310
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. OCT. is,
elevate her one degree above the utmost Range, shee
will shoot 10 paces shorter : to prove this you must
divide the distance of the utmost Range (being 450
paces, as before is said) by 45, the degree of the best
of the Randon, and you shall find the quotient to
be 10, as before is related, etc."
The etymology of the word is given in Donkin's 'Etymological Dictionary of the .Romance Languages,' s.v. ' Randa,' Provengal for " extremity."
Pr. It. a randa, close upon, quite, urgently ; also Sp. randa; Pg. renda, point-lace, pro- perly the rim or border, cf. G. kante, from O.H.G. rand = O.N. rond, margo, extremitas; E. round. Hence O.Fr. randir, to urge on ; Pr. O.F. randon, urgency, vehemence, haste, adv. a randon and de randon ; Sp. de randon, de rondon ; Pg. de ronddo ; E. at random, vb. randonar, randoner, to rush at.
I think it will be plain from the foregoing quotations that the word " randon " as a military term was first applicable to the divisions on the old gunner's quadrant, the " utmost randon " or " the best of the ran- don " being 45, or, to speak more generally, the degree giving the longest range, an elevation of more degrees resulting in a shorter range. C. S. HARRIS.
PORTRAIT OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE (9 th S. i.
407 ; ii. 91). There were two pictures of
ueen Charlotte exhibited in the Guelph xhibition held at the New Gallery, Regent Street, in 1891. They Avere numbered 57 and 75 in the catalogue, from which the following descriptions are taken :
57. Full length, life size, to right, head to left, white dress embroidered in gold, powdered hair ; arms crossed, right hand holding fan ; dog at her feet ; architectural background and landscape. Canvas, 95 by 61 in.
By T. Gainsborough, Esq.
Lent by Her Majesty the Queen (Buckingham Palace).
75. Half length, life size, facing, head to left, white dress, blue sleeves, ermine tippet, pearl neck- lace and ornaments. Pastel, 23 by 17 in.
By Miss Read.
Lent by the Earl of Chichester.
JOHN T. PAGE. West Haddon, Northamptonshire.
SOME AFRICAN NAMES OFTEN MISPRO- NOUNCED (9 th S. i. 466 ; ii. 52, 96, 152, 193). I cannot answer the question addressed to me by COL. PRIDEAUX as to the origin of the first syllable in the names Magadoxo and Magdala. I have searched Tutschek's ' Galla Dictionary ' without finding anything like it. Keane derives Magadoxo from Megaad el- Shata ("Harbour of the Sheep"), which strikes one as ben trovato rather than likely
to be true. I should like to hazard an opinion
upon another point. COL. PRIDEAUX has
shown that Magdala is incorrect, yet it was
the pronunciation adopted by Lord Napier ;
nobody knows why, but there must nave
been a reason. In the Egyptian dialect of
Arabic all trisyllabic words or names having
a short penultimate and long first syllable
regularly accent the former. This is the con-
trary of the Latin usage ; an example of it is
Mustafa, as English people generally call it,
Mustafa as the Egyptians pronounce it. An
Egyptian or European speaking Arabic, see-
ing Magdala written, and ignorant of its
accentuation, or perhaps even if he knew it,
would naturally call it Magdala. I venture
to suggest that Lord Napier may have
learnt his pronunciation thus.
JAMES PLATT, Jun.
Reading COL. PRIDEAUX'S notes on the pro- nunciation of Magdala, I am tempted to put a question to students of Semitic philology. Written in Hebrew characters, "Magdala"
becomes fcOTJO' not N/npB as cited by COL. PRI- DEAUX. Now in Hebrew 713O = a tower or for- tress. Might not S?*T3O be the Aramaic forma- tion thereof 1 Many cases can be cited of such structural development. Such instances as
an, PpD. ^1, ^n, Unt turn readily into Kin, K3D3, &6:n, N^n, &om in Aramaic literature. I doubt whether K71JD is current in the Talmud. M. L. BRESLAR.
Percy House, South Hackney.
"HELPMATE" (9 th S. ii. 105, 185). But for certain assumptions made at the latter refer- ence, this subject, so far as I am concerned, would have been allowed to rest. But, appa- rently, it is indispensable that I should, so far as possible, elucidate my position. When I criticized Miss Corelli's preface I did not think it necessary to enter into detail re- garding my remarks on her use of "help- meet." But now, being constrained thereto, I am prepared to explain. One of my censors at the second reference facetiously throws doubt upon the intelligibility of the form " helpmate "; contends that Miss Corelli was entitled to judge for herself in giving a pre- , ference to the other form of the word ; and holds, as an ascertained fact, that " the use of neither form can be defended on any other ground than that the dictionaries sanction it." I said that " helpmate " was intelligible, and this I now repeat without the least hesitation. It is as good a word as " play- mate," which is usually considered intelli- gible ; and whether or not it is (as PROF. SKEAT.
