Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/473

 • s. iv. NOV. 11, i905j NOTES AND QUERIES. 391 MINERS' GREETING (10th S. iv. 348).—The greetingcommonly heard here between pitmen is, "What cheer?" The response to this is, " What cheer again 1" Sometimes the saluta- tion is extended to "What cheer, marrow?" " What cheer, lad ?" or " What cheer, hinny?" each given according to circumstances, and replied to by " What cheer again ?" A more abrupt, but very frequent greeting is the single word "How?" the aspirate strongly emphasized, and the oic prolonged in a rising note. Often the form becomes "How there?" the first syllable stressed. To either the reply is "How again?" or "What cheer?" In all cases salutation and reply are given alike most heartily. The serious nature of the miner's calling tends to make him chary of his words as he goes to his work ; but when disengaged he will throw a world of cordiality into his " What cheer, lad?" or of tenderness into the greeting, "What cheer, hinny?" K. OLIVER HESLOP. Neweastle-upon-Tyne. In the course of a recent third visit to Bohemia it was my good fortune to visit the ancient mining town of Kutna Hora(Kutten- berg), where, according to tradition, the monk j Antony found a vein of silver in the thirteenth i century. King Premysl Ottokar I. erected { the place into a royal town, and Wen- ceslaus II. founded the mint Vlassky dvur (Welsh or foreigners' court). Kutna Hora figured also during the wars of the grim Zizka with the Germans, and here it was that Hussite captives were flung down a shaft sneeringly called "Tabor," from the Hussite stronghold of that Biblical name. The church of St. Barbara, dating from the fourteenth century, was consecrated, after restoration, on 15 October last by Bishop Doubrava of Koniggratz, and I had the honour of wit- nessing the ceremony and taking part in the official banquet given by the town. On this occasion the streets were adorned with flags and festoons bearing the old miners' saluta- tion, "Zdar Buh!" i.e., "God grant suc- cess_!" Joseph K. Tyl, author of the Oech national song,' Kde dornov muj ?' (' Where is nay Home ?') was born at Kutna Hora. FRANCIS P. MARCHANT. Streatham Common. I wonder if the expression at parting one so often hears on Tyneside, "So long," shortened into "S'long," is what your corre- spondent wants. Its use, however, is not confined to pitmen. Mr. H. A. Adamson, of Tynemouth, thus writes to me :— " Have you forgotten the story of Buddie, the well-known Tyneside mining engineer, who, when walking along the street with a friend, saw what he thought was a North-Country pitman ? He told his friend what his thoughts were, and said he would soon test them. He called out, 'How there?' and the man turned round and said, 'How where? we knas A'm here.' ' How there ?' is given in Brockett s " "°""a>" R. B—R. North of the Tyne, miners—or pitmen, as they are called—hail each other with "Ho, raarra." This word mariu is uttered with the Northumberland burr, which I cannot render in print. With regard to " Ho," the natives never drop their h's. The phrase " Ho, marra," which is peculiar to the pitmen, may be anglicized " What cheer, mate?" GEORDIE. "PIECE-BROKER" (10th S. iv. 367).—I am glad to be able to furnish, in reply to DR. MURRAY'S query, a clue to the probable nature of the piece-broker's calling. In my collection of London trade tokens occurs on a halfpenny token the name of " James Cole in Graies-Inne, PEICE-BROKER"; and on a leaden bale-clip of about the same period are stamped the words "INGRAY(S)(IN)(LA)NE, xx (yards)." The piece-broker was, there seems little reason to doubt, the dealer in pieces or bales of woollen cloth, which, according to the statute of 5 & 6 Edward VI., had to be packed in a particular way, and sealed with a leaden clip, on which the number of yards was marked. It may reasonably be inferred from the fact that there was a packer of woollen cloth in Gray's Inn Lane, and a piece- broker in close proximity, that the broker dealt in this particular commodity. Much fuller information as to the trade will be found in ' Rariora,' vol. i. pp. 101-2, and in S. Williamson's work on 'Trade Tokens,' i. 803-4. J- ELIOT HODGKIN. [Further replies next week.] "TOTUM SUME, FLUIT" (10th S. iv. 350).— This enigma formed the subject of an inquiry in 'N. & Q.' seven years ago, and the solution (Vulturous), together with two other ver- sions, " both more poetically and classically expressed," appeared at 9th S. i. 131. CHAS. GILLMAN. [Several other correspondents are thanked for replies.] WATERLOO VETERAN (10th S. iv. 347).— For fear some future student of longevity should find in 'N. & Q.' proof that a man who fought in 1815 was living in 1905, it would be well to place o_n record the fact that the investigations instigated by the