Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/249

 H. iv. SEPT.9,1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 203 maketh a Prince (if hee apprehend it) to spoyle and waste a whole Province In rowling on they [laws] swell and grow greater and greater, as doe our rivers: follow them upward into their source, and you shall find them but a bubble of water, &c. —Book ii. chap. xii. p. 239, col. 2, and p. 299, col.l. Montaigne refers to the counsel of Epicurus to Idomeneus, that there is no man so base minded that loveth not rather to fall once than ever to renmine in feare of falling.—Book i. chap, xxxii. p. 100, col. 1. Montaigne's theme in self-murder, which, failing all other means of bettering a wretched condition of being, is approved of. In Webster, Antonio has resolved upon a certain course,— if it fail, Yet it shall rid me of this infamous calling ; For better fall once than be ever falling. ' The Duchess of Malfi,' V. i. 87-9, p. 92, col. 2. Of giving way to anger and the difficulty of checking oneself in the height of the passion, Montaigne says :— Slight occasions surprise me, and the mischiefs is that after you are once falne into the pits it is no matter who thrusts you in, you never cease till you come to the bottome. The fall presseth, hasteneth, mooveth, and furthereth it selfe. — Book ii. chap. xxxi. p. 366, col. 2. And so in Webster, but in a varying sense, we find the same figure and phrasing used :— First Pilgrim. If that a man be thrust into a well, No matter who sets hand to 't, his own weight Will bring him sooner to the bottom. 'The Duchess of Main,' III. iv. 45-7, p. 82, col. 1. All lovers of Webster must admire the remarkably fine speech of Antonio near the end of the play, where he indulges in reflec- tions conjured up by the sight of the ruins of an old abbey :— Antonio. I do love these ancient ruins. We never tread upon them but we set Our foot upon some reverend history, &c. •The Duchess of Main,' V. iii. 10-12, p.97, col.2. It is with a keen sense of regret that I must point out that the ideas and expres- sions in this speecli are borrowed ; yet Web- ster, here as well as elsewhere, has not done injustice to his original, for he has given them a noble setting and made them his own by his beautiful adaptation of them. But, after all, Montaigne himself is borrowing ; and in many places of his book he commends such borrowing as Webster's. Montaigne is referring to Home par ticularly. I have space for only a short quotation:— And therefore can I not so often looke into the situation of their streets and houses, and those wondrous-strange ruines, that may be said to reach down to the Antipodes, but so often must I animuse my selfe on them Tanta, via admonitionix inest in locis: et id quidem in hoc urbe infinitum ; qua- cunque enim ingre.dvm.ur, in aliquam hisloriam vesti- gium "panimus [Cicero, 'S. de Fin.']. So great a power of admonition is in the very place. And that in this city is most infinite, for which way soever we walke, we set our foote upon some history.—Book iii. c. ix. p. 511, col. 2. CHAKLES CRAWFORD. (To be continued.) CHESHIRE WORDS. THE Eev. E. Ardron Hutton, vicar of Har grave, six miles from Chester, has kindly sent me a number of words found in tha't neighbourhood, with leave to publish them in such a way as I think best. I have compared his vocabulary with the usual sources of information, and have selected such words as do not appear to have been published already. As I remarked on another occasion, "We are far from knowing the extant vocabulary of our English dialects,"*" and I was very glad to find that in making such a statement I was supported by so high an authority as MR. EL WORTHY. + Nothing seems to be so distasteful as the collection of material, whether it be in language, folk-lore, natural science, or^historical science. There is so much more AcCSos in etymologizing, and drawing brilliant inferences. Brizz, to burn or scorch. The ' E.D.D.' has bristle, brizzle, in this sense. The word is applied to a heavy wind which cuts down tender plants, &c. Horses are said to be brizzed when they are s g_ed after clipping. Buggcm, to shy as a timid horse does. The word is also used substantively, with the meaning of ghost or phantom. Catty-ruff, or catty-duff, the fish otherwise known as miller's thumb or bullhead (Cattus golio). Dutch, affected, not only in language, but in behaviour. There is a saying, "As dutch as Devonport's mare, and it died of the scab." The 'E.D.D.' has " Wasn't she dutch ?" Fleece, to cut or remove the sods from a reen or furrow. " Fleecing the reens " is only done occasionally nowadays, as drainage is much shallower, and the pipes closer together. One fleecing lasts several years. Gangs, the staves of a ladder. Gird, to rub. Gurr, diarrhoea in animals only, especially calves. Ilazzel, to boil. A " hazzling day " is a hot, scorching day. Hike or ike, a kick, as " He got a nasty ike as he was teeing (tying) up the cows." The t 10th S. if. 472.
 * See 'High Peak Words,' 10th S. ii. 306.