston Moorside Musins
   in Yksman. (1878) 59; w.Yks.1 I hev nout to do, but riddil ass,
   ii. 357; w.Yks.2 Coke ass; w.Yks.3 w.Yks.4 Lan. Ewt o' th'ass un
   dirt i' th' asshoyle, Paul Bobbin Sequel (1819) 41. n.Lan. Piət as
   iz nət bad till [manure]. Lan.1 Come, lass, sweep th' ess up,
   an' let's bi lookin' tidy; ne.Lan.1, e.Lan.1 Chs. Skeer the esse,
   separate the dead ashes from the embers, Ray (1691); (K.);
   Chs.1 Chs.2 Stf. ‘Esse’ are only the ashes of turfs when burned for
   compost (K.). s.Stf. This coal mak's a nasty white ess, Pinnock
   Blk. Cy. Ann. (1895) Stf.2 Oi wəz gettin ð' es up ðis mornin loik
   ən bə̄rnt mi and wi sum ot sindərz [I was getting the ess up this
   morning like, and burnt my hand with some hot cinders]. Der.1 Der.2,
   nw.Der.1, War. (J.R.W.), War.3, w.Wor.1 Shr.1 Yore garden
   seems to be a very stiff sile, John; if I wuz yo' I'd sprade some
   ess an' sut on; Shr.2, Hrf.2
   
2. Comp. (1) Ash-ball, obs., see below; (2) Ash-board,
   a wooden box or tray to hold ashes; (3) Ash-brass, money
   obtained by the sale of ashes; (4) Ash-cake, a cake baked on
   the hearth; (5) Ash-card, a fire-shovel; (6) Ash-cat, (7) Ash-chat,
   one who crouches over the fire; (8) Ash-cloth, (9) Ash-coup,
   see below; (10) Ash-grate, (11) Ash-grid, a grating over the
   ‘ash-hole’; (12) Ash-heap-cake, (13) Ash-lurdin, (14) Ash-man,
   (15) Ash-manure, (16) Ash-mixen, (17) Ash-muck, (18) Ash-mull, (19)
   Ash-padder, (20) Ash-peddlar, (21) Ash-pit, (22) Ash-rook, (23) Ash-water,
   see below. [See further s.v. Ash-backet, Ash-hole, Ash-midden,
   Ash-nook, Ash-riddle, Ash-trug.]
   (1) Shr.1 Balls made of the ashes of wood or fern damped with
   water; afterwards sun-dried... and used for making buck-lee.
   Pŭt a couple o' them ess-balls i' the furnace an' fill it up ŏŏth
   waiter for the lee. Ess-balls were sold in Shrewsbury market in
   1811, and prob. much later on. (2) Cum. Asbuird, Grose (1790)
   MS. add. (D.A.); He's but an as-buird meaker, Anderson Ballads
   (1808) Wully Miller. Wm.&Cum.1 Wi' th' ass-buurd for a teable,
   
3. Wm.1, ne.Lan.1 (3) w.Yks. Ony wumman differin abaght
   dividin' t'hass-brass sal pay one penny, Tom Treddlehoyle
   Bairnsla Ann. (1847) 29. (4) Dev.3 When the hearthstone is very
   hot the ashes are swept off and the ash-cake laid on it. A saucepan
   cover is then set over, and the ashes carefully replaced on the
   cover. (5) n.Yks.1 Ass-card, Ass-caird, a fire-shovel for cleaning or
   carding up the hearth-stone (see Card); n.Yks.2 e.Yks. Marshall
   Rur. Econ. (1788) Suppl. m.Yks.1 (6) Lan.1 Ass-cat, a term of
   contempt applied to lazy persons who hang habitually over the fire.
   Dev. Why you be a reg'lar ash-cat sitting over the fire, Reports
   Provinc. (1887) 3; An axen-cat is one that paddles or draws
   lines in the ashes with a stick or poker, Monthly Mag. (1808) II.
