Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/262

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL MARCH IG, 1907.

-above the earth were popularly looked upon as steam derived from the kitchens of hares, dwarfs, and other fairy folk.

JAS. PLATT, Jun.

According to H. Berghaus's ' Sprach- schatz der Sassen : Worterbuch der Platt- deiitschen Sprache,' 1880-84 (a work un- fortunately left unfinished, owing to the author's death, comprising the letters A Paddeln), the phrase " De Hase brouet " is still current in Low German, in the very same sense as quoted from the Bremen 4 Worterbuch.' But there is, likewise, an ancient and metaphorical folk-lore expression which still survives in modern High German poetical and proverbial language, regarding a low mist or cloud closely pressing upon the mountain or meadow. People say, that subterranean goblins are brewing when such clouds or vapours rise, so to speak, out of their kitchen. And again, " The hare has brewed " (" Siehe da brauet der has im weisslichen Dampf auf der Wiese," Voss's ' Idyll,' quoted in Grimm's ' Worterbuch,' ii. 322). H. KBEBS.

Dr. Heinrich Berghaus's ' Sprachschatz der Sassen ' proves that some twenty-five years ago the phrase " De Hase brouet " was still current in Low German, for under ' Hase ' = hare I find :

"De Hase brouet, sagt man in Niedersaehsen, wenn an 8ommer-Abenderi sich plotzlich ein dicker .Nebel iiber den Erdboden zieht, der sich nicht hoch erhebt, sondern in der Feme wie eine Wasserflache .aussieht. EngL Haze."

According to Dr. Berghaus, the only other meanings of Hase are " chine " and " stock- ing." The fact that the explanation of the phrase occurs under Hase = h&re led me to think that the phrase might be metaphorical, the hare being compared to a brewer, more especially as I remembered the following passage in Dickens's 'Christmas Carol':

To see the dingy cloud come drooping down-, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale."

The hare plays more than one part in the imagination of the people of Northern Germany ; why not that of a brewer ?

When, however, I looked up the word brouet, I was referred to bro'en (bruqen bruggen), under which verb, strange to say' Dr. Berghaus does not mention the phrase

De Hase brouet." But he does tell us what seems to me of great importance that, besides " to brew " and " to boil," this verb means steigen, sich erheben, i.e " to rise.' Now if this is the meaning of

brouet in the above phrase, the meaning of Hase must be haze.

That the word Hase in Low German must have another meaning besides " hare," " chine," and " stocking " is almost certain when we consider that " Hees " or " Heze " is of pretty frequent occurrence as a geo- graphical name to the east of the Rhine, north of Siegen, and is occasionally met with to the west of the Rhine, near Crefeld.

In ' Nomina Geographica Neerlandica '

1 read that the etymology and original meaning of this name are unknown, but that the old form " Hasibenna " for " Heesbeen " in North Brabant points to an older form '* Hasi," the i having changed the a into e.

While consulting ' Het Nederlandsch Woordenboek ' I happened to come across the Flemish verb hazegrauwen = to grow dark, which is supposed to be a compound of &aas=hare and grauw=grey, dusk ; the expression " het hazegrauwt " is said to mean " It is growing so dark or grey that a hare, which is also grey, can no longer be distinguished. ' '

I consider this explanation rather far- fetched. Can it be that L.G. Hase, D. Hees, Heze, Fl. Haze (grauwen), and Engl. haze are after all the same as Icel. ho'ss, grey or dark, and that PROF. SKEAT'S explanation of Engl. haze in his ' Etym. Diet.' is more correct than is assumed by the ' N.E.D.' ?

I may add that I am looking for the origin of haze and hazy in another direction, and the results of my researches I hope to publish in these columns before long.

J. F. BENSE.

Arnhem, the Netherlands.

I would refer PROF. SKEAT to Grimm's ' Dictionary,' vol. iv. ii. p. 527a, and the references there given. The hare plays a prominent part in German folk-lore. He lays the Easter eggs, roasts chickens, bakes bread (Hasenbrot), &c. The fox " brews " as well as the hare. Every child in North and Middle Germany knows that the hare and the fox brew. So do the mountains, especially the Brocken. Eng. haze must be of different origin. H. C. G. BRANDT.

Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y.

WINDMILLS IN SUSSEX (10 S. vii. 149). The most exhaustive history of nature- driven mills is to be found in Bennett and Elton's 'History of Corn-Milling,' 1899,

2 vols., 8vo. The second volume deals with water- and wind-mills, supplying views of and information on Fishbourne, Rusting- ton, and Rye, together with a list of over a hundred Sussex water-mills mentioned in