Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/380

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL APRIL 17, uoa

the Bermudas are English. In the Bahamas there is greater variety in local names, because in 1703 the English were driven out by the French and Spanish, though they regained possession of the islands in 1718. During the American Revolution New Providence was taken by the Americans ; in 1781 it was captured by the Spanish ; in 1783 it was retaken by some American loyalists, and the same year restored to England. Hence, while many of the local names are English, many also are foreign. But there is not the slightest reason for supposing that there were any local names at all before 1647.

A matter that requires explanation is the extract from Gorges quoted by COL. PRIDE AXJX. Here is what is said at 1 S. ii. 13 :

"In an enumeration of ' strange birds ' to be found in Barbadoes, there is mention of ' the Egge Bird, the Cahow, the Tropiok Bird, the Pemlico which presageth storms.' America painted to the life. (' The True History of the Spaniards' Proceedings in America,' by Ferdinando Gorges, Esq., Lond. 4to. 1659.) "

The volume called ' America painted tol the Life,' 1659, is, from a bibliographica point of view, one of the most curious ever published. Some copies contain three pam- phlets (Nos. 1, 2, 4), some four, as follows : (1) ' A Description of New-England,' 1659, by Ferdinando Gorges ; (2) ' A Briefe Narra- tion of the Originall Undertakings of the Advancement of Plantations Into the parts of America,' 1658, by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the grandfather of Ferdinando; (3) 'Won- der-working Providence of Sions Saviour,' 1858, a book now known to have been written by Capt. Edward Johnson of Woburn, Mass., but published anonymously in London in 1654, here provided with a " fake " title-page ascribing it to Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges ; (4) ' America Painted to the Life. The History of the Spaniards Proceedings in America,' 1659, by Ferdi- nando Gorges.

The writer at 1 S. ii. 13 has made two serious errors. First, he says that the extract he quotes is from the fourth of the above pamphlets. As a matter of fact, it is from the first pamphlet. Secondly, he makes Gorges say that the bird is a Barbados bird. As a matter of fact, Gorges said nothing of the sort, as will appear by quot- ing the passage : " The Bermuda's or Summer Islands .... are remarkable for .... several strange Birds, as the Egge-Bird, the Cahow, the Tropick-Bird, the Pemlico, which presageth stormes " (p. 3). It should be added that the two pamphlets by Ferdi-

nando Gorges are of no or slight value, as they are mere compilations. No doubt he took his information either from Smith's ' Generall Historie of Virginia' (1624), or from the letter (quoted in my previous reply) written by Hughes in 1614, which was printed in London in 1615.

Hence we are brought back to the origin of Pimlico as applied to the bird. Butler in 1619 and Smith in 1624 both declared that the name was echoic, Butler further specifying that it was suggested by Pimlico, Hoxton. There is nothing either impossible or improbable in this theory, as numbers of birds have been named from their cries. Indeed, it is somewhat remarkable that this very name of Pimlico has been given to a totally different bird in another part of the world, namely, to the Australian friar-bird. In 1848 Gould, in his ' Birds of Australia ' (as quoted in the 'N.E.D.'), said: "From the fancied resemblance of its notes to these words, it has obtained from the Colonists the various names of ' Poor Soldier,' ' Pim- lico,' ' Four o'clock,' &c." (See also A. Newton's 'Dictionary of Birds,' 1893-6, p. 293.) Here, then, in Australia in the middle of the nineteenth century we have exactly the process that took place in Bermuda early in the seventeenth century.

As to the identity of the Bermuda and Bahama bird, much has been written by ornithologists. According to the latest authorities it is the dusky shearwater or Puffinus obscurus, as stated in the 'N.E.D.' It should be added, however, that the iden- tification in the latter of the " pemblico " and the " cohoo " is not accepted by the latest ornithologists, who regard them as different birds. (See Verrill's ' Bermuda Islands,' pp. 668-79.)

While I used COL,. PRIDE AUX'S words in describing the theory that the bird received its name from an island, I did not attribute the theory to him. Indeed, I then supposed that the theory originated with Mr. Loftie, for in 1884 a correspondent wrote : " Mr. Loftie, in his ' History of London,' suggests that the name may have been derived from an island in the West Indies, whence the timber for building was obtained " (6 S. ix. 148). No exact reference is given, and I have been unable to find such a statement in that work. In it, however, Mr. Loftie is often severe perhaps justly so in dis- cussing guesses as to London topography, remarking in one place :

" Perhaps some historian of the future may

hazard the opinion that the name of St. Clement

Danes ' refers to the long run of ' Hamlet ' at