CIDER-MAKING TERMS IN THE DEVONSHIRE DIALECT ⁋ 420mm x 594mm. Printed in a limited edition of 200. Lithograph on 190gsm uncoated paper. ⁋ This poster features cider-making terms in the Devonshire dialect, printed in white on a vivid ‘Candy Apple Red’ background. ⁋ Far from being “lost”, some of these words are part of the everyday language of cider makers and drinkers; others come from historical sources that are in circulation among those with a keen interest in local foodways. Together, they express the dispositions and concerns, the art and science, of Devon’s lively cider-making culture. ⁋ ARCHIT n.
/ɐɻtʃɪt/ Orchard | CRUMPLING n.
/‘kɹʌmplɪn/ ‘A little knotty or wrinkled apple prematurely ripe’ | DEB’NSHIRE WIND n.
/’dɛbənʃə wɪn/ | Devon wine, i.e. cider | DRY adj.
/dɹaɪ/ Thirsty, ‘Aw duee let me drink. Innything ‘ll du, vur I be dry jist a chucked’ | EMTIN CLOAM v.
/’ɛmtɪn kləʊm/ Drinking | KEEM n.
/kiːm/ ‘The scum or froth which rises upon the cider when it begins to ferment in the keeve’ | KEEVE , KEIVE or KIVE n.
/kiːv/ Vat used in cider-making; v. ‘To put the wort or cider in a keeve to ferment’ | KEEVE-HORSE n.
/kiːv oɻs/ Stand on which barrels are rested | MOCK n.
/mɒk/ Dry, crushed apple, left over from pressing, used as animal feed | MOOD n.
/muːd/ ‘A kind of gelatinous mass which can appear in cider—sometimes called the mother in vinegar’ | POUND-HOUSE n.
/paʊnd aʊs/ Barn where cider-pressing takes place | REAMY / RAIMY adj.
/‘ɹiːmiː/ ‘Applied to cider – stringy, viscous’ | RINGHOUSE n.
/’ɹɪŋaʊs/ ‘The room in which cider is made’ | ROUGH-CIDER n.
/ɹʌf ‘zaɪdəɻ/ Type of cider, often preferred by farm workers, oxidized in the barrel | SCRATTER n.
/‘skɻætəɻ/ Device used to crush apples, prior to pressing | SHURD n.
/ʃɜːd/ or
/ʃɜːɻd/ To exceed the bounds of temperance—‘to take a shurd too much’ | SWILL v.
/swɪɫ/ To drink heavily, ‘E dawnt du nort but swill, swill, awl day long’ | TREACLE-POSSET n.
/’tɹiːkɫ ‘pɒsɪʔ/ A drink made of cider and treacle | VAD n.
/fæd/ ‘Beam of cider press’ | VAT n.
/væt/ ‘The shallow vessel upon which the cheese is pressed and from which the expressed cider runs into large tubs’ | VOLLER n.
/’vɒləɻ/ ‘The part of a cider press to which the pressure is applied by screw or lever’ | WANCE n.
/wæns/ Once—‘Drink wance,’ (or twice, or more!) | WRING , n.
/ɹɪŋ/
A cider-press.
This text is also available as a limited-edition poster, distributed to participants in
HERE'S TO THEE, and later to be made available for sale through RAMM. Special thanks to Dr. Paul Cleave for references, and Ronnie Pope for IPA pronunciations.