ii s. VIIL SEPT. is, 1913.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
219
Silverdale, of which the earliest form is Siverdelege.
Mr. Sephton believes that this form became
Silverdale through the loss of the g, and that the
forms Selredal and Sellerdal are derived from a
different original form, and refer to a different
place.
The loss of stress accounts for many anomalies. The chief example of this occurring here is the terminal -eth or -et, to which Mr. Sephton gives a section apart, though under this attenuated dis- guise several words heath, icith, worth, &c. are to be found lurking. Under Eye we find Weakey, which, if Mr. Sephton is correct in considering it as merely the dative singular of iclc, seems hardly in its right place ; and a similar remark might be made as to Cottam and Downham. One of the quaintest names here recorded is Caponwray or Capernwray from vrd, rd, Old Norse for corner or nook, and a personal name connected with Kaupmathr, a travelling merchant.
The place-names of one theme are perhaps even more interesting than the rest, but we have left ourselves space for no more than the mention of an ingenious explanation suggested by a passage in Du Cange. The name to be explained is the odd one Cabus, which occurs in the early forms Cayballes (1328) and Caboos (1550), and in the seventeenth century as the Cabus, Caybus, Cabus, and Cabess. Du Cange has a Latin word cabasius (from Old French cabas, a wicker pannier), which he explains as " Locus, ut videtur, in fluvio cabassiis seu nassis coarctatus piscium capien- dorum gratia." Does this extract, asks our author, throw light on the origin of the place- name ? Cabus is on the right bank of the Wyre, and it should seem possible to discover whether fishing of this sort was ever practised in that stream.
Folk- Lore. Vol. XXIV. No. 1. (Nutt.)
THIS part contains the address of the President, Mr. W. Crooke, in which he stated with satisfaction that during the meeting of the British Association at Dundee last year the Society " succeeded in re-establishing, after some years of neglect, the study of folk-lore as a branch of the work of the Anthropological Section," and mentioned that " in the immediate future our energies will be concentrated on the new edition of Brand's ' Ob- servations on Popular Antiquities,' which will classify much information at present inaccessible, and will form an encyclopedia of British folk- lore."
Capt. T. W. Whiffen contributes ' A Short Account of the Indians of the Issa-Japura District (South America).' These Indians have many stories of a great flood, inundations being fre- quent in their country, where a great one probably occurs two or three times in a century. The wild solitudes are inhabited by groups of Indians, as to whose origin and racial classification opinions are greatly divided. There are nine lan- guage-groups in the country. Capt. Whiffen was ' ' continually struck by the prevalence of Mongolian traits, especially the obliquity of the eye, mosi noticeable in the Boro, but more or less common to all the groups. Tempting parallels of custom and belief can be drawn, too, with the peoples o similar cultures to be found among the pagan races of Malaya and New Guinea."
Under ' Collectanea ' are some further notes on Spanish amulets, by Dr. Hildburgh. Angelina
Barker writes on ' Oxfordshire Village Folk-
Lore (1840-1900),' and E. Canziani on ' Pied-
montese Proverbs in Dispraise of Woman/
Sir. T. J. Westropp continues his ' Folk-Lore
Survey of County Clare.'
Among Welsh folk-lore contributed by the late Mrs. E. J. Dunnill, there is a record of a wedding- which took place in 1909, the bridegroom being- a doctor living a few miles from Newport. " As
- he family was much respected, they ' roped the
Dride.' On enquiring she found that, as the bride and bridegroom were leaving the church, young" men held up a rope and prevented the bride from getting away until money was given them. As
- he rope had been dropped in the muddy road, the
result on the bride's white satin dress may be- imagined. I am told that the bride is roped sometimes in Newport." In The Daily Chronicle of August 30th it is stated that the Welsh custom of roping the road to levy toll on the bride and bridegroom had resulted in a charge of road obstruction being brought against three men at Bargoed. Wire had, on the previous day, been fixed to a lamppost, and held by the defendants on the other side of the road. It was agreed that " roping the road " was an old custom, but fines were imposed, so it seems probable that this long- established practice will soon be a thing of the past.
A curious Christmas observance called " Ply- gain" (meaning "Very early in the morning") was customary among the Independents and Methodists, who on Christmas morning would go at 5 o'clock to their chapels, where tall brass candlesticks, which had been decorated by the women, were placed on the Communion table and lighted, after which the service was held.
Mr. Henry B. Wheatley in his report for the Brand Committee states that the progress made with the new edition " is mainly due to Mrs- Banks's energy and ability."
A Few of the Famous Inns of Bath. By J. F_ Meehan. (Bath, B. & J. F. Meehan.)
WHAT Mr. Meehan does not know about Bath is not worth the knowing, and here, in the space of forty pages of bright gossip, we seem to be paying- visits with Dr. Johnson to " The Pelican," now " The Three Cups," and with Dickens to " The- Saracen's Head, one of the most picturesque old inns of the city. Unfortunately, we cannot join Mr. Pickwick in a visit to " The Old White Hart," whither he went to console himself after the, to- him, unfortunate result of the action brought against him by Mrs. Bardell, as the house was demolished in 1867. At the time of his stay in Bath a Mr. Moses Pickwick, one of the most popular and wealthy coach proprietors of the day, was an occupant of " The White Hart," and his descend- ants still live in the neighbourhood.
The illustrations include Reynolds's portrait of Johnson, and views of " The Pelican," " The Old White Hart," and the Assembly Rooms.
The Imprint for August opens with notes by Mr. Stanley A. Morison ' On some Liturgical Books,' illustrated by facsimiles of a portion of a page of the Psalter printed by Fust & Schoffer, 1457 ; Sarum Breviary, Thielmann Kerver, Paris, 1515 ; Sarum Missal, Frangois Regnault, Paris, 1529 ; and others. Mr. Harold Monro writes on
