Chau. Mil. Tale, 3412. "This _axeth_ haste and of an hastif thing Men may not preche and maken tarying." Ibm. 3545. This word to _ax_ is still frequent in New England. I no not know whether our American sportsmen use the word, _ferret_, in the sense of driving animals from their lurking places. But the word is used in some parts of New England, and applied figuratively to many transactions in life. So in Congreve: "Where is this apocryphal elder? I'll _ferret_ him."----Old Bach, act 4, fc. 21. Sometimes, but rarely, we hear the old imperative of the Saxon _thafian_, now pronounced _thof_. But it is generally pronounced as it is written, _tho_. It is remarked by Horne, that _thof_ is still frequent among the common people of England. _Gin_ or _gyn_ for _given_ is still used in America; as Bishop Wilkins remarks, it is in the North of England. _Without_, in the sense of _unless_, is as frequent as any word in the language, and even among the learned. It is commonly accounted inelegant, and writers have lately substituted _unless_: But I do not see the propriety of discarding _without_, for its meaning is exactly the same as that of _unless_. It is demonstrated that they are both the imperatives of old verbs. _Without_, is _be out_, _be away_; and _unless_ is _dismiss_, or _be apart_. Instead of the imperative Chaucer generally uses the participle, _withouten_, _being out_. The best writers use _without_ in the sense of _unless_. "--And if he can't be cured _without_ I suck the poison from his wounds, I'm afraid he won't recover his senses, till I lose mine."---- Cong. Love for Love, act 4. sc. 3. "'Twere better for him, you had not been his confessor in that affair, _without_ you could have kept his counsel closer."----Cong. Way of the World, act, 3. sc. 7. The best speakers use the word in this manner, in common discourse, and I must think, with propriety. _Peek_ is also used corruptedly for _peep_. By a similar change of the last consonant, _chirk_ is used for _chirp_, _to make a cheerful noise_. This word is wholly lost, except in New England. It is there used for _comfortably_, _bravely_, _cheerful_; as when one enquires about a sick person, it is said, he is _chirk_. _Chirp_ is still used to express the singing of birds, but the _chirk_ of New England is not understood, and therefore derided. Four hundred years ago it was a polite term. "and kisseth hire swete, and _chirketh_ as a sparwe With his lippes."---- Chaucer, Somp. Tale, 7386. In the following it is used for a disagreeable noise. "All full of _chirking_ was that sory place." Knight's Tale, 2006. "And al so ful eke of _chirkings_ And of many other wirkings." House of Fame, 858.