   
4. (7) Dev.3 Ashchat, a person who leans over the fire, with
   elbows on knees, in a dreamy attitude. (8) Ken. Pd for an Ash-cloth
   for the Workhouse, 6s. 6d., Pluckley Overseers' Acc. (1796)
   (P.M.). Sus.1 Ash-cloth, a coarse cloth fastened over the top of the
   wash-tub and covered first with marsh-mallow leaves and then with
   a layer of wood ashes [through this the water was strained by
   washerwomen in order to soften it]. (9) n.Yks.1 Ass-coup, a kind
   of tub or pail to carry ashes in (see Coup); n.Yks.2 ne.Yks.1
   In rare use. (10) Cum. Ass-grate, the grated cover over the hollow
   beneath a kitchen fireplace where the ashes drop (M.P.); Cum.1
   ne.Wor. In this district the word Ass or Ess is used only in the
   comp. Ess-grate, the cover to the ‘purgatory’ (J.W.P.). (11) Chs.1
   Ess-grid. Stf.1, War. (J.R.W.) (12) n.Lin.1 Ash-heap-cake, a cake
   baked on the hearth under hot wood embers. (13) s.Chs.1 Hoo's a
   terrible ess-lurdin, auvays comin' croodlin' i' th' fire [cf. Ass-cat].
   (14) n.Yks.2 Ass-man, the dustman, scavenger. (15) n.Yks.1 Ass-manner,
   manure, so called, of which the chief constituent is ashes,
   especially peat or turf ashes. ne.Yks.1 In common use. (16)
   s.Chs.1 Ess-mixen, the mixen or heap upon which the ashes are
   thrown. (17) n.Yks. ‘They'll be all clamed wiv... ass-muck,’ in
   other words, smeared over with peat-ashes and such other refuse
   as is thrown into an ordinary moorland ash-pit, Atkinson Moorl.
   Parish (1891) 120; n.Yks.2 (18) n.Yks.2 Ass-mull or Turf-mull (q.v.),
   the ashes from a turf fire. (19) Dev. Ash-padder, or Pedder, also
   called Axwaddle, q.v., Grose (1790) MS. add. (H.); Dev.3 Ash-padder,
   a person who goes from cottage to cottage collecting woodashes
   which are bought by farmers to mix at sowing time with
   seeds. (20) Som. Axpeddlar, a dealer in ashes, W. & J. Gl. (1873)
   (21) Sc. Ane o' the prentices fell i' the ase-pit, Chambers Pop.
   Rhymes (1870) 83. Chs.3 Ash-pit, the general receptacle of the
   rubbish and dirt of a house. [In gen. use.] (22) Chs.1 Ess-rook,
   a dog or cat that likes to lie in the ashes. Shr.1 This kitlin' inna
   wuth keepin', ─ it's too great a ess-rook. (23) Ken. To have...
   usefull utensils to wash with, to make bucking, ash water, &c.
   Pluckley Vestry Bk. (Feb. 1787); Ash-water is hard water made
   soft for washing clothes by pouring it through an ash-cloth (q.v.).
   The process is still in use (P.M.).
   [1. The litle cloude as aske he sprengeth, Wyclif
   (1382) Ps. cxlvii. 16; Which... spredith abrood a cloude
   as aische, WYCLIF (1388); Kloude as aske he strewis, Hampole
   Ps. cxlvii. 5. OE. asce, ‘cinis.’]
   ---
   ASH, sb.2 In var. dial. uses throughout Sc. Irel. Eng.
   Also written esh Nhb.1 n.Yks.2 w.Yks.2 n.Lin.1; eisch
   Lan.1 [aʃ.][eə.]
   
5. The leaf of an ash-tree; in comb. Even-ash, Even-leaf ash.
   N.I.1 Even ash, an ash-leaf with an even number of leaflets, used
   in a kind of divination. The young girl who finds one repeats
   the words ─ ‘This even ash I hold in my han', The first I meet is
   my true man.’ She then asks the first male person she meets on
   the road what his Christian name is, and this will be the name
   of her future husband. Nhb. Even-esh is a lucky find, and is put
   into the bosom, or worn in the hat, or elsewhere, for luck
   (R.O.H.); Even-ash, under the shoe, will get you a sweetheart. It is
   placed in the left shoe, Denham Tracts (ed. 1895) I. 282; Nhb.1 It
   is considered as lucky to find an even-esh as to find a four-leaved
   clover. w.Shr. [Used for divination, as in Irel.] in agreement with
   the well-known rhyme ─ ‘Even ash and four-leaved clover, See
   your true-love ere the day's over,’ Burne Flk-Lore (1883) 181.
