Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/183

 10* s. ii. AUG. so. ION.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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German word Richter. Caxton tells us that he had a French, a Latin, and an English made one book. The French version of Jean de Vignay, of which Caxton made use, I have cot seen ; but in Bataillier's translation the word decolleur it employed. In the Dutch version we read "hancman." That Caxton should use the word Richter is noteworthy. The long interval that now exists between judge and executioner lends an ironical air to the use of a common name for both.
 * Legend,' and that out of these three he had

WILLIAM E. A. AXON. Manchester.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

" HOOSIER." For about three-quarters of a century the State of Indiana and its people have been designated by the word " Hoosier." Its origin is uncertain. It has commonly been supposed that it was coined at the time it was applied to the State, and several stories as to derivation have been circulated that it came from " Who 's here 1 " or " Who is yer 1 ?" from "hussar," corrupted after the Napoleonic wars; from " husher,'* supposed to have been used to signify a bully. All these stories are imaginative. The word was in common use in the slang of the Southern States at the time it was applied to Indiana. It was equivalent to * jay " or " hayseed " in their present use in this country, meaning an uncouth rustic. There was a fad of nick- naming at the time, and this name was applied to Indiana, as " Buckeye " to Ohio, "Sucker" to Illinois, "Red Hoss" to Ken- tucky, <fec.

It has been shown that most of the " Ame- ricanisms" of the South are merely survivals of English, Irish, or Scotch dialect ; so much so, that it has been said that British dialect is better preserved in our Southern States than in the old country. This word, in its form, seems to bear English almost Anglo- Saxon credentials. If a normal derivation, one would expect it to be formed from a verb "hoose," but no such word was known in this country until ' The Century Dictionary ' was printed. Although "hoose" has been commonly used in England, not only in dialect, but in veterinary works, the disease has been known in this country only by the name of the worm that causes it /, >^/,'//>^' micrurus. The word "Hoosier" might pos-

sibly have come from this source. Animals affected by the disease have a wild, uncouth look, staring eyes, hair rough, &c., that might suggest an epithet for an uncouth person. " Hoose " is from a strong old stem, noted in all the archaic and provincial dictionaries and glossaries.

There is a possibility of a geographical origin in "Hoose," a coast parisji of Che- shire, a few miles west of Liverpool. This name presumably comes from the Anglo- Saxon " hoo," meaning high, and referring to the cliffs of the coast. Dr. Joseph Wright, in his 'English Dialect Dictionary,' gives "hoozer," meaning anything large, which probably comes from this source, and may be the original of our word.

There is one other possibility worth men- tioningthat it may have come from India through England. In India "Huzur" or " Hoozur " is a respectful form of address to persons of rank or superiority. Akin to it is " housha," the title of a village authority in Bengal. This may look like a far cry, but it is not unprecedented. " Fake " and " fakir " evidently came in that way, and " khaki " was introduced from India, and adopted in English and American nurseries long before khaki-cloth was heard of. Of course the person called "Hoozur" in India would be an outlandish - looking one to a Briton unaccustomed to such dress.

If you or any of your correspondents can throw any light on this question, or cite any use of the word prior to 1830, it would be an accommodation to many persons on this side of the water. J. P. DUNN.

Secretary Ind. Historical Soc.

Indianapolis.

HAGIOLOGICAL TERMS EMPLOYED BY ENGLISH SEAMEN ABOUT 1500. 1. Are there any examples in the folk literature of Bristol, London, Whitby, &c., of the use of the following equivalents ? Dead man = Good Friday ; Flowers = Easter Sunday : Grace = Christmas; Clowns = day near Cnristmas ; Bulls = Circumcision ; Witless (Fools) = Epiphany.

Is there any hagiological distinction between clowns and fools? Deadman and Flowers and Bulls and Witless respectively appear twice on the Newfoundland coast in such close proximity as to suggest their having the meaning given above.

Deadman is given in various languages and corruptions : (1) Emcorporada ; (2) Monte Cristo, Monte de trigo ; (3) Corques, Cork, Orque; (4) Carqus. As Good Friday, 1498, the most probable year in this con-