Posted by John Nichols on May 16, 2005 at 16:32:19 from 165.91.196.105 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: English posted by Mike Dennis on May 16, 2005 at 08:10:43:
Midden from the OED
I was only aware of the 3 use for archeology. We have lots of Koori middens around Newcastle and so that was my understanding of the meaning.
I was not aware of its use as a cess pit.
The twin was really being much nastier than I had always thought if 1 is the meaning intended by Ransome.
Midden (OED)
Brit. /md()n/, U.S. /md()n/ Forms: lME middyng, myddyng, myding, mydyng, lME-18 midding, 15 medin, myddin, mydding, 15-16 mydinge, 16 middinge, miding, 16-18 middin, 16- midden, 19- (rare) middan; Eng. regional (chiefly north.) 17- middin, midding; Sc. pre-17 meden, meding, medyn, medynge, meiddane, meidding, meidinge, middein, midein, midin, miding, midinge, midinn, myddin, mydding, myddyn, myddyng, myddynne, mydin, mydyn, mydyng, mydynn, pre-17 17, 19- medding, pre-17 17- midden, middin, midding, 18- middan, 19- miden, (Orkney) middeen. [< an early Scandinavian compound (cf. Norwegian (Bokmål) mødding, Danish mødding (earlier møgdynge), Swedish regional mödding) < the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic myki (see MUCK n.1) + the Scandinavian base of Icelandic dyngja (see DUNG n.). The expected Old Icelandic form would be *myki-dyngja (cf. Norwegian regional mykjadunge, mykjardunge). Cf. earlier MIXEN n.
Attested earlier as a place-name element, cf. Blacmyddingmore (1333; now Blackmiddingmoor, Northumberland).]
I. Simple uses.
1. a. A dunghill, a dung heap; a refuse heap. Also: a domestic ash-pit. Now chiefly Sc. and Eng. regional (north.).
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a1425 (?a1350) Seven Sages (Galba) 2663 e thoght ou saw in i myding A faire well and water vp spryng. ?1440 tr. Palladius De Re Rustica (Fitzw.) I. 750 The myddyng, sette it weete, as hit may rote. c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt (Cambr.) 468 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 309 Ay valouand me in at syne, as sow a medynge dois vithine. c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora (Cambr.) 615 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 116 e mylk of sowis has he tane, at lay by in e myddyng. 1531 Nottingham Rec. III. 367 A garden..next to the mydding. 1570 P. LEVENS Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Liii/1, A Myddin, fimarium. 1571 (a1505) R. HENRYSON tr. Æsop Fables I. (Cock & Jasp) iii, Pietie it war, thow suld ly in this midding. 1667 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 225 For takeing away the miding of ashes out of the churchyard 1s. 4d. 1718 A. RAMSAY Christ's-kirk on Green III. 29 The Wives and Gytlings a spang'd out O're Middings, and o're Dikes. 1826 E. SWINBURNE in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1858) II. 74 A midden is well placed on the opposite side of them. 1853 H. STEPHENS Farmer's Guide 470 Winter is not the season to expect a quick fermentation to arise among the materials composing a compost dunghill, or midden, as it is technically termed in Scotland. 1887 W. MORRIS tr. Homer Odyssey x. 412 The herded kine as full-fed of grass withal They come aback to the midden [Gk. ]. 1926 ‘I. FARQUHAR’ Pickletillie Folk 160 He's seen ongvelopes wi' an Edinburgh lawyer's name on themlyin' in the manse middenI mean the ashpit. 1969 M. HARRIS Kind of Magic (1974) 45 They had..the middenthe useful countryman's compost heap where both kitchen and garden waste was thrown. 1990 C. HOLLAND Bear Flag (1992) xxii. 167 A flock of seagulls flapped and shrieked on the midden beyond the back fence.
b. Sc. colloq. A receptacle for refuse, a dustbin; (also) an enclosure in a backyard or basement for holding dustbins or domestic refuse.
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1890 Cent. Dict., Midden,..A receptacle for kitchen refuse, ashes, etc. 1920 C. YOUNG Spon's Pract. Builders' Pocket-bk. (ed. 3) 420 Scottish building terms... Scottish: Midden..English: Dusthold. 1958 C. HANLEY Dancing in Streets 42 What we called middens, upper-class people described as dustbins. 1981 A. GRAY Lanark (1982) xii. 124 He keeked between the stems of sorrel and daisies at the midden, a three-sided brick shed where bins were kept. 1984 J. KELMAN Busconductor Hines ii. 79 For every 3 closes you have the 1 midden containing 6 dustbins. 1992 J. TORRINGTON Swing Hammer Swing! viii. 60 A black one-eyed cat..stared up at me,..dumbly imploring me to tell it why there were no fishheads or meatscraps in the middens.
2. fig.
