Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/573

 10 s. VIL JUNE is, loo;.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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River, or " Stream Dyerian," then ran open, level almost with the path in front of Lamb's cottage, not covered in and pro- tected, as now, with shabby turf and iron railings. The steep bank of the canal, then (1823) perfectly bare, would have pro- bably broken the neck of George Dyer if absent-mindedly he had walked down it. ALECK ABRAHAMS.

" MOKE," A DONKEY : NICKNAMES or THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS (10 S. vii. 68, 115, 257, 415). I regret that I cannot give MR. HEMMING a nickname of the Army Service Corps as distinct from the Land Transport Corps and the Military Train. Possibly there is one ; but I do not think tha"t " every regiment has its nickname." That can be said of most regiments, but not of all. There are very few without nicknames nowadays, if the old one-battalion regi- ments of infantry of the line are to be con- sidered as absolutely amalgamated under their comparatively new local names. But there is no doubt that even now, after so many years of amalgamation, the regiments which are not made up of the old two- battalion regiments cling (in all good fellowship) to their old regimental numbers and battle honours ; and therefore the nick- names of the old numbered regiments belong especially in the modern arrangements to the battalions which represent the old corps. ROBERT PIERPOINT.

HOEK VAN HOLLAND (10 S. vii. 188, 236, 254). Reference should be made to the ' N.E.D.,' s.v. ' Hook ' (9 and 11).

An early misrendering of the Dutch word hoek occurs in the 1598 translation of Lin- schoten's * Voyagie,' where, in chap. 88, the English reads " a thick diamant, which is of so good perfection both in sides and hookes " : in the original the last word is hoecken, here meaning angles or points.

DONALD FERGUSON.

On the east side of the Isle of Walney, N. Lancashire, there is a part which forms a peninsula, and of which the extreme point is called " Calf Hook End." This on the Ordnance map is marked "Cove o' Ken," owing to the engineer who made the survey not understanding the local dialect ! The fields on this peninsula are known as the " Calf Hooks." On the west side of the island are other fields known as the " Thorn Hooks" ; and although this coast is now quite straight, there are indications of a similar peninsula having existed. Hazel nuts and other remains of a wood have been

found at low-water mark, which, as there is a 38-foot tide and a shelving beaclu is half to three-quarters of a mile from the present coast-line. H. G. P.

" Hook " is the eponymous name of a Hampshire village lying at the junction of the river Hamble with the Southampton Water. A glance at a good map will show its appropriateness. H. P. L.

The term hoek is frequently applied in Cape Colony to mountain ranges, in this respect answering pretty much to the English " f ell " ; and to other hilly and angular positions all, however, inland : thus there are the Winterhoek range near Port Eliza- beth ; Winterhoek mountain (6,800 ft. high), about 70 miles from Cape Town; Keis- kamma Hoek, Mohalies Hoek, &c. I do not think it ever denotes a headland running out into the sea, as in Europe ; in this case the Dutch hoek has more the meaning of Eng. " bill," as in Portland Bill.

N. W. HILL. Philadelphia.

THE GREAT WHEEL AT EARL'S COURT (10 S. vii. 406). I had many opportunities of watching the erection of the Great Ferris Wheel at the World's Fair at Chicago (1893), and afterwards more than once went round in it. It may be useful to add to MR. TOM JONES'S notes relative to the Earl's Court Wheel the sizes, &c., of its rather smaller American rival.

This latter was named after the engineer who designed and constructed it (Mr. G. W. Ferris). Its cost was 72,500Z. The charge for two successive revolutions was 2s. 2d. The takings during the first three months it ran exceeded the whole expenditure con- nected with the undertaking. The Wheel was 264ft. in diameter (hence 36ft. less than that of the one at Earl's Court). It possessed 36 cars (separated by 28^ ft.). Each of these offered ample accommodation for 60 people. The axle was 33 ft. in dia- meter and 45 ft. long. It weighed 56 tons, and revolved at an altitude of 1. 7 f". above the ground. The whole was worked by an engine of 2,000 horse-power, whilst another of equal capacity was provided as a safeguard in case of accident.

HARRY HEMS.

"RAMSAMMY" (10 S. vii. 407). It is curious that this word should have acquired he sense of a drunken spree. Of course it s very well known as a slang term applied by Europeans to Hindus, much as we call a Scotchman Sandy or Sawney. It is derived