Indeed, the latter must
certainly be the meaning of it, as is evident from the proverb of "Die,
an' give the crow a puddin'."
"Hell's cure to you!--the devil's luck to you!--high hanging to
you!--hard feeling to you!--a short coorse to you!" are all pretty
intense, and generally used under provocation and passion. In these
cases the curses just mentioned are directed immediately to the
offensive object, and there certainly is no want of the _malus animus_
to give them energy. It would be easy to multiply the imprecations
belonging to this class among the peasantry, but the task is rather
unpleasant. There are a few, however, which, in consequence of their
ingenuity, we cannot pass over: they are, in sooth, studies for the
swearer. "May you never die till you see your own funeral!" is a very
beautiful specimen of the periphrasis: it simply means, may you be
hanged; for he who is hanged is humorously said to be favored with a
view of that sombre spectacle, by which they mean the crowd that attends
an execution. To the same purpose is, "May you die wid a caper in your
heel!"--"May you die in your pumps!"--"May your last dance be a hornpipe
on the air!" These are all emblematic of hanging, and are uttered
sometimes in jest, and occasionally in earnest. "May the grass grow
before your door!" is highly imaginative and poetical.
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