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a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) 628 A fouler myddyng saw ow never nane. 1588 A. KING tr. St. Peter Canisius Catech. f. 27v, Forgiue me all my sinnes, and raise me poor creatur out of the midding. c1650 J. ROW Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 437 Alace! I see all the middin (or dunghill) of the muck of the corruption of the Kirk of Ingland comeing on upon us. 1692 Sc. Presbyterian Eloquence (1693) 98 Sweeping them all out at the door, and casting them out to the midden. 1827 C. I. JOHNSTONE Elizabeth de Bruce II. x, If there was an object on earth which Monkshaugh loathed..it was a slatternly dirty woman... ‘What's to be done with that rampallion midden, 'Lizbeth?’ said he. 1859 C. KINGSLEY Misc. (1860) II. 30 That everlasting midden which men call the world. 1930 E. POUND Draft of XXX Cantos xv. 65 Ultimate urinal, middan, pisswallow without a cloaca. 1986 Expression! July 16/1 My own enthusiasm for the arts, then, grew up in the fertilising midden of unselfconsciousness. 1989 Pract. Parenting Dec. 122/2 I'm still in my nightie at midday, the house is a midden, and I don't even go out to work.
3. a. Archaeol. A prehistoric refuse heap which marks an ancient settlement, consisting chiefly of shells and bones and often also discarded artefacts; = KITCHEN-MIDDEN n.
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[1851 D. WILSON Archaeol. & Prehist. Ann. Scotl. (1863) I. i. 37 True shell mounds corresponding to the Danish kitchen middens.] 1866 T. H. HUXLEY in S. Laing Pre-hist. Remains Caithness 3 In the case of the lowest Danish middens we are carried very far back in the scale both of time and civilization. 1901 Man 1 165 He adds some further particulars of researches among the ancient middens. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. V. 452/2 On the north coast of Spain are found the middens of the Asturians who hunted land game and collected shell-fish on the shore during late mesolithic times. 1970 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 12 July 9 Known as an Aboriginal ‘midden’, the dump consists of discarded shell, stone chips and implements which have piled up over a period of hundreds of years. 1991 Antiquity 65 899/2 The midden itself contains few mammalian remains and few lithics.
b. Zool. and Palaeontol. A heap of excreta, food remains, or other ogranic debris left by an animal; esp. such a deposit composed largely of, or cemented by, the urine of small mammals such as pack rats, which with time becomes a solidified mass consisting mainly of calcite and calcium oxalate.
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1928 Ecology 9 92 They were barren of extraneous matter except for the occasional scattered midden of mullein or grasses, and the presence of invertebrate animals. 1944 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 13 129 In a similar manner to M[essor]. barbarus [a species of ant], a midden of the husks of grass inflorescences was made by M. aegyptianus. 1964 Science 13 Mar. 1172/1 Most of the middens are characterized by a peculiar varnish-like coating, consisting of lustrous, dark-brown masses if dried urine of Neotoma. 1991 New Scientist 11 May 48/2 The urine of North American pack rats, their African and South West Asian relatives the hyrax, and North American porcupines crystallises..into a solid mass called a midden. The rats polish it to a smooth finish with their bodies until it resembles amber.
II. Phrases.
4. Chiefly Sc. In various phrases and proverbs.
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1568 D. LINDSAY Compl. Bagsche 98 Chais na pure tyke frome his midding, Throw cast of Court, or kingis requeist. 1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xvi. 36 His craftie counsall will be sene Quhen doggs barkis on the midding. a1598 Fergusson's Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. A4, A cock is crouse in his own midding. 1721 J. KELLY Compl. Coll. Sc. Prov. 377 You look'd at the Moon, and fell on the Midding. 1816 A. BOSWELL Poet. Wks. (1871) 165 Let your proud Baron croosely craw On his ain midden, days but twa. 1894 T. H. HALL CAINE Manxman VI. xiii, Any cock can crow on his own midden. 1909 S. R. CROCKETT Rose of Wilderness (1911) xxviii, About this time Selina's affection for her husband was of the ‘in-the-moon-or-the-midden’ sort.
III. Compounds. (Chiefly Brit. regional.)
5. midden fly, -heap, hill, refuse, tyke. midden cock = dunghill-cock s.v. DUNGHILL n. 3d. midden creel Obs., a basket for carrying manure. midden crow Eng. regional (north.) Obs., the carrion crow, Corvus corone. midden fowl = dunghill-fowl s.v. DUNGHILL n. 3d. midden-head, the upper part of a refuse heap. midden hole Obs., a place dug out to hold refuse. midden lair Sc. Obs. [< MIDDEN n. + LAIR n.1] = MIDDENSTEAD n. midden mavis Sc. Obs., a person, esp. a woman, who gathers rags, etc. midden mount Sc. Obs., a mound of refuse. midden pit, a pit for holding refuse. midden stance Obs. = MIDDENSTEAD n. midden tuilyier Sc. Obs., a person who fights over the midden, a quarrelsome person.
