194
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. SEPT. 4, im
the horse is a bad kicker it is sometimes
supplemented by a thick padding of straw
and sacking. This dado is known here
(South- West Lancashire) as "the bosting'
or " the bostings." E. S. B.
11 GOOGLIE " : CRICKET SLANG (10 S. xii. 110). -The word " googlie " is quite familiar to me, and is in common use in the ver- nacular on both sides of the Tweed. I never saw it printed, and I do not think it should begin with a g. The word is " J u ggli e >" a form of " juggling " that is, deceptive.
To a Borderer the word means unsteady, say as applied to furniture, like a table or a chair with rickety legs or loose joints ; or holding with an unsteady hand = wobbling.
In Borderland, and more particularly in Northumberland, " jug " is in the local dialect pronounced as " joog."
ANDREW HOPE. Prospect Park, Exeter.
Supposing the cricket term " googlie," used for a tricky kind of bowling, to have originated in South Africa, it may be a corruption of the Dutch goochelen, goochelaar = magician, juggler, any kind of prestidi- gitateur ; goochelary = jugglery, sleight of hand. The ch alternates with g, k, and gg : see Kluge, ' Etym. Diet.,' under ' Gaukler,' and if possible J. Franck's ' Dutch Etym. Diet.' An etymological connexion with " juggler," jongleur, jocidarius, hardly seems probable.
I should like to hear whether my guess seems likely. W. RAAFF.
Rue Guenegaud 33, Paris, VI.
" HARKA " (10 S. xii. 127). MR. MAYHEW is quite correct in taking this to be a deriva- tive of the Arabic root harak, to move, whence it comes to mean a movement of troops, an army on the move, an expedition or raid. For a fuller account see 10 S. vii. 133. JAS. PLATT, Jun.
Harka is undoubtedly an Arabic word, but it will not be found in classical literature with its present-day meaning in Morocco. Unless one sees a word in Arabic letters, it is rather difficult to identify it ; but I think MR. MAYHEW is right in ascribing harka to the Arabic haraka, to move, whence the verbal harakah, which in Persian and Hindustani is pronounced harkat, and signifies a tumult or row. Harka may have origin- ally meant a body of troops in movement, and thence an armed body of men in general. W. F. PRIDEATJX.
" PLAINS "= TIMBER-DENUDED LANDS (10
S. xii. 81). As regards the Colonial use of
this word, Prof. Morris ('Austral-English,'
p. 359) accurately defines it as " implying
not only flatness, but treelessness. " It is
seldom used in the singular. Australians
almost invariably speak or write of " the
plains," or treeless country, in contradis-
tinction to the " bush," or forest lands.
Anthony Trollope, in his ' Australia and
New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 250, says :
" Squatters who look after their own runs
always live in the bush, even though their
sheep are pastured on the plains."
J. F. HOGAN.
Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue.
A corroborative quotation is found in the translation (c. 1450) of an Oxfordshire charter of 1190 ('English Register of Godstow Nunnery,' p. 217) : " J> at is to sev > in medewys, & in pasturys, & in playnys."
H. P. L.
MR. STAPLETON'S suggestion that the word " plains " was used to denote " timber- denuded lands " may perhaps throw some light on Henry of Huntingdon's statement that Harold " aciem suam construxit in planis Hastinges." Freeman denounced this as " grotesquely inaccurate," but Mr. Round pointed out that " another such stretch of Sussex Down is known as ' Plump- ton Plain'" ('Feudal England,' p. 337). But it seems doubtful whether the chalk downs at Plump ton can ever have been really wooded ; possibly " plains " may have been used to signify land simply devoid of timber, as well as land which had been cleared. G. H. WHITE.
Lowestoft.
" PROTECTION FOR BURNING" 1592 (10 S. xii. 149). The preposition for is so often used in Middle English (see 'N.E.D.') in the sense of " against " or "to prevent," where we should now use from, that it is quite possible that the above phrase may mean " insurance against fire." It is worth considering ; because, if such be the case, no licence to burn is referred to, but almost the contrary is meant. All students of Middle English must be familiar with this strange use of for. WALTER W. SKEAT.
A "protection for burning" was a docu- ment enabling the bearer to go about begging to make up some loss, usually by fire. In Campbell's ' Materials for the History of Henry VII.,' vol. i. pp. 260-61, will be found the full text of a petition to the King for
