James Bell, a merchant burgess of Glasgow, on two business journeys to Holland, 1621-22.[1] He was not what we would now call a foreign merchant, but took with him, on commission, the ready money of his clients for investment in trading ventures. The words of his entries must, therefore, have been in actual use at the Cross and Tolbooth of Glasgow.
Chandlers—"To by to Mairen" (so pronounced still) "Stewart sum chandlers" (candlesticks) "turnit." Fr. chandelier.
Chyres (grein), green chairs; Fr. chaire in sense of a pulpit; from Lat. cathedra, a seat, see of a bishop. Bell's spelling (sometimes chayres occurs) seems to follow the French pronunciation.
Cissills, probably chisels from Fr. "ciseler, to cut or carve with a chisel."—Cotgrave.
Frenyes, fringes; Fr. frange. Bell followed the Dutch pronunciation and spelling, frangie, where g has a y sound.
Gabarts, cappers, the lighters that brought the goods up the Clyde from Dumbarton; Fr. gabare, a lighter.
Plumbe damies, long the name of the damson in Scotland. Plumdammas is a character in Scott's "Heart of Midlothian." The form follows the French, prune de damas or Damascene plum.
Suker, sugar, interesting as following the Fr. pronunciation.
Tincler, wire, tinsel, thread; Fr. étíncelle, what glitters; from Lat. scintilla, a spark.
Travelloure, Fr. travailleur—"Giffin to Jhone Mortoun, travelloure, ane barl seap" (soap), pronounced as it still is in the vernacular. In the seventeenth century ea=ê in French, as it still is in Ireland; compare the Irishman's repeat and Fr. répéter. Almost the sole survival in English is great. In Pope's time tea was pronounced tay.
Trebuchet, a balance; "trie balks" or wooden beams, he elsewhere calls them. He uses the actual French word, not, as it appears, ever naturalised among us. As a noun trebuchet means a bird-trap ; as a verb, to stumble. The basic notion of a beam is found in the O.Fr. buc (bucket), a trunk.
- ↑ Bell's "Ledger" is examined at length in "By-ways of History," p. 163.