1756 M. CALDERWOOD Jrnl. 27 June in Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 128, I saw the largest *midden cock I think ever I saw. 1890 J. SERVICE Thir Notandums 77 His wee three-cornered hat sittin' on three hairs like a bit midden cock on his heid. 1996 C. I. MACAFEE Conc. Ulster Dict. 222/1 Midden cock, a dunghill cock, a farmyard cockerel.
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1792 R. BURNS in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum IV. 389 Her walie nieves like *midden-creels.
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1829 J. T. BROCKETT Gloss. North Country Words (ed. 2) 204 *Midden Crow. 1831 Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. 113 Black Neb. Corby Crow... Midden Crow. 1893 R. O. HESLOP Northumberland Words, Midden-crow, the carrion crow.
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1728 A. RAMSAY Fables xxiii. 2 A paughty Bee Observ'd a humble *midding flie. 1977 Ling. Atlas Scotl. II. 101 Bluebottle fly, [Ayrshire] midden flea.
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1895 Scottish Rev. Jan. 115 The poor tenant was compelled, therefore, to keep a huge stock of *midden fowls which ate up his scanty crops and grain. 1900 H. G. GRAHAM Social Life Scotl. 18th Cent. (1901) I. 6 The midden-fowls feasted and nursed their broods among nettles and docks.
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1662 J. LAMONT Diary (1830) 181 He was carried out and layd downe on a *midden head. 1768 A. ROSS Helenore (1789) 85 Wese no be heard upon the midden head. 1823 J. GALT Ringan Gilhaize II. x. 104 Its roots of rankness are in the midden-head of Arminianism. 1932 Aberdeen Univ. Rev. Mar. 109 The gypit trash think 'at fat they dinna ken 's nae worth kennin' an' may as weel be flung i' the fire or o' the middenheid. 1974 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 61 779 Even their smoldering midden-head was sited well away and downwind from the post.
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1886 A. D. WILLOCK Rosetty Ends xviii. 129 Rowin' owre an' owre ane anither in the parental *midden-heap. 1904 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 34 34 The archæological remains..may be divided into three classes, viz., midden-heaps, cairns, and fishing works. 1960 Ecol. Monogr. 30 362/1 Large midden heaps indicate extensive aboriginal use. 1989 R. BANKS Affliction x. 134 The place looked even worse to him now than it had when he left that morninga midden heap, as if a motorcycle gang had been camped here all fall.
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1564 W. BULLEIN Dial. Fever Pestilence f. 4, Like vnto greate stinking mucle *medin hilles.
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1785 R. BURNS Halloween xxii, She..ran thro' *midden-hole and a'. 1879 G. W. DONALD Poems (rev. ed.) 15 The auld ane t' the midden hole Was flung to bed the swine.
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1692 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 571 Item, a years [rent] of the *midding lairs at the east and west ports 1800. 1708 Council Reg. Aberdeen LVIII. 135 Ther was a piece of waste ground at the west end of the college croft..which wes presently midden lairs.
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1832-53 Whistle-Binkie (Sc. Songs) 1st Ser. 88 Ilk *midden-mavis, we black jaudy, A' dread and fear thee. 1856 G. HENDERSON Pop. Rhymes Berwick 83 Clarty Kirstan, midden mavis! Rub your gruntle wi' a docken.
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c1650 J. SPALDING Mem. Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 259 The toun of Edinbrughe..raisit *midding mountis at Hereotis wark. c1650 J. SPALDING Mem. Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 272 The toun of Edinbrughe is veray diligent in making wp midding mountis and vther ingynes to defend the toun.
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a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) 8770 Alle is world,..War noght bot als a *myddyng-pytt. 1931 B. BUNTING Sonatina in Compl. Poems (2000) 31 Praise the green earth. Chance has appointed her home, workshop, larder, middenpit. 1968 Current Anthropol. 9 325/2 (caption) The left-hand ranging pole marks the edge of the midden ‘pit’. 1992 J. TORRINGTON Swing Hammer Swing! xli. 387 In the Scabby's backcourt kingdom of rusting railings and midden pits, Vic'd been the undisputed monarch.
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1901 Polit. Sci. Q. 16 279 The collectors who collect *midden refuse are allowed to dispose of it wherever they can. 1982 Man 17 131 Further living space was obtained..by covering the mud with up to four feet of shells, stones and midden refuse placed on top of flax mats.
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1844 H. STEPHENS Bk. of Farm II. 654 This is easily effected by draining the ‘*midden’ stance. 1853 H. STEPHENS Farmer's Guide 482/1 The midden-stance is not manured at all, and the earth is carefully shovelled up from it and carried away to another part of the field.
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1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xiii. 113 Ane *midding tuilour but manheid at assay. a1600 (1535) W. STEWART tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 440 Semdill..[is]..Ane mydding tulear in ane battell bydar.
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1568 J. ROWLL Cursing 226 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. f. 104-7, Thair eiris lyk ane *middin tyk. a1586 (?a1513) W. DUNBAR Poems (Maitland) (1979) 102 He barkis lyk ane midding tyk.
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