318
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. in. APRIL 22,
rained persistently during the whole after-
noon, the rain beginning between ten and
eleven and ceasing within a very few minutes
of seven. Thus I have had the proverb
indelibly stamped on ray mind.
EDWARD P. WOLFEKSTAN. National Club.
"CAMBUSCAN BOLD" (9 th S. iii. 108, 157). Should not Spenser, too, be mentioned with other poets in this connexion ? He does not, so far as I remember, name Cambuscan, but he continues the story of Camballo and Canace--in one of the least inspired of his cantos, it is true. He should, however, be remembered for his reference to "Dan Chaucer." C. C. B.
HEREDITARY ODOUR (9 th S. ii. 505 ; iii. 78, 192). The verse quoted by J. T. F. is not cor- rectly stated. It is not a negro hymn, and should not appear in negro dialect English. It was used freely in America forty-five years ago. I have heard it there over and over again. The correct form I believe to be :
The Lord He loves the nigger well, He knows the darkey by his smell, Arid when the little nigger cries, He feeds him up on pumpkin pies.
Finally, there is no such thing as possum pies. This may be qualified, however, by the undoubted fact that a pie may be made out of any kind of food. KOBERT LOUTHEAN. Thornliebank, Glasgow.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Vol. IV. Germano Glass-cloth. Edited by Henry Bradley. Vol. V. Hod Horizontal. Edited by Dr. J. A. H. Murray. (Oxford, Claren- don Press.)
Two further parts of the ' Historical English Dic- tionary ' have appeared with praiseworthy punctu- ality, and the fourth and fifth volumes, the latter especially, must be rapidly nearing completion. The accelerating rate at which progress is made justifies the hope that the whole will before very long be in the hands of the public, and that Oxford will be freed from a burden nobly and cheerfully borne, but almost too much to be im- posed upon a university, however rich and pro- sperous. As a knowledge of the value and signi- ficance of the work being accomplished is more widely spread, a further portion of the responsibility, it is to be hoped, will be taken upon it by the public. As yet a knowledge of its importance, or even of its existence, is not very generally diffused, and we find constantly inquiries sent us concerning words the full history of which may be found in a work that is, or should be, universally accessible and invariably consulted. Of two thousand and more words, against one hundred and ninety in
Johnson, which make up the instalment of the
fourth volume, those treated at greatest length are
get and give, with their numerous derivatives and
the great variety of their specific applications. The
first word that strikes us is gerrymander, the deri-
vation as well as the significance of which is now
definitely settled. It is to be hoped that no further
inquiries will be sent us concerning it, the method
of its introduction being, in a quotation dated 1881,
plausibly and, we doubt not, accurately defined.
Gest, in the sense of notable deed or exploit, and
that, springing out of it, of a rimed romance, is the
subject of interesting elucidation. In the case of
gewgaw the etymology and primary sense are said
to be uncertain. For gettour, a variant of jetter,
braggart, an example of use might have been found
in Robert de Brunne's ' Handlyng Synne ' :
J>ys gentyl men, J>ys gettours,
]>ey ben but Goddys turmentours.
A useful article on ghastly will be frequently con-
sulted. Under 26, "of a smile, a grin," we would
fain have seen Milton's
Death Grinned horrible a ghastly smile.
' Par. Lost,' ii. 845-6.
A sculptor's ghost is first heard of in 1884. Gibbous, we are surprised to find, is applied to the moon so early as the seventeenth century. Very interesting is the information supplied under giddy, the primary sense of which appears to be possessed by a god. Giglet and giglot are not directly derived from giggle, and are held to be of obscure origin. Gill,in its various meanings, seems to be the same. The alteration of gilofre into gillyflower is carefully traced. Gilt youth, as a translation oijeunesse doree, goes back to Carlyle in 1837. No very certain deri- vation can be assigned to gimcrack. The history of gingerbread is curious, showing the confusion that led to the last syllable being supposed to be bread instead of gingebrar, -bras, -breed, &c., without the r at the end of the second syllable. Gipcyan and gipson are early forms of gipsy. Gittern is held to represent an altered forni of cithara, Gr. KiQdpa. Other words the origin of which cannot definitely be fixed are glade and glance. Glamour is a corrupt form of grammar (gramarye), and is said to have been originally introduced into the literary language by Scott.
In the section of Vol. V. edited by Dr. Murray are 2,037 words against 176 in Johnson and 1,194 in the ' Century.' In this portion words of native or Teutonic origin preponderate, though examples are furnished of all the chief elements of the current English vocabulary. We select for notice, regard- less of order, a few words to which our attention is specially directed. In one sense, at least, home is the most interesting word in the section. No attempt is made to assign an origin. The various forms are enumerated, and corresponding or ana- logous words are given for comparison from various Teutonic languages. In the form of a vill with its cottages an instance of use in the shape of hamum is quoted from Bede. In the more modern and familiar sense of a dwelling-place, the earliest is from John xiy. 2, from the Lindisfarne Gospel, c. 950 ; hamas is used as equivalent to mansiones in the Vulgate "In domoPatris mei mansiones multae sunt." "His hus and his horn," for "his house and his home," occurs so early as 1275. Hoome,- mansio is in the 'Prompt. Parv.' The 'Towne- ley Mysteries,' 1460, gives us a different sense : "In
