Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/141

 10 s. VIL FEB. 9, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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phrase " meikle hillis," having undoubtedly size, and not quantity, in his mind's eye ; and the same may be said of the " twa great mekle bord-claithis of dornik," duly specified in Thomson's ' Inventories and other Records of the Royal Wardrobe and Jewelhouse,' p. 150. Quantity or extent, on the other hand, is indicated by the use of " muckle " in Ramsay's proverb, " Little wit in the head makes muckle travel to the feet." With regard to Burns's practice, it is necessary to point out again, as was recently done in discussing another matter, that it is perilous to draw conclusions from a partial examination of facts. We are offered, for instance, the " meikle corn and beer " (sic) of ' Tarn o' Shanter ' to prove that the poet chooses " meikle " in pre- ference to " muckle " when he wishes to express quantity, and we are left to infer that he would not use the same form when speaking of size. This, however, is an entirely untenable assumption, as may be seen by reference to the " meikle stane " (also in ' Tarn o' Shanter ') " whare drucken Charlie brak's neck-bane." Then, besides " the muckle devil," " the muckle house," and " a muckle pity " (advanced in evidence of the contention that " muckle " is Burns's favourite epithet for size), we have " the meikle devil wi' a woodie " in the Elegy on Henderson, " the meikle black deil " in the Exciseman song, " the wee stools o'er the mickle " in the ' Address to the Toothache ' ; and so on. Everything, indeed, tends to show that standard Scottish authors, early and late, use these Variant forms indis- criminately, provincial practice and momen- tary predilection serving, no doubt, to some I extent to determine their particular choice. THOMAS BAYNE.

MR. JONAS may like to be reminded that the sections of the ' N.E.D.' dealing with both " pickle " and " mickle " are now issued. The latter (dated 1 Jan., 1907) treats " mickle " and " muckle " as the same word. Q. V.

The forms " meikle," " miekle," " muckle," are one word. Lotfal pronunciation accounts for the different spellings. Regarding a usage of this kind Burns is not a reliable guide. His father was from the east coast, north of the Tay, where the dialect is very different from that of Ayrshire. When a countryman removes to a new county his dialect is the last thing he changes. If children are given him in his new abode, they are influenced by their father's dialect, sometimes to such an extent that in a com

pany of school children one has only to> hear these " foreigners " speak a few words, and they are identified immediately. In one case the influence of a Border dialect was known to affect the speech and intona- tion of a family in another county to the third generation. " Muckle " is the form commonly heard where Norse influence is strong, but is not confined to these districts, and is met with in counties where " meikle " and " mickle " are heard. " Puckle " is- similarly related to " pickle " the latter being sometimes used by folk who aspire to a little " superiority," the former being the cherished mouthful of those who prider themselves on their contempt for all affecta- tion. Here is a verse by Alexander Logan r who was born in Edinburgh in 1833, and lived there most of his life :

Weel, it disna matter mickle, Nannie soon will be this way ;

She mair cannie wields the sickle, Still for a' that cuts maist hay. North of the Forth the last two words of the first line would generally be pronounced " maitter muckle." P. F. H.

" The muckle Tarn ! " was a not un- common expression in the South of Scotland in the days of my youth, to indicate a well- meaning, but blundering man. W. S.

As bearing upon the use of the word "mickle," I may mention that there are two adjacent villages near Derby called respectively " Mickleover " and " Little- over." H. T. W.

ROMNEY'S ANCESTRY (10 S. vii. 9, 79) Kirkland is a township in the parish of Garstang, in Lancashire. In the church is a brass plate :

"In memory of Henry Abbot, of Garstang, who- died 25 th March, 1671, in the 25 th year of his age, Henry Abbot dead This living song doth sing : ' O'er hell I doe triumph ; ! death, where is thy sting?'"

HENRY FISHWICK.

A KNIGHTHOOD or 1603 (10 S. vi. 181, 257, 474 ; vii. 16, 54). At the last reference but one MR. CHAMBERS courteously corrects what he says is an inaccuracy on my part. Having never personally looked into the genealogy of the Newdigate family, I have no intention nor desire to challenge MR. CHAMBERS' s corrections. As stated at the time, the information in question was com- municated to me (unasked) by a specialist whom I believed to be trustworthy, and whose statements scarcely seemed to call