390
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL MAY is, 1907.
bugle or trumpet sound ? e.g., " First post,"
" Last post." J. H. L.
[(1). The earliest instance given in Farmer and Henley's 'Slang and its Analogues' is from The Daily Chronicle of 1890.]
REV. OSBORNE GORDON'S ORIGIN. A good deal has been written about this dis- tinguished Oxford don, who died in 1883, and to whose care the King was committed at Christ Church over half a century ago ; but neither the notice in the ' D.N.B.' nor the large ' Memoir ' prepared in 1885 by the Rev. George Marshall says anything about his origin. I believe, however, I am right in saying that his father was George Osborne Gordon, of Broseley (died 1822), and that his mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Onions. His grandfather was Alexander Gordon, of Charterhouse Square, London (1742-1823), who either founded or was connected with the famous gin distillery in Goswell Road, now conducted by Tan- queray, Gordon & Co. There is a family tradition that these Gordons are cadets of the family who own the beautiful estate of Abergeldie, Aberdeenshire, now tenanted by the Prince of Wales, as it was by King Edward himself for a great many years. Alexander Gordon aforesaid is stated to have married his cousin, Susanna Osborne, daughter of William Osborne and Hannah Herbert. Any information about the family will be welcome. What was the name of the Rev. Osborne Gordon's brother who was killed in a carriage accident shortly after Osborne's own death ? J. M. BULLOCH.
118, Pall Pall.
MIRAGE. From the experiences of myself and my near relations, mirages are, I think, commoner in England than is imagined. What accounts exist of mirages observed in the British Islands ? Probably many escape notice because they look quite natural to a stranger. Only a person well acquainted with the usual aspect of the scene would know that he was observing something abnormal.
What are the names given to the mirage in different parts of the world, and what do the names signify ?
Have the uneducated people of the North American desert-region evolved a word o their own to denote fata Morgana ? G. W.
SEETHING LANE: "YE LITTLE OLDE CHURCHYARD." The sale of this piece oJ land was authorized by Dr. Tristram Chancellor of the Diocese of London, on 9 April. It was originally purchased during
he Great Plague to supplement the! church-
r ard of St. Olive's. Can any reader of
N. & Q.' tell me when the last burial took
place in "Ye Little Olde Churchyard," as he deeds style it ? Now that it is to be
used in widening the thoroughfare, its very
- xistence as a burial-ground will soon be a
Jiing of the past.
FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.
ROSES OF GIBRALTAR. Can any of your eaders throw light on the origin of a family of Roses settled at Gibraltar ?
" On 6 February, 1852, Charles Scrope Hutchin- on, Esq., M.D., of Dover, married at Gibraltar Christina, youngest daughter of William Rose, Esq., }f Gibraltar."
inquiries locally have failed to trace any descendants or relatives, and any informa- ion would oblige. R.
" WOUND " : ITS PRONUNCIATION.
(10 S. vii. 328.)
As usual, the statements as to our " old Denunciation " are entirely wrong. Really, subject ought to be studied before con- clusions are drawn.
The " modern " pronunciation of wound is not modern at all. It preserves, very nearly, the pronunciation of Alfred's time and that of the Gothic wunds of the fourth entury ; it merely differs by lengthening. The A.-S. wund was pronounced with the u in full, or with the same und as the modern German wund, bund, gesund, &c. In modern English this short u has become the long u in brood, food, &c. ; and that is all. Wound already had its present sound in the thirteenth century.
Those who wish to understand these matters should consult some book that treats of sounds. This particular word is explained in Sweet's ' History of English Sounds,' p. 322, where many other words ending in -ound are explained likewise.
The chief clue is to bear in mind that our symbols are of Norman origin. The symbol ou meant, in Norman, precisely what it means in modern French, viz., the long u as heard in group, soup, croup all comparatively modern words in English. In all words of older use the ou has passed into the well-known sound of au in the German Haus, with which our house now precisely agrees. Of these words, sound is one. It has changed from a form which we should
