An Irish Country Practice Read online

  near: Nearly.

  neat: Of a drink of spirits, straight up.

  no’: Scots. Not. Widely used in County Antrim.

  no goat’s toe: Have a very high and often erroneous impression of one’s self.

  no harm til you: Disclaimer before either contradicting someone or insulting them. Akin to “I’m sorry, but…”

  nor nothing: Nor anything.

  no spring chicken: Getting on in years.

  och: Exclamation to register whatever emotion you wish. “Och, isn’t she lovely?” “Och, is he dead?” “Och, damn it.” Pronounced like clearing your throat.

  off licence: Liquor store.

  on the pour: It takes some time properly to pour a good pint of Guinness. One “on the pour” is coming but is not quite ready.

  on the QT: Privately.

  operating theatre: OR.

  ould hand: Old friend.

  oxter/oxtercog: Armpit/help walk by draping an individual’s arm over one’s shoulder.

  paddy hat: Soft-crowned, narrow-brimmed Donegal tweed hat.

  Paddy’s market: Disorganised crowd.

  pavement: Sidewalk.

  Peeler: Policeman. Named for the founder of the first organised police force in Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Robert Peel, 1788–1846. These peace officers were called “Bobbies” in England and “Peelers” in Ireland.

  peely-wally: Scots. Under the weather. Unwell.

  pethidine: Demerol.

  petrol: Gasoline.

  pig in a poke: Make a bad bargain.

  porter: A dark beer. It was brewed by Guinness until 1974 when it was replaced by its stronger relation, stout, which, rather than being brewed from dark malts uses roasted barley called “patent malt.”

  power/powerful: A lot, very strong.

  puff: Life.

  pull the other leg (it’s the one with bells on): You are not fooling me.

  puke: Vomit.

  quare: Ulster and Dublin pronunciation of “queer,” meaning “very” or “strange.”

  quid: One pound Sterling or a chew of tobacco.

  range: A cast-iron kitchen stove fueled by coke, coal, gas, or turf.

  redd up: Clean up and tidy.

  right: Very or real. “Your man’s a right eejit.”

  right enough?: Is that a fact?

  rightly: Very well.

  rook: Black bird, Corvus frugilegus of the crow family.

  roundabout: Carousel.

  rubbernecking: Being unduly curious.

  rug rats: Small children.

  scared skinny: Terrified.

  scrip’: Script, short for “prescription.”

  see him/her?: Emphatic way of drawing attention to the person in question even if they are not physically present.

  selkie: A magical woman on land who becomes a seal when she enters the sea.

  shammy: Chamois leather.

  sheugh: A muddy place often fouled with cow clap.

  sick line: Medical certificate of illness allowing a patient to collect sickness benefit.

  sicken one’s happiness: Rain on your parade.

  side wall of a house: Very big-bodied.

  sidhe: Irish. Pronounced “shee.” The fairies.

  skinful: One of the 2,660 synonyms or expressions for “drunk.” (Dickson’s Word Treasury, 1982)

  sláinte: Irish. Pronounced “slawntuh.” Cheers, your health.

  sleekit: Untrustworthy. Devious.

  so I am/he is/it’s not: An addition at the end of a sentence for emphasis.

  solicitor: Attorney who did not try cases in court, as opposed to a barrister, who did.

  spare (to go): Go crazy.

  spud: Potato. Also a nickname for anyone called Murphy.

  stammer: Stutter.

  sticking out (a mile): Good (excellent).

  stocious: Drunk. See skinful, hammered.

  stone: All measurements in Ireland until decimalision were Imperial. One stone = fourteen pounds, 20 fluid ounces = one pint.

  stoon: Sudden shooting pain.

  stout: A dark beer, usually Guinness or Murphy’s.

  sound/sound man: Good/good, trustworthy man.

  surgery: Where a GP saw ambulatory patients. The equivalent of a North American “office.” Specialists worked in “rooms.”

  sweet, sweetie: Candy.

  take a liberty: Be impertinent to someone above your station.

  take a pew: Have a seat.

  take the rickets: Have a great shock.

  take the strunts: Become angry or sulk.

  take yourself off by the hand: Don’t be ridiculous.

  taste (wee): Small amount and not necessarily of food. “Thon axle needs a wee taste of oil.”

  teach your granny to suck eggs: Try to instruct an expert in their business.

  tear away: Carry on with my full permission.

  terrace: Row housing, but not just for the working class. Some of the most expensive accommodations in Dublin are found in terraces in Merrion Square, akin to low-rise rows of attached town houses.

  that there/them there: That/them with emphasis.

  the day: Today.

  the ton: One hundred miles an hour.

  the wee man: The devil.

  thole: Put up with. A reader, Miss D. Williams, wrote to me to say it was etymologically from the Old English tholian, to suffer. She remarked that her first encounter with the word was in a fourteenth-century prayer.

  thon/thonder: That/over there.

  thran: Bloody-minded.

  throughother: Slovenly. Carelessly untidy.

  throw another spud in the pot: Add more ingredients to the upcoming meal because of the arrival of an unexpected guest.

  throw off: Vomit.

  til: To.