   Wil.1 On King Charles' day, May 29, children carry Shitsack,
   sprigs of young oak, in the morning, and Powder-monkey, or
   Even-ash, ash-leaves with an equal number of leaflets, in the
   afternoon (s.v. Shitsac). nw.Dev.1 A haivm laiv ash An' a vower
   laiv clauver, You'll sure to zee your true love Avore the day's
   auver, Introd. 20.
   
6. Comp. (1) Ash-candles, (2) Ash-chats, (3) Ash-holt, see below;
   (4) Ash-keys, the seed-vessels of the ash (see Keys); (5)
   Ash-plant, an ash sapling or stick; (6) Ash-planting, a beating
   with an ash stick; (7) Ash-stang, (8) Ash-stob, (9) Ash-stole, (10)
   Ash-tillow, see below; (11) Ash-top, a variety of potato; (12) Ash-weed,
   Ægopodium podagraria, or goutweed.
   (1) Dor. Ash-candles, the seed-pod of the ash-tree, Gl. (1851)
   Dor.1 (2) n.Cy. Ash-chats, or keys, Grose (1790) s.v. Chat,
   q.v. (3) n.Lin.1 Esh-holt, a small grove of ash trees. (4) Sc.
   I have seen the ash-keys fall in a frosty morning in October,
   Scott Bk. Dwarf (1816) vii. Nhb. Ash-keys is the common term
   for the seed of the ash (R.O.H.). w.Yks.2 An old farmer in Fullwood
   affirmed that there were no ash-keys in the year in which
   King Charles was put to death. Lan.1 Let's ga an' gedder some
   eisch-keys an' lake at conquerors [i.e. the wings of the seed are
   interlocked; each child then pulls, and the one whose ‘keys’ break
   is conquered]. e.Lan.1, Chs.1 Chs.3, Not.1, n.Lin.1, Lei.1 Nhp.1 The
   failure of a crop of ash-keys is said to portend a death in the royal
   family. War.3, Sur.1 Dev.4 Also called locks-and-keys, shacklers.
   [The fruit like unto cods... is termed in English, Ash-keyes, and
   of some, Kite-keyes, Gerarde (ed. 1633) 1472.] (5) w.Yks.2 An ash
   stick is usually called an esh-plant. s.Chs.1 Tha wants a good ash-plant
   abowt thy back. Stf.2 If thē dustna let them cows bē, I'll
   lay this ash-plant about thĕ. n.Lin. Cuts hissen a esh-plant to
   notch doon all the fools he fin's on, Peacock Tales and Rhymes
   (1886) 63; n.Lin.1 There is a widespread opinion that if a man
   takes a newly cut esh-plant not thicker than his thumb, he may
   lawfully beat his wife with it. War.3 An ash-plant is an article
   that no well-furnished farm-house and few schoolmasters would be
   without. Dev. On the leeward side of a stiff bulwark of newly
   bill-hooked ashplant, Blackmore Kit (1890) II. i. (6) n.Lin. I'll
   gie ye an esh-plantin' ye weant ferget, Peacock Taales (1889) 89.
   (7) n.Yks.2 Esh-stang, an ash-pole. (8) n.Yks.2 Esh-stob, an ash-post.
   (9) Wil. Hares... slip quietly out from the form in the rough
   grass under the ashstole [stump], Jefferies Gamekeeper (1878) 31.
