166
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 g.v. JUKE. 1919.
-in the Middle Ages, ascribes the propagation.
of mistletoe to the thrush (' Orig.' xii. 7,71),
with the remark " unde et proverbium apud
antiques erat, malum sibi avem cacare."
Erasmus in his ' Adagia,' under " Turdus ipse sibi malum cacat," quotes the fragment of Plautus, arguing that we should read the 'last word as "cacat," not " creat." He does not notice the passage of Isidorus, Tjut supports his emendation by quoting as a Greek equivalent, Ki^Xa x^ <T>J KO-KOV. Burman, ' Virgilii Opera,' 1746, vol. iii. p. 37, approved of Erasmus's proposal. A. Otto, who gives the fragment of Plautus and the words of Isidorus in his ' Sprich- worter der Romer,' p. 52 under Avis, 4), is in favour of reading " cacat,"* but the writer of the article Caco in the * Thesaurus Linguae Latinse ' thinks that while Plautus is alluding to the proverb which Isidorus cites he avoids the word "eacat."
Otto has no quotation for the form '* Turdus ipse sibi malum cacat," which is possibly a later development, based on the passages in Servius and Isidorus. Neither does he mention the Greek form of the saying produced by Erasmus. The
- Adagia,' though an indispensable book,
must be used with caution.
EDWARD BENSLY.
"DAVERDY" (12 S. v. 11). I do not know the word " daverdy " as applied to brown, but I have heard in this county of Durham the word " verdy -brown " applied to a greenish brown, or faded coat or dress. J. W. FAWCETT.
Consett, co. Durham.
THE SWIN- (12 S. v. 95, 130). Swin is from svinnr (Icelandic), meaning swift ; therefore a swiffc-running channel or stream. See ' Icelandic Dictionary,' Cleasby and Vigfusson, p. 611, and list of British river- names at end of book.
Streatfeild in his ' Lincolnshire and the Danes,' p. 194, refers to Swin water Aqua de Swin (Hundred Rolls).
ALEX. G. MOFFAT.
" RAIN CATS AND DOGS " (12 S. iv. 328 ; v. 108). I think I have read somewhere that this phrase is a corruption of tempo cattivo (bad weather), and that it was introduced into England by Nehon's sailors who had served in Italian waters.
FREDERIC D. HARPORD.
- Both Otto, op. tit., and Prof. Lindsay in his
edition of Plautus, nass over Erasmus and ascribe the emendation to Burman.
THE ' NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY ' :
CHANGES IN ACCENTUATION (12 S. v. 32,
105, 137). Milton has in' finite many times,
usually at the end of a line. In * Paradise
Lost,' v. 874, he has :
Hoarse murmur echoed to his words applause
Through the infinite host. Nor less for that
where my ear certainly requires a heavy middle syllable. How does he stress the word infamous ? ' N.E.D/ says that in- fa'mous was usual up to 1730, but that Milton has in'famous. I suppose the reference is to ' Samson,' 417 :
Unmanly, ignominious, infamous, for ' Comus,' 424, is inconclusive, as the word begins the line ; arid in ' On the Death of a Fair Infant,'
Thereby to wipe away the infamous blot, one would naturally read infa'mous. Is it not possible to adopt the same stress in the line from ' Samson,' by giving full value to all the syllables of ignominious ?
G. G. L.
To AD- JUICE (12 S. v. 70, 103). A page on ' Venins de crapauds et de salamandres ' is given in G. Roederer's ' Venins animaux ' (Bulletin des Sciences Pharmacologiques, 1916, xxiii. 300304). Additional items from recent French scientific journals are readily accessible, but there is so much unreasonable reluctance regarding toads that the above may suffice here. ROCKINGHAM.
Boston, Moss.
W. H. ARNOLD (12 S. v. 126) seems to refer to Samuel James Arnold, of whom an account is given in the ' D.N.B.,' where his date is 1774-1852. R. H. B. BOTTOM.
GRAVES PLANTED WITH FLOWERS (12 S. v. 15). The custom of planting flowers on graves is an old one. Wm. Tegg in ' The Last Act : being the Funeral Rites of Nations and Individuals ' (1876), says :
"The custom of decorating grave-;. was once universally prevalent : osiers were carefully bent over them to keep the turf uninjured, and about them were planted evergreens and flowers."
The following extract shows that the custom was far older than the time of Mrs. Piozzi's tour :
" We adorn their graves with flowers and redolent plants, just emblems of the life of man, which has been compared in Holy Scriptures to those fading beauties, whose roots, being buried in dishonour, rise again in glory." Evelyn's ' Sylva ' (1664).
Aubrey (1626-97), in his 'Miscellanies,' records the custom at Oakley, in Surrey, of planting rose-trees on the grave 3 of lovers by the survivors. ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
