( 197 )
¬asked one of the lords of his bed-chamber the meaning of the English word bespatter ; to which his lordship, seemingly much pleased with the easy task imposed upon him, assured the king that he could not have chosen a word whose signification was plainer, or more familiar — " It is just, Sire," he said, " as if your Majesty were to bespatter me, or as if I were to bespatter your Majesty." ¬Morven now smiled in his turn; and I observed to him that nothing was often more unsatisfactory than the derivations of words of all descriptions ; though the subject was un- doubtedly interesting, and frequently threw great light upon ancient history, but sometimes no light at all; as was the case, I thought, with our famous city of London, which could never have had its name from King Lud, though so often supposed ; because King Lud reigned before the time that Julius Ca?sar was in Britain, who, nevertheless, called it in his Commentaries the city of the Trinobants, which he could not ¬o 3 well ¬