   (10) Hmp. Ash-tillows are young ash-trees left growing when a
   wood is cleared, Marshall Review (1817) V. (11) Ess. Those on
   the right are ashtops, Baring-Gould Mehalah (1885) 154. (12)
   Shr. Ashweed, perhaps from casual resemblance to the leaf of the
   Ash. Wil.1, w.Som.1
   
7. With adj. used attrib. in plant-names: (1) Blue ash,
   Syringa vulgaris, lilac (Glo.); (2) Chaney ash, Cytisus laburnum
   (Chs.); (3) French ash, Cytisus laburnum (Der.);
   (4) Ground ash, (a) Ægopodium podagraria (Chs. Lin. War.);
   (b) Angelica sylvestris (n.Cy.); (5) Spanish ash, Syringa vulgaris
   (Glo.); (6) Sweet ash, Anthriscus sylvestris (Glo.);
   (7) White ash, Syringa vulgaris (Glo.); Ægopodium podagraria
   (Som.); (8) Wild ash, Ægopodium podagraria (Cum.).
   (5) Glo.1 Spanish ash, the lilac. w.Som.1 (7) White ash, the plant
   goutweed. Usual name.
   [Esch key, frute, clava, Prompt.; Ash-weed, Herba
   Gerardi, Coles (1679); Ayshwæde, Herbe Gerard, or
   Goutworte, Minsheu (1617).]
   ---
   ASH, v. Yks. Lin. Written esh. [eʃ.] To flog, beat;
   cf. to birch, hazel.
   e.Yks. So called from the esh [ash] plant being the instrument
   used by the castigator, Nicholson Flk-Sp. (1889) 26; e.Yks.1
   w.Yks. (Æ.B.) n.Lin.1 If we catch boys gettin' bod nests we
   esh 'em.
   ---
   ASH, see Arrish.
   ---
   ASH, sb.1 Sc. Lakel. Also in form aiss-Cai.1; ase-Sh.I.
   ; ass-Lakel.2 Wm.1 In comp. (1) Ash-board,
   a portable box or tub for the removal of ashes, &c.; (2)
   Ash-cat, a term of derision for one who spends too much
   time over the fire; (3) Ash-grate, an iron grate that fits over
   the ash-hole (q.v.); (4) Ash-grey, grey as ashes; (5) Ash-hole,
   a hole to receive the ashes, beneath or in front of the
   grate; (6) Ash-muck, ashes, débris from a fire; (7) Ash-nook,
   a chimney-corner,‘ingle-nook’; (8) Ash-packad, a box for
   holding ashes; cf. Ash-backet; (9) Ash-puckle, a spark, a dying
   ember from the fire; (10) Ash-trug, see (1).
   (1) Wm. (B.K.); Penrith Obs. (Apr. 20, 1897). (2) Lakel.2 As
   grey as an ass-cat— i.e. a cat 'at cronks under t'ass-whol, an' gits
   mucky wi' burnt muck. (3) Lakel.2 (4) Elg. A time-worn, bane-bare,
   ash-grey pair, Blackhall Lays (1849) 41. (5, 6, 7) Lakel.2 (8)
   Cai.1 (9) Sh.I. I tocht na mair o' dat den an ase-puckle frae da
   fire, Stewart Tales (1892) 259. (10) Lakel.2, Wm.1
   ---
   ASH, sb.2 n.Cy. Dur. Cor. In phr. even ash or even
   ash-leaf, used in purposes of divination; see below.
   n.Cy. The even ash-leaf in my left hand, The first man I meet
   shall be my husband; The even ash-leaf in my glove, The first
   I meet shall be my love; The even ash-leaf in my breast, The first
   man I meet's whom I love best; The even ash-leaf in my hand,
   The first I meet shall be my man; Even ash, even ash, I pluck thee,
   This night my true love for to see, Ellwanger Idyllists of Country
   Side (1896) 77. Dur. Every one knows that if you find an even
   ash-leaf, i.e. a leaf which does not end, as ash-leaves ought to end,
   with a leaflet at its tip, but has two placed opposite each other,
   and if you gather this and put it in your left-foot shoe and wear it
   till bed-time, and then put its crumpled remains under your pillow,
   you will infallibly dream of the person whom you will marry,
   Longman's Mag. (Oct. 1896) 574. Cor. For invoking good luck,
   the ash-leaf is yet commonly employed in Cornwall, the ancient
   formula reading:‘ Even ash, I do thee pluck, Hoping thus to
   meet good luck; If no good luck I get from thee, I shall wish thee
   on the tree,’ Ellwanger Idyllists of Country Side 76.