  ’til: Until.

  to beat Bannagher: Explanation unknown, but means exceptionally.

  tongue hanging out for: Craving; a drink, a cigarette, something to eat.

  toty (wee): Small (tiny).

  townland: Mediaeval administrative district encompassing a village and the surrounding farms and wasteland.

  Ulster overcoat: Heavy-duty double-breasted overcoat.

  up one side and down the other: A severe chewing out.

  walk out with: Pay court to.

  wean: Pronounced “wane.” Little one.

  wee turn: Sudden illness, usually not serious, or used euphemistically to pretend it wasn’t serious.

  wheeker: Terrific.

  wheen: An indeterminate but reasonably large number. See clatter.

  wheest: Be quiet.

  where to go for corn: Completely at a loss as to what to do.

  whin: Gorse.

  whisky/ey: Scotch is whisky. Irish is whiskey.

  worser: Much worse than worse. Antonym of “better.”

  yoke: Thing. Often used if the speaker is unsure of the exact nature of the object in question.

  you-boy-yuh (go on): Words of encouragement (usually during physical activity).

  you know: Verbal punctuation often used when the person being addressed could not possibly be in possession of the information.

  you me and the wall: In strictest confidence.

  your man: Someone either whose name is not known, “Your man over there? Who is he?” or someone known to all, “Your man, Van Morrison.”

  youse: Plural of you.

  BY PATRICK TAYLOR

  Only Wounded

  Pray for Us Sinners

  Now and in the Hour of Our Death

  An Irish Country Doctor

  An Irish Country Village

  An Irish Country Christmas

  An Irish Country Girl

  An Irish Country Courtship

  A Dublin Student Doctor

  An Irish Country Wedding

  Fingal O’Reilly, Irish Doctor

  The Wily O’Reilly

  An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

  An Irish Doctor in Love and at Sea

  An Irish Country Love Story

&nb
sp; An Irish Country Practice

  Home Is the Sailor (e-original)

  An Irish Country Cookbook

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PATRICK TAYLOR, M.D., was born and raised in Bangor, County Down, in Northern Ireland. Dr. Taylor is a distinguished medical researcher, offshore sailor, model-boat builder, and father of two grown children. He lives on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.

  Visit him online at www.patricktaylorauthor.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  Tom Doherty Associates ebook.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

  Maps

  1. Pulling in One’s Horse as He Is Leaping

  2. Cries and Falls into a Cough

  3. Walk Up and Down with Me

  4. Giving Your Heart to a Dog

  5. The Weaker Vessel

  6. Touch Not the Cat

  7. Teach Me To Feel Another’s Woe

  8. Let Age Approve of Youth

  9. A Little Sleep, a Little Slumber

  10. Ere His Race Be Run

  11. My Stomach’s Not Good

  12. Of Some Distressful Stroke

  13. The Warmest Welcome, at an Inn

  14. All the Fun of the Fair

  15. Examine Well Your Blood

  16. Vesti la Giubba. Put on Your Costume

  17. Laugh, Clown, at Your Broken Love

  18. ’Til I Took Up to Poaching

  19. The White Sail’s Shaking

  20. To Comfort and Relieve

  21. Him That Bringeth Good Tidings

  22. Send Not to Ask for Whom the Bell Tolls

  23. Days When Work Was Scrappy

  24. Lords Have Their Pleasures

  25. Accidents Will Occur in the Best-Regulated Families

  26. Be Bruised in a New Place

  27. He Would Bet You Which One Would Fly First

  28. In Quietness and in Confidence

  29. Hence Horrible Shadow!

  30. Dusty Purlieus of the Law

  31. Patience Under Their Sufferings

  32. Justice Is Truth in Action

  33. The Prisoners of Addiction

  34. Reconciles Discordant Elements

  35. To Sit in Sullen Silence in a Dull Dark Dock

  36. The Future’s Not Ours to See

  37. Kindness in Another’s Trouble

  38. A Baby Brings Its Own Welcome

  39. Surprised by Joy

  40. End My Days in a Tavern

  Afterword

  Glossary

  By Patrick Taylor

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  AN IRISH COUNTRY PRACTICE

  Copyright © 2017 by Ballybucklebo Stories Corp.

  All rights reserved.

  Maps by Elizabeth Danforth

  Cover art by Gregory Manchess

  A Forge Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

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  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Forge® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-8275-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-8921-7 (ebook)

  eISBN 9781466889217

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  First Edition: October 2017