west countryn.adj.

a1272 in C. E. H. de Coussemaker Scriptorium de Musica Medii Ævi (1864) I. 358 In quibusdam terris, sicut in Anglia, in patria que dicitur Westcuntre.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xi. iii. 574 In est londes and contreyes is moche more plente of frutys and floures thanne in þe north and in þe west contreyes.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 10732 (MED) Yn þe west cuntre men seke coles.

?a1425 (a1400) Brut (Corpus Cambr.) 301 (MED) In þe same ȝere, aboute þe Sowthcuntreys and also in þe west cuntres, þere fell so much reyne.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 171 Our wast contre thar statute is so strang In-to the north my purpos is to gang.

a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 10 The Erle of Warwyke londede in the west countre.

1534 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 395 Ye do deteyne..certeyne londes in the weste cuntrey contrary to all right.

1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) 474 At Dartmouth in the West countrie.

1639 G. Plattes Discov. Subterraneall Treasure xi. 51 Every one may see in the west Country, where such a multitude of Firre trees doe lie covered so deepe in the earth, that [etc.].

1678 Let. 6 Aug. in J. Dodds Sc. Covenanters vii On Sunday last there was a conventicle in the west country in Carrick that the like hath not been seen in Scotland.

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry ix. 255 An Instrument much used in the West Country for the spreading of Mole-casts.

1793 Considerations Coal in Scotl. 14 Colliers..in the west country..have some watch-word, by sending round of which they can lay the whole coaleries in the country idle.

1827 W. Scott Let. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) I. v. 136 I had very little acquaintance..with the gentry of the west country.

1845 T. Carlyle in O. Cromwell Lett. & Speeches I. 359 The Whiggamore Raid, all the force of the West Country, 6,000 strong, is already there.

1899 Autocar 4 Nov. 979/1 (heading) My early experiences of a motor—including a tour in the West Country.

1920 ‘O. Douglas’ Penny Plain xi. 117 Every little while the raciness natural to the West country [sc. western Scotland] breaks out.

1937 Discovery Sept. 280/1 In the cider-drinking West Country much cider vinegar is found.

1962 Sunday Times 16 Sept. 1/3 An Indian summer in the West Country brought peak holiday traffic jams in Devon yesterday.

2002 S. Brett Torso in Town (2003) xxix. 222 Cream Teas belongs by rights to the West Country, where there is a tradition of meals featuring the local clotted variety.

1711 Boston News-let. 22 Oct. 2/2 A Lusty Young Man, named William Saulter, aged about 16 or 17 years, speaks West Country.

1740 Pennsylvania Gaz. in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. (1938) 37 72 They talk broad West-Country, and have been in this country but about 8 Weeks.

1893 Chambers's Jrnl. 22 Apr. 251/2 He mounted his famous chestnut mare Jenifer (west-country for Guinevere).

1972 P. M. Hubbard Whisper in Glen vii. 65 It was a long time now since the queen's favourite courtier had spoken broad West Country.

1994 Independent (Nexis) 10 July 1 One couple told him they lived in Brent Knoll, Somerset, and Lord Archer suddenly went broad West Country.

1616 G. Markham Markhams Method 26 The west country beast is best for the paile, the yorkshire best for the hide & tallow, [etc.].

a1653 H. Binning Useful Case Consc. (1693) 40 They think these Malignants better than the West-Countrey forces.

1690 London Gaz. No. 2579/2 Edinburgh... Several Thousands of the West-Country Men have offered to Serve Their Majesties against the Highlanders.

1720 London Gaz. No. 5895/4 Speaks in a broad West-Country Dialect.

1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Jan. i. 18 They sow only Pease and Beans, by drawing out a Drill, with..the two-wheel great West-Country Sull.

1820 W. Scott Monastery I. Introd. Ep. 48 A west-country whig frae Kilmarnock.

1839 C. A. Murray Trav. N. Amer. II. 122 I heard this day a west-country phrase that was perfectly new to me.

1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 586 One branch of her family, living in a west-country town.

1922 C. Mackenzie Altar Steps vii. 56 Mrs. Lidderdale's dread..was that her son would acquire a West country burr.

1959 Times 22 June 12/1 Princess Alexandra of Kent visited Bath to-day and, as Patron of the Junior Red Cross, inspected a parade of members of West Country branches.

2004 New Statesman 6 Sept. 41/2 In the olden days, a Chippendale table might surface at a West Country auction.

1651 Severall Proc. Parl. No. 116. 1802 We weighed and set saile about six in the morning, and five saile of vessels with us, two of Sandwich one of Dover, one of London loaden with goods for the State, and a West-country Bark.

1694 Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. 107 The Barges are built much like our West-Country Barges, and smaller by much.

1730 Evening Post 6 Oct. Yesterday a West Country Wherry, belonging to Sunbury in Middlesex, was overset between Twickenham and Kingston Bridge.

1777 'Squire Randal's Excursion round London viii. 51 Large barges and West-country boats can go through [London] bridge, and a great distance up the Thames, carrying goods of all kinds to and from the metropolis.

1824 Evangelical Mag. & Missionary Chron. Feb. 66/1 The Society has also visited the West-country bargemen, held prayer-meetings, and preached to them in their spacious cabins.

1855 F. L. Dowling Fights for Championship i. 8 Dogget, a West-country bargee of great strength, flattered himself he could make an easy conquest of Darts.

1982 R. T. Rivington Punts & Punting 2 Thames barges with square ends came to be called East country barges, differentiating them from West country barges with stems.

1853 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provincialisms Sussex (ed. 2) 85 West-country Parson, the Hake; so called from the black streak on the back, and from its abundance along the West Coast.

1892 C. T. Paske Sea & Rod ix. 102 What there is in the general colouring and aspect of this fish to give it a reverend appearance I cannot say, and am therefore equally at a loss to account for the title ‘West-Country Parson’, by which it is known in the Sussex markets.