Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/251

 io s. ii. SEPT. 10, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

203

A pig-sty is called a spot. Thus, I heard a woman say to her boy, " Take him [the pig] into th' spot." Besides pig-spot we have hen-spot and calf-tpot. In my 'Sheffield Glossary ' I have mentioned a field or place called Rotten Spot. This seems to refer to a decayed building of some kind. Lame pigs are said to be Ticketed. When I asked whether a certain man would be likely to buy a field which was going to be sold, the reply was, " I don't think he '11 gad at it " i.e., be eager to buy it. A rope or piece of cloth is said to chove out when the threads become untwisted or unravelled. Amongst the words which rather elude definition is minger. " He can minger a bit " is said to mean " He can do odd jobs." A mingerer is an amateur, or a man who knows only half his trade. Steep ground is side-yeldincf.

These words have been chosen from a large stock of " Derbicisms." Writing away from my books, I cannot say how many of them are to be found in dictionaries. Some, I feel sure, are unknown, and, in any case, I have probably given fresh illustrations or new meanings. S. O. ADDY.

(To be continued.)

LETTERS OF WILLIAM COWPER.

(See ante, pp. 1, 42, 82, 122, 162.) Pp. 80-81 :

Letter 16 [should be 19]. Date March 13, 1770, Bennet Cfollege]. MY DEAR AUNT, I am ashamed of my long, and very blameable, silence. I make the best amends I can by sending you the best news, I have had to communicate this many a day ! You have heard of my brother's most dangerous sickness ; he seems to be recovering very fast; and the most delightful circumstance of the dispensation is, that our gracious Lord hath taken occasion by this affliction, to open his eyes and his heart, to bring him to the acknow- ledgement of the truth as it is in Jesus, and to heal him with the Holy Spirit of promise. I have not time to add more ; I hope what I have written, may be a comfort to you. May it till your heart with praise.

Yours ever in the Lord, etc. etc. P. 81 :

Letter 17 [should be 20].

Date March 24, 1770.

Printed in Wright, i. 117-18. Mrs. Cowper's marginal notes : " Buried at Foxton, about 7 miles from Cambridge, by his own desire.' "See letters about this time, p. 112 and onward." The two sentences, " He is to be

buried this event," omitted in MS.

The letters are resumed on pp. 85-7. Printed in Wright, i. 123-5. P. 124, 1. 11 from foot, "the school," MS. "that school 1. 3 from foot, "Accordingly," MS. "Accord-'

ngly, in the time of the greatest need."" P. 125, 11. 4-8, "he never mentioned dis- covered it," omitted in MS. ; 1. 17, " mean I," MS. " mearly " (sic) 1. 18, " have received,' 7 ' MS. u receive "; 1. 19, "light," MS. "lights."

The last paragraph, "Mrs. Unwin danger, "'

omitted in MS., which ends, " Yours, my dear "Jousin, etc. etc."

Pp. 112-19.

Printed by Newton in * Adelphi,' 11802: (Sou they 's Bohn, i. 151-64). The three letters to Newton must hereafter be inserted in their proper place in the correspondence. Pp. 112- 115, Mrs. Cowper's note: "The following is- an extract of a letter from my cousin Miv W. C. to the Kev. Mr. Newton, March 11, 1770, dated C m ge " (Cambridge). Begins :. " My dear friend, I am in haste." Ends : bonds of gospel love. W. C." Pp. 115-17 : Extract of another letter from W. C. to- the Rev. Mr. N., March 14, 1770." Begins: " In the evening he said." Ends : " justness my own opinion." Pp. 117-19: "What follows is in W. C.'s letter on the 17th instant." Begins: "The sweats which." Ends: "issues- from death."

Pp. 160-61 :

Letter 17 [should be 21]. Dated 0-y (Olney), March 3 d, 1771.

MY DEAR CpusiN, I was unwilling to let the- post go by, without my earnest congratulations or* the subject of your last. I doubt not, all your friends rejoice with you, but none has so much- cause as myself, from whom sprang all the danger there was of a disappointment. I consider myself as bound to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord, in this instance, equally with those, who seem more immediately concerned. It was not His- pleasure that I should succeed in the business : but at the same time, having all events and all hearts in His hand, He provided that others should not suffer by my miscarriage. I have reason to praise Him with my latest breath, for this and every other affliction and disappointment I have met with. I knew not then, but I know now, that He designed me a blessing, and that He only brought a cloud over my earthly prospect, in order to turn my eyes towards a heavenly one. It gives me true pleasure, to learn by all your letters, that you are looking the same way : we may possibly meet no more on earth (for our thread of time is winding off apace), but we shall surely meet in glory. Jesus has, 1 trust, purchased us to be a part of His crown, in the day of His appearing. How we shall bless Him then, for all our sorrows below, which He was- pleased to make effectual to wean us from a world of sin and vanity, that we might place our affec- tions on things above. There is a blessing in every bitter cup, not always perceptible to the taste, but sure to have its effect, in keeping the soul, which knows Him, dependent upon His power and grace, and obedient to His holy will.

I am obliged to be short, being rather straitened' for time. We have been driven from our house this week by the sickness and death of a maid-