Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/287

 10 s. XIL SEPT, is, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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tower had slit windows in its staircase. An old helmet hung in the upper room ; and whenever I see a picture of Charles I. or one of his followers wearing a helmet, the memory of that rusty old headpiece in the Edgehill tower comes back to me.

Is this tower still in existence, and what is its history ? WILMOT CORFIELD.

Historical Society, Calcutta.

[This tower is of much later date than the battle.]

'ENGLAND'S PARNASSUS,' 1600 (10 S. ix. 341, 401 ; x. 4, 84, 182, 262, 362, 444; xi. 4, 123, 204, 283, 383, 443, 502). With reference to my contributions under this title, and especially the last of them, I mentioned that only one quotation assigned to Shakespeare by Allot remained untraced ( ' Love, ' p. 224) : The Lover and beloved are not tied to one Love. (Signed) W. Sh.

I find now that this quotation comes from Warner's * Albion's England,' Book VI. chap. 31, p. 155 of edition 1602, and should read :

The lover and beloved are riot tied to one laive. CHARLES CRAWFORD.

LINCOLNSHIRE NAMES (10 S. xii. 168). What is the meaning of the surname Wdefat or Wdepat ? Is it possible that with the affix " ap " it is the origin of the surname Puddiphat? F. P.

1. Wdepath of course stands for modern Woodpath, and is no doubt a surname, as H. I. B. supposes.

2. Swue and Suawe look like " ghost- words " or misprints. Is it possible that one ought to read Swen or Swain ?

3. Rumpharus was a fairly common Christian name. Bardsley, ' Dictionary of Surnames,' gives an instance in Yorkshire from the Hundred Rolls, 1273, and traces from it the modern family name Rump or Rumpe.

4. Boydes appears to be the Gaelic per- sonal name Boide, from which comes the surname Boyd. JAS. PLATT, Jun.

CHAUCER : " STROTHIR " IN ' THE REEVE'S TALE ' (10 S. xii. 90, 155). I desire to thank PROF. SKEAT and MR. BAYLEY for their answers to my inquiries concerning the word " Strothir." When 1 wrote I had unfor- tunately not seen PROF. SKEAT'S note in his ' Chaucer ' ; I hope he will see, there- fore, that I had no intention of disregarding it "as being non-existent." I cannot, how- ever, understand why PROF. SKEAT says, so emphatically, " Surely Wright's assertion is merely a bad " guess " ; especially as I find him saying on p. xvii of his Introduction :

" Mr. Wright's notes are likewise excellent, and resulted from a wide reading." Why should PROF. SKEAT assume that any guess, except that of Mr. Gollancz, at Chaucer's meaning is a " bad guess " ? Wright gave as his authority Dr. Whitaker ; and the editor of ' Murray's Handbook ' gave Whit- aker and Garnett as his authorities for a definite statement, viz., that a certain MS. of Chaucer supports the contention that the " scoleres tuo " came from the Craven dis- trict of Yorkshire. It is this MS., printed by Garnett, which I wish to consult, and I shall be much obliged if any one will help me to a copy of it.

At present I am not much concerned as to whether the spelling should be Strothir or Strother. I find that the editors differ : Dr. Richard Morris gives Strothir in the Aldine edition, and PROF. SKEAT gives Strother in the Oxford edition. I find, too, that different editors assert that Strothir (or Strother) is in (1) Craven, (2) Northum- berland, and (3) Fife. If we neglect the Fife theory, there appear to be two guesses at present worth following up, viz., (1) the Craven theory and (2) the Northumberland theory. I am anxious to ascertain the facts behind the Whitaker-Garnett-Wright theory, so that I may compare them with what I may call the Gollancz-Skeat theory, which is ably set forth on pp. 120-21 of PROF. SKEAT'S excellent volume containing the " Notes."

I may, in conclusion, point out that Mr. Robert Bell (in Parker's edition) says :

" This [Strothir J was the valley of Langstroth or Langstrothdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, as pointed out by Dr. Whitaker ('History of Craven,' p. 493). Any one who has lived in the West Riding will recognize the phraseology of the clerks as still used in that county." Vol. i. p. 223.

A. T. WlNTERSGILL.

' ' PLUMP ' ' IN VOTING : ' ' PLUM-LIST ' ' (10 S. vi. 148, 212, 276, 377 ; vii. 77). The sense-development of the verb plump as used in reference to voting is explained as follows in the ' N.E.D.' :

"The original sense was app. to give a direct straight, unqualified, or absolute vote for a person ; this implied no weakening or qualifying of it by voting for any other."

The explanation is supported by reference to well-known uses of plump, and especially by an American quotation of 1776 : "I am told that the delegates from that colony ' will vote plump ! ' [sc. for the Declaration of Independence]." This is the earliest instance in this sense of plump or the related words recorded in the ' Dictionary,' but a