Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/563

 io- s. i. JUNE 11, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

463

is a diminutive of sibus, siba, sipus, connected with sapio. Salmasius, who scouted the accepted derivation from crtos @ov\r}, sug- gested in his turn a derivation which Prof. Ramsay ('Ovid Selections,' p. 259) considered less "reasonable" than the other too un- reasonable, indeed, to be even quoted. The derivation proposed by Salmasius ('Exerci- tationes Plinianse ') was from 0-1817, pome- granate (tree and fruit). St'Sr;, of which another form a-i/BSa occurs, is said to be a Phoenician (or Carthaginian) word. If, as is not improbable, there attached to the pome- granate a "sacred" character "a tree of knowledge," or something of that kind we should not only be inclined to think that Salmasius had come nearer the mark than Prof. Ramsay had imagined, but we should also find some light thrown on the obscure and vexed question of the sibyl and the "golden bough " of Virgil. I need not men- tion the story of Proserpine and the pome- granate as told by Ovid, but the Irish tale of Connla's Well may here be quoted from Prof. Rhys's ' Celtic Heathendom ' (p. 554) : " Over this well there grew nine beautiful mys- tical hazel-trees, which annually sent forth their blossoms and fruits simultaneously. The nuts were of the richest crimson colour, and teemed with the knowledge of all that was refined in literature, poetry, and art. No sooner, however, were the beautiful nuts produced on the trees, than they always dropped into the well, raising by their fall a succession of shining red bubbles. Now, during this time the water was always full of salmon ; and no sooner did the bubbles appear than these salmon darted to the surface and ate the nuts, after which they made their way to the river. The eating of the nuts produced brilliant crimson spots on the bellies of these salmon ; and to catch and eat these salmon became an object of more than mere gastronomic interest among those who were anxious to become distinguished in the arts and in literature without being at the pains and delay of long study ; for the fish was supposed to have become filled with the knowledge which was con- tained in the nuts, which, it was believed, would be transferred in full to those who had the good fortune to catch and eat them. Such a salmon was on that account called the Eo Feasa,, or ' Salmon of Knowledge.'"

When I add to this that Welsh has not only in current use an adjective syw (now only in the sense of "trim," "neat" in bearing and dress), but also siwin, a famous local species of Salmonidse, siwen, " an epithet of a mermaid " (Pughe), and an obso- lete term for a philosopher, syivedydd, it will be seen that we have here strong grounds for considering these terms akin to sibyl, sibus, and sapio.

But to return to the district of the golden bough : even if Salmasius was wrong about 0-1877. there is in the territory of the Hirpini

a weird lake called Amsanctus (cf . Ampsaga, now the Wady-el-Kebir, Algeria), whose presiding goddess bore an apparently Greek name, viz., Mephitis. Now Salmasius's sug- gestion as to an ^Eolic (and Doric) change of th into ph=f, would undoubtedly clear up the obscurity of the word Mephitis. Meflwts is a Greek word for intoxication ; and stupe- faction or intoxication due to the gas-laden atmosphere of Amsanctus might very well pass into inspiration. In Welsh the common word for intoxication is meddvvdod, which, just like the Greek, is (exceptionally) accented on the first syllable. There was, I may add, a temple dedicated to Mephitis at Cremona in Cis- Alpine Gaul, so that we have here a clear indication of Celtic contact with the home of the sibyl cult. J. P. OWEN.

(To be continued.)

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

WORKS OF CHARLES DIBDIN. (See 9 th S. viii. 39, 77, 197, 279 ; ix. 421 ; x. 122, 243 ;

xi. 2, 243, 443 ; xii. 183, 283, 423, 462.) 1806 (?). The Passions in a Series of Ten Songs, for the voice and Pianoforte. Written and com- posed by Mr. Dibdin. Ent d at Sta 8 Hall. Price 8s. Printed and sold at Bland & Willer's [sic] Music Warehouse, No. 23, Oxford Street, where may be had all the above author's works. Folio, 21pp.

Contains ten songs. Each song has a vignette at top, and is arranged for two flutes. Water- mark date 1806.

1806. The Broken Gold, a ballad opera, in two acts, as performed, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the words and music by Mr. Dibdin. Ent. at Sta. Hall. Price 8s. London, printed and sold at Bland & Weller's, Music Warehouse, 23, Oxford Street, where may be had all the above author's works. Folio, 41 pp.

Opera produced 8 February, 1806.

Songs, &c., in The Broken Gold, a ballad opera, in two acts, written and composed by Mr. Dibdin.

[Vignette, probably by Miss Dibdin.] London ^

Printed by T. \\ oodfall, and published for the Author by all the Booksellers, of whom may be had Mr. Dibdin's literary works. 1806. 8vo.

Engraved title as above, also printed title,, pp. viii (not numbered consecutively) and 24.

1807. The Public Undeceived, written by Mr. Dibdin ; and containing a statement of all the material facts relative to his pension. Price 2.?. Published for the author by C. Chappie, Pall Mall, (of whom may be had, wholesale or retail, all Mr. Dibdin's publications) and sold by all the book- sellers throughout the United Kingdom. Printed by H. Reynell, No. 21, Piccadilly. 8vo, 57 pp.

Dated 7 April, 1807.

1807. Henry Hooka. A Novel. By Mr. Dibdin, author of Hannah He wett Younger Brother Musical Tour Professional Life Harmonic Pre- ceptorHistory of the Stage, &c. &c. In Three